Article

02381 ／いたやなぎまち

Aomori Prefecture 北津軽郡

Itayanagi Town

A river town with a shrine to sea gods.

Kaido Shrine, Itayanagi

Photo by 掬茶 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Itayanagi lion dance

A lion dance said to have been dancedto pray for the safety of boatmen.

The town-designated Itayanagi lion dance is performed in groups of four, an elder lion, a younger lion, a female lion and a figure called Okashiko, in ten pieces. The town says that after Tsugaru Tamenobu opened a port in one district of the town, the fourth lord, Nobumasa, is said to have had it danced to pray for the safety of boatmen.

Groups of four, ten pieces
Town-designated in 2009
Said to pray for boatmen's safety

02 ／ Old Town Office entrance

The old town office's front entrance,a school entrance of 1899 by Horie Sakichi.

The town-designated Former Town Office Front Entrance is the front entrance of the old Itayanagi Ordinary Higher Elementary School, newly completed in 1899 with Horie Sakichi, a master carpenter of Hirosaki, as head carpenter. It is now preserved at the local history museum, which the town says conveys the look of Meiji-era Western-style architecture.

Head carpenter Horie Sakichi
Newly completed in 1899
Preserved at the local history museum

03 ／ Prefectural yew

A yew designated a prefectural naturalmonument, estimated at 600 to 700 years old.

A yew at a temple in the town was designated a prefectural natural monument in 1971. The prefecture's explanation puts its age at 600 to 700 years and its trunk girth at 3.02 m, and says it stands on the traditional site of the Suwa clan's residence, a clan said to have flourished from the time of the Fujisaki Ando clan.

Prefectural natural monument, 1971
Estimated age 600 to 700 years
Trunk girth 3.02 m

Itayanagi Town from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot June–August 2014)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

The town's only station is Itayanagi, on the JR Gono Line.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town lies in the middle of the Tsugaru Plain, and its official site says apple orchards and broad rice fields spread along the Iwaki River and another river. It also says winter turns everything silver-white. The town's station is Itayanagi on the JR Gono Line, and the local history museum's page gives a 10-minute walk from it.

People living here: 12,700people
Area: 41.88km²
Households: 4,476households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 5 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —6 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.

Shape

Surrounded by 5 municipalities, and almost entirely flat.

Itayanagi Town in Japan40.696°N 140.457°E

Territory of Itayanagi Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.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

10.4km

Tsuruta Town, Fujisaki Town, Hirosaki City, Goshogawara City, Aomori City

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Itayanagi Town isthis kind of town.

01Kaido Shrine traces to a shrine built in 1593 when Tsugaru Tamenobu opened a supply depot at Funaoka; later a shrine was built to guard the Iwaki River, and it was moved to its present site; it is a town-designated cultural property, and the present buildings date from 1926
02The Itayanagi lion dance is performed in groups of four in ten pieces and is said to have been danced for boatmen's safety, and the Former Town Office Front Entrance is the 1899 entrance of a school built under Horie Sakichi, now preserved at the local history museum
03The yew is a prefectural natural monument estimated at 600 to 700 years old; the town's station is Itayanagi on the JR Gono Line, in the middle of the Tsugaru Plain along the Iwaki River and another river

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Itayanagi Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

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