Subterranian structure of revolving stage, Korakukan.jpg
Article

05303 / こさかまち

Akita Prefecture 鹿角郡

Kosaka Town

What turns the stage is human power.

Korakukan, revolving stage

Photo by 掬茶 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 / Mine office

A white three-storey wooden officewas moved about 500 m south.

Kosaka Mine Office 20220508.jpg
Photo by 掬茶 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Built in 1905 as the main office of the Kosaka mine run by the Fujita-gumi company. The three-storey timber building has a square-ring plan, and its front fits a wooden veranda porch into Renaissance-style plaster walls, an exterior the Agency for Cultural Affairs calls rare in type. It was moved and restored about 500 m south in 2001 and became an Important Cultural Property in 2002.

  • Built 1905
  • Moved and restored, 2001
  • Important Cultural Property, 2002

02 / Wainai Shrine

Honouring the late Katsu's virtue,lakeside people built a shrine.

Wainai-jinja.jpg
Photo by 掬茶 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Wainai Shrine, on the west shore of Lake Towada, began when Katsu, wife of Wainai Sadayuki, the founder of himemasu (a landlocked salmon) farming, died and lakeside residents, who admired her virtue, built a shrine. Sadayuki, who died later, was enshrined there too, and the shrine was renamed Wainai Shrine.

  • Built out of admiration for Katsu
  • Sadayuki also enshrined
  • Renamed Wainai Shrine

03 / Tenshikan

A kindergarten for mine workers,in German-siding Western style.

Tenshikan (Kosaka) 202607.jpg
Photo by 掬茶 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1931 the Catholic kindergarten Seien Tenshien opened, and in 1932 it moved into a new building. It is a single-storey timber building with German-siding walls, tall double-hung windows and an entrance porch with pilasters and a pediment. It served as Kosaka Maria-en until 1992, was restored to its original form, and is now a multipurpose hall.

  • Moved and rebuilt, 1932
  • Kosaka Maria-en until 1992
  • Registered Tangible Cultural Property, 2003

Living here

No station; 51 minutes by bus from Ōdate.

  • about 5,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town, and passenger trains on the Kosaka Railway stopped in September 1994. On the Shūhoku Bus timetable revised in October 2026, it takes 51 minutes from Ōdate Station to Korakukan-mae and 47 minutes from Kazunohanawa Station, with no change of bus.

People living here
4,780people
19952020

−10.5% since 2015

7,703 → 4,780

Area
201.7km²

19.33km² of it habitable

2024

Households
2,043households

2.3 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals / 4 clinics

8.4 per 10,000 people

2023

Area201.7km²Habitable land19.33km² / 10%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—2 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.

Kosaka Town in Japan40.333°N 140.736°E
TokyoOsakaKosaka Town
Kōrakukan-mae
康楽館前2022
  • to ŌdateLocal bus51min

Travel times follow 秋北バス公式『路線バス 時刻表』(2026.10.1 改定)の「⑦大館~小坂」(https://www.shuhokubus-gr.co.jp/local/202610/odate_7kosaka.html)。大館駅前発→康楽館前着は 7:40→8:31・10:00→10:51・11:00→11:51・12:00→12:51・14:10→15:01・16:00→16:51・17:00→17:51・17:50→18:41・19:50→20:41 の9本すべて51分(11:00 発と 19:50 発は土日祝運休=毎日走るのは7本。終点の小坂操車場までは55分)。逆向きの康楽館前発→大館駅前着も 6:49→7:41・7:14→8:06・8:44→9:36・9:54→10:46・11:54→12:46・14:04→14:56・15:34→16:26・16:34→17:26・17:44→18:36 の9本すべて52分。ページに「冬季(12月−)・夏季(4月−)と季節によって運行時刻が変更」とあり、12月から冬ダイヤ。同じ秋北バスの「⑥鹿角花輪駅前-小坂操車場」(…/kazuno_6hanawa_kosaka.html)は、鹿角花輪駅前発→康楽館前着が 6:58→7:45 ほか16本すべて47分 (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Kosaka Town
Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号 平27情使、第585号)

North to south

25.4km

Akita Prefecture
鹿角市, 大館市
Aomori Prefecture
平川市, 十和田市

Kosaka Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01Korakukan, built in 1910 as an entertainment hall for Kosaka mine workers and their families, is an Important Cultural Property theatre whose trapdoor and revolving stage move by human power
  2. 02The former Kosaka mine office and Tenshikan stand as Western-style buildings of a mining town, and on the west shore of Lake Towada is Wainai Shrine, built in admiration of Katsu
  3. 03The town has no railway station; Shūhoku Bus runs to Korakukan-mae from the stops at Ōdate and Kazunohanawa stations

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.