Article

20414 ／やすおかむら

Nagano Prefecture 下伊那郡

Yasuoka Village

Wall behind the platform, river below.

Tamoto Station, Cliff Station

Photo by ButuCC (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Konno Suwa Shrine

Two small main hallsstand side by side under one cover building.

The Important Cultural Property main hall of Suwa Shrine is a one-bay hall and that of Wakamiya Hachimangu is a two-bay hall, both small shrines of nagare-zukuri style with plank roofs. Wakamiya Hachimangu's main hall keeps a ridge tablet dated Genki 4 (1573), and the village notes that the Suwa Shrine hall is recognized as built in the same period. They are thought to have been protected by the cover building from the start, and it was designated as an accessory.

Important Cultural Property, April 20, 1993
Ridge tablet of Genki 4 (1573)
Cover building designated as an accessory

02 ／ Minamiyama Kureki Dance

The village paid its tax in kureki timber instead of rice.A dance celebrating full payment is handed down as the Kureki Dance.

The village says that Yasuoka, the shogunate-held "Minamiyama-go," paid its annual tax in "kureki" instead of rice, and held a "kureki festival" once all of it was paid. The Hachijuni Cultural Foundation explains that the Prefecture-designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property "Minamiyama Kureki Dance" was handed down as a festival dance celebrating full payment of kureki and giving thanks to the local deity. The nation has selected "Shimoina Kake Dances."

Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property, September 21, 2000
Nationally selected "Shimoina Kake Dances," December 3, 1999
Tax paid in kureki instead of rice

03 ／ Tamoto Yubeshi

The sake snack at the kureki festivalwas said to be yubeshi, a hollowed-out citron.

The village traces yubeshi back about 400 years to the Edo period and says it was eaten as a sake snack at the celebration after the tax was paid. A hollowed-out citron is stuffed with miso, sesame, walnuts and the like, then steamed and dried in the shade for about a month. Tamoto's yubeshi is one of the prefecture's selected intangible folk cultural properties, and about 15 households in the village still make it.

Origin about 400 years ago, Edo period
Steamed, then dried in the shade for about a month
Prefectural selection "Yubeshi of Minami Shinshu," 2000

Yasuoka 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 March–May 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

Four JR Iida Line stations in a village at the south of Shimoina.

about 2,000 people
Rural district town

The village lies in the southern part of Shimoina District, and the JR Iida Line has four stations in it: Karakasa, Kadoshima, Tamoto and Nukuta. The village's own access page lists Nukuta Station as the public-transport entrance. In 1930 a school-district meeting resolved to collect works of art and build a school art museum.

People living here: 1,542people
Area: 64.59km²
Households: 595households
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.

Yasuoka Village in Japan35.377°N 137.846°E

Territory of Yasuoka 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

12.1km

Iida City, Anan Town, Shimojo Village, Tenryu Village

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

Yasuoka Village isthis kind of town.

01Tamoto Station, which the village calls the "cliff station" on the JR Iida Line, has a concrete wall rising behind the platform and the Tenryu River flowing below the tracks
02The two main halls of Konno Suwa Shrine are Important Cultural Properties, and the Minamiyama Kureki Dance, tied to tax paid in kureki, is a Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property and nationally selected
03The village says yubeshi goes back to a sake snack at the celebration of full tax payment, and the village has four JR Iida Line stations, with Nukuta Station as its gateway

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Yasuoka Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes