Article

20303 ／こうみまち

Nagano Prefecture 南佐久郡

Koumi Town

Three lakes form Lake Matsubara.

Lake Matsubara, three lakes

Photo by Qurren (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Oyazawa Puppet Sanbaso

The puppet's head nodsby means of right whale baleen.

This is a Sanbaso danced by string puppets at the spring festival of Oyazawa Suwa Shrine. The heads of all three puppets, Okina, Chiyo and Jo, are of the enbashiki type. The enbashiki mechanism uses right whale baleen, passed from the core stick into the head; pull it and the head nods. The Agency for Cultural Affairs writes that it is considered the oldest of the nodding mechanisms.

Heads of the enbashiki type
Three puppets: Okina, Chiyo and Jo
National selection, 2015

02 ／ The Nozarashi Bell

A bell donated to Shinzenko-jistood long without a roof.

The bell carries an inscription naming Shinzenko-ji and the second year of Koan (1279), and the town records that it was donated to Shinzenko-ji in the former Asashina Village. When the Takeda clan invaded Saku, it is said to have been abandoned along the way or given to Matsubara Shrine. Also called the "Nozarashi Bell," it is an Important Cultural Property.

Koan 2 (1279)
Inscription naming Shinzenko-ji
Important Cultural Property, 1961

03 ／ Sarasadodan Grove at Yamanokami

On 3 ha of Matsubarako Highlands,about 4,600 sarasadodan trees stand.

The Yamanokami sarasadodan grove is a Nagano Prefecture Natural Monument. The town's guide gives its scale as 3 ha and its standing trees as about 4,600. Peak bloom is said to come from mid to late June, with autumn colors around it in mid-October.

Scale: 3 ha
About 4,600 trees
Prefectural Natural Monument

Koumi 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 November 2022)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

The Koumi Line runs along the Chikuma's flat strip.

about 4,000 people
Rural district town

Koumi lies in the eastern part of Nagano Prefecture, almost at the center of the Minamisaku area. The town says the Chikuma River flows north to south through its center, and that National Route 141 and the JR Koumi Line run along the belt of flat land beside it. The gateway is Koumi Station.

People living here: 4,353people
Area: 114.2km²
Households: 1,788households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 3 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 5 municipalities.

Koumi Town in Japan36.095°N 138.483°E

Territory of Koumi 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

12.5km

Sakuho Town, Minamimaki Village, Kitaaiki Village, Chino City, Minamiaiki Village

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

Koumi Town isthis kind of town.

01Lake Matsubara is made up of three lakes, Inako, Choko and Otsukiko, and covers 12 ha; the town says the lake that once lay here is said to be the origin of the name Koumi
02The Oyazawa puppet Sanbaso, danced by string puppets at the spring festival of Oyazawa Suwa Shrine, has been selected nationally as an intangible folk cultural property for which records should be made
03The Nozarashi Bell of Matsubara Suwa Shrine, which keeps an older spelling of "Suwa," is an Important Cultural Property, and the Yamanokami sarasadodan grove is a Prefectural Natural Monument

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Koumi Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes