Toba City

A big tree proved to be Japan's second.

Kozoji Temple's Kotsubugaya

Photo by さかおり (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Kami Island

Entry to Kami Island and seaweed gatheringwere permitted by wooden tablets in 1563.

Yatsushiro Shrine holds the Ise Kamishima ritual artifacts, mainly 64 bronze mirrors, designated an Important Cultural Property in 1983. The prefecturally designated Kamishima iri aramefune kifuda are six wooden tablets dated the 29th day of the 5th month of Eiroku 6 (1563), permitting boats to enter the island and gather arame seaweed.

64 bronze mirrors
Important Cultural Property, 1983
Six wooden tablets of Eiroku 6 (1563)

02 ／ Sugashima Lighthouse

Its total height is 11.0 m,yet its light is 55.1 m above the sea.

In Toba, where the shogunate had set up a beacon hall in the Edo period, the Meiji government built this Western-style lighthouse in its place in 1873. It was designed by the British engineer Brunton. A metal lantern sits on a brick tower painted white, and the light reaches 7.5 nautical miles (about 14 km). The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it the oldest surviving brick lighthouse.

1873
Light range 7.5 nautical miles
Important Cultural Property, 2022

03 ／ Oyatori-kotori

A boy of 16 forms a parent-and-child bondwith members of the community association.

Matsuo's community association has three age groups: elders, the middle-aged and youths. Boys who turn 16 are split by birth order into five elder and five younger brothers, and on an auspicious day in late November they form parent-and-child ties with five members of the association, taken in order of age, each parent with two children. The children are called eboshigo.

Boys of 16
One parent, two children
An auspicious day in late November

Living here

94 minutes from Nagoya, 118 from Osaka-Namba.

about 20,000 people
2 hours to a city centre

By Kintetsu limited express, Toba Station is 94 minutes at the fastest from Kintetsu-Nagoya Station and 118 minutes from Osaka-Namba Station (timetable; services that run every day). Toba Station is shared by Kintetsu and JR, and City Hall is about 15 minutes on foot. You can also take a bus from the Toba Bus Center and get off at the City Hall stop.

People living here: 17,525people
Area: 107.34km²
Households: 7,382households
Rent (average for rentals): 22,008yen
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 17 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —9 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.

Toba City in Japan34.481°N 136.843°E

to NagoyaKintetsu limited express94min
to OsakaKintetsu limited express118min

Travel times follow 近畿日本鉄道『駅の時刻表』（eki.kintetsu.co.jp。ページに「2026年3月14日現在」）の鳥羽駅（鳥羽線）の発車時刻表と、各特急の停車駅発着表（T7）で確かめ、町の外→鳥羽の向きは近鉄『ダイヤ案内』の経路検索（eki.kintetsu.co.jp/norikae/N2）を 2026-10-14（水）と 2026-10-18（日）の5時台〜22時台、毎正時の出発時刻で引き、『乗り換え回数0回』の近鉄特急（観光特急しまかぜを除く）の最短を数えた。 (checked 2026-10-13). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 2 municipalities.

Territory of Toba City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

19.7km

志摩市, 伊勢市

Toba City isthis kind of town.

01The Kozoji Kotsubugaya is a variety of kaya whose seeds, with their aril, are 18 to 20 mm across, smaller than the ordinary kaya; the city's big tree was found in a 1991 survey to be the second in Japan, and it is a National Natural Monument
02Yatsushiro Shrine on Kami Island holds the Important Cultural Property Ise Kamishima ritual artifacts, and the lighthouse on Sugashima was designated an Important Cultural Property in 2022
03In Matsuo, boys of 16 form parent-and-child bonds. Matsuo and a neighbouring district also keep the pillar-torch rite of the Bon festival of the Shima-Kamo Gogo, an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property; the city also has the noshi-awabi making of Kuzaki (prefectural designation), the diving women's fishing techniques of Toba and Shima (an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property), and the former Toba Elementary School building (a Registered Tangible Cultural Property)

See the town as it is now.

Facebooktoba.city ↗

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Toba City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗