Shitara Town

Legend: plays till three houses remain.

Damine Kannon stage

Photo by Asturio Cantabrio (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Nagura whetstone (Kamida)

Volcanic ash that settled in a lakesome 15 million years ago became Nagura whetstone.

A town bulletin essay describes Nagura whetstone as a kind of tuff formed when ash settled on a lakebed, a product of chance. Whetstone from Kamida is often egg-white with light brown mottling and was used as a medium-grade stone. The Kamida side closed in the 1945-1954 period (Showa 20s), and fragments of whetstone and tableware now lie scattered at the quarry site.

Volcanic ash, about 15 million years ago
Kamida stone: medium-grade
Kamida side closed in the Showa 20s

02 ／ Damine Dengaku

Damine Dengaku is performed in three parts:day, night and morning.

It is performed in the inner sanctum and grounds of Damine Kannon Hall during its festival. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the night dengaku enacts rice-field rites from making hoes and choosing seed to planting, and the morning dengaku is danced in a courtyard lit by bonfires and ends with a horse and lion dance. It is part of the "Dengaku of Mikawa," a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Day, night and morning dengaku
Dengaku of Mikawa, designated May 22, 1978
Protected by the Damine Dengaku Preservation Society and others

03 ／ Mount Iwakoya

Few trees grow near the summit, which hasa 360-degree view: a dacite rock mountain.

In a town bulletin, a member of the town's cultural property council describes Mount Iwakoya as a rock mountain of igneous dacite. Few trees grow at the summit, which offers a 360-degree view; on clear days the Enshu Sea can sometimes be seen.

Dacite rock mountain
360-degree view from the summit
Prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty (1955)

Living here

A town of 1,000-meter peaks, at the headwaters.

about 4,000 people
Rural district town

A town in Kitashitara District, it borders Toei Town and Toyone Village to the east, Toyota City to the west, Shinshiro City to the south and Neba Village in Nagano Prefecture to the north. Its area is 273.94 km², about 90 percent of it forest, and it is the source area of the Toyokawa, Yahagi and Tenryu rivers. It was formed on October 1, 2005, when the former Shitara Town and Tsugu Village merged. There is no railway station; the gateway is the Taguchi bus stop.

People living here: 4,437people
Area: 273.94km²
Households: 1,845households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 7 clinics

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

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-10-01 に新設合併（津具村）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —4 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.

Shitara Town in Japan35.097°N 137.571°E

to Hon-NagashinoLocal bus40min

Travel times follow おでかけ北設（設楽町・東栄町・豊根村の共同運行。北設楽郡公共交通活性化協議会）『7.田口新城線』（https://www.odekake-hokusetsu.jp/routes/7taguchishinshiro 。作成 2026/03/30・最終更新 2026/09/27。『毎日運行しています』『時刻表（2026年4月1日改正）』『運行：豊鉄バス』）の主要バス停時刻表の画像（平日用・土曜休日用。文字層が無く画像を目で読んだ）。『本長篠駅前（発）』→『田口』（町内の停留所）の列 (checked 2026-10-19). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Shitara Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

22.3km

Aichi Prefecture: 新城市, 豊田市, 東栄町, 豊根村
Nagano Prefecture: 根羽村

Shitara Town isthis kind of town.

01The stage in the grounds of Damine Kannon is a Prefectural Tangible Folk Cultural Property (designated 1976), listed in the prefecture's database as "Damine Kannon no Butai" and in the town's list as "Damine-chi Kyogen Butai". The town bulletin says that, from a promise of offerings in the temple's legend, kabuki has been dedicated since the festival of January 17, 1655 (Meireki 1), and that the existing stage was rebuilt as a fixed stage in 1863 (Bunkyu 3). Festival spectators are accommodated in a hut built for the occasion, and its technique is the Town-designated "kabuki hut-building technique"
02Nagura whetstone is a stone whose Kamida quarry site closed in the Showa 20s; the same stratum was also quarried on the Kawai side in Shinshiro City. Damine Dengaku is one of the "Dengaku of Mikawa" that the Agency for Cultural Affairs lists as a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, performed in three parts of day, night and morning
03The Tsugu woodcutters' tools and processed goods are a nationally designated Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property, and the old Damine Elementary School's wooden building (1927) is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Mount Iwakoya is a Prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty and its summit offers a 360-degree view

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shitara Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗