Kurate Town

Two stone pillows were carved in a tomb.

Furutsuki Yokoana, stone pillows

Photo by Muyo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Hase Kannon (長谷観音)

From crown to lotus base,a standing Kannon made of one block.

A nationally designated Important Cultural Property at Chokokuji (長谷寺), known locally as Hase Kannon. It is made of one block of camphor wood, with a halo of a single camphor board at its back. It is also said to have been carved by a local sculptor in the early 11th century. The statue is unveiled at the spring and autumn grand festivals.

Important Cultural Property (designated 1904)
One block of camphor wood
Unveiled Apr 17-18 and Oct 17-18

02 ／ Ito Tsunetari and the Dazai Kannaishi (太宰管内志)

Over 37 years, he wrote up all of Kyushuin 82 volumes: a scholar of Kokugaku.

Ito Tsunetari (1774-1858) was a late-Edo scholar of Kokugaku (national learning), born into a Furumono Shrine priest's family. His 82-volume Dazai Kannaishi was presented to the domain lord in 1841. His former house, built when he was 13, was restored from the plot plans and other records; it is a prefectural Historic Site.

Dazai Kannaishi: 82 volumes, 37 years
Presented to the domain lord in 1841
Former house: prefectural Historic Site (designated 1995)

03 ／ Traces of the Muroki Line

The Muroki Line opened in 1908and was discontinued in 1985.

The town's chronology records the Muroki Line opening in 1908 and its discontinuation in 1985. The town's overview says the present Kurate Station opened in July 1987. The photo shows the Nishikawa bridge remains in 2007.

1908: Muroki Line opens
1985: Muroki Line discontinued
July 1987: present Kurate Station opens

Living here

Roughly midway between Fukuoka and Kitakyushu.

about 20,000 people
Rural district town

Kurate lies roughly midway between Fukuoka City and Kitakyushu City, with the JR Chikuho Main Line (Fukuhoku Yutaka Line) running through its east. The Kyushu Expressway passes through the south, with the Kurate Interchange. The highway buses linking Kitakyushu and Fukuoka leave from a parking area in neighboring Nogata.

People living here: 15,080people
Area: 35.6km²
Households: 6,263households
Rent (average for rentals): 28,880yen
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 8 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —4 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 6 municipalities.

Kurate Town in Japan33.792°N 130.674°E

Territory of Kurate Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

9.1km

宮若市, 直方市, 中間市, 遠賀町, 宗像市, 北九州市

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

Kurate Town isthis kind of town.

01Furutsuki Yokoana (古月横穴) in Furumon, Kurate, is a group of cave tombs (yokoana) cut into a hillside in the late Kofun period, and a national Historic Site. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes two stone pillows carved side by side on the floor of Cave No. 9, and a net pattern in red on its back wall. The interior is closed for preservation and safety.
02The town presents the Hase Kannon (an eleven-headed standing Kannon) of Chokokuji as a national Important Cultural Property, with unveiling at the spring and autumn grand festivals. It notes that the origin of the name Kurate has several theories, and includes the tale of Kurajinokimi that Ito Tsunetari's Dazai Kannaishi gives, citing the Nihon Shoki. The town chronology records the Muroki Line opening in 1908 and ending in 1985.
03The Nobu-Otsuka Kofun (新延大塚古墳), a prefectural Historic Site, has a horizontal stone chamber said to be the largest in the Onga River basin. The town records that Yudate Kagura is offered at Yatsurugi Shrine every October, and Kyoho grapes began to be grown on the south slope of a coal-mine spoil heap after the war, now branded Kurate Budo.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kurate Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗