The Tokai Village, in which J-PARC is being constructed (at the Tokai site of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, JAERI), is located at 100km northeast of Tokyo and 70km north of the Tokyo-Narita International Airport. High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, KEK, is in Tsukuba City, which is in the west of Tsuchiura City, and Tokai is located at 50km northeast of KEK. It takes 80 minutes to drive from KEK to Tokai.

Tokai is adjacent to Mito City, which is the largest city in Ibaraki Prefecture (and the seat of the government) and has many historic spots. Both Tokai, Mito, Tsuchiura and Tsukuba belong to Ibaraki Prefecture; Tokyo-Narita International Airport belongs to Chiba Prefecture in the south of Ibaraki.