Misato Town

Bon fires lit on 108 ridge mounds.

Inomata no Hyakuhattō

Photo by M yanagisawa (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Hyakuhattō

On a Bon night, fires on 108 mounds,and children run the whole rite.

Inomata no Hyakuhattō (猪俣の百八燈) is a Bon festival rite that has continued for more than 400 years. On the night of 15 August every year, fires are lit on 108 earth mounds built along the ridge of Dōzen'yama (堂前山), said to console the spirits of Inomata Koheiroku Noritsuna (猪俣小平六範綱), leader of the Inomata band of warriors, and his clan. From preparation to the night itself, local children aged 6 to 18 run everything without help from adults. It was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1987.

Every 15 August
108 mounds
Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, 1987

02 ／ Blueberries

Fruit planted on abandoned mulberry fieldsmade one of Japan's leading growing areas.

As silkworm farming declined and mulberry fields fell idle, the town encouraged farmers to grow four fruits: blueberries, ume plums, prunes and apricots. Blueberries suited the local climate best and now cover about 40 ha, making the town one of Japan's leading growing areas. They ripen from mid-June to early September, and visitors can pick their own at tourist farms.

About 40 ha
One of Japan's leading growing areas
Mid-June to early September

03 ／ Clay pagoda

Instead of building a temple,they fired a five-storey pagoda in clay.

In 1976, excavations at the Higashiyama site (東山遺跡) in Amakasu turned up an unglazed clay five-storey pagoda and main hall in the remains of an early Heian-period village. They are thought to have been made in place of building a temple and kept with care inside a building. The pagoda, three bays wide and five storeys high, is assembled from 21 parts. In 1994 the pair became an Important Cultural Property.

Excavated in 1976
21 parts
Important Cultural Property, 1994

Living here

A 10-minute walk from Matsuhisa Station to the town office.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town's only railway station is Matsuhisa Station on the JR Hachikō Line, and the town office is about a 10-minute walk from it. By car, the town is right by Yorii Smart IC on the Kan-Etsu Expressway, opened in 2021. The town helps with children's medical costs up to the end of the school year in which they turn 18, and pays school lunches at town elementary and junior high schools in full.

People living here: 11,039people
Area: 33.41km²
Households: 3,854households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 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 4 municipalities.

Misato Town in Japan36.177°N 139.181°E

Territory of Misato Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

8.8km

本庄市, 寄居町, 深谷市, 長瀞町

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

Misato Town isthis kind of town.

01Every 15 August, local children light fires on 108 mounds built along the ridge of Dōzen'yama in the Inomata no Hyakuhattō rite
02Blueberries, planted as abandoned mulberry fields were converted, now cover about 40 ha, one of Japan's leading growing areas
03An unglazed clay pagoda and main hall, fired in place of a temple and found in an early Heian village site, are an Important Cultural Property

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Misato Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗