Article

03402 ／ひらいずみちょう

Iwate Prefecture 西磐井郡

Hiraizumi Town

Konjikidō's sheltering hall was moved.

Old Sheltering Hall, Konjikidō

Photo by Tak1701d (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Waterway

The intake of Mōtsū-ji's garden streamcan be seen on a walk beside an irrigation canal.

Waterway in Hiraizumi Town — Photo by Indiana jo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The agriculture ministry's walking course starts on a path beside an irrigation canal and visits the intake of the stream that feeds Mōtsū-ji's garden. The canal waters rice fields in Ichinoseki City and Hiraizumi Town. The ministry says it was dug in the Oshu-Fujiwara era. It became a World Heritage Irrigation Structure in 2016.

World Heritage Irrigation Structure, 2016
Served area: about 1,920 ha (Ichinoseki City and Hiraizumi Town)
Main canals: about 64 km

02 ／ Garden

Mōtsū-ji's garden stream is covered in stone;Kanjizaiō-in's is nearly bare earth.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Former Kanjizaiō-in Gardens as having a stream that uses only a few stones and is close to bare earth, unlike Mōtsū-ji, where gravel and garden stones cover the whole stream. The pond is fed from a pond in Mōtsū-ji's grounds, and a stone-set waterfall stands where the stream enters the pond.

Place of Natural Beauty, 2005
Pond fed from a pond at Mōtsū-ji
Restoration works, FY1973 to 1978

03 ／ Rock shelter

The pond before the rock-shelter hall is thoughtto go back to the Fujiwara era.

At Takkoku-no-Iwaya, a Bishamondo hall in the kakezukuri style stands in a rock shelter under a cliff about 150 m wide and up to about 35 m high. It is a National Historic Site. Digging in 1988 in front of the hall found a stone embankment thought to be a pond's edge, and pottery from the late 12th century.

National Historic Site, 2005
Cliff: about 150 m east to west
Pottery from the late 12th century

Hiraizumi 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 March–April 2020)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

Eight minutes from Ichinoseki Station on the Tohoku Main Line.

about 7,000 people
Rural district town

The town's transport guide gives 2 hours 10 minutes from Tokyo to Ichinoseki Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen, then 8 minutes to Hiraizumi Station on the Tohoku Main Line. From Hiraizumi Station it is 0.7 km to Mōtsū-ji, 1.6 km to Chūson-ji and 6.0 km to Takkoku-no-Iwaya Bishamondo. The town describes itself as a thriving farming area and a rice-growing district.

People living here: 7,252people
Area: 63.39km²
Households: 2,409households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 4 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —2 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 2 municipalities.

Hiraizumi Town in Japan38.987°N 141.114°E

Territory of Hiraizumi Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.

North to south

8.8km

Ichinoseki City, Oshu City

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

Hiraizumi Town isthis kind of town.

01The old sheltering hall was built to protect Konjikidō from wind and snow; the town says it was built about 600 years ago and protected the hall until 1962, and it was moved to its current location when the new sheltering hall was built
02The intake of Mōtsū-ji's garden stream lies along an irrigation canal that is a World Heritage Irrigation Structure; the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the Kanjizaiō-in stream as close to bare earth, unlike Mōtsū-ji's
03Takkoku-no-Iwaya is a National Historic Site where a Bishamondo hall stands in a rock shelter, and the pond before it is thought to go back to the Fujiwara era; the town's transport guide gives 8 minutes from Ichinoseki Station by train

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Hiraizumi Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes