Tosa Town

Forceful enough to turn amego back.

Amegaeri Falls, Setogawa Gorge

Photo by Koda6029 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Takasu terraced rice fields

The slopes of the 600 m terracescombine stone walls and earth banks.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' certification sheet for the “Tsunagu Tanada Isan” (Terraced Rice Fields Heritage) describes Takasu as a 92 ha terraced area in Takasu, Tosa, with slopes combining stone walls and earth banks (dobane). It is a producer of Aikawa rice that has recently taken up sake rice too, and the sheet says its landscape is supported by active upkeep by the community.

Elevation 600 m, area 92 ha (MAFF certification sheet)
Slope structure: stone walls and earth banks combined (same source)
In the Takasu district and one other (溜井), planting starts in mid-May and harvest runs from late October to mid-November (town website)

02 ／ Minagawa Hyakumanben Festival

Chanting the nenbutsu and carrying a huge rosary,they circle the Otaniji dance hall for hours.

In Minagawa, Tosa, people circle the maido (dance hall) of Otaniji chanting the nenbutsu and carrying a rosary. The town calls it a traditional event also known as a “strange festival of Tosa,” and records the festival as an intangible folk cultural property of the town and the hall as a tangible one. It has been held on the first Sunday after the start of the midsummer doyo period.

The festival is an intangible folk cultural property of the town (town website)
The Otaniji maido is a tangible folk cultural property of the town (same source)
Its start is given as “400 years ago” and as “the 14th century” on different town pages

03 ／ Nakajima Kannon-do

The zushi of the prefecture-designated Eleven-Faced Kannonopens on the day of the summer festival.

The wooden standing Eleven-Faced Kannon at Nakajima Kannon-do in Tai is a protected tangible cultural property (sculpture) of Kochi Prefecture. The town records that it is also said to date from the late Heian period. The town says its zushi (shrine cabinet) is opened once a year, at the summer festival.

The wooden standing Eleven-Faced Kannon was designated by the prefecture on 8 August 1969 (Kochi Prefecture)
Also said to date from the late Heian period (town website)
The main hall opens only at the festival in late July each year (Tosa Reihoku Tourism Council)

Living here

Even the town centre lies at about 250 m.

about 4,000 people
Rural district town

The town says summers are comfortable because it averages 2 to 3 degrees cooler than Kochi City. There is no railway station in the town; the town says a Reihoku Kanko Jidosha route bus runs within the town and from the north of Ino to Nankoku.

People living here: 3,753people
Area: 212.13km²
Households: 1,618households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 4 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 6 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Tosa Town in Japan33.737°N 133.532°E

Territory of Tosa Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

19.3km

Kochi Prefecture: いの町, 本山町, 大川村, 高知市, 南国市
Ehime Prefecture: 四国中央市

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

Tosa Town isthis kind of town.

01Amegaeri Falls (アメガエリの滝) lies midway along the Setogawa Gorge (瀬戸川渓谷) in Seto, Tosa. The town website says the falls are so forceful that amego (a local trout) cannot climb them and turn back. The gorge is described as contrasting with the “Yoshino blue stone” prized as garden stone, and the town calls its beauty in fresh green and autumn colour exceptional.
02Takasu terraced fields (高須棚田) appear on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' “Tsunagu Tanada Isan” certification list and grow Aikawa rice. In Minagawa, the Minagawa Hyakumanben Festival has been held, with a rosary carried around the maido hall of Otaniji (大谷寺). The wooden standing Eleven-Faced Kannon of Nakajima Kannon-do (中島観音堂) is a prefecture-designated cultural property, and its zushi is opened once a year at the summer festival. The town website presents the area around Mt. Inamura (稲叢山), which has a Heike fugitive legend, as entering its season of cherry blossoms and akebono azaleas from late April.
03A town in Tosa District, described by the town as lying in the headwaters region of the Yoshino River. The Sameura Dam in the east is also called the “water jar of Shikoku.” There is no railway station in the town; the town explains the route as the Nanpu limited express from Kochi Station to Osugi Station (in Otoyo), then a route bus to the town centre.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Tosa Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗