Article

10521 ／いたくらまち

Gunma Prefecture 邑楽郡

Itakura Town

Sandbar paddies, willows planted around.

Kawada & Yanagiyama, Yata River

Photo by Indiana jo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Flood storehouse

Wheat, which is still edible after a soaking,is stacked a level above last year's flood mark.

A mizuka is a building raised on an earthen mound to protect people and food during floods, with grain stored on the ground floor. Wheat, which can be eaten even after soaking, goes on the lower tier; rice and soybeans go above. The previous year's water level (the mizumori line) is marked, and the wheat is stacked a level higher than that.

Wheat on the lower tier
Rice and soybeans above
Last year's water level (mizumori line)

02 ／ Shrine building

A hall two bays wide,with Hachiman and Inari side by side.

The subsidiary shrine building in the grounds of Raiden Shrine is a two-bay, irimoya-roofed hall, with Hachiman enshrined on the right and Inari on the left. According to the town, it was built in 1547 by Shinozaki Mikawa-no-kami, lord of Iino Castle. It is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property.

Two-bay irimoya-roofed hall
Two deities: Hachiman and Inari
Built 1547, per the town

03 ／ Submersible bridge

The bridge linking sandbars in the Yata Riveris nicknamed the "diving bridge".

Submersible bridge in Itakura Town — Photo by Indiana jo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Just east of the Yata River siphon, a town-road submersible bridge (Ainokawa Bridge) links Ebise and Shimogoka across a sandbar, and is nicknamed the "Moguri-bashi", or diving bridge. According to the town, such bridges seem to have been common along the Yata River until the 1950s. It lies in the Yata River district, one of six districts of the Important Cultural Landscape.

Nickname "Moguri-bashi"
Town road linking Ebise and Shimogoka
Seen widely until the 1950s, it seems

Itakura Town 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 January 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

56 minutes from Asakusa on one morning express.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town's station is Itakura-Toyodaimae on the Tobu Nikko Line. In Tobu's express timetable revised on 14 March 2026, Liberty Kegon No. 1 leaves Asakusa at 6:30 and arrives at 7:26, 43 minutes from Kitasenju. The town advises about 80 minutes from Asakusa with a change at Minami-Kurihashi.

People living here: 14,083people
Area: 41.86km²
Households: 5,428households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 7 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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Itakura Town in Japan36.226°N 139.602°E

Itakura Toyodai-mae Station — 板倉東洋大前駅2021

to AsakusaTobu Nikko Line ltd. exp.56min
to Kita-SenjuTobu Nikko Line ltd. exp.43min

Travel times follow 東武鉄道特急列車時刻表（2026.3.14改正・下り『浅草・JR新宿―東武日光・鬼怒川温泉・会津田島・東武宇都宮』）の PDF（https://www.tobu.co.jp/pdf/timetable/time-table_01_kudari.pdf?202603）を画像にして読んだ。同じ表の『N』の付く列（普通・南栗橋始発）で板倉東洋大前の着時刻の並びを突き合わせた (checked 2026-10-21). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Itakura Town

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

9.7km

Gunma Prefecture: Tatebayashi City, Meiwa Town
Tochigi Prefecture: Tochigi City, Sano City
Saitama Prefecture: Kazo City, Hanyu City

Itakura Town isthis kind of town.

01Along the Yata River, the town keeps the know-how of kawada, paddies on dug-up soil, and yanagiyama, willow groves for firewood
02In a mizuka, wheat goes on the lower tier and rice and soybeans above
03Raiden Shrine's subsidiary shrine building enshrines Hachiman and Inari in a two-bay hall and is an Important Cultural Property

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Itakura Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes