Article

20485 ／はくばむら

Nagano Prefecture 北安曇郡

Hakuba Village

A hundred Kannon stand on three sides.

Kannonbara, 100 Kannon statues

Photo by Asturio Cantabrio (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Aoni channel

In the Man'en-Bunkyu years, the hamlet's 24 householdsdug a channel of about 3 km.

The village history says that in the Man'en-Bunkyu era (1860-63), the 24 households then in Aoni dug an irrigation channel, the Aoni upper channel, about 3 km long, and terraced paddies opened around the hamlet. The stone walls of the terraces are thought to have been built by around that time. The hamlet was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings on 4 December 2000.

Channel about 3 km long
Dug by the hamlet's 24 households
Selected 4 December 2000

02 ／ Himekawa Genryu

Spring water at 8 degreesflows straight out as the Himekawa River.

The Ministry of the Environment's description of the Himekawa Genryu spring, one of Japan's 100 Famous Waters, says that water at 8 degrees wells up in large volume from a small flat area separated by a watershed from Lake Aoki, and that the Himekawa River begins directly from it, a rare case nationwide. It was selected in March 1985. The wetland beside it, with 153 plant species, was designated a village natural monument on 1 December 1980.

Water at 8 degrees
Selected March 1985
Wetland with 153 plant species

03 ／ Alpine plants

Collecting alpine plants had alreadybeen banned by 1909.

The village history says that Mount Shirouma became known as a treasure house of alpine plants after the academic climb of 1898, and that a ban on collecting them had already begun in 1909. The alpine plant belt of the Shirouma mountain range was designated a national Special Natural Monument on 29 March 1952. The village data book's table of plants linked to Mount Shirouma lists 13 with Shirouma in their names.

Ban on collecting began in 1909
Special Natural Monument, 29 March 1952
13 plants named Shirouma in the village data book's table

Hakuba Village from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

From Shinjuku, 220 minutes on the Limited Express Azusa No. 5.

about 9,000 people
Rural district town

Limited Express Azusa No. 5 leaves Shinjuku at 8:00 and reaches Hakuba Station at 11:40. In the JR East timetable it runs at the same times on weekdays and on Saturdays and holidays, so it operates daily. The village has five stations on the Oito Line. Its area is 189.36 km².

People living here: 8,575people
Area: 189.36km²
Households: 3,709households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 6 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —1 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.

Hakuba Village in Japan36.698°N 137.862°E

to ShinjukuJR limited express220min

Travel times follow JR東日本の駅の時刻表・列車ページ（2026年10月版。取得2026-10-21）。特急あずさ5号新宿08:00発→白馬11:40着＝220分 (checked 2026-10-21). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Hakuba 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

17.1km

Nagano Prefecture: Omachi City, Otari Village, Nagano City, Ogawa Village
Toyama Prefecture: Kurobe City, Asahi Town
Niigata Prefecture: Itoigawa City

Hakuba Village isthis kind of town.

01At Kannonbara, 33 statues of the Bando pilgrimage stand on the north, 33 of the Saigoku on the west and 34 of the Chichibu on the south, with a statue of Kobo Daishi in the center. The village writes that people from nearby areas erected them in the Bunkyu era, and they are a cultural property of the village
02The Aoni hamlet was selected in 2000 as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings; its main houses, 14 of them thatched (covered with iron sheet), line up along the contours
03The Himekawa River begins from a spring at the south end of the village, and the alpine plant belt of the Shirouma mountain range is a national Special Natural Monument, where collecting began to be banned in 1909

See the town as it is now.

Facebookhakuba.lg.jp ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Hakuba Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes