Okagaki Town

Windbreak pines became part of its name.

Sanri Matsubara

Photo by 水だらけのプール (CC0)

01 ／ Takakura Biwa Loquats

In 1901, loquats from Motegi were brought homeand their seeds sown in Takakura.

In Meiji 34 (1901), Omura Eiso (大村永壮) inspected loquats at Motegi (茂木) Village in Nagasaki Prefecture, took the fruit back to his home district of Takakura (高倉), sowed the seeds and raised seedlings. Around Meiji 36, seedlings of the 'Tanaka' (田中) variety were ordered in from Chiba Prefecture, and cultivation is said to have begun. The town says it ranks first in Fukuoka Prefecture for output; Motegi, Yugawa (湯川) and Tanaka are among the varieties grown.

In Meiji 34 (1901), Omura Eiso inspected Motegi Village's loquats (town)
Cultivation is said to have begun around Meiji 36 (1903) (town)
First in Fukuoka Prefecture for output (town)

02 ／ Kyushu Railway Ebitsu Red Brick Arch

Kyushu Railway locomotivesonce ran over this red brick.

A town-designated historic site in Ebitsu 1-chome. According to the tourist association, the Kyushu Railway built it in 1890 to the design of a German engineer. Locomotives really did run over this red brick, and it still stands on site.

Town-designated cultural property (historic site)
Built by the Kyushu Railway in 1890 (tourist association)
Designed by a German engineer (tourist association)

03 ／ Hokuto no Mizukumi (The Big Dipper Drawing Water)

There is a shore where the Big Dipperseems to draw up the sea.

At Hatsu Coast (波津海岸), the Big Dipper's ladle seems to draw water from the horizon, and the town calls it 'Hokuto no Mizukumi' (北斗の水くみ). It can be seen only where the sea horizon lies to the north, at 33 to 34 degrees north latitude, and only part of northern Kyushu meets that condition, the town says. The recommended season is September to November.

Visible only at 33 to 34 degrees north with a northern sea horizon (town)
Recommended season: September to November (town)
On April 13, 2017, minor planet (15316) was named 'Okagakimachi' (town)

Living here

85% of the tap water is groundwater born from rain over 100 years old.

about 30,000 people
Rural district town

Groundwater pumped from six water sources and 14 wells in the town supplies 85% of its tap water. A joint study by the town and Kyushu University found that this groundwater comes from rain that fell more than 100 years ago. In July of Reiwa 6 (2024), an ordinance on protecting groundwater took effect.

People living here: 31,007people
Area: 48.64km²
Households: 12,120households
Rent (average for rentals): 41,627yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 25 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —2 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.

Okagaki Town in Japan33.854°N 130.611°E

Territory of Okagaki Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

8.8km

遠賀町, 宗像市, 芦屋町

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

Okagaki Town isthis kind of town.

01The Sanri Matsubara (三里松原) windbreak pine grove runs along Okagaki's coast. The 'kaki' (垣) in the town's name refers to pines that were planted as a windbreak; according to the Chikuzen Kuni Shoku Fudoki (筑前国続風土記) and the Onga-gunshi (遠賀郡誌), Empress Jingu had a thousand pines planted in one night as a fence. The name 'Okagaki' was born in 1907 (Meiji 40), when Okagata Village (岡県村) and Yahagi Village (矢矧村) merged.
02The grounds of Takakura Shrine (高倉神社) have a prefecturally designated natural monument cedar (Ayasugi, 綾杉) and camphor trees, and Kaizo-ji (海蔵寺) temple has a prefecturally designated seated Batto Kannon (Horse-headed Kannon). On Sanri Matsubara's shore, a loggerhead turtle came ashore in June of Reiwa 5 (2023) for the first time in eight years.
03A town in Onga District, with the Hibiki-nada (響灘) sea to the north and the Kodaijiyama (孔大寺山系) mountains to the south.

See the town as it is now.

Facebookokagakimachi ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Okagaki Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗