Article

20309 ／さくほまち

Nagano Prefecture 南佐久郡

Sakuho Town

A knobby giant stands on charcoal hills.

Kobutaro, horse chestnut

Photo by ぷんすけ (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Wisteria-vine water division

At a plunge pool where water disputes never ended,two wisteria vines measured the width of the intake.

Disputes over water never ended at the diversion point below Shirataki Falls. According to the Hachijuni Culture Foundation, it began when a mediator cut two wisteria vines and handed them over. The 160 cm vines became the gauge for measuring each intake's width, and the Shirataki water-dividing gauge is designated by the town. The Usonokuchi Circular Diversion Works splits the water among three channels by the number of holes.

Vines 160 cm long, 3 to 4 mm thick
Gauge designated by the town
Water split among three channels

02 ／ Kitazawa Great Stone Rod

The 2.23 m stone rod is thoughtto have been set up beside a spring.

The sign at the site, from the town board of education, says that people living on the terrace to the south in the middle Jomon period are thought to have set it up beside a spring as a symbol of faith. To protect the cultural property, the original is displayed at Morai-kan, and a precise replica stands at the site.

223 cm long, welded tuff
Town-designated, 1984
Original at Morai-kan, replica on site

03 ／ Shirakoma Pond

The old-growth forest around the pondwas chosen by a society as a "moss forest."

Shirakoma Pond lies within the old-growth forest of Kita-Yatsugatake in Sakuho. The Bryological Society of Japan has selected the old-growth forest around Shirakoma Pond in Yatsugatake as one of Japan's precious moss forests. According to the town tourist association, the area around the pond has ten named forests, and the mosses differ from forest to forest.

Selected by the Bryological Society of Japan
Ten named forests
Old-growth forest of Kita-Yatsugatake

Sakuho 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 Chikuma River runs between the Yatsugatake and Chichibu ranges.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

Sakuho lies in eastern Nagano Prefecture and covers 188.13 km², 29.5 km east to west and 14.8 km north to south. It was formed in 2005 when the former Saku Town and Yachiho Village merged. Stations of the JR Koumi Line are in the town, and the town's access guide names Haguroshita Station as its arrival station.

People living here: 10,218people
Area: 188.15km²
Households: 3,922households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 7 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 6 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Sakuho Town in Japan36.161°N 138.483°E

Territory of Sakuho 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

14.8km

Nagano Prefecture: Koumi Town, Saku City, Chino City, Kitaaiki Village
Gunma Prefecture: Nanmoku Village, Ueno Village

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

Sakuho Town isthis kind of town.

01The horse chestnut Kobutaro beside the Mt. Morai trail has a trunk 531 cm around and stands 22 m tall; the Forestry Agency has selected it as one of its hundred forest giants and notes that, in the charcoal-burning of the Showa 30s (1955 to 1964), almost all the trees around it were cut down while this giant survived
02At Shirataki, where disputes over water never ended, two wisteria vines became the gauge for measuring each intake's width; the Fuji-tsuru diversion site and the Shirataki gauge are designated by the town, and the Usonokuchi circular diversion works splits water among three channels by the number of holes
03The 223 cm Kitazawa Great Stone Rod is town-designated, with the original displayed at Morai-kan and a replica at the site; the old-growth forest around Shirakoma Pond is selected by the Bryological Society of Japan as one of Japan's precious moss forests

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Sakuho Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes