Tara Town

They say the stone shrine was hauled up.

Mt. Tara summit stone shrine

Photo by Koda6029 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Takezaki Kanzeon-ji Oni Festival (竹崎観世音寺修正会鬼祭)

The demon in the Kannon hall's box and the sea's demonare said to overturn the island if they call and meet.

Held every year on January 2 and 3 at Takezaki Kanzeon-ji on Takezaki Island, and known as the Naked Festival. When four oni-zoe run out of the Kannon hall carrying the demon box, loincloth-clad young men rush in to keep it from escaping. It is a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and its Dōji-mai dance is prefecturally designated.

Designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1985 (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Held every year on January 2 and 3 (town website)
Four oni-zoe run out carrying the demon box (town website)

02 ／ Target Archery Festival (御手水の的射り)

Arrows counted as 33,333,shot from a green-bamboo bow at a demon target.

Every January 8, in the district whose name means "water for washing hands" (御手水), people fit green-bamboo arrows to bows of green bamboo and vine and shoot at targets marked "East, West, South, North" and "Demon." The counting is easygoing, and far fewer arrows are actually shot. The 3s are a good-luck charm, as 3 sounds like "birth" (san). The name is said to come from Emperor Keikō washing his hands here, and the custom to have begun as a contest of skill celebrating a victory.

Held every year on January 8 (town website)
Arrows are counted as 33,333, but far fewer are actually shot (town website)
Said to date from Emperor Keikō's visit (tourism association)

03 ／ The Torii in the Sea at Ōuo Shrine

At high tide it looks afloat; at low tide you can pass beneath.The torii was rebuilt in February 2024.

The torii stands in the shallows of the Ariake Sea, where the tidal range reaches 6 m, and at low tide one can walk beneath it. It was rebuilt on February 6 and 7, 2024 (Reiwa 6) because of age. The photo shows it before the rebuild, in January 2024.

Tidal range of up to 6 m (town website)
Rebuilt on February 6 and 7, 2024 (town website)
Certified a Saga Prefecture Heritage Site "to pass on to the 22nd century" in December 2017 (town website)

Living here

From Mt. Tara out to the sea, a fan-shaped 74.30 km².

about 8,000 people
Rural district town

The town covers 74.30 km², 12 km east to west and 12 km north to south. From the sacred peak of Mt. Tara at its apex, it spreads roughly like a fan toward the Ariake Sea. It borders Ōmura in Nagasaki Prefecture to the west, Isahaya to the south and Kashima to the north. Its catchphrase is "the town where you can see the pull of the moon."

People living here: 8,121people
Area: 74.3km²
Households: 2,788households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 2 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 3 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Tara Town in Japan33.019°N 130.179°E

Territory of Tara Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

12.7km

Saga Prefecture: 鹿島市
Nagasaki Prefecture: 諫早市, 大村市

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

Tara Town isthis kind of town.

01The town website says the stone shrine of the upper shrine of the Mt. Tara shrine (太良嶽神社上宮) at the summit of Mt. Tara was built in September of Taishō 12 (1923) by the priest and others, with stone taken from near the Shimizu spring. It is large and very heavy, and hauling it to the top was said to be a great labor.
02At Takezaki Kanzeon-ji, the Enza Festival is held in January and the Cucumber-Charm Festival in August. At Dōkoshi, on April 1, the White Fox Dance is performed in a festival thanking Kishikawa Shōnan, who guided settlers.
03The Tara Kaidō, which linked Nagashō (Isahaya) with Shioda (Ureshino), had sections including Tara's Yatōge pass chosen as one of the Hundred Historic Roads in 2019. Takezaki crab, Takezaki oysters and Tara mandarins are its known foods.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Tara Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗