Shimanto City

Gods wed, said to curb bride-snatching.

Fuba Hachimangu, gods' wedding

01 ／ Okuribi bonfire

The character 大 is dug into the mountainside,and torches from each household are burned.

This is an Obon event of Mazaki district. On the 16th day of the seventh lunar month, vegetation on the mid-slope of a mountain (十代地山) known locally as Dai-no-ji-yama, is dug out in the shape of the character 大 and torches gathered from each household are set along it and burned. Said to have been started by Ichijo Fusaie, who longed for Kyoto, it is run by Mazaki's 78 households in seven groups, each taking a one-year turn on duty.

16th day of the 7th lunar month
A mountain known locally as Dai-no-ji-yama
78 households in 7 groups, one-year turns

02 ／ A town modeled on Kyoto

Traces of a town modeled on Kyotoremain in its place names.

Ichijo Norifusa (一條教房), a former chancellor, left Kyoto to escape the Onin War, moved to Nakamura, and began building a town modeled on Kyoto. Traces remain in a grid of streets and in place names such as Gion, Kyomachi, Kamogawa and Higashiyama. Ichijo Shrine on the summit of Komoriyama was built by local volunteers in 1862; the present building dates from 1944.

Ichijo Shrine built in 1862
Present shrine building dates from 1944
Former chancellor Ichijo Norifusa moved here to escape the Onin War

03 ／ River name

Under the River Law, the Shimanto'sofficial name was once Watarigawa.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Shimanto River's official name under the River Law had long been Watarigawa (渡川). In July 1994 it was renamed from Watarigawa to Shimanto River (Watarigawa) within the Watarigawa system, whose name remains. The tourism association records that the change came at strong local request. The main stream is 196 km long.

Renamed “Shimanto River (Watarigawa)” in July 1994
System name: Watarigawa system
Main stream length: 196 km

Living here

Annual rainfall is 2,669.2 mm.The climate is mild, of the Pacific type.

about 30,000 people

Shimanto lies in southwestern Kochi Prefecture, and its southeast faces the Pacific Ocean. Its area is 632.29 km2. Passing through the mountains of Nishitosa, the Shimanto River crosses the Nakamura plain and flows into the sea. The city was formed in 2005 by the merger of the former Nakamura City and Nishitosa Village. The mean temperature for 1981 to 2010 is 16.3°C.

People living here: 32,694people
Area: 632.32km²
Households: 14,844households
Rent (average for rentals): 39,095yen
Healthcare: 6 hospitals ／ 30 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —20 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.

Shimanto City in Japan32.991°N 132.934°E

to OsakaOvernight bus468min
to SannomiyaOvernight bus414min

Travel times follow 近鉄バス（事業者公式）の夜行高速バス「京都・大阪・神戸⇔中村・宿毛（しまんとブルーライナー）」（高知西南交通と共同運行）の時刻表。京都・大阪・神戸から中村駅まで乗り換えなしで着く (checked 2026-09-30). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Shimanto City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

39.2km

Kochi Prefecture: 四万十町, 宿毛市, 黒潮町, 三原村, 土佐清水市
Ehime Prefecture: 松野町, 宇和島市

Shimanto City isthis kind of town.

01According to the city, Fuba Hachimangu (不破八幡宮) is a shrine to which Lord Ichijo brought the Iwashimizu Hachimangu deity as the chief guardian shrine of the Hata region, and its main hall was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1963. In the shrine's autumn festival, the “gods' wedding” is a rite in which the female deity's mikoshi arrives at the shrine where the male deity's mikoshi waits, and the mikoshi are joined. It is said to have been started by Lord Ichijo to warn against customs such as marriage by abduction.
02On the first Saturday of August, the All-Japan Jorogumo Spider Sumo Tournament has been held in the grounds of Ichijo Shrine. The city records a tradition that it began as a pastime of the maids who came with Ichijo Norifusa, who fled the Onin War, and says that in all of Japan it survives only in Nakamura and in Kajiki Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. At the Ichijo Festival each November, events such as a procession of lanterns lit with sacred fire have been held across the city for three days.
03The city was formed in 2005 by the merger of Nakamura City and Nishitosa Village. Its lower Shimanto River basin was selected in 2009 as a National Important Cultural Landscape, “Cultural Landscape of the Shimanto River Basin: Livelihoods, Distribution and Travel in the Lower Basin”, and the selection text names the Kuchiyanai and Shimoda districts. The Ekawasaki observatory in Nishitosa recorded 41.0°C on August 12, 2013.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shimanto City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗