Big Bridge, local larch roof, Kuzumaki Town
Article

03302 ／ くずまきまち

Iwate Prefecture 岩手郡

Kuzumaki Town

A bridge for cars, roofed in larch.

Big Bridge, local larch roof

Photo by ブルーノ・プラス (CC BY 4.0)

01 ／ Six Kannon

Six Kannon statues at a temple here are saidto have been hidden in an attic when temples were suppressed.

The six statues (Sho, Senju, Batō, Eleven-Faced, Juntei and Nyoirin Kannon) are 17th-century works carved from single blocks of katsura, about 108 cm tall. Said to come from a former temple, they were wrapped in straw matting and hidden in the attic of the head priest's family when it became a shrine, then given to the temple in the late Meiji or early Taisho era.

  • Prefecturally designated, 2011
  • Six statues, 107.5-108.5 cm
  • Moved to the temple, late Meiji or early Taisho

02 ／ Post town

The town calls its shopping street, with a Hachinohe Domain storehouse,the foremost post town on the Kuji Kaido.

The town's tourist guidebook describes the central shopping street this way. The 2026 town overview says Kuzumaki first belonged to the Morioka Domain, then to the Hachinohe Domain after its separation. It lay on the Salt Road carrying salt from Noda Village to Morioka, and traces of its past as a post town remain, it says.

  • Hachinohe Domain storehouse
  • Under Morioka Domain in early Edo
  • Salt Road, Noda Village to Morioka

03 ／ Town hall

Town office, chamber of commerce and hallgather under one big roof.

Town hall in Kuzumaki Town
Photo by Yasu (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Its nickname, Kuzumaru, blends "Kuzumaki" and "gather." The building has five floors, housing town offices, the commerce and industry association and a multipurpose hall. The roofed plaza is called "Big Terrace." On the first floor, a free space for residents has floors and walls of local timber.

  • Offices, association and hall under one roof
  • Roofed plaza "Big Terrace"
  • Free space with local-timber floors and walls

Kuzumaki Town 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 1974–1978)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

Fifty-two minutes by bus from Iwate-Numakunai Station, on the highlands.

  • about 6,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town. The town tells visitors to change to a JR Bus from Iwate-Numakunai Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen. In the JR Bus Tohoku timetable revised on June 1, 2026, the fastest bus from Iwate-Numakunai Station to Kuzumaki takes 52 minutes. The total area is 434.96 km2, of which forest accounts for 59.3%.

People living here
5,634people
19952020

−11.2% since 2015

9,536 → 5,634

Area
434.96km²

67.44km² of it habitable

2024

Households
2,349households

2.4 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
1 hospital ／ 2 clinics

5.3 per 10,000 people

2023

Area434.96km²Habitable land67.44km² ／ 16%
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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kuzumaki Town in Japan40.040°N 141.436°E
TokyoOsakaKuzumaki Town
  • to Iwate-NumakunaiLocal bus52min

Travel times follow JRバス東北公式『盛岡ー葛巻・久慈（白樺号）』（https://www.jrbustohoku.co.jp/route/13/278/ ・『2026年6月1日からの運賃・時刻表』・2026-10-23 に読んだ）。**盛岡発**：盛岡駅 6:30・10:15・13:05・15:10・17:30 → 葛巻 8:14・11:59・14:49・16:54・19:14（5便すべて104分）。**いわて沼宮内駅発**：7:20・11:05・13:55・16:02・18:22 → 葛巻 8:14・11:59・14:49・16:54・19:14（54・54・54・52・52分＝毎日運転の最速は52分〈16:02発・18:22発〉）。逆向き（葛巻発→町の外）は 葛巻 7:52・9:57・13:27・15:27・18:27 → いわて沼宮内駅 8:43・10:48・14:18・16:18・19:18（5便すべて51分）、→盛岡駅 9:40・11:45・15:15・17:15・20:11（108・108・108・108・104分）。ページに運転日の注記（平日のみ・土日運休・特定日など）は無い（『ご案内』『時刻表』『料金表』『お知らせ』の欄を読んだ。全10便が毎日運転と読めるが、運転日の表は載っていない）。運賃は盛岡駅→葛巻駅1,930円・いわて沼宮内駅→葛巻駅1,190円 (checked 2026-10-23). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

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

Kuzumaki Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The Big Bridge on a town road is 51 m long and carries a 30 m wooden roof of 51.2 m3 of local larch laminated timber over the bridge
  2. 02The six wooden Kannon statues are prefecturally designated and said to have been hidden in the attic of a head priest's family when temples were suppressed, then moved to the temple
  3. 03The town calls its shopping street the foremost post town on the Kuji Kaido, with a Hachinohe Domain storehouse, and the Kuzumaru town hall houses offices, the chamber and a hall

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kuzumaki Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes

Similar towns

Next town Iwate Prefecture Ichinohe Town →Wave-like stripes flank the pass.