Article

20452 ／ちくほくむら

Nagano Prefecture 東筑摩郡

Chikuhoku Village

A road cut through rock runs on to Omi.

The Great Cutting, Aoyagi

Photo by Qurren (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Aoyagi Post Town

A channel hollowed under the stone wallserved from morning washing to livestock water.

The village says Aoyagi sits on a narrow slope, with houses built atop stone walls and a waterway running beneath them. Water from a channel hollowed out under the wall was used for washing and for watering livestock, and the houses opposite used it too. A record from about 1824 gives its length as 3 cho and its width as 3 shaku.

3 cho long, 3 shaku wide (record of about 1824)
Village-designated historic site, 2011

02 ／ Sashikiri Gorge

A river met the strata almost at right angles,and cut a gorge.

The village describes the gorge as formed where the Omi River flows almost perpendicular into hard conglomerate and sandstone strata of the Ogawa Formation. It says odd-shaped rocks are many, with caves and a waterfall also to be seen, and that a 1965 prefectural notice made it a prefectural natural park. The road leads on to Sanseiro.

Conglomerate and sandstone strata, Omi River
1965 prefectural notice (village account)

03 ／ Mount Shunara

In a shrine's grounds on a mountain,about 1,000 stone deities are enshrined.

Mount Shunara in Chikuhoku Village — Photo by 小池隆 (CC BY 4.0)

About 20 minutes' climb from Shunara Pass, on Mount Funakubo, stands Yasumiya Shrine. From the grounds to the hill behind, about 1,000 stone deities and statues are enshrined: cat and wolf gods, silkworm gods, sisters holding hands. The village says they draw attention as a leading example of "folk belief in miniature."

About 1,000 stone deities
1,037 m above sea level
Village-designated historic site, 1969

Chikuhoku Village 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 December 2023)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 Shinonoi Line stations lie within the village.

about 4,000 people
Rural district town

The village was formed in 2005 by the merger of Honjo, Sakakita and Sakai villages, and covers 99.47 km². Nishijo, Sakakita and Kamuriki stations of the JR Shinonoi Line are in the village, which says it is about 20 minutes by train to Matsumoto and about 50 to Nagano. Its gateway is Nishijo Station.

People living here: 4,149people
Area: 99.47km²
Households: 1,687households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 2 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.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities.

Chikuhoku Village in Japan36.403°N 138.012°E

Territory of Chikuhoku Village

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

Omi Village, Matsumoto City, Aoki Village, Ikusaka Village, Chikuma City, Ueda City, Azumino City

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

Chikuhoku Village isthis kind of town.

01The Great Cutting at the edge of Aoyagi is a rock hill that, the village records, Aoyagi Ise-no-kami Yorinaga cut through in 1580 to carry the road to Omi Village; it is a village-designated historic site
02Aoyagi post town has a waterway running through channels under its stone walls, and the village also holds Sashikiri Gorge, where a river meets the strata almost at right angles, and Mount Shunara, with about 1,000 stone deities
03The village was formed by the merger of three villages in 2005, has three JR Shinonoi Line stations, and its gateway is Nishijo Station

See the town as it is now.

Instagram@chikuhoku_nagano ↗

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Chikuhoku Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes