Article

20425 ／きそむら

Nagano Prefecture 木曽郡

Kiso Village

Where the Hida road left the Nakasendo.

Yabuhara-juku, Hida road fork

Photo by Opqr (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Oroku comb

Under 10 cm wide,about 100 teeth are sawn.

This wooden comb is made of minebari wood, each tooth cut one at a time with a toothing saw. The village says about 100 teeth line each side, and in the Koka era 78% of households in the post town worked on combs. It is a prefectural selected intangible cultural property and also a national selected intangible folk cultural property (recommended January 2026).

Prefectural selected intangible cultural property, June 19, 1973
National selected intangible folk cultural property (recommended January 23, 2026)
Koka era: 78% of households in the post town worked on combs

02 ／ Torii Pass

The village chronicle says the pass took its namefrom the shrine gate built there for Ontake.

The village chronicle records that in 1495 (Meio 4) a torii for Mount Ontake was built, and that the place was called Torii Pass from then on. The roughly 6 km between Yabuhara and Narai is a mountain road over a pass 1,197 m high; Torii Pass is a village historic site (1973) and the horse chestnut grove is a village natural monument (December 17, 1992).

Village historic site, 1973
Horse chestnut grove: village natural monument, December 17, 1992
Yabuhara to Narai about 6 km; pass 1,197 m high

03 ／ Mizukisawa old-growth forest

A saying, "Cut it and it turns rough,"and a great sawara cypress about 550 years old.

This old-growth forest spreads over the source of the Kiso River, about 82 ha by the village's figure. It holds a great sawara cypress estimated at about 550 years old. Downstream there is an old saying, "Cut Mizukisawa and it turns rough," and the village explains that preventing disasters also seems to be why it escaped felling.

About 82 ha
Great sawara cypress: estimated about 550 years old
Saying: "Cut Mizukisawa and it turns rough"

Kiso 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 October–November 2015)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

At the Kiso River's headwaters, 87.66% of the land is forest.

about 3,000 people
Rural district town

The village covers 140.50 km², of which 123 km² is forest, a forest ratio of 87.66%. Farmland and habitable land together total 4.08 km² (2.9%). Standing at the uppermost reach of the Kiso River, Kiso Village was formed in 1889 by merging Yabuhara, Ogiso and Suge. The gateway is Yabuhara Station.

People living here: 2,692people
Area: 140.5km²
Households: 1,013households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 2 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.

Kiso Village in Japan35.936°N 137.783°E

Territory of Kiso 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

20.3km

Kiso Town, Shiojiri City, Matsumoto City, Asahi Village

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

Kiso Village isthis kind of town.

01Yabuhara-juku was a post town on the Nakasendo; the village's list of scenic sites records the spot where the Nakasendo and the Hida road forked, and the site of the honjin, about 310 tsubo in area
02The Oroku comb is a wooden comb made of minebari wood, and its technique is a Nagano Prefecture selected intangible cultural property (1973); it is also a national selected intangible folk cultural property (recommended January 2026)
03Torii Pass is a village historic site and its horse chestnut grove a village natural monument; the Mizukisawa old-growth forest covers about 82 ha, with a saying that cutting it turns the land rough

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kiso Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes