Tokamachi City

Worshipped on a peak, god of hemp cloth.

Matsuo Shrine main hall

Photo by くれないの雨 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Jomon settlement

The Jomon settlement was a ring or horseshoe;105 hearths were found.

Sasayama Site is a Jomon settlement of the Middle to Late periods, estimated to have lasted about 1,000 years. Its remains, including 105 hearths, were laid out in a ring or horseshoe about 130 m across, and the hearths are thought to have stood inside pit dwellings. 928 items including flame-style pottery became National Treasures in 1999 and are on permanent display at Tokamachi City Museum.

105 hearths
A ring or horseshoe about 130 m across
928 National Treasure items (1999)

02 ／ Beech forest

Beeches felled once in the Taisho erashot up together, and the grove was named Bijinbayashi.

On a hill of about 3 ha in the Matsunoyama area, beech trees about 100 years old stand together. The city describes a secondary forest of beeches that were felled once in the Taisho era and then shot up together again, and the tourist association says they were all cut to make charcoal. Their slender look gave the grove its name, Bijinbayashi, or Grove of Beauties. It is private land.

About 3 ha
About 100 years old
Felled once in the Taisho era

03 ／ Snow pit

Snow was stored in early springand cut out to use every morning.

The snow pit of the Hoshina family residence lies in a wooded area at Ueno, a stone-built pit 3 m deep. A square hole was dug in the ground and lined with round stones like a stone wall. Snow was stored in it in early spring and cut out each morning, and a sick villager in need or a fishmonger could use snow all year. It was used until refrigerators spread, and is a nationally registered Tangible Cultural Property.

3 m deep
Registered 2002
Used until refrigerators spread

Living here

Over 2 m of snow a year on average, and the Shinano River through the basin.

about 50,000 people

Tokamachi was formed on April 1, 2005 by the merger of five municipalities: the old Tokamachi City, Kawanishi, Nakasato, Matsudai and Matsunoyama. It covers 591.33 km². Mountains on both sides form the Tsuma basin, and the Shinano River runs through it from north to south. Snow cover averages more than 2 m each year. The gateway is Tokamachi Station, on the JR Iiyama Line and the Hokuetsu Express Hokuhoku Line.

People living here: 49,820people
Area: 590.39km²
Households: 18,012households
Rent (average for rentals): 42,950yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 36 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-04-01 に新設合併（川西町・中里村・松代町・松之山町）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —18 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 9 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Tokamachi City in Japan37.127°N 138.756°E

Territory of Tokamachi City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)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

41.0km

Niigata Prefecture: 津南町, 南魚沼市, 柏崎市, 上越市, 小千谷市, 湯沢町, 長岡市, 魚沼市
Nagano Prefecture: 栄村

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

Tokamachi City isthis kind of town.

01The Matsuo Shrine main hall, on a mountaintop in heavy snow country, is a hall of 1497 with thick timbers and short eaves, also worshipped as a god of hemp cloth, and is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property
02At Sasayama Site, remains including 105 hearths were laid out in a ring or horseshoe, and 928 items excavated there, including flame-style pottery, are National Treasures on display at Tokamachi City Museum
03At Bijinbayashi in Matsunoyama, beeches felled once shot up together, and in a wooded area at Ueno a stone snow pit remains where snow stored in early spring was cut out and used every morning

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Tokamachi City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗