Article

04361 ／わたりちょう

Miyagi Prefecture 亘理郡

Watari Town

Its narrowest point still girths 7.85 m.

Shomyoji's shii tree

Photo by クリオネサラダ (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Mausoleum

No record of its founding, but early-Edomethods are seen in its struts and brackets.

The mausoleum of Date Shigezane, the first lord of Watari, stands in the grounds of Daioji Temple, the family temple of the Date of Watari. It is a wooden building with a square hip roof of copper sheet, one bay on each side (2.09 m front and side, as recorded by the town). The prefecture says no record gives the year it was built and, judging from its style, calls it representative of early-Edo mausoleum architecture.

One bay, 2.09 m (town record)
Prefectural designation, 1979
No record of founding year (prefecture)

02 ／ District office site

Foundation stones once thought to be a templewere suggested to be a district office's granary.

The oldest record is the entry "Sanjusangendo-ato" in a 1779 document, and the rows of foundation stones had long been known. After being thought the site of a temple or shrine, it was suggested to be the granary of a district office, and digging in 1986-88 showed a district office of the 9th to 10th centuries. The national database lists the remains of ten storehouses with foundation stones in the granary area.

National Historic Site, 1992
10 storehouse remains (national database)
About 750 m north-south, 500 m east-west (town)

03 ／ Torinoumi

Torinoumi, south of the Abukuma River,is habitat for sea snails and asari clams.

Torinoumi in Watari Town — Photo by Kumamushi (CC BY 3.0)

The Ministry of the Environment's material on marine areas of high importance for biodiversity lists Torinoumi (south of the Abukuma River) as habitat for hoso-uminina and uminina sea snails, isoshijimi and asari clams, and gokai worms, and says asakusa-nori laver grows among the reed stands.

Hoso-uminina, uminina, asari
Asakusa-nori among the reeds
Ministry of the Environment material

Watari 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 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

253 minutes from Tokyo by Limited Express Hitachi.

about 30,000 people
Rural district town

On the JR East timetable (November 2026 edition), Limited Express Hitachi No. 21 leaving Tokyo Station at 16:53 reaches Watari Station at 21:06 with no change, and the trip from Ueno Station (17:00) takes 246 minutes. It is the only train that reaches Watari from Tokyo or Ueno without a change.

People living here: 33,087people
Area: 73.6km²
Households: 12,181households
Rent (average for rentals): 40,206yen
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 23 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —7 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.

Watari Town in Japan38.044°N 140.868°E

to TokyoLtd. exp. Hitachi253min
to UenoLtd. exp. Hitachi246min

Travel times follow JR東日本の駅の時刻表（2026年11月号の版）の列車ページ『特急ひたち 21号（品川－仙台）』列車番号21M。品川16:45発・東京16:52着16:53発・上野16:58着17:00発・亘理21:06着21:07発・岩沼21:17着・仙台21:32着。運行日のカレンダーは2026-10-23〜2027-02-28の全日が運転日（太字）で、運休日の注記は無い。東京16:53発→亘理21:06着＝253分、上野17:00発→亘理21:06着＝246分 (checked 2026-10-27). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities.

Territory of Watari 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

11.9km

Iwanuma City, Kakuda City, Yamamoto Town, Shibata Town

Watari Town isthis kind of town.

01The Shomyoji shii tree is a national Natural Monument whose girth the Agency for Cultural Affairs records as 7.85 m at 1.6 m above ground; the prefecture gives 7.52 m and the town about 26.4 m at the exposed roots, so the figures differ by source
02The Date Shigezane mausoleum is a prefecturally designated building; the Sanjusangendo Kangai site is a national Historic Site that the national database describes as presumed to be a district office; the Ministry of the Environment lists Torinoumi as habitat
03Limited Express Hitachi No. 21 reaches Watari Station from Tokyo and Ueno once a day with no change

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Watari Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes