Kihoku Town

At the mouth, river and sea water layer.

Choshi River, the Yurayura belt

Photo by Alpsdake (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Brick tunnels

Brick niches for the gas-lamp gearfirst planned are inside the tunnels.

Of the six tunnels built under the Kumano Kaido (today's Route 42) improvement project, the three northern ones are of brick. Furusato and Doze have sawtooth-trimmed brick niches for the gas-lighting equipment first planned. All three became Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2001.

Three brick tunnels
Furusato 208 m, Doze 308 m
Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, 2001

02 ／ Boat float festival

On a float shaped like a bonito boat,children act out pole-and-line fishing.

At the Nagashima Shrine annual festival in mid-January each year, a float modelled on a bonito boat moves from Nagashima Port to the shrine. On the float, children act out pole-and-line bonito fishing and scatter candy, "fuku-ame", as bait. The event has been handed down since the mid-Edo period as a prayer for a good catch.

Mid-January each year
Nagashima Port to Nagashima Shrine
Since the mid-Edo period

03 ／ Suzushima

An uninhabited island about 2 km off Miurashows typical coastal islet vegetation.

Suzushima is an uninhabited island 800 m north to south and 600 m east to west, designated a Prefectural Natural Monument in 1956. Natural forest remains in its northern half: camphor trees mixed with Machilus, bayberry and Castanopsis. The reef-building coral colony in the waters around Suzushima, Maruyama and Akanoshima is also a Prefectural Natural Monument, with 23 species counted.

800 m by 600 m
Prefectural Natural Monument, 1956
23 reef-building coral species

Living here

132 minutes from Nagoya by Limited Express Nanki.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town has four JR Kisei Main Line stations: Kii-Nagashima, Minose, Aiga and Funatsu. The Limited Express Nanki stops at Kii-Nagashima. From departure at Nagoya Station to departure at Kii-Nagashima Station, the fastest daily service takes 132 minutes (station timetable, March 2026 revision).

People living here: 14,604people
Area: 256.55km²
Households: 6,814households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 15 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —8 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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kihoku Town in Japan34.212°N 136.337°E

to NagoyaLtd. exp. Nanki132min

Travel times follow JR東海『各駅の時刻表』（railway.jr-central.co.jp/time-schedule/search/）の駅時刻表PDF（2026年3月改正〔URLの 202603〕）：名古屋駅の関西線[平休][下]（kansai_Nagoya_B_wh_d.pdf）と、紀伊長島駅の紀勢線[毎日][上下]（kisei_Kii-nagashima_E_e_ud.pdf）。特急南紀の名古屋『発』と紀伊長島『発』（駅時刻表は発車時刻のみ）を数えた。夜行バスは三重交通『高速南紀東京大宮線』の時刻表（sanco.co.jp/highway/nankitokyo/time/・ページに『2024年11月1日改正』）のバスタ新宿『発』と紀伊長島駅前『着』 (checked 2026-10-13). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Kihoku Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

21.7km

Mie Prefecture: 大台町, 尾鷲市, 大紀町
Nara Prefecture: 上北山村

Kihoku Town isthis kind of town.

01The Choshi River is a 17 km second-class river rising at Odaigahara, and in its brackish estuary river and sea water form layers, producing the shimmering "Yurayura belt"
02Three brick tunnels on the old Kumano Kaido are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, Furusato and Doze have niches for gas-lighting gear, and Nagashima Port has the Enoura Bridge, a vertical-lift movable bridge
03At the Nagashima Shrine festival a float modelled on a bonito boat is paraded, the offshore uninhabited island Suzushima is a Prefectural Natural Monument, and the Kumano Kodo's Miura and Hajikami passes lie in the town

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kihoku Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗