Article

07205 ／しらかわし

Shirakawa City

Shirakawa Orthodox Church

01 ／ Old barrier monument

The site of the Shirakawa Barrier, once forgotten,was identified by Sadanobu in 1800.

The whole hill, about 410 m high, is a designated historic site. The barrier is thought to date from the Nara to Heian periods, and its location is presumed to have been forgotten. Matsudaira Sadanobu surveyed and studied it, identified the present site, and raised a monument.

National Historic Site (designated 1966)
Monument raised in Kansei 12 (1800)
The whole hill, about 410 m high, is designated

02 ／ Nanko Park

With no fence or wall, a park built on the idealof "enjoyment shared by samurai and commoners."

This park was built by the lord of Shirakawa, Matsudaira Sadanobu, on the ideal of enjoyment shared by samurai and commoners. Unlike many daimyo gardens, it had no fence or wall from the start and was open to commoners. Nanko Shrine's grounds hold a tea house, a prefectural Important Cultural Property.

Pond: 690 m east-west, 370 m north-south
National Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty (designated 1924)
Poem monument of the Seventeen Views raised in 1820

03 ／ Three-story turret

Based on drawings and excavations, the three-story turretwas rebuilt in wood in 1991.

Komine Castle is a terraced hill castle built on a hill and terrace south of the Abukuma River. Niwa Nagashige's major renovation was completed in Kan'ei 9 (1632), and the main and second enclosures were fortified with stone walls throughout. The three-story turret and front gate have been reconstructed in wood.

Three-story turret reconstructed in 1991
Front gate reconstructed in 1994
Main and second enclosures fully stone-walled

Shirakawa City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot June–July 2023)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

From Shirakawa Station to City Hall, about 10 minutes on foot.

about 60,000 people

The city's "Access to Shirakawa" page (updated August 2018) says City Hall is about 10 minutes on foot from JR Shirakawa Station. From Shin-Shirakawa Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen, change to the Tohoku Main Line. Shin-Shirakawa Station is in neighboring Nishigo Village. On November 7, 2005, the city merged with three neighboring villages.

People living here: 59,491people
Area: 305.32km²
Households: 23,763households
Rent (average for rentals): 43,735yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 47 clinics

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

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-11-07 に新設合併（表郷村・東村・大信村）。2010年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —11 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 9 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Shirakawa City in Japan37.126°N 140.211°E

Territory of Shirakawa City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

29.0km

Fukushima Prefecture: Nishigo Village, Izumizaki Village, Tanagura Town, Ten-ei Village, Asakawa Town, Yabuki Town, Ishikawa Town, Nakajima Village
Tochigi Prefecture: Nasu Town

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

Shirakawa City isthis kind of town.

01The Shirakawa Orthodox Church building is a wooden single-story church (with a two-story bell tower in part) begun in 1914 and completed the next year, designed by a man who was then a subdeacon and built by a Shirakawa master carpenter, and it is a prefectural Important Cultural Property (building)
02The whole hill of the Shirakawa Barrier site is a national historic site, where Matsudaira Sadanobu raised a monument in 1800. Nanko Park is a national historic site and place of scenic beauty, built on the ideal of shared enjoyment by samurai and commoners
03Komine Castle ruins are a national historic site, a terraced hill castle whose main and second enclosures were fortified with stone walls throughout. The three-story turret and front gate have been reconstructed in wood

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shirakawa City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes