Article

10421 ／なかのじょうまち

Gunma Prefecture 吾妻郡

Nakanojo Town

Moss thrives in a mine's acidic water.

Chatsubomigoke, old iron mine

Photo by Qurren (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Tomizawa-ke Residence

Four horse stalls on the earthen floor.Echigo rice was unloaded at this house.

The Daido hamlet was a new-field village opened in the Edo period, and the family served as its headman for generations, the town records. Thatched with a hipped-and-gabled roof, it measures 23.97 m by 12.95 m, a large sericulture farmhouse whose roof front is of the kabuto style. The earthen floor has four horse stalls, and the broad upper floor was used for silkworms. The family donated it to the town in 1986.

Frontage 23.97 m
Four horse stalls
Important Cultural Property, 1970

02 ／ Joshu Shirokubo Ochako

The way the tea-tasting contestswere recorded is still handed down.

From the mid-14th century, samurai took up guessing the taste of tea, called tocha, and records of it remain, the town writes. Ochako records from 1799 survive and follow the same recording method as tocha, which is still handed down today. The town records that it is now held on February 24 at the house of the tea gathering.

Record of 1799
February 24
Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, 1990

03 ／ Kuni-Akaiwa

Three-storey houses called Sankaiyastand in a terrace hamlet by the Shirasuna River.

Akaiwa spreads over a river terrace of the Shirasuna River and was selected in 2006 as a Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, a mountain sericulture hamlet. The district covers about 63 hectares, and the Yumoto and Seki houses keep three-storey buildings called Sankaiya. Small sacred halls dot the area, and with stone walls and roadside deities they convey the scenery of the late Edo and Meiji periods, the town records.

About 63 hectares
Selected 2006
Three-storey Yumoto and Seki houses

Nakanojo 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 June–October 2016)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

118 minutes from Ueno by limited express to Nakanojo Station.

about 20,000 people
2 hours to a city centre
Rural district town

The gateway is Nakanojo Station on the JR Agatsuma Line, 118 minutes from Ueno on the fastest daily Limited Express Kusatsu/Shima. A highway bus takes 171 minutes from Shinjuku and 179 from Tokyo Station, both arriving at Nakanojo Station South. The town took its present form in 2010, when it merged with Kuni Village.

People living here: 15,386people
Area: 439.28km²
Households: 6,352households
Rent (average for rentals): 36,325yen
Healthcare: 4 hospitals ／ 16 clinics

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

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).2010-03-28 に編入合併（六合村）。2010年調査から市域が変わっている。

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.

Nakanojo Town in Japan36.590°N 138.841°E

to UenoLtd. exp. Kusatsu/Shima118min
to ShinjukuHighway bus171min
to TokyoHighway bus179min

Travel times follow JR東日本路線時刻表「吾妻線下り（渋川－長野原草津口－大前）」2610版の平日・土曜休日（取得2026-10-21）と、JRバス関東のデジタル時刻表『東京・新宿～伊香保・草津温泉上州ゆめぐり号／東京ゆめぐり号』（2025年12月15日改正）下り (checked 2026-10-21). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 9 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Nakanojo 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

22.8km

Gunma Prefecture: Higashiagatsuma Town, Kusatsu Town, Minakami Town, Naganohara Town, Takayama Village, Shibukawa City
Nagano Prefecture: Yamanouchi Town, Sakae Village
Niigata Prefecture: Yuzawa Town

Nakanojo Town isthis kind of town.

01Chatsubomigoke is a moss that grows in the strongly acidic water of the former Gunma Iron Mine, and its colonies and the area of iron ore are a national Natural Monument
02The Tomizawa-ke Residence is a sericulture farmhouse and a national Important Cultural Property, the Joshu Shirokubo Ochako is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and Kuni-Akaiwa is a nationally selected Preservation District
03The Former Azuma Daisan Elementary School building, opened in 1885, is a prefectural Important Cultural Property, later served as the town hall, and is now the main building of the town museum

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nakanojo Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes