Article

20590 ／いいづなまち

Nagano Prefecture 上水内郡

Iizuna Town

Edo-Kanazawa midpoint, said set by Kaga.

Bushu-Kashu Dochu Sakai Stele

Photo by Yoshi Canopus (CC0)

01 ／ Imokawa Canal

The old village name "Misuzu" comesfrom the Imokawa, Kurai and Fukoji canals.

Imokawa Canal in Iizuna Town — Photo by LRFVITA (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The name of the former Misuzu Village comes from three canals: the Imokawa, Kurai and Fukoji. The prefecture says the longest, the Imokawa Canal, was dug in the 8th year of Tensho (1580), though a 1603 date is also given. An extension in 1671 brought its total length to about 29 km. It still waters about 300 ha of farmland.

Three canals gave the village its name
Total length about 29 km
Waters about 300 ha

02 ／ Taioji Temple Gate

A two-storied gate stands at a temple in Imokawa.About 13 m high, a building of 1798.

The gate of Taioji Temple is a wooden two-storied tower gate, about 13 m high, 3 bays wide and 2 bays deep. Its date is given as 1798, in the early modern period. Together with its attached ridge tablets, it was designated a Tangible Cultural Property (building) of Iizuna Town on November 2, 2017.

About 13 m high
1798 (early modern)
Town-designated, 2017

03 ／ Togyo

The Togyo, a fish from abroad,is designated a town natural monument.

The Togyo is another name for the Chosen-buna, a paradise fish and non-native species from the Korean Peninsula and mainland China. It is said to have been brought to Hiraide around 1926, and since 1980 it has been known to breed naturally in ponds of the former Mure Village. Five ponds were first designated; in a 2008 survey two showed no fish, and their designation was lifted in 2009.

Town-designated, 1993
Five ponds at first
Two ponds removed, 2009

Iizuna 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 September–October 2024)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

Up to about 35 degrees in summer, down to about minus 10 in winter.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

Iizuna lies in northern Nagano Prefecture, in Kamiminochi District, bordering Nagano City to the west and south, Shinano Town to the north and Nakano City to the east. The town's own site describes gentle hills running from Mount Iizuna to Mount Madarao, in a bowl shape. Farming, centered on apples and rice, is the main industry. The town was formed in 2005 by the merger of Mure and Misuzu villages, and its gateway is Mure Station on the Shinano Railway.

People living here: 10,296people
Area: 75km²
Households: 3,767households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 3 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —3 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 3 municipalities.

Iizuna Town in Japan36.755°N 138.236°E

Territory of Iizuna 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

14.2km

Shinano Town, Nagano City, Nakano City

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

Iizuna Town isthis kind of town.

01The Bushu-Kashu Dochu Sakai Stele, beside the Hokkoku Highway at Kodama, is a 160 cm marker said to have been set up by the Maeda family of the Kaga domain as the midpoint between Edo and Kanazawa; a town-designated historic site, it was moved about 20 m east in 1999
02The name of the former Misuzu Village comes from the Imokawa, Kurai and Fukoji canals, and the longest, the Imokawa Canal, still waters about 300 ha of farmland; the gate of Taioji Temple is a two-storied tower gate of 1798, a town cultural property
03The ponds of the Togyo, a non-native fish, are designated a town natural monument; the town lies among hills bordering Nagano City, Shinano Town and Nakano City, and its gateway is Mure Station on the Shinano Railway

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Iizuna Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes