Akiota Town

The gorge's name traces to an Edo book.

Matsu-ochibashū, name's source

Photo by HKT3012 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Former Tsutsuga Village Office

A village office built of village forest timberis still used as a working government building.

Completed in 1936, the wooden two-story former Tsutsuga Village Office used timber from the village's own forest. A semicircular-arch entrance porch marks the front. A nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property, it still serves as the Tsutsuga branch office of Akiota Town Hall.

Completed on 27 April 1936 (town website)
Wooden two-story building of village forest timber
Registered Tangible Cultural Property (2010)

02 ／ Shimo-Tsutsuga Shasō (Community Granary)

Graffiti on the earthen wallshints at how the granary was run.

In 1779 the Hiroshima domain had towns and villages adopt the shasō system to prepare for famine. The Shimo-Tsutsuga granary is a thatched earthen storehouse of about 4 tsubo; records say all its relief grain was released in the famine of 1837. Its inner walls carry graffiti such as "Tenpō 6, 7th month, 5th day, barley stored, Kisaka group" (天保六年未七月五日麦納，木坂組).

Thatched earthen storehouse of about 4 tsubo
Records say all relief grain was released in the 1837 famine
Prefectural historic site (designated 1961)

03 ／ Hori Hachiman Yabusame

Riders shoot whistling arrows at three targetsalong a 140 m course.

A ritual held at the festival of Hori Hachiman Shrine, today on the first Sunday of October. Tradition says it was already thriving by the mid-15th century. The tourism site says: "Today, no other authentic yabusame ritual remains in Hiroshima Prefecture."

Course is 140 m long, with three targets
Said to have been thriving by the mid-15th century
Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property (designated 1997)

Living here

88.4% of the town is forest, and the prefecture's highest peak is here.

about 6,000 people
Rural district town

Forest covers 88.4% of the town's 341.89 km². Elevation runs from about 90 m along the Ōta River in the southeast to 1,346 m on Mount Osorakan in the northwest. The Ini terraced rice fields were chosen among the Ministry of Agriculture's 100 Terraces, and dried Gionbō persimmons were once presented to the lords of Hiroshima.

People living here: 5,740people
Area: 341.89km²
Households: 2,588households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 5 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —4 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 across 1 prefectures.

Akiota Town in Japan34.577°N 132.228°E

Territory of Akiota Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

24.3km

Hiroshima Prefecture: 北広島町, 広島市, 廿日市市
Shimane Prefecture: 益田市

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

Akiota Town isthis kind of town.

01Sandankyō in Akiota was named by the photographer Kuma Nanpō (熊南峰) after an Edo-period book, Matsu-ochibashū (松落葉集). Sasaki Masataka of Kake (Sumiya) compiled it in 1768, pairing scenic views along the upper Ōta River with Chinese poems and waka; its preface likens the scenery to Sanga and Sankyō in Shu, China.
02The former Tsutsuga Village has an old village office built of village forest timber and a granary built against famine in Shimo-Tsutsuga. At Hori Hachiman Shrine in Shimo-Tonokawachi, yabusame has been performed for generations.
03Forest covers 88.4% of the town, and traditions such as the Ini terraces and the Taiko Odori (drum dance) of Tsunami live on. The Oshigatao Fault Zone, a national natural monument, extends into Hatsukaichi's Yoshiwa, and Sakahara Kagura is a prefectural intangible folk cultural property.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Akiota Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗