Obu City

Artificial-stone wall atop a stone arch.

Myojin Sluice, Gokason River

Photo by Asturio Cantabrio (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Thatched gate

A villa's gatehouse once beside the prefectural roadwas moved alone, its side rooms demolished.

The thatched gate at the entrance to Okura Park was the front gate of Okura Kazuchika's villa. When it was moved in 1979, the thatched side rooms were demolished and only the gate itself was relocated. The roof was re-thatched with the help of craftsmen from Tono in Iwate Prefecture, a friendship city: in 2009 and 2014, and in fiscal 2019 a full re-thatching, the first since 2009.

National Registered Tangible Cultural Property (August 2015)
Moved to its present site in 1979
Roof re-thatched with help from Tono craftsmen

02 ／ Doburoku festival

A red-faced shojo, 3 m tall and fond of sake,appears at the doburoku festival.

The doburoku festival at Nagakusa Tenjin Shrine is held on the Sunday just before 25 February each year. Doburoku (unrefined sake) brewed locally in January is served to worshippers after the ritual. Its origin is unknown, but a record says doburoku brewing was resumed in 1668. The shojo, known as a legendary Chinese creature, is said to bestow fortune and virtue.

City Intangible Folk Cultural Property
Sunday just before 25 February each year
The shojo stands 3 m tall

03 ／ Sake flask

On the shoulder of a Kamakura-period jar,the words "Fujii-no-miya Daimyojin Omiki Heishi" are inscribed.

A complete short-necked jar of the Kamakura period, unearthed in 1886 at Nakamura in Yokone-cho. The characters inscribed with a spatula on its shoulder show that it was used as a flask for the shrine's sacred sake. It is a treasure of Yokone Fujii Shrine and is shown in the permanent exhibition room of the city's History and Folklore Museum.

Unearthed in 1886
Kamakura-period short-necked jar
Listed as a prefectural property in the city's list

Living here

Nagoya is 14 minutes by JR Special Rapid.

about 90,000 people
30 min to a city centre

From Nagoya Station on the JR Tokaido Line to Obu Station takes 14 minutes at the fastest by Special Rapid, and 15 minutes during the day (JR Odekake Net section timetable, both weekdays and weekends and holidays). The city gives the walk from Obu Station to the city hall as about 10 minutes.

People living here: 93,123people
Area: 33.66km²
Households: 38,310households
Rent (average for rentals): 55,742yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 74 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —16 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Obu City in Japan35.012°N 136.964°E

to NagoyaJR Tōkaidō Main Line14min

Travel times follow JR西日本『JRおでかけネット』区間時刻表東海道本線（米原～浜松）line-timetable/2244（2026年10月20日〈平日〉のページと2026年10月25日〈土休日〉のページ）。名古屋駅の発と大府駅の着を、列車ごとに数えた (checked 2026-10-20). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Territory of Obu City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

8.6km

東海市, 東浦町, 名古屋市, 豊明市, 刈谷市

Obu City isthis kind of town.

01Myojin Sluice is a stone-arch sluice where the Gokason River crosses the Myojin River at a grade separation, completed in 1901. Walls built with the artificial stone method sit on the water passage, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a valuable artificial-stone structure with Hattori Chobei's involvement clear. It became a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in February 2021
02The thatched gate and rest building of Okura Park, the former front gate and detached annex of the Okura Kazuchika villa, became National Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2015. The rest building has four tatami rooms facing the garden, joined by a wide veranda. The doburoku festival of Nagakusa Tenjin Shrine is a city Intangible Folk Cultural Property
03The Fujii-no-miya Omiki Heishi is a Kamakura-period jar unearthed in Yokone-cho in 1886, which the city's cultural property page lists as a prefectural property. The city's history says the name Obu is said to have begun when villagers respectfully called a high official from the capital, Nanatsu Daibu, "Daibu-sama"

See the town as it is now.

Facebookcity.OBU ↗

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Obu City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗