Itoda Town

A pond said to give the town its name

Tagiri (泌泉), town-name legend

Photo by Muyo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Kimura Ryokuhei and Santoka

A wandering haiku poet was supported,body and soul, by a doctor of Itoda.

Kimura Ryokuhei (木村緑平, 1888–1968) was a doctor from Yanagawa and a haiku poet who worked at a colliery hospital in Itoda Village. According to the town, the poet Taneda Santoka (種田山頭火) came to Itoda 14 times and entrusted all his diaries to Ryokuhei. The town has placed a haiku relief and an explanatory sign on Minazoe Bridge (皆添橋).

Santoka's visits to Itoda: 14 (town)
Kimura Ryokuhei: 1888–1968
Haiku relief and sign on Minazoe Bridge

02 ／ Bronze Halberds (銅戈)

Bronze halberds buried piled togetherare thought to be ritual objects.

In August 1950, someone tilling a thicket beside a house struck them with a hoe. According to interviews, the halberds lay piled together, buried fairly deep, with no other objects. The town describes them as ritual objects in the form of bronze weapons. Town-designated Cultural Property No. 2.

Found in August 1950
Town-designated Cultural Property No. 2 (Dec. 28, 1994)
Held by the town board of education

03 ／ Itoda Gion Yamakasa (糸田祇園山笠)

Carried floats and pulled floatscan be seen on the same day.

It began in 1708 (Hōei 5), when a Gion shrine was established by transferring a deity from elsewhere. Festivals once held separately in each old village were set to the same dates; today it is held on the second Saturday of May and the following Sunday. The portable shrine of Susa Shrine (須佐神社) stays one night at the resting place near Tsujiyashiki (辻屋敷).

Gion shrine established in 1708 (Hōei 5)
Town-designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property No. 8
Second Saturday of May and the next day (2026: May 9–10, planned)

Living here

Two rivers divide the town into three.

about 8,000 people
Rural district town

The Chūgenji River and the Tagiri River (泌川) of the Onga River system run north through the town and divide its area in three. The western part, east of the Seki-no-yama mountains, is active in rice and strawberry farming. On the Itoda Line in town, the regional transport council along the line resolved on March 25, 2026 to convert the railway to buses; the operator says it will keep running as before for the time being.

People living here: 8,407people
Area: 8.04km²
Households: 3,656households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 9 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —3 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 3 municipalities.

Itoda Town in Japan33.653°N 130.779°E

Territory of Itoda Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

4.0km

田川市, 福智町, 飯塚市

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

Itoda Town isthis kind of town.

01Tagiri (泌泉) is a small pond with a stone torii and stone walls, in the paddy fields of Hara, Itoda. A legend holds it to be the origin of the town's name, and it is a town-designated historic site. The town's explanation says the water has stopped because of mining damage, while the prefecture's tourism site says it gushes.
02Kimura Ryokuhei was a doctor whom the town calls Santoka's financial and spiritual supporter. The bronze halberds came out of a thicket in 1950 piled together; they are ritual objects in the form of bronze weapons, held by the town board of education.
03The Itoda Gion Yamakasa is a town-designated festival where carried and pulled floats can be seen on the same day. The town is crossed by the Chūgenji and Tagiri rivers of the Onga River system, with an area of about 8 km² and a population just under 10,000.

See the town as it is now.

Facebooktown.itoda ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Itoda Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗