Murata, storehouse streetscape, Murata Town
Article

04322 ／ むらたまち

Miyagi Prefecture 柴田郡

Murata Town

Shop storehouses and gates, in pairs.

Murata, storehouse streetscape

Photo by 皓月旗 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Former Onuma Family Residence

A merchant house sets a shop and asingle-bay yakui-mon gate across its front.

Former Onuma Family Residence in Murata Town
Photo by Kei hashi (CC BY-SA 3.0)

According to Cultural Heritage Online, the Onuma family made their fortune as safflower merchants in the early modern period and later by making and selling miso and soy sauce. The shop dates from 1874, the gate from 1899 and the main house behind from 1916. It became an Important Cultural Property in 2018.

  • Shop 1874, gate 1899
  • Main house 1916
  • National Important Cultural Property, 2018

02 ／ Safflower trade

Safflower went over Sasaya Pass, down the Mogami Riverand on by Kitamae-bune ship to the Kamigata region.

The town's guide says Murata was a collection point for safflower grown in the southern Miyagi area. Shipments went over Sasaya Pass to Oishida in Yamagata, then by boat down the Mogami River to Sakata and on by Kitamae-bune ship. Murata merchants used the money from selling in Kyoto to buy goods from Kamigata and brought them home.

  • Trade began by the early 1700s at the latest
  • Return cargo of goods from Kamigata
  • Safflower handling ended around 1882

03 ／ Thatched house

The town has designated a thatchedEdo-period house as a cultural property.

Thatched house in Murata Town
Photo by BMFJAPAN (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The former private house in Koizumi is an Edo-period building designated by the town in 1994. The town says a thatched house in the grounds of the Folktale Village recreates how life once looked, and quietly tells of the life of that time.

  • Town-designated tangible cultural property (building)
  • Edo period
  • Designated 1994

Murata Town from the sky

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

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot July 2022)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

Thirty-two minutes by bus from Sendai Station.

  • about 10,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town. The town tells visitors to take a highway bus from the front of Sendai Station to Murata Town Office. In the bus company's timetable revised on June 1, 2024, all eight daily buses from the front of Sendai Station to Murata Town Office take 32 minutes, at the same times every day.

People living here
10,666people
19952020

−7.3% since 2015

13,539 → 10,666

Area
78.38km²

36.88km² of it habitable

2024

Households
3,770households

2.8 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals ／ 9 clinics

8.4 per 10,000 people

2023

Area78.38km²Habitable land36.88km² ／ 47%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—1 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.

Murata Town in Japan38.118°N 140.722°E
TokyoOsakaMurata Town
  • to SendaiHighway bus32min

Travel times follow 宮城交通公式『仙台－村田・蔵王・遠刈田（自由乗車制）』（https://www.miyakou.co.jp/bus-express/zao-sendai/ ・ページの時刻表は『2024年6月1日改正』のまま・2026-10-27 に読んだ）。**仙台発（下り）**：仙台駅前（旧さくら野前33番）9:08・11:08・12:38・14:08・15:33・17:38・18:38・19:53 → 村田町役場前 9:40・11:40・13:10・14:40・16:05・18:10・19:10・20:25（8便すべて32分）。平日と土休日で仙台発の便は同じ時刻（土休日は東北学院大学前発の便が無いだけ）。**逆向き（村田町役場前発→仙台駅前着）**は 6:55→7:30 ほか全便35分。町公式『交通アクセス』（更新2024-10-06）は『ミヤコーバス高速仙台・蔵王町線で40分（仙台駅前－村田町役場前）』と書き、時刻表の32分と8分の差（町公式の『約』の目安）。**大河原発**：ミヤコーバス『大河原村田線』（令和8年10月1日改正・町公式『交通アクセス』のPDF 0244-1〜6）の下り、大河原駅前（村田線）発→村田中央着は、平日 6:35→6:53・7:45→8:07・10:00→10:22・12:40→12:58・14:40→14:58・17:41→18:03・19:32→19:50（18〜22分）、土曜と日祝は 9:00→9:18・11:07→11:25・13:50→14:08・16:00→16:18・17:50→18:08（すべて18分）。平日・土曜・日祝のどれでも最速18分の便がある（毎日運転の最速18分）。町公式は『大河原駅前－村田中央 20分』 (checked 2026-10-28). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities.

Territory of Murata Town
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)

Murata Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01Murata is a merchant district where storehouse shops and gates line the street in pairs, and it was selected in 2014 as a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings
  2. 02The former Onuma Family Residence sets a shop and a gate across its front with the main house behind, and is a national Important Cultural Property; its gate is a single-bay yakui-mon gate
  3. 03The town says Murata merchants shipped safflower via Sasaya Pass, the Mogami River and Sakata, and brought back goods from Kamigata bought with the money from Kyoto; the former private house in Koizumi is a thatched house designated by the town

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Murata Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes

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Next town Miyagi Prefecture Shibata Town →The Shibata clan lived here until Meiji.