Miyaki Town

No lifeline: up a ginkgo to fly a flag.

Hataage Shinji, Ayabe Hachiman

Photo by Pekachu (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Chiriku Embankment

A layer of packed clay called"hagane" was set in the embankment's core.

Chiriku Embankment (千栗土居) is a Saga Prefecture historic site, built for flood control on the Chikugo River by Naridomi Hyogo Shigeyasu (成富兵庫茂安). A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism document records that a layer of packed clay called "hagane" was put in its core, and that building took about 12 years. In the Meiji-era village reforms, Kita-Shigeyasu and Minami-Shigeyasu villages took "Shigeyasu" in their names out of respect for him.

About 12 km from Chiriku to Sakaguchi
About 12 years to build
Saga Prefecture historic site

02 ／ Bronze Spears of Kenmidani

Ten of the twelve bronze spearscarry herringbone-pattern grinding.

In 1985 (Showa 60), twelve bronze spears were excavated at the Kenmidani Site (検見谷遺跡). The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that all are of the medium-wide type and appear to date from the late Yayoi period, and that ten have herringbone-pattern grinding at 2 cm intervals on the blade. They are an Important Cultural Property, and their listed location has the same address as the Saga Prefectural Museum in Saga City.

12 spears excavated
10 with herringbone-pattern grinding
Important Cultural Property (designated 1986)

03 ／ Okayu-Tameshi at Chiriku Hachimangu

Porridge cooked in February is taken out in March;its mold and cracks foretell four provinces.

At Chiriku Hachimangu (千栗八幡宮), porridge cooked on February 26 and placed in the sanctuary is taken out at 8 a.m. on March 15. From the mold and cracks on its surface, the shrine foretells the year's weather and harvest for Hizen, Higo, Chikuzen and Chikugo. The tourist association says it is said to have been begun in 724 by Mibu no Harunari (壬生春成); in town it is also called "Okaisan."

Cooked Feb. 26, taken out 8 a.m. Mar. 15
Four provinces: Hizen, Higo, Chikuzen, Chikugo
Said to have begun in 724 with Mibu no Harunari

Living here

Three town offices. Three towns became one.

about 30,000 people
Rural district town

Miyaki was formed on March 1, 2005, by the merger of Nakabaru, Kita-Shigeyasu and Mine, and is a town in Miyaki District. It faces Kurume City in Fukuoka Prefecture across the Chikugo River, and its offices are split among three sites: the Town Hall and Disaster Prevention Center, the Nakabaru Office and the Mine Office. Its only railway station is Nakabaru Station on the JR Nagasaki Main Line.

People living here: 25,511people
Area: 51.92km²
Households: 9,229households
Rent (average for rentals): 44,679yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 17 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —3 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 6 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Miyaki Town in Japan33.325°N 130.455°E

Territory of Miyaki Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

15.2km

Saga Prefecture: 上峰町, 鳥栖市, 神埼市, 吉野ヶ里町
Fukuoka Prefecture: 久留米市, 那珂川市

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

Miyaki Town isthis kind of town.

01At Ayabe Hachiman Shrine (綾部八幡神社), the Hataage Shinji (旗上げ神事) is held on July 15: men called kamihatabito climb the sacred ginkgo and raise a hemp flag on a bamboo pole. Until the flag is lowered the day after the autumn equinox, the head priest records its state and foretells the weather and harvest. It became a prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2017, and in 2024 the state selected it as an intangible folk cultural property for which measures such as documentation should be taken.
02The district name 千栗 is read "Chiriku" rather than the usual "Chikuri," and the town introduces a saying that it comes from a legend in which a thousand chestnut trees grew overnight. In the Sarayama district, four kilns carry on Shiraishi ware (白石焼), said to have begun as domain-run ware of the Shiraishi Nabeshima family (not to be confused with Shiroishi Town in Kishima District).
03According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's river dictionary, work began on cut-off channels at Tenkenji and Sakaguchi and elsewhere on the Chikugo River under the first improvement plan of 1886. The town also holds the Himekata Site (姫方遺跡), a Saga Prefecture historic site preserving tombs from the Yayoi to Kofun periods.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Miyaki Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗