Article

43507 ／みずかみむら

Kumamoto Prefecture 球磨郡

Mizukami Village

Cat guardians flank the temple gate.

Shozen-in, the Cat Temple

Photo by Simasakon (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Goishitsubame-shijimi

Go-stone spots line its underwings;it was found on Mt. Ichifusa in 1973.

A small butterfly of the Lycaenidae family, the goishitsubame-shijimi (ゴイシツバメシジミ), with white undersides marked by black spots lined up like go stones. The village's official site says it was first found in Japan on August 6, 1973, at the foot of Mt. Ichifusa (市房山). In 1975 it was designated a national natural monument as a species, and its larvae feed on the flowers and buds of shishinran (シシンラン).

Found August 1973 on Mt. Ichifusa
1975: national natural monument (species)
Go-stone-like spots on the underwings

02 ／ Ichifusa Cedars

Ichifusa cedar was used inthe new Imperial Palace.

The village's official site says 43 cedars with trunks of 3m or more in girth stand along about 1,000m of the approach to Ichifusayama Jingu (市房山神宮). Small trees are said to be 500 to 600 years old, and large ones over 1,000. Two were presented for the ceiling boards of the new Imperial Palace, completed in 1968, and the Imperial Household Agency also says Ichifusa cedar from Kumamoto is used in rooms such as the Nami-no-ma.

43 trunks of 3m+ girth (about 1,000m of approach)
2 trees presented for the Palace's ceiling boards (village)
Palace completed November 14, 1968

03 ／ Shiramizu Shrine

To soothe a white snake's spirit,raw eggs are said to have been offered.

Shiramizu Aso Shrine (白水阿蘇神社, also called Shiramizu Shrine), downstream of the Odaki and Medaki falls, was founded in the 2nd year of Daido (807), the village's official site says. It is called a 'snake' deity's shrine, and snakes are coiled on its torii gate. A legend says that when a white snake's curse was whispered of, offerings of its favorite food, raw eggs, soothed its spirit. Shiramizu Kagura (白水神楽) became a village intangible cultural property in 1990.

Founded in 807 (Daido 2)
Shiramizu Kagura: village intangible cultural property (1990)
Raw eggs, its favorite food, offered at the altar

Living here

The Kuma River rises on a peak in Mizukami.

about 2,000 people
Rural district town

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Kuma River starts at a 1,489m peak (銚子笠) in Mizukami. The village lies at the southeastern edge of Kumamoto, on the Miyazaki border, and its official site calls the long-established Yuyama Onsen (湯山温泉) a well-regarded 'beauty spring.' The village's portal site gives the trip from Yunomae Station on the Kuma River Railway as about 15 minutes by car.

People living here: 2,033people
Area: 190.96km²
Households: 786households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 4 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —2 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.

Mizukami Village in Japan32.314°N 131.009°E

Territory of Mizukami Village

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

20.2km

Kumamoto Prefecture: 湯前町, 五木村, 多良木町, 八代市
Miyazaki Prefecture: 椎葉村, 西米良村

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

Mizukami Village isthis kind of town.

01Shozen-in, founded in 1625 (Kanei 2), is a temple in Iwano known as the 'Cat Temple,' with guardian cats on both sides of its gate. It is said to have been built to soothe a certain spirit, a story passed down as the haunted-cat affair of the former lords, the Sagara family. Its Kannon hall (with shrine) is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, and the hall, main hall and priests' quarters are constituent cultural properties of the Japan Heritage story 'Sagara 700 Years' (相良700年が生んだ保守と進取の文化).
02The goishitsubame-shijimi butterfly, found at the foot of Mt. Ichifusa in 1973, is a small butterfly designated a national natural monument in 1975. According to the village's official site, an actual specimen is kept at the Iwano community hall.
03On the 4th station of Mt. Ichifusa (1,721m) stands Ichifusayama Jingu, and cedars from its approach were presented for the ceiling boards of the new Imperial Palace. At Shiramizu Shrine, a legend of the 'snake' deity and Shiramizu Kagura are handed down.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Mizukami Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗