Iwata City

Lights out, and a mikoshi runs in the dark.

Mitsuke Tenjin Hadaka Matsuri

Photo by nubobo (CC BY 2.0)

01 ／ Festival

Near-naked men parade,and the mikoshi crosses the dark.

At the Mitsuke Tenjin Hadaka Matsuri (見付天神裸祭), the deity of Yanahime Shrine (矢奈比売神社) is carried to Ōmi Kunitama Shrine (淡海国玉神社), the head shrine of Tōtōmi Province. Men in straw waist skirts parade through town and perform the "oni odori" (鬼踊り) dance in the worship hall. Late at night the lights across town go out for about 20 minutes, and the mikoshi heads to the shrine in the dark. It became an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 2000.

Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property
Lights out for about 20 minutes
The weekend before the 10th day of the 8th lunar month

02 ／ Football

Yamaha's works teamwon the J1 title three times.

Júbilo Iwata began in 1972 as the football club of Yamaha Motor and joined the J.League in 1994. It has been J1 champion three times, in 1997, 1999 and 2002. The city is also the hometown of Shizuoka SSU Bonita and a host area of the rugby club Shizuoka BlueRevs.

Founded in 1972
Joined the J.League in 1994
Three J1 titles

03 ／ Historic site

The foundations of a Tenpyō temple,rebuilt at full scale.

Tōtōmi Kokubun-ji (遠江国分寺), built after the imperial edict of 741, had a seven-storey pagoda and a main hall, and its site became a Special Historic Site in 1952. Excavations showed, for the first time at any ancient temple in Japan, that the platforms of all its main buildings were faced with timber (木装基壇), and the city is now rebuilding the pagoda and main-hall platforms at full scale.

Edict of 741
Special Historic Site since 1952
Timber-faced platforms rebuilt at full scale

Living here

11 minutes to Hamamatsu, six stations in the city.

about 170,000 people

On the JR Tōkaidō Line it is about 11 minutes from Iwata Station to Hamamatsu Station. The city has three JR stations, Iwata, Toyodachō and Mikuriya, and three on the Tenryū Hamanako Railroad, Shikiji, Toyooka and Kaminobe. City Hall is about a 10-minute walk from Iwata Station.

People living here: 166,672people
Area: 163.45km²
Households: 65,059households
Rent (average for rentals): 49,251yen
Healthcare: 9 hospitals ／ 123 clinics

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

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-04-01 に新設合併（福田町・竜洋町・豊田町・豊岡村）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —24 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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Iwata City in Japan34.718°N 137.851°E

to HamamatsuJR Tōkaidō Main Line11min

Travel times follow 市公式「磐田市へのアクセス」（2026-09-17 更新）に載っている値。県の移住サイトの磐田市のページ（問い合わせ先は磐田市政策推進課）も同じ11分 (checked 2026-09-24). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Iwata City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

27.2km

浜松市, 袋井市, 森町

Iwata City isthis kind of town.

01The Mitsuke Tenjin Hadaka Matsuri, where the town's lights go out as a mikoshi crosses the dark, is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property
02Júbilo Iwata, born as Yamaha Motor's football club, has won J1 three times, and a rugby club is based here too
03The site of the Nara-period Tōtōmi Kokubun-ji is a Special Historic Site, and its foundations are being rebuilt at full scale

See the town as it is now.

Facebookiwatafunclub ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Iwata City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗