Kuroyama Mukashiana, ridge site, Kunohe Village
Article

03506 / くのへむら

Iwate Prefecture 九戸郡

Kunohe Village

65 pits of 1,000-year-old homes remain.

Kuroyama Mukashiana, ridge site

Photo by Heyhey6985 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 / Site

From pit dwellings with stoves, late 10th century,came iron items thought to be horse fittings.

The 65 hollows are pit-dwelling remains that never filled in. Local people called them pits where people of old lived, which gave the site its name. In the five that were excavated, all late 10th-century pit dwellings with stoves, iron knives and arrowheads and iron items thought to be horse fittings came to light.

  • 65 hollows confirmed
  • Five excavated
  • Late 10th-century pit dwellings

02 / Building plaque

A chestnut-board plaque of Tenbun 7 namesthe chief patron as Minamoto Masazane.

The plaque, made of chestnut board, is 82 cm long, 20.3 cm wide and 0.7 cm thick. The village calls it the oldest of its cultural properties. Whether the Minamoto Masazane named on it is Kunohe Masazane is debated because of his age at the time. Kunohe Shrine, the village's chief shrine, is said to date from 842.

  • 82 cm long, 20.3 cm wide, 0.7 cm thick
  • Dated the 19th day of the 9th month, Tenbun 7
  • Village-designated, 1975

03 / Natural monument

A chestnut tree with drooping branchesis a natural monument of the village.

This chestnut is 1.4 m around the trunk, 4.8 m tall and spreads 12 m, and is a village natural monument. The village says drooping branches have been confirmed in only a small number of other trees, in Nagano Prefecture, and that it is regarded as a scientifically valuable variety. It still bears many nuts in autumn.

  • 1.4 m trunk, 4.8 m tall, 12 m spread
  • Village-designated, 1970
  • A few others in Nagano (village's account)

Kunohe Village from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot October–November 2021)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

Forty minutes by bus from Ninohe Station.

  • about 5,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in the village, which says Ninohe Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen is 20 minutes away by car. By local bus, the village timetable revised on April 1, 2026 shows 40 minutes from the stop in front of Ninohe Station to Ibonai Branch Office. The population is 4,912 as of April 1, 2026, per the village.

People living here
5,378people
19952020

−8.3% since 2015

7,727 → 5,378

Area
134.02km²

33.59km² of it habitable

2024

Households
1,924households

2.8 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals / 3 clinics

5.6 per 10,000 people

2023

Area134.02km²Habitable land33.59km² / 25%
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.

Kunohe Village in Japan40.211°N 141.419°E
TokyoOsakaKunohe Village
Kunohe Village Office
九戸村役場2023
  • to NinoheLocal bus40min

Travel times follow 九戸村公式『九戸村総合時刻表(R8.4.1改正)』(九戸村公式『九戸村バス時刻表・料金・バス停位置』https://www.vill.kunohe.iwate.jp/docs/74.html の令和8年4月1日時点のPDF)の岩手県北自動車『二戸線』。**二戸駅前発→伊保内支所着**:7:25→8:05(△日・祝日運休)・11:25→12:05(●土・日・祝日運行)・13:15→13:55(△日・祝日運休)・15:00→15:40(印なし=毎日)・16:55→17:35(印なし=毎日)・18:40→19:20(〇土・日・祝日運休)。すべて40分(毎日運転は15:00と16:55の2本)。**伊保内支所発→二戸駅前着**:6:40→7:20(△日・祝日運休)・7:10→7:50(印なし=毎日)・8:15→8:55(〇土・日・祝日運休/土のみ運行の列)・12:55→13:35(印なし=毎日)・16:10→16:50(印なし=毎日)・17:30→18:10(〇土・日・祝日運休)。すべて40分(毎日運転は7:10・12:55・16:10の3本)。 (checked 2026-10-23). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

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

Kunohe Village isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The Kuroyama Mukashiana site is a late Heian-period hilltop settlement on a ridge reaching east from the mountains of which Mt. Oritsume is the peak; 65 pit-dwelling hollows have been confirmed, and it was designated a national historic site in 2024
  2. 02A chestnut-board plaque kept at Kunohe Shrine is inscribed with the 19th day of the 9th month of Tenbun 7 and the name of the chief patron Minamoto Masazane, and the village calls it the oldest of its cultural properties; a drooping-branched chestnut is a village natural monument
  3. 03The village has no railway station; a local bus runs from the stop in front of Ninohe Station to Ibonai Branch Office in 40 minutes (village timetable revised April 1, 2026)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.