Article

04213 ／くりはらし

Kurihara City

A gate shut since Emperor Meiji used it.

Arikabe Honjin, the closed gate

Photo by Ty19080914 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Checkpoint site

A gate joined with wedges, no nails,and the officials' house remain.

Checkpoint site in Kurihara City — Photo by Ippukucho (CC BY 3.0)

This is the site of a Sendai Domain checkpoint at the Akita-side exit of the Hanayama-goe route, which leads into Akita Prefecture. A four-legged gate and a residence rebuilt in the early Ansei era survive; the gate bears the Date family crest. Above a pillar in the residence is a mask of the hearth god.

Rebuilt in the early Ansei era
Gate of whole zelkova
National Historic Site

02 ／ Jomon site

From a peat layer came scraps of Jomon clothand of lacquered containers.

This settlement site dates from the late Jomon to the early Yayoi period. From its water-laden peat layer came fragments of angin, a Jomon-period cloth, and of rantai lacquerware, lacquered containers with a basketry base.

Settlement, late Jomon to early Yayoi
Fragments of angin cloth and rantai lacquerware
National Historic Site

03 ／ Orthodox church

On land given from a home's grounds,the church was built in 1934.

The church in Kannari Kamimachi was built in 1934 (Showa 9) on land provided from the grounds of a private home. The city's website gives the bell tower's height as 17 meters. It is a Kurihara City designated tangible cultural property.

1934
Bell tower height 17 m (city website)
City-designated tangible cultural property

Kurihara City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot October 2021)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

Tokyo in 1 h 55 min by Shinkansen.

about 60,000 people
2 hours to a city centre
Shinkansen stops here

The fastest daily Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Kurikoma-Kogen Station takes 1 hour 55 minutes. The city says it is about 2 hours from Tokyo Station to Kurikoma-Kogen Station.

People living here: 64,637people
Area: 805km²
Households: 22,697households
Rent (average for rentals): 37,177yen
Healthcare: 4 hospitals ／ 48 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —13 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.

Kurihara City in Japan38.730°N 141.022°E

to TokyoTohoku Shinkansen115min

Travel times follow JR東日本『駅の時刻表』（2611版）のくりこま高原駅（コード0632）の下り（東北・北海道新幹線。平日 0632010・土曜休日 0632011）に載る列車ページを、$SP/miyagi-prep/jr/jr_count.py（毎日運転だけに絞って）で数えた。東京発→くりこま高原着。毎日運転（平日と土休日の両方に同じ分数で載る）の最速は、はやぶさ109号（列車番号4109B）の東京18:56発→くりこま高原20:51着の115分（列車ページの運行日は11月末まで全日、運転日注意の印は無い）。次は116分（4101B 07:16発・4105B 16:56発・4107B 17:56発・4111B 19:40発）。下ごしらえで本体が数えた115分と一致 (checked 2026-10-27). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Kurihara City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

37.5km

Miyagi Prefecture: Osaki City, Tome City
Iwate Prefecture: Ichinoseki City
Akita Prefecture: Yuzawa City, Higashinaruse Village

Kurihara City isthis kind of town.

01The former Arikabe-juku Honjin, a lords' official inn on the Oshu Kaido, is a National Historic Site; the city website says its gate has stayed shut since Emperor Meiji went in and out in 1876 and 1881
02The Sendai Domain Hanayama Village Nuruyu Checkpoint Site and the Sannogakoi Site are also National Historic Sites; the checkpoint guarded the Hanayama-goe route toward Akita, and the settlement site yielded angin cloth and rantai lacquerware fragments from its peat layer
03The Kannari Orthodox Church, built in 1934, is a city-designated tangible cultural property; the Obasama no Ennen is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and the Sawabe Genji firefly habitat a national natural monument

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kurihara City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes