Misaki Town

A station roof with a turtle's head.

Kamenokō Station, turtle head

Photo by 世界の坂田銀時 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Gohōsai Festival

At night, the possessed runner races around the temple,and worshippers flee to avoid being caught.

Every August 14, deep into the night at Ryōzan-ji Temple (両山寺), a gohōzane (護法実), possessed by a protective deity, races through the dark grounds while worshippers flee to avoid being caught. Locals call it "Gōsama" (ゴーサマ). The town website says it began in 1275.

Prefectural Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (designated 1977)
Began in 1275 (town website)
Held on August 14, 2026 (Okayama Tourism Web)

02 ／ Tsukinowa Kofun

Residents and students, 10,000 people in all,took part in digging this hilltop tomb.

On the summit of Mt. Ōhira, about 320 m high, stands a round tomb estimated to date from the 4th to early 5th century. A total of about 10,000 residents, students and others took part in the 1953 excavation, whose method is called the "Tsukinowa method" (月の輪方式).

Round tomb about 60 m in diameter and 10 m high (town website)
A total of about 10,000 people took part in the 1953 dig
Prefectural Important Cultural Property (designated 1959)

03 ／ Yanahara Mine

The station of the railway that carried the oreis now the entrance to a mining park.

Kichigahara Station stood on the Katakami Railway, which carried ore from the Yanahara Mine, where iron pyrite was dug. It became a nationally registered tangible cultural property in 2006. The mine worked until 1991, and the station closed when the railway ended that June 30. The preserved cars are not running now.

Nationally registered tangible cultural property (March 2, 2006)
Yanahara Mine worked until 1991 (town website)
11 preserved cars; running suspended

Living here

About 750 rice terraces in hills 400 m up.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

In Ōhaga-nishi (大垪和西) in the Asahi area, about 750 terraced paddies spread in a bowl through 360 degrees. They are among the Japan's Best 100 Terraced Rice Fields and a Tsunagu Tanada Isan (つなぐ棚田遺産) site, and the Oyama area's terraces are also on the 100 list. The town office is in Harada, with branch offices in Asahi and Yanahara.

People living here: 13,053people
Area: 232.17km²
Households: 5,028households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 11 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —4 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.

Misaki Town in Japan34.998°N 133.958°E

Territory of Misaki Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

14.3km

津山市, 真庭市, 美作市, 久米南町, 吉備中央町, 赤磐市, 岡山市, 勝央町, 和気町

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

Misaki Town isthis kind of town.

01In Misaki, Kamenokō Station (JR Tsuyama Line) is known for a station building with a big turtle's head sticking out of its roof, and the turtle's eyes are a clock.
02At Ryōzan-ji Temple the Gohōsai festival is held every August 14 deep into the night, and in 1953 a total of about 10,000 residents, students and others joined the dig at Tsukinowa Kofun on the hilltop. In Yanahara stands Kichigahara Station, on the railway that carried ore.
03About 750 rice terraces spread in Ōhaga-nishi in the Asahi area, and the town presents Kishida Ginkō (岸田吟香) as a local great. The town was formed in 2005 by the merger of Chūō, Asahi and Yanahara.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Misaki Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗