Kihoku Town

Raymond's firm designed the town hall.

Kihoku Town Hall

Photo by Bakkai (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Toumyouji Former Precinct

The town ties the name "oni" (ogre)to the faith in a mountain god.

The Toumyouji former precinct is the site of a Tendai-ritsu mountain temple on the northern foot of a 1,010 m peak in the Onigajo range. It is said to have been founded by Rigyoku in 1320, and the stone wall of the main quarters is 6 m high and 25 m long. Reading the temple's origin story, the town says it was built to worship the god of Mt. Nara and the "oni" that served him.

National Historic Site (designated March 28, 2008)
Said to have been founded in 1320
Main quarters stone wall: 6 m high, 25 m long

02 ／ Itani House Water Supply Tunnel

A tunnel dug into the hill behind the main housedraws on spring water at its far end.

A Taisho-era water supply tunnel belonging to the Itani residence in Shimokagiyama. The entrance is a semicircular arch of cut stone, 2.4 m high and 2.3 m wide. The interior is bare-dug and 21.8 m deep. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as an intake facility of "a unique form." A nationally registered tangible cultural property.

21.8 m deep (interior bare-dug)
Entrance 2.4 m high, 2.3 m wide
Nationally registered tangible cultural property (registered August 13, 2012)

03 ／ Yasumori Cave

From a vertical limestone cave,about 26 kinds of animal fossils were collected.

A vertical limestone cave in Komatsu. According to the town, a survey by Yokohama National University collected fossils of about 26 kinds of animals, including the musk deer, which crossed from the continent 100,000 years ago and died out 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, as well as badgers and raccoon dogs.

About 26 kinds of fossils
Musk deer, badger, raccoon dog
Vertical limestone cave (Komatsu)

Living here

Tributaries of the Shimanto River run all through the town.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town covers 241.88 km², more than 80 percent of it forest. The Hiromi River rises on the border with Kochi Prefecture and joins the Shimanto River in Kochi. It is known for ayu and eel fishing in summer and crab fishing in autumn. Three Yodo Line stations (Fukata, Chikanaga and Izume) are in the town.

People living here: 9,682people
Area: 241.88km²
Households: 4,346households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 12 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —7 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 5 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Kihoku Town in Japan33.256°N 132.684°E

Territory of Kihoku Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

20.8km

Ehime Prefecture: 宇和島市, 西予市, 松野町
Kochi Prefecture: 四万十町, 檮原町

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

Kihoku Town isthis kind of town.

01A mountain town in southwest Ehime, its town hall was built in 1958. Designed by Antonin Raymond's architectural office, it is a nationally registered tangible cultural property and has stayed in use after a full renovation including seismic work (fiscal 2015).
02The Toumyouji former precinct, a National Historic Site, is a mountain temple site said to have been opened in the late Kamakura period. The town says faith in a mountain god is deeply tied to the origin of the "oni" in its name. Shimokagiyama has a water supply tunnel (a nationally registered tangible cultural property), and Komatsu has Yasumori Cave, where fossils were collected.
03The Hiromi River is a tributary of the Shimanto River, and the town has the roughly 3 km Narukawa Gorge and Chikanaga Station on the Yodo Line. Senkashi (泉貨紙), a handmade washi paper, is said to have begun to be produced in the town in the Kanbun era of the Edo period.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kihoku Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗