Yakiuchi Bay.jpg
Article

46524 / うけんそん

Kagoshima Prefecture 大島郡

Uken Village

A deep inlet ringed by mountains.

Yakiuchi Bay

Photo by Waka77 (Public domain)

01 / Sanen Mooya

A tomb of piled stones, kept by thevillage with flowers and incense stands.

On a hill at the edge of Sanen hamlet stands Mooya, the communal graveyard. The village website describes it as the only complete stacked-stone tomb to be seen on Amami Oshima, and it is a village-designated tangible cultural property. A hamlet caretaker lays flowers, and it is preserved with the district head at the center. It is said to have been larger until the mid-Meiji era.

  • Village-designated tangible cultural property
  • On a hill at the edge of Sanen hamlet
  • Said to have been larger until the mid-Meiji era

02 / Arangachi Falls

A waterfall sourced on Mt. Yuwandakedrops about 30 m.

アランガチの滝.jpg
Photo by Indiana jo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Arangachi Falls flows from sacred Mt. Yuwandake and drops about 30 m. The village website calls it one of Amami's representative waterfalls. Its source, Mt. Yuwandake, is the highest peak in the Amami Islands, at 694.4 m.

  • Drop of about 30 m
  • Source: Mt. Yuwandake
  • Mt. Yuwandake: 694.4 m

03 / Benzaiten Statue and Votive Tower

A votive tower is carved with Genroku 15.It stands before Itsukushima Shrine in Uken.

Uken hamlet still holds the site of the district office from the Shimazu domain era, the center of Yakiuchi district. On the altar of Itsukushima Shrine sits a stone statue of Benzaiten, and the votive tower before the hall is carved with Genroku 15 (1702). The hamlet still calls the shrine "otera."

  • Village-designated folk cultural property
  • Carved Genroku 15 (1702)
  • Site of the Yakiuchi district office

Living here

About 1 hour 40 minutes by car from Amami Airport.

  • about 2,000 people
  • Rural district town

Uken lies in the southwest of Amami Oshima, and over 90 percent of the village is mountainous. There is no railway, and the gateway is Uken Village Office (Yuwan). The village website gives about 1 hour 40 minutes by car from Amami Airport via Naze, and a reservation-based ride-share, Yakeuchi Ride, serves local travel.

People living here
1,621people
19952020

−5.9% since 2015

2,424 → 1,621

Area
103.07km²

9.1km² of it habitable

2024

Households
805households

2.0 people per household

2020

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

18.5 per 10,000 people

2023

Area103.07km²Habitable land9.1km² / 9%
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 3 municipalities.

Uken Village in Japan28.281°N 129.297°E
TokyoOsakaUken Village
Territory of Uken Village
Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

10.0km

瀬戸内町, 大和村, 奄美市

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

Uken Village isthis kind of town.

  1. 01Yakiuchi Bay is an inlet ringed by mountains on the north, south and east, where Edateku Island at the mouth serves as a natural breakwater and a refuge in typhoons
  2. 02Mt. Yuwandake is the highest peak in the Amami Islands, and the whole area near its summit was designated a national Natural Monument in 1968
  3. 03The harvest festival is held in all 14 hamlets in August and September, and in the Taken school district the Hachigatsu dances, which differ by hamlet, have been danced in turn each year at the school sports day

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.