Article

20429 ／おうたきむら

Nagano Prefecture 木曽郡

Otaki Village

Timber locomotives line up by a shed.

Otaki Forest Railway cars

Photo by ブルーノ・プラス (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Kiyotaki and Shintaki

A waterfall fed by snowmelt and seepagestays 12 to 13°C even in summer.

Kiyotaki is a waterfall about 30 m high near the third station on the Mount Ontake trail. The village's own site says its water, gathered from snowmelt and groundwater seepage, stays at 12 to 13°C even in summer, and that the fall has long been known for waterfall austerities. Nearby Shintaki could also be viewed from behind the falls, and was once called the "rear-view fall."

About 30 m high
Water 12 to 13°C even in summer
Near the third station of Mount Ontake

02 ／ Otaki Turnip

A document from about 300 years agorecords turnips sent to Nagoya Domain as tax.

Otaki Turnip in Otaki Village — Photo by Kurokawa t (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A document kept in the village, about 300 years old, records turnips paid as annual tax to Nagoya Domain. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries register names Otaki Village and the Kaida highland area of Kiso Town as where sunki began, a salt-free pickle made by blanching red turnip stems and leaves and fermenting them with lactic acid bacteria.

Document about 300 years old
Sunki registered as a GI in 2017
Made in six Kiso District towns and villages and the former Narakawa Village

03 ／ Ontake Shrine, Satomiya

Climb 368 stone steps through conifer forest.The shrine hall stands below a sheer rock face.

A little way from the village center toward Tanohara stands the Satomiya of Ontake Shrine, marked by a large torii gate. The village's own site says that after climbing 368 stone steps through the conifer forest you reach the shrine hall below a sheer rock face, and adds that it is cool in summer.

368 stone steps
Conifer forest
Hall below a sheer rock face

Otaki 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 May–November 2020)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

No station in the village; 38 minutes by bus from Kiso-Fukushima Station.

about 1,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the village. Taking a daily-service bus on the Kiso Bus Western Trunk Line from Kiso-Fukushima Station on the JR Chuo Main Line, you reach the terminal stop, Otaki, in 38 minutes. The village's own overview says 97 percent of its area is forest and open land, 87 percent of which is national forest.

People living here: 715people
Area: 310.82km²
Households: 371households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 1 clinic

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.

Otaki Village in Japan35.809°N 137.551°E

to Kiso-FukushimaLocal bus38min

Travel times follow 王滝村公式『王滝－木曽町福島間の路線バス』（きそバス西部幹線王滝系統・三岳系統時刻表〈令和8年10月1日ダイヤ改正〉。PDF kisobus_time_0810.pdf。運行事業者：おんたけ交通） (checked 2026-10-20). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Otaki 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

21.8km

Nagano Prefecture: Kiso Town, Agematsu Town, Okuwa Village
Gifu Prefecture: Gero City, Nakatsugawa City

Otaki Village isthis kind of town.

01The Otaki Forest Railway that carried timber closed its Otaki Line in May 1975, and the village's tourism site says preserved cars are on display in the village. Around 1955 a school train, the Yamabato-go, also came into being for Takigoshi children attending Otaki elementary and junior high school
02Of the Japanese Forest Society's Forestry Heritage "Kiso Forest Railway (group of relics)," a former station site and a steel arch bridge of the Otaki Line are among the certified items. The village's own site says the water of Kiyotaki, near the third station of Mount Ontake, stays at 12 to 13°C even in summer
03The Satomiya has a hall at the top of 368 stone steps, and the Otaki turnip appears in a document about 300 years old as tax paid in kind. The village has no station; Kiso-Fukushima Station is 38 minutes away by route bus

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Otaki Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes