Article

10384 ／かんらまち

Gunma Prefecture 甘楽郡

Kanra Town

A canal's wooden flume, rebuilt in stone

Fukiage Stone Flume, Ogawa-zeki

Photo by Indiana jo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Bit with a Wooden Cheekpiece from the Nishioyama Site

A horse's bit still holds its wooden part,unearthed from a tomb's moat.

It was unearthed in a fiscal 1995 excavation from the moat of Tumulus No. 1 at the Nishioyama site, a tomb of the slightly earlier part of the late 5th century. The iron fitting placed in a horse's mouth keeps a wooden cheekpiece, called a hyo. The town records that it was made in southern Korea and brought to Japan.

Tomb of the late 5th century
Wood remains 6.6 cm long
Gunma Prefecture Important Cultural Property, 2017

02 ／ Rakusan-en Garden

Mountains to the west and southare drawn into the garden's view.

This stroll garden with a pond belonged to the Obata domain's residence. The town explains that it borrows the scenery of Mount Momijiyama across the Ogawa River to the west, and of Mount Rensekizan and Mount Kumakurayama to the south. Several teahouses, including a pentagonal one, stand around the pond.

Nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty, 2000
Designated area 23,437.33 m²
Ume-no-chaya teahouse rebuilt in fiscal 2005

03 ／ Quarry Site for the Tomioka Silk Mill Foundation Stones

Cut stone leaves steps in the hillside,six or seven of them.

Sandstone for the foundation stones of the Tomioka Silk Mill buildings was cut from Mount Rensekizan, behind Chogonji Temple in Obata, and called stones for official use. Quarried in two tiers at about 220 to 230 m above sea level, chisel marks also remain, the town records.

About 220 to 230 m above sea level
Contract in the town history lists about 4,000 stones
Town-designated Important Cultural Property, 2018

Kanra 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 December 2022 – February 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

About 30 minutes from Takasaki on the Joshin Electric Railway; the north gateway is Joshu-Fukushima Station.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town says it is about 30 minutes from Takasaki Station on the Joshin Electric Railway, and about 2 km from Joshu-Fukushima Station (updated June 2023). The town has two stations on that line, Joshu-Fukushima and Joshu-Niiya, and calls Joshu-Fukushima its north entrance.

People living here: 12,491people
Area: 58.61km²
Households: 4,660households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 11 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —1 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 4 municipalities.

Kanra Town in Japan36.243°N 138.922°E

Territory of Kanra 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

12.2km

Tomioka City, Fujioka City, Takasaki City, Shimonita Town

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

Kanra Town isthis kind of town.

01The Fukiage stone flume carries the Ogawa-zeki canal across the Horisawa River; the town records that it was rebuilt from a wooden flume in stone between August 1865 and March 1866
02A horse's bit with part of its wooden cheekpiece remaining, found in a tomb's moat, is a prefectural Important Cultural Property, and Rakusan-en, the garden of the Obata domain's residence, is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty
03The Mount Rensekizan quarry site that supplied the Tomioka Silk Mill's foundation stones is a town-designated Important Cultural Property, and the town has two stations on the Joshin Electric Railway

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kanra Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes