Onga Town

A keyhole tomb lies in the park's woods.

Shimazu-Maruyama Tumulus

Photo by 水だらけのプール (CC0)

01 ／ Jonokoshi Shell Mound

The name of a Yayoi pottery typecomes from a small district in Kamibefu.

The Jonokoshi (城ノ越) shell mound, in Aza Jonokoshi in Kamibefu (上別府), is a Yayoi-period site where many shellfish, mainly Yamato corbicula, and animal bones were found; academic surveys were carried out in 1952 and 1958. Some of the pottery unearthed was named "Jonokoshi-type pottery" and serves as a marker for pottery of about 2,100 years ago. It is a town-designated historic site.

A marker for pottery of about 2,100 years ago
Surveyed in 1952 and 1958
Town-designated historic site

02 ／ Onibasu at Ganihami Pond

In a pond where nothing sprouted for years,germination is seen again after pond drainage.

Ganihami Pond (蟹喰池) is the town's only spring-fed pond and a natural habitat of the onibasu (Euryale ferox), a species endangered nationally and in the prefecture. Germination stopped after 2003 (Heisei 15); in fiscal 2010 the town teamed up with Fukuoka Prefecture to launch a revival project and improved the environment mainly by draining the pond.

Town's only spring-fed pond
Germination stopped after 2003
Revival project launched in fiscal 2010

03 ／ The Double-Mouthed Jar

A jar with two mouths was unearthedfrom a storage pit at the close of the early Yayoi.

At the Keinoura (慶ノ浦) site in Aza Keinoura, Ozaki, 21 storage pits of the early Yayoi period were found. The double-mouthed jar (futakuchi-tsubo, 双口壺), 26.8 cm tall, came from a storage pit; its shoulder and neck carry nearly symmetrical patterns drawn with shells. It is a town-designated archaeological material, and the site has been backfilled.

21 early-period storage pits
26.8 cm tall
Town-designated archaeological material

Living here

The town covers 22.15 km² and has 18,900 residents.

about 20,000 people
Rural district town

The area is 22.15 km² (1 April 2025) and the population is 18,900 by the resident register (1 January 2025). The town lies in the lower Onga River basin, at the centre of the Onga Plain. The Onga mountain range runs north to south along its western edge as a watershed, and the rivers join the Onga River and flow into Hibiki-nada Sea.

People living here: 18,723people
Area: 22.15km²
Households: 7,561households
Rent (average for rentals): 41,037yen
Healthcare: 4 hospitals ／ 13 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 5 municipalities.

Onga Town in Japan33.848°N 130.668°E

Territory of Onga Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

9.1km

岡垣町, 水巻町, 芦屋町, 鞍手町, 中間市

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

Onga Town isthis kind of town.

01Shimazu-Maruyama Tumulus (島津・丸山古墳) is a 56.5 m keyhole-shaped tomb in the woods of Shimazu-Maruyama Historical and Natural Park (島津・丸山歴史自然公園), and a town-designated historic site. By comparison with other keyhole tombs nearby it is thought to date from the first half to the middle of the 4th century, and the town says it is thought to be the oldest keyhole tomb in the lower Onga River basin.
02The place name Onga is said to derive from Oka no Agata (岡県) and Oka no Minato (岡水門) in the Nihon Shoki and other sources, and to have come to be read "Onga" from "Oka". The town says Gion Yamakasa festivals are held in two districts, Shimazu and Oira (老良).
03The town's profiles of notable people include Hayakawa Isamu, who was born in Mushozu (虫生津) and advocated an alliance between Satsuma and Choshu, and Soeda Juichi, who was born in Oira (老良) and was involved in the promulgation of the Currency Act.

See the town as it is now.

Instagram@onga_town_official ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Onga Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗