Asagiri Town

“Kofuku” comes from a shrine's nickname.

Okadome Kofuku Station

Photo by MK Products at Japanese Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Saizon Kofun Finds (才園古墳)

From a stone chamber found during hall construction,a mirror with a gold-covered back came out.

In February 1938 (Showa 13), during construction of a public hall, the stone chamber of Mound No. 2 in the Saizon Kofun group was struck, and swords, beads, horse fittings and mirrors, among other things, were unearthed. The finds are an Important Cultural Property of Japan and are owned by Asagiri Town. The town website records them as deposited at the Kumamoto Museum (2025).

Feb. 1938: unearthed from Mound No. 2's chamber
Important Cultural Property (designated 1958-02-08)
Deposited at the Kumamoto Museum (town website)

02 ／ Bishamon Hall (荒茂毘沙門堂)

From the ink inscription inside the statue,we learn the sculptor (経助) made it in 1156.

The standing Bishamonten statue and two standing Guardian King (Nitenno) statues, handed down at Shofukuji (勝福寺), a temple abolished in the early Meiji era, were designated Important Cultural Properties in 2015. The Bishamonten stands 246.7cm tall. Inscriptions inside name Kyuju 3 (1156), the local lord Fujiwara no Ienaga and the Buddhist sculptor-monk (僧経助); Ienaga is thought to have been a member of the Sue (須恵) family of local chieftains.

Inscription inside: Kyuju 3 (1156)
Bishamonten: 246.7cm tall
Designated Important Cultural Property 2015-09-04

03 ／ Menda-style Pottery (免田式土器)

When a field was lowered for a rice paddy,whole pots are said to have come out.

Around 1918 (Taisho 7), when a field at Gen-ga-yashiki in Motome was dug down to make a rice paddy, many intact pots are said to have been found. Most were long-necked jars with bands of overlapping arcs (重弧文) on the body. Named Menda-style pottery after the place name Menda, with the Motome site as its type site.

Around 1918: found while lowering a field
Type site: the Motome site
Motome site: a town-designated historic site

Living here

A river, a national road and a railway run east to west through the basin.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town website's overview says the town sits in the center of the Kuma Basin, with the Kuma River, National Route 219 and the Kuma River Railway running east to west through the center of the five towns and villages. The climate is the basin's inland type, with frequent fog throughout the year. On April 1, 2003, five towns and villages merged to form Asagiri.

People living here: 14,676people
Area: 159.56km²
Households: 5,357households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 11 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —11 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.

Asagiri Town in Japan32.240°N 130.898°E

Territory of Asagiri Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

23.4km

Kumamoto Prefecture: 多良木町, 相良村, 錦町
Miyazaki Prefecture: えびの市, 小林市

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

Asagiri Town isthis kind of town.

01Okadome Kofuku Station was newly built in 1989 (Heisei 1), when the third-sector Kuma River Railway was established. It took its name because the nearby Okadome Kumanoza Shrine (岡留熊野座神社) is said to be a shrine that “stops misfortune and prays for happiness” and has long been loved as the “Kofuku (happiness) Shrine.”
02The Bishamonten and Guardian King statues at Bishamon Hall (荒茂毘沙門堂), handed down at the former Shofukuji, are Important Cultural Properties. At the Saizon Kofun group, the town website (2018) says the chamber of Mound No. 2 is exposed and its structure is easy to see.
03Menda-style pottery is a jar with bands of overlapping arcs, with the Motome site in the former town of Menda as its type site. The town also has the Nunomizu Falls (布水の滝), a town-designated place of scenic beauty, with a male fall of 18m and a female fall of 8m.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Asagiri Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗