Miyake Town

An arrow's thrust drew water, they say.

Byobu no Shimizu, Arrowhead Well

Photo by Nankou Oronain (as36… (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Dog-shaped haniwa

A dog-shaped haniwa carries herringbonelines from its forehead to its snout.

Hyotanyama Kofun in Tomondo, one of the Miyake tumulus group, looks to be a keyhole-shaped tomb about 40 m long and is thought to date from the first half of the 6th century. Cylindrical and figure haniwa clay figures came from its moat. The town notes the dog-shaped haniwa for its herringbone-pattern lines from forehead to snout.

About 40 m long
Thought to date from the early 6th century
Herringbone lines, forehead to snout

02 ／ Iwami site

The name of the Iwami-type shield haniwacomes from this Iwami site.

The Iwami site was built on flat land along the left bank of the Tera River; its mound has been levelled. Excavation showed a keyhole-shaped tomb at least 35 m long. It yielded figure haniwa such as a seated man, horse and deer haniwa, and the shield-shaped haniwa first found here, which gave the Iwami type its name.

Keyhole-shaped tomb, at least 35 m long
Seated man haniwa, about 76 cm high
Found in the 1966 second survey

03 ／ Hakusan Shrine

A stone where Prince Shotoku is saidto have sat is at Hakusan Shrine.

The seat stone at Hakusan Shrine is said to be where Prince Shotoku sat to rest on his trips between Ikaruga and Asuka. The place name Byobu is said to come from villagers setting up folding screens to receive him, and in the hall of Byobu Kizuki Shrine a votive picture offered in September 1777 shows them entertaining him.

Seat stone said to be Shotoku's
Votive picture offered in 1777
Name said to come from screens set up to receive him

Living here

The town's stations are Iwami and Tajima, on Kintetsu lines.

about 6,000 people
Rural district town

Iwami Station is on the Kintetsu Kashihara Line, and by the timetable only local trains stop there (as of 14 March 2026). Tajima Station is on the Tawaramoto Line. The town's access map gives about 18 minutes' walk from Iwami Station to the town office. The town's official note describes it as the second smallest town in Japan, in the middle of the Nara Basin.

People living here: 6,439people
Area: 4.06km²
Households: 2,645households
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.

Shape

Surrounded by 5 municipalities, and almost entirely flat.

Miyake Town in Japan34.574°N 135.773°E

Territory of Miyake Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

2.2km

田原本町, 川西町, 広陵町, 天理市, 河合町

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

Miyake Town isthis kind of town.

01The Byobu spring is in the precincts of Byobu Kizuki Shrine. The town's tourist pamphlet says that when Prince Shotoku struck the ground once with an arrow held by an attendant, water welled up, and villagers named it Yajiri-no-Ido, the arrowhead well, and used it with care
02The Taishi Road was the way Prince Shotoku went between Ikaruga Palace and a palace in Asuka, and the prefecture's historical-resource database says it passes through Byobu and Tomondo in the town. The town's pamphlet says three place names from old province names, Iwami, Mikawa and Tajima, remain in the town
03The town flower, azasa, was chosen in 2009 because it is sung of in the Manyoshu as a flower of Miyake no Hara. The town's pamphlet says the Kamakura-period monk Ninsho was born in what is now Byobu, Miyake

See the town as it is now.

Facebooktown.miyake.nara ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Miyake Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗