26407 ／ きょうたんばちょう
Kyoto Prefecture 船井郡A cave that goes down, not along.
Shizushi Cave, a vertical cave01 ／ Puppet theatre
The Wachi Ningyo Joruri troupe has 14 members: two shamisen players, four narrators and eight puppeteers (Kyoto Prefecture's introduction, April 2026). It keeps about 50 puppets, many made by Tengoya Kyukichi, a master puppet-maker of Awa. Wachi's elementary and junior high schools teach puppet theatre in class.
02 ／ Waterfall
The water falls over a single rock face 43 m high. Kyoto Prefecture describes it as the largest-class waterfall in the prefecture, with a drop of about 43 m, over a huge slab of chert. It is said that the lord of the day, Matsudaira Kii-no-kami, named it in the Kanen era because the water resembles the strings of a koto. It is a provisionally registered Place of Scenic Beauty of the prefecture.
03 ／ Main hall
Kute Shrine is said to have been founded when Fujiwara no Sadauji invited its deity from Kyoto. Its main hall, an Important Cultural Property, is of sangensha nagare-zukuri style with a cypress-bark roof. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as late Muromachi, with two ridge tablets designated alongside. A very large arakashi evergreen oak in the grounds is among the prefecture's Kyoto Nature 200 Selections.
Living here
The town has four JR San-in Main Line stations: Shimoyama, Wachi, Aseri and Tachiki. The only train that reaches Shimoyama from Kyoto without a change leaves Kyoto at 17:39; others change at Sonobe. The town covers about 303 km2, about 83% of it forest.
−10.7% since 2015
15,732 → 12,907
52.75km² of it habitable
2024
2.5 people per household
2020
6.2 per 10,000 people
2023
These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.
ACCESS
Travel times follow JR西日本「JRおでかけネット」の列車時刻表・駅時刻表（下山駅。改正日 2026-10-03、『JR時刻表』2026年10月号に基づく）。京都駅発の快速2217M（園部で普通2133Mに直通）の「京都 17:39 発 → 下山 18:48 着」＝69分 (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.
Shape
North to south
27.9km
If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.
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