Kasatori Pass pine avenue, Tateshina Town
Article

20324 ／ たてしなまち

Nagano Prefecture 北佐久郡

Tateshina Town

Seedlings said to come from the shogun.

Kasatori Pass pine avenue

Photo by Qurren (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Former Ashida Post Station Honjin

It had a notice board, a station office and a brewery.The guest hall standing now was rebuilt in Kansei 12.

Former Ashida Post Station Honjin in Tateshina Town
Photo by Bryanmackinnon (CC BY 4.0)

The honjin of Ashida Post Station was entrusted to Tsuchiya Ukyozaemon when the station was set up, and his family kept it until the Meiji Restoration. According to the town, what remains today is the guest hall rebuilt in Kansei 12 (1800), along with many name plates left by feudal lords. The former Ashida honjin, the Tsuchiya residence, was designated a Nagano Prefecture Treasure in 1988.

  • Guest hall rebuilt in Kansei 12
  • Many lords' name plates remain
  • Prefectural Treasure, 1988

02 ／ Tsugane-ji Stone Pagodas

Three stone pagodas stand on the hill behind the temple.They are said to date from 1220 and 1227.

On the hill behind Tsugane-ji stand three stone pagodas. The north and middle ones are memorial towers said to have been dedicated in Jokyu 2 (1220) by a Shigeno couple, in a service held for themselves while alive. The south one is a sutra-offering tower said to have been raised in Karoku 3 (1227) for the souls of the donor's late parents. They were designated Prefectural Treasures in 1974.

  • Three pagodas: north, middle, south
  • Jokyu 2 (1220) and Karoku 3 (1227)
  • Prefectural Treasure, 1974

03 ／ Naruishi

Two great boulders that, they say,rang when the wind blew hard.

Naruishi in Tateshina Town
Photo by Qurren (CC BY-SA 3.0)

At the foot of Mount Tateshina, two great boulders lie stacked like a rice-cake offering. The name is said to come from their ringing in a strong wind, and a gentle tap gives a sound like a bell. The town records that they are thought to have been set up in the 6th to 7th century as a site for rites to the god of Tateshina, on a hard stretch of the ancient Tosando road.

  • Two boulders stacked like a rice-cake offering
  • Thought to be a ritual site of the 6th-7th century
  • Town-designated historic site, 1967

Tateshina Town from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot June 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

No station in town; a bus links it to Oya Station.

  • about 7,000 people
  • Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town, and its gateway is the Tateshina Town Office bus stop. The Nakasendo Line of Toshin Kanko Bus links it with Oya Station of the Shinano Railway (in Ueda City) in 27 minutes on services that run daily, according to the town's timetable. The town is 26.4 km north to south and 9.9 km east to west, and the town's overview gives its area as 66.87 km² (2015 edition).

People living here
6,612people
19952020

−9% since 2015

8,712 → 6,612

Area
66.87km²

26.74km² of it habitable

2024

Households
2,606households

2.5 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
—
Healthcare
0 hospitals ／ 4 clinics

6.0 per 10,000 people

2023

Area66.87km²Habitable land26.74km² ／ 40%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—0 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.

Tateshina Town in Japan36.272°N 138.316°E
OsakaTateshina Town
Tateshina Town Office
立科町役場前2013
  • to OyaLocal bus27min

Travel times follow 立科町公式『立科町バス路線案内・時刻表2026年4月～』（町公式 kurashi/koutsu、2026-09-18 更新のページからリンク）のp.13『中仙道線（大屋駅方面）』（東信観光バス。注に『令和6年4月改正のもの。最新は東信観光バスへ』） (checked 2026-10-21). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Territory of Tateshina 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)

Tateshina Town isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The pine avenue of Kasatori Pass, a Nagano Prefecture Natural Monument, runs about 2 km from west of Ashida Post Station on the Nakasendo to the pass; by tradition, red pine seedlings were handed down to the Komoro domain by the shogunate around Keicho 7
  2. 02The guest hall of the former Ashida honjin, the Tsuchiya residence, rebuilt in Kansei 12, is a Prefectural Treasure, as are the three stone pagodas on the hill behind Tsugane-ji
  3. 03Naruishi, two boulders stacked at the foot of Mount Tateshina, is a town-designated historic site; the Shiozawa Weir, one of Japan's 100 Irrigation Canals, also runs through the town, which has no railway station and whose gateway is the Tateshina Town Office bus stop

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Tateshina Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes

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