Lake Kasumigaura
Human settlement in the Tsuchiura area dates to the Japanese Paleolithic period. Hunter-gatherers inhabited the coastal area of the Pacific Ocean (now Lake Kasumigaura) forming large shell middens, examples of which can be seen at the Kamitakatsu archeological site. Locals began wet-rice cultivation and development of iron and bronze technology during the Yayoi period and in the Kofun period numerous Burial mounds were constructed in the area. During the Nara period the area was organized under the Taihō Code with what is now Tsuchiura occupying four districts of Hitachi Province. In 939, during the Heian period, Taira no Masakado lead an uprising against the central government by attacking the provincial capital at Ishioka, a few kilometers to the north of Tsuchiura. During the Kamakura period and the Sengoku period, the area was dominated by several samurai clans. During the Edo period, part of what is now Tsuchiura was administered as a castle town by Tsuchiura Domain, one of the feudal domains of the Tokugawa shogunate. The area prospered due to its position on the Mito Kaidō, a highway connecting Edo with Mito and with a canal connecting Lake Kasumigaura to Edo Bay.