Kora Town

Villagers and pupils spent eight years.

Old Kora-Higashi School Building

Photo by Kyoww (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Niten Gate of Saimyo-ji Temple

A guardian kicked the doors off,and they flew to Kosei, it is said.

The Niten Gate of Saimyo-ji Temple has no doors today. The town's description gives a legend: the guardian at the entrance roared "With me here, who needs a door?" and kicked the doors away, and they flew as far as Kosei, the area west of Lake Biwa. A record of its construction in 1407 was found for this red-lacquered eight-legged gate, whose roof is thin boards pinned with bamboo nails.

Built in 1407, per a record
Eight-legged gate
Important Cultural Property

02 ／ Unfinished stone pieces of Kanaya

Unfinished and failed stone figures and towers,more than 90, were found in a shrine precinct.

In 1988, more than 90 stone Buddhas, five-ringed towers and other pieces were found in the precinct of Kanayama Shrine. They include works left unfinished and failed attempts, and the town considers that a workshop for stone Buddhas and the like stood in Kanaya. The stone came from the nearby Inukami River, and a survey showed how the stone's shape and quality affected the forms, and the order and method of the work.

More than 90 pieces
Muromachi period
Town-designated, 1988

03 ／ Wisteria of Zaiji Hachiman Shrine

Every year in early May, wisteria bloomsare sent to the Todo family.

Zaiji Hachiman Shrine has two wisteria plants, a town-designated natural monument. According to the town, when the founder of the Todo family enshrined a branch of Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine in 1395, he brought back one wisteria and planted it, and these are its descendants. The blooms are sent to the Todo family each year in early May; the tourist association calls the event Hanakiri, and the town Fujikiri-sai.

Two plants
Town-designated, 1965
Early May each year

Living here

The only station is Amago, on the Ohmi Railway.

about 6,000 people
Rural district town

The town lies on the alluvial fan on the left bank of the Inukami River, in the Koto plain. Its area of 13.63 square kilometers is the second smallest in the prefecture, and it has 13 hamlets. Amago Station on the Ohmi Railway is the only station; the town's guide (updated 2021) says it is about 10 minutes by Ohmi Railway from JR Hikone Station, then a 20-minute walk to the town office.

People living here: 6,362people
Area: 13.63km²
Households: 2,211households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 2 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.

Kora Town in Japan35.204°N 136.261°E

Territory of Kora Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

5.6km

多賀町, 豊郷町, 彦根市, 愛荘町

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

Kora Town isthis kind of town.

01The former Kora-Higashi Elementary School main building, completed in 1933, is an all-cypress school designated by the town; built over eight years under the village head's direction, with villagers carrying timber and pupils passing bricks by hand, and it now serves as the town library
02The Niten Gate of Saimyo-ji Temple, one of the three Koto temples, is an Important Cultural Property whose missing doors are explained by a legend of a guardian kicking them away; the main hall and three-story pagoda are National Treasures
03More than 90 unfinished and failed stone Buddhas and towers were found in the precinct of Kanayama Shrine in Kanaya, and wisteria blooms from Zaiji Hachiman Shrine are sent to the Todo family each year; the Ohana dance of Kitaochi and the Gonden hall of Kora Shrine in Hoyoji (an Important Cultural Property) are also on the town's list of cultural properties

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kora Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗