Article

20363 ／はらむら

Nagano Prefecture 諏訪郡

Hara Village

An Early Jomon plaza lies in the woods.

Aku Site, stone belt and pillar

Photo by Takuma-sa (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Plaster reliefs

Plaster reliefs on the village's storehousesare said to number over 1,000.

The Most Beautiful Villages in Japan association writes that more than 1,000 plaster reliefs remain in the village. The village has issued a booklet on them, and the storehouse of the village's local history museum, Mate no Kura, has been restored in white plaster with namako-kabe tiling, so visitors can come close to the reliefs without hesitation. In this area, mate means careful craftsmanship.

Over 1,000 reliefs (association)
Museum storehouse, Mate no Kura
Mate: careful craftsmanship

02 ／ Boro weaving

Old cloth is torn into stripsand woven again as weft.

Boro weaving, also called saki-ori, is cloth made by passing strips of torn old fabric through as weft. The village says it was a winter handicraft of farm women, mainly in cold regions where cotton does not grow. The association writes that boro weaving, with the same origin, and saki-ori, to which new ideas were added, exist side by side in Hara, each respecting the other.

Cloth torn under 1 cm (association)
Winter handwork in the off-season
Boro and saki-ori side by side

03 ／ New fields

Eight new-field settlements joinedto form Hara in 1875.

New fields in Hara Village — Photo by ごしたい人 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The association writes that the village's history began over 400 years ago with the opening of new fields. An article on the village website says Hara was the latest farming village in the area to receive a development license, and that before then the plain, called Koya, is said to have been a hunting ground of the Suwa deity. It says eight new-field settlements joined to form the village in 1875.

Over 400 years since the opening of new fields
Eight new-field settlements
Formed in 1875

Hara 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 2004)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

There is no railway station in Hara.

about 8,000 people
Rural district town

The village says Hara has no train station, and that the nearest stations where limited expresses stop are Fujimi and Chino on the JR Chuo Line. The Anayama-Hara bus line, which links Chino Station and the Hara Village Office, runs on weekdays only. The gateway is the Hara Village Office.

People living here: 7,680people
Area: 43.26km²
Households: 2,895households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 5 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.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Hara Village in Japan35.964°N 138.217°E

Territory of Hara 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

5.9km

Nagano Prefecture: Chino City, Fujimi Town, Minamimaki Village
Yamanashi Prefecture: Hokuto City

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

Hara Village isthis kind of town.

01The Aku Site is an Early Jomon settlement and a National Historic Site; the Agency for Cultural Affairs says that in the Moroiso period a belt of stone clusters 25 to 45 m wide ringed a circular plaza 50 m across, with a 1.34 m stone pillar at its center
02The association writes that over 1,000 plaster reliefs remain on storehouses in the village, which presents them at the storehouse Mate no Kura; boro weaving and saki-ori of torn cloth also sit side by side here
03The village's history began with the opening of new fields, and eight new-field settlements joined to form Hara in 1875; the village says it has no train station, and the nearest limited express stops are Fujimi and Chino

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Hara Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes