Uonuma City

Fieldstone walls evoke a samurai manor.

Meguro-tei, rich farmer's manor

Photo by ゑぬぽい (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Dai no Saka

It opens with “Dai no saka, nanamagari,”and all 15 verses contain “Namu Saiho.”

大の阪.jpg — Photo by Shinmaebashi (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Every year on August 14–16, a log-built tower about 6 m high is raised in the grounds of Hachiman Shrine in Horinouchi, and people sing and dance slowly to the beat of its drum. A national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, it has no clear record of its origin and is said to have been brought by chijimi cloth merchants who travelled often to and from Kamigata, the Kyoto–Osaka region. In 2022 it became one of the Furyu-odori on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Tower about 6 m high
“Namu Saiho” in all 15 verses
UNESCO Intangible Heritage, 2022

02 ／ Shiori Pass cloud waterfall

Clouds that filled the valleyspill over the ridge like a waterfall.

According to the Uonuma City Tourist Association, mist formed at Oku-Tadami and Ginzandaira gathers in the valley as a sea of clouds, and when it crosses the mountain ridge it becomes a takigumo, a “cloud waterfall.” It can be seen between mid-to-late June and early November, around sunrise; the clouds often vanish within one to two hours of sunrise, and some days they do not appear at all.

Mid–late June to early November
Around sunrise
Often gone within 1–2 hours

03 ／ Sato Residence in Sumon

The Sato Residence in Sumon's Okurais an early example of chumon-zukuri.

In Okura in the Sumon district, the Sato Residence was built in 1738 (Genbun 3) and designated a national Important Cultural Property in 1977 as an early surviving example of a minka, or traditional house, in the chumon-zukuri form. Its pillars were made thick so that it can withstand winter snow 3 to 4 m deep.

Built 1738 (Genbun 3)
National Important Cultural Property, 1977
Thick pillars for 3–4 m of snow

Living here

7.5% of Niigata Prefecture, with 3 m of winter snow.

about 30,000 people

Uonuma was formed on November 1, 2004, by the merger of Horinouchi, Koide, Yunotani, Hirokami, Sumon and Irihirose, and covers 946.76 km². It borders Fukushima and Gunma Prefectures. Lying in the north of the Uonuma Basin, between the Uonuma Hills to the west and the Echigo Mountains to the east, it is threaded by clear streams such as the Uono and Aburuma Rivers. The gateway is Koide Station on the JR Joetsu and Tadami Lines.

People living here: 34,483people
Area: 946.76km²
Households: 12,703households
Rent (average for rentals): 40,163yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 28 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —10 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 2 prefectures.

Uonuma City in Japan37.236°N 138.964°E

Territory of Uonuma 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

52.5km

Niigata Prefecture: 長岡市, 南魚沼市, 三条市, 十日町市, 小千谷市
Fukushima Prefecture: 檜枝岐村, 只見町
Gunma Prefecture: みなかみ町, 片品村

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

Uonuma City isthis kind of town.

01Meguro-tei in Subara, a wealthy farmer's manor that doubled as the office of a warimoto shoya, a senior village headman, built in 1797 (Kansei 9), has a gate and a rough-stone wall, and is a national Important Cultural Property
02At Hachiman Shrine in Horinouchi the Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property Bon dance Dai no Saka is held every August, and at Shiori Pass a cloud waterfall can appear around sunrise between mid-to-late June and early November
03At Saifuku-ji Temple in Oura, the Kaizan-do hall holds Ishikawa Uncho's carvings, a prefectural cultural property, and at Ginzandaira the mine tunnels of a silver mine that flourished for about 200 years from the discovery of ore in 1641 have been identified

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Uonuma City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗