Kijo Town

Utopia is sought on a hill-castle site.

Hyuga Atarashiki-mura

Photo by Sanjo (Public domain)

01 ／ Kakura-sama of Nakanomata Kagura

Priestly families of six hamletskeep the masks of the mountain and hunting god.

In each Nakanomata hamlet, the Kakura shrine (鹿倉社) enshrines Kakura-sama (鹿倉様), the god of mountains and hunting. The sacred masks are kept by the shrine-priest families of six hamlets, and all gather at the annual festival. Hunting rites show through the program, such as the Kakura dance and the lion dance.

Masks kept by priestly families of six hamlets
All gather at the annual festival
One of the nationally designated Mera no Kagura (米良の神楽)

02 ／ Camphor Trees of Hiki Shrine

A 1596 Takanabe domain record saysthey had already been planted.

The two camphor trees before the torii gate of Hiki Shrine (比木神社) are estimated to be about 400 years old. The town's site says they exceed 6m in diameter. The chisha tree in the precinct has a trunk 3.6m around and stands 30m tall, and was named one of Miyazaki Prefecture's 100 Great Trees in March 1992.

2 camphor trees, estimated about 400 years old
Takanabe domain record of Keicho 1 (1596)
Chisha tree: Miyazaki's 100 Great Trees, 1992-03

03 ／ Onibasu of Iwabuchi Ohike

Seeds from the pond floor were raised in a paddy.Planted back in the pond, they bloomed.

The town's site calls Iwabuchi Ohike (岩渕大池), an irrigation pond, the only habitat of onibasu (giant water lily) in the prefecture. They grew there until 2006, then did not, and in 2017 local people planted seedlings raised in a paddy from seeds on the pond floor, and they bloomed.

Natural monument designated 1933
Grew naturally until 2006
Bloomed in 2017

Living here

A belt of a town, 24km east-west and 6km north-south.

about 5,000 people
Rural district town

According to the town's site, the Omaru River flows through the center and 84% of the land is mountain forest and fields. On the Miyazaki Kotsu Kijo Onsen line, a weekday bus leaving Miyakou City at 9:00 reaches Kijo (Yakuba-mae) in 102 minutes without a transfer.

People living here: 4,895people
Area: 145.96km²
Households: 1,886households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 6 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —2 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.

Kijo Town in Japan32.164°N 131.474°E

to MiyazakiLocal bus102min

Travel times follow 宮崎交通の時刻表を2026-10-06に確かめた。(1)事業者公式 https://www.miyakoh.co.jp/ のお知らせ『2026年10月1日（木）「一般路線バス」ダイヤ改正』の別紙PDF『2026年10月1日ダイヤ改正内容一覧』（https://www.miyakoh.co.jp/news/mediafile/684cc600641c74c7f6e1e7e3a3ddd00000fb6753.pdf）には、増便・減便・発着地変更・発時刻変更のどれにも木城温泉線（宮交シティ〜木城）の行が無い（『木城』『高鍋バスセンター』を含む行は高鍋の『中尾～西小入口～高鍋バスセンター平・土 7:28』の1件だけ）。(2)宮崎交通の公式サイトが『時刻表・運賃』の検索先として載せる『九州のバス時刻表』（qbus.jp。運営は西日本鉄道）で、宮交シティ→『木城温泉館湯らら』を引いた（https://qbus.jp/cgi-bin/time/jun.exe?pwd=h%2Fjun.pwd&from=000LM0002&to=011007013&kai=O&yobi=0&ji=8&fun=30）。平日は 9:00→10:43（湯らら着。途中の『木城』は10:42）・11:40→13:23・14:20→16:03・16:25→18:20、土日祝は 7:45→9:23・11:40→13:18・15:15→17:02・16:35→18:27。『木城』は9:00発で10:42着＝102分。町公式『町営バス・宮崎交通バス』（地域政策課・2026-07-23 更新）が載せる宮崎交通『木城温泉線（一部抜粋）』の時刻表PDF（令和7年4月1日現在）の『木城(役場前)』の列（平日 9:00→10:42・11:40→13:22・14:20→16:02、土日祝 7:45→9:22・11:40→13:17・15:15→17:01・16:35→18:26）と、qbus の2026-10-06 の時刻（湯らら着から1分引く）が一致する。 (checked 2026-10-06). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Territory of Kijo Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

22.2km

西都市, 川南町, 日向市, 都農町, 高鍋町, 美郷町

Kijo Town isthis kind of town.

01Hyuga Atarashiki-mura (日向新しき村) is the ideal community that Mushanokoji Saneatsu (武者小路実篤) opened in 1918 on the site of the Sengoku-period hill castle Ishiki (石城). The town's site says 2 families of 3 people live there now, and the village has a memorial hall modeled on Saneatsu's old house.
02Nakanomata Kagura (中之又神楽) is kagura handed down in Nakanomata, in the mountains of the north. The priestly families of six hamlets keep Kakura-sama's sacred masks, and it is one of the nationally designated Intangible Folk Cultural Properties Mera no Kagura (米良の神楽).
03Hiki Shrine in Shiiki enshrines Fukuchi-o (福智王), and the town's site says its Shiwasu festival (師走まつり) has him meet his father at Kando Shrine (神門神社) in Misato. The Seiyokan and Hakobune-kan of the Ishii Memorial Yuaisha (石井記念友愛社), tied to Ishii Juji (石井十次), are also Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kijo Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗