Yakage Town

A garden that took 21 years to build.

Daitsuji Garden, Sekijuen

Photo by ブルーノ・プラス (CC BY 4.0)

01 ／ Yakage-juku

The honjin and the waki-honjin both survive as Important Cultural Properties,and the honjin grounds hold storehouses built for brewing sake.

In the Edo period, Yakage was a post town on the Sanyodo, with a honjin and a waki-honjin, the official inns where daimyo stayed. The Ishii family of the former honjin also brewed sake, and its sake storehouse and inner storehouse still stand. The Takakusa family of the waki-honjin prospered in money lending and as the domain's treasury agents. Bunka Isan Online says it is the only place in Japan where both survive as Important Cultural Properties.

Selected as a Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings (23 Dec 2020, about 11.5 ha; town website)
Former honjin: 11 buildings; former waki-honjin: 9 buildings, all Important Cultural Properties (Okayama Prefecture)
Former honjin grounds: about 1,000 tsubo (town website)

02 ／ Shimotsumichi Clan Tomb

From a burial ground cut into a hillside slope,a bronze bone container inscribed with the first year of Wado came to light.

On a hill in Higashi-Minari, Yakage, a burial ground was made for the Shimotsumichi clan, chieftains of the Kibi region. A bronze bone container inscribed with the first year of Wado (708) and other items were found here. The tomb is a national historic site, and the bronze jar is a national Important Cultural Property owned and managed by Kokusho-ji temple. The photo shows a replica.

Shimotsumichi Clan Tomb: national historic site (designated 7 Mar 1923; Okayama Prefecture)
Bronze jar: national Important Cultural Property (designated 28 Jun 1956; owned by Kokusho-ji; Okayama Prefecture)
The photo is a replica (Wikimedia Commons)

03 ／ Maido Site

At a site said to be the ancient Sanyodo's "Oda post station,"tile deposits and building foundation stones have been found.

An umaya (post station) was a facility on ancient highways where officials lodged and horses were changed. At the Maido site, the town board of education's excavations have found ancient tile deposits and building foundation stones. In the 1972-73 survey, a Haji ware vessel inscribed with the character for "horse" was unearthed.

Maido site: the ancient Sanyodo's "Oda post station" (town website, Dec 2023)
Ancient tile deposits and building foundation stones found (town website, Dec 2023)
1972-73 survey: Haji ware inscribed "horse" unearthed (town's draft regional plan)

Living here

The Oda River runs east to west through the middle of town.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

Area 90.62 km². Forest covers about 64%, and fertile flatland spreads along the Oda River and its tributaries. The north is the southern edge of the Kibi Plateau; the south has mountains of 300 to 400 m, such as Mt. Yosho and Mt. Yataka.

People living here: 13,414people
Area: 90.62km²
Households: 5,000households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 9 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 5 municipalities.

Yakage Town in Japan34.627°N 133.587°E

Territory of Yakage Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

14.8km

井原市, 総社市, 倉敷市, 浅口市, 笠岡市

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

Yakage Town isthis kind of town.

01Daitsuji temple in Kobayashi, Yakage, has a garden designated a prefectural Place of Scenic Beauty. Also called Sekijuen, it was built between 1793 and 1813, and the tourism website says it took 21 years.
02Yakage-juku is a Sanyodo post town, where the former Ishii honjin and the former Takakusa waki-honjin are both Important Cultural Properties. The Shimotsumichi Clan Tomb in Higashi-Minari is a national historic site, and the town's materials name Kibi no Makibi as a member of the clan.
03The Oda River runs east to west through this town of 90.62 km². The Yakage Shukuba Festival's daimyo procession has been held every year on the second Sunday of November in Yakage's shopping street.

See the town as it is now.

Facebookyakage.town.hisyokoho ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Yakage Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗