Shihotate Ruins, Funaoka Castle, Shibata Town
Article

04323 / しばたまち

Miyagi Prefecture 柴田郡

Shibata Town

The Shibata clan lived here until Meiji.

Shihotate Ruins, Funaoka Castle

Photo by ブルーノ・プラス (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 / Giant tree

A ginkgo 11 m around the trunkand 31 m tall stands on a mountainside.

Giant tree in Shibata Town
Photo by suzune konoo (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Amago ginkgo is a male tree that, the prefecture says, stands on the southern edge of a terrace halfway up the mountain. It is a national natural monument, and the town puts its age at about 600 years. In the same district, the town's direct-sales page describes yuzu growing wild as "the northernmost in Japan among wild yuzu."

  • National natural monument, 1968
  • Girth 11 m, height 31 m
  • About 600 years old (town)

02 / Cliff Buddhas

An Amida Buddha bearing an inscription of 1306is carved into the tuff of a hill.

The site lies about 3 km north of Tsukinoki, on the tip of a hill jutting into paddy fields. The central Amida Buddha is 2.4 m tall and is also called the great Buddha on the cliff. Nearby are a cave with six Jizo carved inside, dated 1307, and a Nyoirin Kannon known as the sleeping Kannon.

  • Prefectural historic site, 1971
  • Amida Buddha, 2.4 m tall
  • Inscription dated 1306

03 / Mandala

Inside the scroll shaft of Daiko-in's mandalas,a mounting dated 1385 is recorded.

Mandala in Shibata Town
Photo by anonymous painter of the Nanbokucho period (Public domain)

The Diamond Realm and Womb Realm mandalas, painted in color on silk in the Nanbokucho period, belong to Daiko-in and are prefecturally designated tangible cultural properties (paintings). The Diamond Realm is 157.9 cm tall and 129.7 cm wide. They were remounted in 1502 and 1734.

  • Prefectural tangible cultural property (painting)
  • Diamond Realm 157.9 x 129.7 cm
  • Mounting dated 1385

Shibata 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

The nearest station is on the Tohoku Line, about 30 minutes to Sendai.

  • about 40,000 people
  • Rural district town

The town's office guide gives Funaoka Station on the JR Tohoku Main Line as the nearest station, and its transport page says Sendai is about 30 minutes away on that line. Stations in the town are Funaoka, Tsukinoki (JR and the Abukuma Express) and Higashi-Funaoka (Abukuma Express).

People living here
38,271people
19952020

−3.2% since 2015

38,749 → 38,271

Area
54.03km²

35.16km² of it habitable

2024

Households
15,546households

2.5 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
44,237yen

National average 60,630 yen

2023

Healthcare
2 hospitals / 21 clinics

6.0 per 10,000 people

2023

Area54.03km²Habitable land35.16km² / 65%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—3 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 5 municipalities.

Shibata Town in Japan38.057°N 140.766°E
TokyoOsakaShibata Town
Territory of Shibata 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

11.1km

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

Shibata Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01Shihotate Ruins (Funaoka Castle Site) is a town-designated historic site, which the town describes as the site of a mansion where the Shibata clan lived until the Meiji Restoration
  2. 02The Amago ginkgo is a national natural monument, a male tree 11 m around and 31 m tall per the prefecture, and the same district has yuzu the town calls "the northernmost in Japan among wild yuzu"
  3. 03The Tomizawa cliff Buddhas are a prefectural historic site, with an Amida Buddha 2.4 m tall bearing a 1306 inscription, and Daiko-in's mandalas, also prefectural, record a mounting dated 1385 in the scroll shaft

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

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