Setouchi Town

Men in paper masks dance at a shrine.

Shodon Shibaya, Oochon Shrine

Photo by Suikotei (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Kakigyo Ruins

Fish that entered a stone wall at high tidewere caught as the water fell.

The library and museum site describes kakigyo as a method of netting fish that entered a stone enclosure at high tide and were left behind as the tide fell. It seems to have been shared by villages across Setouchi, and it records that half-collapsed stone walls now remain at two places, Kiji and Oshikaku.

Two places: Kiji and Oshikaku
Seemingly shared by the village
Kiji repaired its fish weir on the 5th of the 5th lunar month

02 ／ Mt. Oyama on Ukejima

Climbing Mt. Oyama on Ukejimarequires the Ikeji village group.

Mt. Oyama (Miyochon-dake) on Ukejima is 398 m, the island's highest peak. The town requires an entry notice under its regulation on designated-area entry, and, to protect nature, accompaniment by the Ikeji Village Minorikai. The notice is due two weeks before the planned date. The town's page was updated on 18 March 2026.

Elevation 398 m
Accompaniment required
Notice two weeks ahead

03 ／ Katoku Site

A dune site found during sand digginggave its name to Katoku-type pottery.

The Katoku site, found by chance in 1973 during sand digging in Katoku village, lies on a dune near the mouth of the Katoku River. The library and museum site writes that Katoku-type pottery, named by the researcher, is still one of the index pottery types for the late Jomon period (about 4,000 years ago) in the Nansei Islands.

Found in 1973
Late Jomon (about 4,000 years ago)
Excavated pottery shown at the museum

Living here

Island town, 450 km south of Kagoshima.

about 9,000 people
Rural district town

Setouchi has no railway; its gateway is Koniya Port. Across the southern part of Amami Oshima and the three islands of Kakeroma, Ukejima and Yoroshima, it has 56 villages. The town's site lists Ferry Kikai and Ferry Amami as the boats from Kagoshima to Koniya Port.

People living here: 8,546people
Area: 239.65km²
Households: 4,270households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 10 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.

Setouchi Town in Japan28.146°N 129.315°E

Territory of Setouchi Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

28.6km

宇検村, 奄美市

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

Setouchi Town isthis kind of town.

01Oochon Shrine in Shodon on Kakeroma Island enshrines Taira no Sukemori, who by oral tradition crossed to Amami Oshima, and the nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property Shodon Shibaya is danced in its grounds on a village event day, the 9th of the 9th lunar month
02In Aminoko, on Isu Bay, Andonde, danced only by women, is a town-designated intangible folk cultural property, and Yui's harvest dance, prefecturally designated, is held on the 15th of the 8th lunar month
0356 villages are scattered across southern Amami Oshima, Kakeroma, Ukejima and Yoroshima; the town was formed in 1956 by merging Koniya, Nishikata, Saneku and Chinzei

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Setouchi Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗