Nagasu Town

A botamochi-like tomb is called “-san.”

Botamochi-san, Ginchiyo's tomb

Photo by Muyo (CC BY 4.0)

01 ／ Hamayumi-sai, Matobakai (破魔弓祭・的ばかい)

Men in loincloths seize the target from the shrine building,and the matobakai begins.

The Hamayumi Festival (破魔弓祭, matobakai) of Shioji Shrine (四王子神社) is a town-designated cultural property. The spirit of Yamato Takeru (日本武尊) is said to have appeared in 1160; later, when the shrine building was moved, parishioners scrambling for the round straw mat that had carried the object of worship is regarded as the origin. In the final rite, the target, purified in seawater, is cut into small pieces and offered at household altars.

Appearance said to date from 1160 (Eiryaku 1)
4 rites
Town-designated (1976)

02 ／ Shindomo (新塘)

The broad new land the sea wall enclosedhas been used for salt pans and fields.

Shindomo is a sea wall built along the coast linking Daimyōjin (大明神) and Seigen-ji Temple (清源寺). Work began in 1664 (Kanbun 4), and the wall was 1,880 m long and 3.6–5.6 m wide. It was later reinforced with stone walls and given two sluice gates, and is said to have been completed in 1676 (Enpō 4).

Work began in 1664 (Kanbun 4)
1,880 m long, 3.6–5.6 m wide
Said to be completed in 1676 (Enpō 4)

03 ／ Nagasu Port and the Uraban-sho (長洲港と浦番所)

Nagasu Port opened in 1829 (Bunsei 12),and an uraban-sho (浦番所) coastal watch post was set up.

The town's website says Nagasu Port opened in 1829 (Bunsei 12) and a coastal watch post (浦番所, uraban-sho) was also set up. It was brought in as a designated port in 1936 (Shōwa 11). It is also where the Gosoku no Kutsu (五足の靴) party landed from Shimabara by steamship in August 1907 (Meiji 40); the Gosoku no Kutsu literary monument says rickshaws came out through the sea to meet the ship offshore.

Opened 1829 (Bunsei 12)
Designated port, 1936 (Shōwa 11)
Gosoku no Kutsu party landed in 1907

Living here

Nagasu Station opened in 1891.

about 20,000 people
Rural district town

Nagasu Station on the JR Kagoshima Main Line was opened by Kyushu Railway on April 1, 1891 (Meiji 24); the present elevated station dates from 1982 (Shōwa 57). The town's access guide gives about 80 minutes by rapid train from Hakata Station, and about 45 minutes by ferry from Tabira Port in Nagasaki Prefecture.

People living here: 15,372people
Area: 19.44km²
Households: 6,434households
Rent (average for rentals): 34,267yen
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 7 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

Surrounded by 2 municipalities, and almost entirely flat.

Nagasu Town in Japan32.930°N 130.453°E

Territory of Nagasu Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

5.8km

荒尾市, 玉名市

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

Nagasu Town isthis kind of town.

01The Tomb of Lady Tachibana Muneshige (立花宗茂公夫人の墓) in Haraka (腹赤) is that of Ginchiyo (誾千代), wife of Muneshige (宗茂), lord of the Yanagawa domain. Its stone looks like a “botamochi” (sweet rice cake), so it is called “Botamochi-san.” The town board of education's handbook says Ginchiyo died in 1602 (Keichō 7) at the age of 34, and that in 1634 (Kan'ei 11) Muneshige had a grave marker made in her memory.
02The Kaikai Ningyō (カイカイ人形) of Oriji is a town-designated dance in which a doll rides on a person's back; “kaikai” is a dialect word meaning to carry on one's back. The Nagasu Yomeiri Uta (長洲嫁入り唄) took its name from the custom, which lasted until around 1935 (Shōwa 10), of seeing a bride off at her wedding with song and hand-clapping.
03Goldfish are a local specialty, and the Goldfish and Carp Village Plaza (金魚と鯉の郷広場) has the Goldfish Hall (金魚の館). In one corner of the plaza stands a stone marker for the birthplace of Shioji Shrine.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nagasu Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗