Nakatane Town

A goshi's house is L-shaped in plan.

Furuichi House, a goshi's home

Photo by Bokanmania (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Mehirugi at the Atake River

Mehirugi grow in a colonyat the mouth of the Atake River.

On Tanegashima, mehirugi (Kandelia obovata) grow along six rivers on the east side of the island. The Agency for Cultural Affairs writes that the Atake River's stand covers a comparatively wide area and keeps a good growing environment. In low ground exposed to strong wind, each tree spreads out in a distinctive form. It is a national Natural Monument, and its designated name pairs it with the Kunigaminato River in Nishinoomote.

Mehirugi along 6 rivers on the east side
National Natural Monument: 2015-10-07
Near mid-river: about 1 to 1.5m tall

02 ／ Tachikiri Site

Beneath a volcanic ash layer from 35,000 years ago,pitfall traps were found.

At the Tachikiri Site, pitfall-trap features and gravel clusters placed in the first half of the Late Paleolithic were detected. Together with the Yokomine Site in Minamitane, it became a national Historic Site in 2022. The town's site says it is now farmland and cannot be seen. Results of the excavations are kept and displayed at the town's Historical and Folk Museum.

Ash layer from 35,000 years ago
National Historic Site: 2022-11-10
Now farmland

03 ／ Gendara Dance of Machiyamasaki

Its formation and song tempo shift with each of seven verses;a preservation society carries it on.

The Gendara dance (Gentaro-odori) is one of the dances found across all of Tanegashima, and its birthplace is also said to be Sumiyoshi in Osaka. Performed by men and women together as a nenbutsu dance, it has seven verses. The prefecture designated the Machiyamasaki dance an Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1964, and the Machiyamasaki Gendara Dance Preservation Society carries it on.

Seven verses
Prefectural designation: 1964-06-05
Carried on by the preservation society

Living here

The Furuichi House park is about 25 minutes by car from the airport.

about 8,000 people
Rural district town

The town's site says Historic Village Sakai Park, which surrounds the Furuichi House, is about 25 minutes by car from Tanegashima Airport. Shukesa, a woman who really lived in Masuda, is sung of in the Masuda Shukesa folk song for her deeds, such as winning the release of pasture land. Ohira Bridge is a stone bridge completed in 1927 that is still used as a farm road.

People living here: 7,539people
Area: 136.94km²
Households: 3,596households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 5 clinics

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.

Shape

Borders 2 municipalities.

Nakatane Town in Japan30.533°N 130.958°E

Territory of Nakatane Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

22.2km

西之表市, 南種子町

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

Nakatane Town isthis kind of town.

01The Furuichi House is a national Important Cultural Property, dated to 1846 by its ridge tablet. It was built by Furuichi Gensuke, a goshi (rural samurai) who served as village headman and yokome. Its plan, made of a zashiki (reception) section and a doma (earthen-floor) section, is L-shaped. It was dismantled and repaired in 2001 and 2002.
02The mehirugi colony at the Atake River is a national Natural Monument. The Tachikiri Site is a national Historic Site where pitfall-trap features were found beneath a volcanic ash layer from 35,000 years ago.
03The Gendara dance of Machiyamasaki is a nenbutsu dance in seven verses, designated by the prefecture. Materials from excavations and folk culture are kept and displayed at the town's Historical and Folk Museum.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nakatane Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗