Kohoku Town

A mother's soul is said to dwell in it.

Kankan-ishi Stone

Photo by Pekachu (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Sekigawa Family Residence

A house that served as a bank office keeps,in its grounds, an 1858 signpost for the highway.

The Sekigawa Family Residence stands in Oda (小田宿), a post town on the Nagasaki Kaidō, and is said to have been built in the mid-Meiji period. It served as the office and home of Nōshō Bank Co. (農商銀行株式会社) and is a Saga Prefecture Heritage site. A signpost of 1858 marking the highway still stands on the grounds. Only the exterior can be viewed.

Saga Prefecture Heritage (prefecture)
Signpost of Ansei 5 (1858) marking the highway (prefecture, town)
Exterior viewing only (prefecture)

02 ／ Ryutakuji Zazen Stone and Sixteen Arhats

Around the zazen stone a Zen master found on his travels,a Taku chief retainer donated sixteen arhats.

A town-designated cultural property. In 1358, in the early Muromachi period, a Zen master (真空禅師無著妙融大和尚) found a zazen stone here on his travels and practiced Zen. A man of Ogi (山口炊守) took him as his teacher, granted him land, and founded Ryutakuji. The sixteen arhats (Rakan) are stone statues donated by a chief retainer of Taku and placed around the stone.

Town-designated cultural property (town)
Zazen stone found in 1358 (town)
Sixteen arhats donated by a chief retainer of Taku (town)

03 ／ Confucius Statue, Shiraki Seibyo

A Confucius statue made in China in the time of the Taku lordwas moved to Shiraki in 1888.

A Confucius statue made in China in 1699 (Genroku 12), in the time of the Taku lord Shigefumi (伊豆守茂文), was enshrined here in 1888 (Meiji 21) when the Shiraki Seibyo hall was built. The town describes it as one of the few Chinese-made Confucius statues remaining in Japan. A festival praying for children's healthy growth and love of learning is held every year on the third Sunday of April.

Town-designated cultural property (town)
Made in China in 1699 (Genroku 12) (town)
Festival on the third Sunday of April each year (town)

Living here

At the navel of Saga, rail lines and national routes split.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

Kohoku lies almost in the middle of Saga Prefecture, and the town's website calls it the "navel town" (へその町). The JR Nagasaki Main Line and Sasebo Line split at Kōhoku Station, and National Routes 34 and 207 also branch within the town. The town's profile (updated September 2023) gives about 10 minutes from Kōhoku Station to Saga Station and 45 minutes at the fastest to Hakata Station.

People living here: 9,566people
Area: 24.88km²
Households: 3,433households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 5 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —2 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 4 municipalities.

Kohoku Town in Japan33.221°N 130.157°E

Territory of Kohoku Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

7.3km

小城市, 白石町, 多久市, 大町町

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

Kohoku Town isthis kind of town.

01The Kankan-ishi stone, in a district written (鳥屋), has been cherished since before the Edo period and is a town-designated cultural property. It is said that a mother's soul, guarding her child, dwells in the stone, which is why it rings with a fine "clang, clang" when struck.
02The town's designated cultural properties also include the Confucius statue at Shiraki Seibyo (白木聖廟), the zazen stone and sixteen arhats of Ryutakuji (龍澤寺), the camphor tree at the Horse-headed Kannon hall (馬頭観音堂), and the Soshibun mask furyu (祖子分の面浮立). The tree and the Kannon can be found in records by Kaempfer and Siebold, among others.
03Hizen-Yamaguchi Station on the Nagasaki Main Line was renamed Kōhoku Station on September 23, 2022, the opening day of the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen, at the town's request.

See the town as it is now.

Facebookkouhokumachi ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kohoku Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗