Isa City

A hall nearly 500 years old survives.

Koriyama Hachiman, main hall

01 ／ Carpenter's inscription

A scrawl on a repaired beam carriesa 1559 date and the word shochu.

During the 1954 dismantling repair, a carpenter's scrawl was found at the tip of a tie beam on the northeast of the main hall. It bears the year Eiroku 2 (1559) and complains that the head priest never once treated the carpenters to shochu. The city calls it the oldest written record of the word shochu in Japan; the prefecture calls it the first appearance. The inscribed wooden piece is prefecturally designated and closed to the public.

1954: found in dismantling repair
Dated Eiroku 2 (1559)
Prefectural designation; not open to the public

02 ／ Sogi Falls

Near Sogi Falls, the river was dredged inthe Edo period to carry rice by water.

Sogi Falls lies on the upper Sendai River, with a drop of about 12 m and a width of about 210 m. In the Edo period rice was moved by water here, and a large-scale dredging opened the channel; the dredging songs of that time are still handed down. The Sogi Power Plant ruins downstream are partly collapsed and under repair, and the area is closed to visitors.

Drop: about 12 m
Width: about 210 m
Dredging songs still handed down

03 ／ Kedoin family residence

One main house holds a farming areaand a guest area: a samurai home.

The Kedoin family residence is a samurai house said to have been built in the mid-Edo period. According to the family genealogy the Kedoin moved to Okuchi in 1653, and the present house is presumed to date from the first half of the 18th century. Its main house combines a part for farm work with a samurai part for receiving guests, and it was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1975. It is a private home.

1975: National Important Cultural Property
Presumed 18th century, first half
Private; no visits without permission

Living here

A basin city on the Kumamoto and Miyazaki borders.

about 20,000 people

The city lies in northern Kagoshima and borders Hitoyoshi, Minamata and Kuma Village in Kumamoto, and Ebino in Miyazaki. It centres on the Isa basin in the upper Sendai River, and was formed in 2008 by the merger of Okuchi City and Hishikari Town. The gateway is the Okuchi bus stop, and there is no railway station in the city.

People living here: 24,453people
Area: 392.56km²
Households: 11,394households
Rent (average for rentals): 30,414yen
Healthcare: 6 hospitals ／ 21 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —13 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 7 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Isa City in Japan32.057°N 130.613°E

Territory of Isa City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

28.0km

Kagoshima Prefecture: さつま町, 湧水町, 出水市
Kumamoto Prefecture: 球磨村, 水俣市, 人吉市
Miyazaki Prefecture: えびの市

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

Isa City isthis kind of town.

01The present main hall of Koriyama Hachiman Shrine dates from about the 16th century and was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 1949. The city calls it very rare for a building nearly 500 years old to survive in Satsuma.
02A carpenter's scrawl found on a tie beam during the 1954 repair carries the year Eiroku 2 and the word shochu; the city calls it the oldest record, the prefecture the first appearance.
03Near Sogi Falls the river was dredged in the Edo period to carry rice, and the Kedoin family residence, a mid-Edo rural samurai home, survives as a National Important Cultural Property.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Isa City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗