Ashikita Town

Stone pilasters flank a brick portal.

Sashiki Tunnel, former Route 3

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

01 ／ Yatsushiro-Ashikita Tanabata-zuna

A long single rope is stretched at village entrances,hung with straw figures, sandals and farm tools.

A Tanabata observance of Yatsushiro and Ashikita, selected by the nation as an intangible folk cultural property. The rope is often stretched across a river, and traditions say the Herd Boy and Weaver Girl stars (牽牛・織女) meet along it. Yatsushiro City's material says it was once held at over 30 places in southern Kumamoto and now at 5 districts, 4 of them in Ashikita.

National selected intangible folk cultural property (2015)
4 of the 5 districts are in Ashikita
Protecting body includes the Ashikita Tanabata-zuna Preservation Society

02 ／ Ashikita Town Butokuden

A 1937 martial-arts hall looks two-storied outside;the upper part is light windows, the inside single-storied.

Built in 1937 as a one-storied wooden hall for kendo and judo. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a distinctive building with hall-like touches such as large first-floor windows, and a symbolic presence in the town. It adds that the hall is now used to store historical materials.

1937 (Showa 12), wooden single-storied
Building area 336 m²
Nationally registered tangible cultural property (registered 1998)

03 ／ Sashiki Castle Site

The main, second and third enclosures are all stone-walled.An ogre-faced roof tile (鬼瓦) inscribed "Tenka Taihei Kokudo Annon" was unearthed.

The castle is thought to have been built by Kato Kiyomasa, who became lord of half of Higo with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyushu campaign, as a "border castle" to guard the Satsuma-Higo boundary. The east side, the main approach, has high stone walls, and three masugata-koguchi (枡形虎口) gates stand in a row. Roof tiles inscribed Keicho 12 were also unearthed in large numbers.

National Historic Site (designated 2008)
Main, second and third enclosures all stone-walled
Roof tile inscribed "Tenka Taihei Kokudo Annon" unearthed

Living here

The town office is a 10-minute walk from Sashiki Station.

about 20,000 people
Rural district town

The town's own overview says about 80% of its 234.01 km² is mountains, and water from the town's highest peak (902 m) flows into the Shiranui Sea. National Route 3 runs the length of the town north to south, and the Hisatsu Orange Railway is its main transport. It merged with the former Tanoura Town in 2005.

People living here: 15,681people
Area: 234.01km²
Households: 5,996households
Rent (average for rentals): 26,715yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 16 clinics

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

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-01-01 に合併。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —5 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 4 municipalities.

Ashikita Town in Japan32.299°N 130.493°E

Territory of Ashikita Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

25.3km

八代市, 球磨村, 水俣市, 津奈木町

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

Ashikita Town isthis kind of town.

01Sashiki Tunnel is a 434 m brick tunnel dug through Sashiki-Taro Pass on former National Route 3, a nationally registered tangible cultural property. Its end portals have walls in French bond, with voussoirs, a band course and pilasters (付柱) in stone. The Tsunagi Tunnel on the same Santaro Pass (三太郎峠) is also registered
02The Tanabata-zuna that the nation selected with Yatsushiro survives in 4 districts of the town. The 1937 Butokuden is a martial-arts hall that looks two-storied outside and is single-storied inside
03Sashiki Castle Site is a National Historic Site whose three main enclosures are all stone-walled. Roof tiles in large numbers, including an ogre-faced one inscribed "Tenka Taihei Kokudo Annon", were unearthed

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Ashikita Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗