Nankan Town

Kuyo-crest tiles roof a lord's lodging.

Nankan Ochaya Site, Buzen Kaido

Photo by Muyo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Hakushu's School Song

Hakushu's school song came in 32 telegrams,offered at his uncle's town funeral.

The school song of Nankan Jinjo Koto Elementary School (南関尋常高等小学校, now Nankan Daiichi Elementary) was written by Kitahara Hakushu (北原白秋) and set to music by Yamada Kosaku (山田耕筰). Hearing that his uncle Ishii Ryusho (石井隆承), the town's mayor in earlier years, was critically ill, Hakushu stayed up all night in April 1937 to finish three verses and sent them by telegram. The town says Hakushu was born at his mother's family home, the former Ishii residence main house (旧石井家住宅主屋, a nationally registered cultural property).

32 telegrams
Written April 1937 (Showa 12)
Town-designated property (2006)

02 ／ Shodai Ware Kiln Sites

At the Segami kiln site, even the traces ofclay-washing and wheel areas are clearly identifiable.

The prefecturally designated kiln sites in Kokodai-no-Sato Park (古小代の里公園) are two: the Hinyaki kiln (瓶焼窯跡) and the Segami kiln (瀬上窯跡). Shodai ware (小代焼) was begun in 1632 by potters who moved from Buzen Province when Hosokawa Tadatoshi entered Higo. The Segami kiln was built in 1836 by Segami Rin'emon (瀬上林右衛門), the mountain-district administrator, as a production-promotion kiln; from then until the end of the shogunate, Shodai ware was made at its most prolific.

Prefectural designation, 1991 (2 kilns)
Segami kiln built 1836
Shodai ware: since 1632

03 ／ Mt. Otsuyama

Four wooden bridges over the cut ditches of a castle ruinare named for its lords, the Otsuyama clan.

Mt. Otsuyama (大津山), 256m high, is called 'Nankan Fuji' (南関富士) for its resemblance to Mt. Fuji. At the summit are the ruins of a medieval mountain castle, Tsuzuradake Castle (つづら獄城跡), where the wooden bridges over its cut ditches carry the names of the clan that held it. From the top you can look down on the Kyushu Expressway and across the town, and far off from the Ariake Sea to Unzen. In spring the blossoms move from cherry to wisteria to azalea.

Elevation 256m
4 wooden bridges
Tsuzuradake Castle ruins

Living here

Once a checkpoint, now a highway interchange.

about 9,000 people
Rural district town

The town has an interchange on the Kyushu Expressway (南関インターチェンジ) and writes that it has developed as 'the gateway to northern Kumamoto.' It was formed in 1955 by merging five towns and villages. There is no railway station in town; local buses connect to Omuta, Tamana and Yamaga. The Ukara bathhouse (うから館) has been reborn as the community hub Ukara (〈ukara〉), with a library and a lawn plaza.

People living here: 8,979people
Area: 68.92km²
Households: 3,503households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 5 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 5 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Nankan Town in Japan33.060°N 130.544°E

Territory of Nankan Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

11.1km

Kumamoto Prefecture: 和水町, 玉名市, 荒尾市
Fukuoka Prefecture: みやま市, 大牟田市

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

Nankan Town isthis kind of town.

01The Nankan Ochaya Site (南関御茶屋跡) is the remains of a rest and lodging facility for domain lords and others along the Buzen Highway (豊前街道), and a national historic site. Its roof is laid with ridge-end and eave tiles bearing the Hosokawa family's Kuyo crest. The national designation text says a checkpoint to guard the border is thought to have stood here in ancient times, and that the place name 'Minaminoseki' is said to have taken hold.
02The prefecturally designated Shodai ware kiln sites (小代焼窯跡群) in Kokodai-no-Sato Park hold the Hinyaki and Segami kilns, and at the Segami site even the clay-washing and wheel areas can be identified. Mt. Otsuyama, 256m high, has the ruins of the medieval Tsuzuradake Castle on its summit.
03Kitahara Hakushu's handwritten lyrics for the Nankan Jinjo Koto Elementary School song, and Yamada Kosaku's handwritten score, are designated town cultural properties. At the Ohara Gion festival, the Kodaigaku (古代楽), a town-designated intangible folk cultural property, has been dedicated.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nankan Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗