Article

04406 ／りふちょう

Miyagi Prefecture 宮城郡

Rifu Town

A shrine recorded by a dye plant's name.

Somedono Shrine, Kariyasu Shrine

Photo by Bachstelze (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Kiln site

Pottery incised "Miyagi District" was foundin a kiln site of the early 8th century.

At the Suzurizawa kiln site, part of the Kasuga kiln cluster, pottery incised "Miyagi District" (and another inscription) was found in an early 8th-century kiln. It is a town-designated cultural property. The town says it shows the district existed by at least the early 8th century.

Town-designated cultural property
Early 8th-century pottery kiln site
Incised "Miyagi District"

02 ／ Cave tombs

Cave tombs begun in the early 7th centurybecame a place of training around the 13th.

The Sugaya cave tombs are said to number 100 or 200. Around the 13th century they were reused as a place of Buddhist training, and sutra stones dated 1283 were found. A Buddha carved into the wall, the Yakushi of Sugaya, is said to have been made in the 9th century by the priest Jikaku Daishi.

Begun in the early 7th century
Sutra stone dated 1283
Carving said to date from the 9th century

03 ／ Sedge mat

The town's symbol name, Tofu no Sato,is said to come from a sedge mat.

Tofu no Sugakomo is a mat said to have been woven around here and sent to the capital. Its name comes from its ten weaving lines, and it appears in poems from the Heian period. Opinions differ on the origin. The method was lost after the Meiji era, and the town now makes reproductions with a local arts association.

Ten weaving lines
In poems from the Heian period
Reproduced with sedge grown in Kasuga

Rifu Town 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 April 2019)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

Three JR stations and four expressway interchanges are in the town.

about 40,000 people
Rural district town

The town's access page says Rifu lies near the center of Miyagi Prefecture, with three JR stations and four expressway interchanges. The stations in town are Rifu, Shin-Rifu and Rikuzen-Hamada. The total area is 44.89 km2, bordering Matsushima Town to the east and Tomiya City to the west.

People living here: 35,182people
Area: 44.89km²
Households: 12,538households
Rent (average for rentals): 62,693yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 22 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.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities.

Rifu Town in Japan38.330°N 140.976°E

Territory of Rifu 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)

North to south

7.3km

Shiogama City, Sendai City, Matsushima Town, Taiwa Town, Osato Town, Tagajo City, Tomiya City

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Rifu Town isthis kind of town.

01Somedono Shrine stands in Akanuma, and an Edo-period document records it as Kariyasu Shrine. Kariyasu, or kariyasu grass, was used as a dye, and one theory says Akanuma got its name when a pond turned red
02Pottery incised "Miyagi District" was found at the Suzurizawa kiln site and is town-designated. The Sugaya cave tombs were begun in the early 7th century and reused as a place of training around the 13th
03The town's symbol name Tofu no Sato is said to come from Tofu no Sugakomo, a mat in poems since the Heian period, and the town makes reproductions. The Yakushi of Sugaya is one of three Yakushi, called the midnight one in Rifu

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Rifu Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes