Yusuhara Town

Locals served tea and sweets by turns.

Chado tea hall, Tsunoyama region

Photo by osami (Public domain)

01 ／ Yusuhara-za

An architect, learning it faced demolition,lent his help toward its survival.

Built in 1948 by Yusuhara's town association in Kitamachi as the Yusuhara public hall, it was moved and reconstructed in Higashimachi in September 1995. A prefectural document says the architect Kengo Kuma, on learning it was in danger of being torn down, helped toward its survival and was impressed by its wooden architecture. It has been used for plays, kabuki and film screenings.

Built in 1948
Moved and reconstructed in Higashimachi, September 1995
Stage with a hanamichi walkway, second-floor balcony seats

02 ／ Kanzaiko terraces

Using the scarce water of the headwaters rationally,the steep terraces are farmed on.

神在居の千枚田.jpg — Photo by Asset utilitist (CC0)

The Kanzaiko terraces cover 2.3 ha. The Agency for Cultural Affairs writes that the slopes are steep and that cultivation continues by making rational use of the scarce water of the headwaters. Because the paddies overlap in many layers, the terraces are called senmaida ("a thousand paddies"), and a terrace owner system began in 1992.

Terraces of 2.3 ha
Part of a nationally selected Important Cultural Landscape
Terrace owner system began in 1992

03 ／ Former Kakehashi Izumi residence

The house of a patriot who spent his goods aiding comradeshas been moved to Yoshimura Toratarō's headman site.

Kakehashi Izumi was adopted into a Shinto priest's family in Yusuhara Village. When comrades left the domain one after another in 1862, the tourism association writes, he spent his family's goods to aid them. He took his own life in June that year, aged 28. The former Kakehashi Izumi residence is a town-protected tangible cultural property, and its thatched roof was replaced in March 2021.

Town-protected tangible cultural property
Thatched roof replaced in March 2021
1492-4 Yusuhara, Yusuhara

Living here

From 220 m to 1,455 m above sea level,forest covers 91% of the town.

about 3,000 people
Rural district town

Located in Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture, the town covers 236.45 km2. It lies at the source of the Yusuhara River, the largest tributary of the Shimanto River, and has no railway station. The town's access guide notes that buses from JR Susaki Station are infrequent and asks visitors to check the timetable and plan ahead.

People living here: 3,307people
Area: 236.45km²
Households: 1,513households
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 5 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Yusuhara Town in Japan33.392°N 132.927°E

Territory of Yusuhara Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

21.9km

Kochi Prefecture: 津野町, 四万十町
Ehime Prefecture: 西予市, 鬼北町, 久万高原町

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

Yusuhara Town isthis kind of town.

01Chado (茶堂) are small halls open on three sides that stand in villages of the Tsunoyama-go area (Yusuhara and Higashi-Tsuno), where in the seventh month of the old calendar local people took turns serving visitors tea and sweets. Thirteen are preserved in Yusuhara, and a chado is also set up in the ground-floor hall of the town's general government building.
02Yusuhara lies in Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture, and has not merged with any other municipality. It sits at the source of the Yusuhara River, the largest tributary of the Shimanto River, and 2,949 people live in its mountains, 220 to 1,455 m above sea level (end of August 2026).
03The tourism association writes that in the late Edo period Sakamoto Ryoma left the domain from Yusuhara, guided by Nasu Shunpei and his son Shingo. The Tsunoyama Kagura association was formed in 1948, and in 1980 Tsunoyama Kagura was designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property as one of the "Tosa no Kagura".

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Yusuhara Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗