Article

02307 ／そとがはままち

Aomori Prefecture 東津軽郡

Sotogahama Town

Part of National Route 339 is 362 steps.

Staircase Highway, Tappi

Photo by 池田賢一郎 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Odai Yamamoto I Site

Charcoal analysis showed these potsherdswere used about 15,000 years ago or more.

The town explains that analysis of charred residue on the plain pottery sherds from the Odai Yamamoto Site shows they were used about 15,000 years ago or more. The pots were used for cooking, and the town says the site shows the beginnings of settled life. The finds became an Important Cultural Property in 2025.

Used about 15,000+ years ago (town)
National Historic Site, 2013
Finds: Important Cultural Property, 2025

02 ／ Tairadate Battery Site

Seven hollows thought to hold cannon,and 33 pines planted on the earthwork.

The Tairadate Battery Site is the remains of a battery built by the Hirosaki domain in 1849. According to the prefecture, the earthwork is about 2.3 m high, the interior is about 80 m by 11 m, and 33 pines are planted on it. A pine grove 1.8 km long stretches to the west.

7 hollows
Earthwork about 2.3 m high
33 pines
Prefectural Historic Site, 2004

03 ／ Tachifuri

Bamboo poles stand in for swords,struck together by pairs of dancers.

In the Tachifuri, dancers in pairs strike bamboo poles, which stand in for swords, together to flute and drum, praying for a good harvest. Once found in many districts, it survives only in the former Utetsu Village (Minmaya Rokujoma district), the town writes.

Danced in pairs
Survives only in former Utetsu Village (Rokujoma)
Town Intangible Folk Cultural Property, 2008

Sotogahama 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 July–October 2023)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

In 2005, three towns and villages merged.

about 5,000 people
Rural district town

Formed on March 28, 2005 by the merger of Kanita Town, Tairadate Village and Minmaya Village, the town is about 89 percent forest. It faces Mutsu Bay to the east and, across the Tsugaru Strait, Hokkaido to the north. Besides the main office in Kanita, it has branch offices in Tairadate and Minmaya.

People living here: 5,401people
Area: 230.3km²
Households: 2,358households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 7 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —1 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

Borders 4 municipalities.

Sotogahama Town in Japan41.043°N 140.632°E

Territory of Sotogahama 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

26.7km

Imabetsu Town, Nakadomari Town, Yomogita Village, Goshogawara City

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

Sotogahama Town isthis kind of town.

01The part of National Route 339 near Cape Tappi from below the cape to the lighthouse is a staircase of 362 steps, 388.2 m long, closed to vehicles
02The Odai Yamamoto Site traces stone tools from the late Upper Paleolithic to the Incipient Jomon, and the town explains that its plain pottery sherds were used about 15,000 years ago or more
03The Tairadate Battery Site is the remains of a battery built by the Hirosaki domain in 1849 with seven hollows, and in the Minmaya Rokujoma district of the former Utetsu Village the Tachifuri, a dance with bamboo poles, survives

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Sotogahama Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes