Kawanehon Town

The one train in Japan that climbs on a cogwheel.

Ikawa Line, Abt rack

Photo by Toshinori baba (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Abt rack railway

A grade of 90 m in 1,000 m,climbed on a cogwheel.

The Oigawa Railway's Ikawa Line, the Minami-Alps Abt Line (南アルプスあぷとライン), runs 25.5 km from Senzu Station to Ikawa Station in about two hours. Between Abt-Ichishiro and Nagashima Dam, the locomotive's cogwheel meshes with a toothed rack rail between the tracks to climb a 90‰ grade. It is Japan's only Abt rack railway, and on the way it stops at Okuōikojō Station (奥大井湖上駅), on a spit of land jutting into a lake.

Japan's only Abt rack railway
A 90‰ grade
Senzu to Ikawa, 25.5 km

02 ／ Sumata Gorge

The bridge over the laketakes ten people at a time.

Yume-no-Tsuribashi (夢のつり橋) in Sumatakyō (寸又峡) is a suspension bridge over an emerald-green lake. Only ten people may cross at a time, and on busy days it becomes one-way. From the car park in the spa town it is a 30 to 40 minute walk each way along the trail. The town-run open-air bath nearby is called Bijo-zukuri no Yu (美女づくりの湯) because it leaves the skin so smooth.

Ten people at a time
30 to 40 minutes on foot each way
Bijo-zukuri no Yu

03 ／ Tokuyama Bon Odori

Boys in deer headdressesdance for Obon.

The Tokuyama Bon Odori (徳山の盆踊) is performed every year on 15 August at Sengen Shrine (浅間神社) in Tokuyama. Junior-high boys in deer headdresses dance the Shikanmai (鹿ん舞), girls dressed as maiko dance the Hi-yai (ヒーヤイ), and grown men perform kyōgen, in turn. It is a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and in 2022 it was inscribed by UNESCO as one of the Furyū-odori (風流踊).

Every year on 15 August
National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Living here

To Senzu, by town bus from Ieyama.

about 6,000 people
Rural district town

Since Typhoon No. 15 in 2022, the Oigawa Railway main line between Kawaneonsen-Sasamado and Senzu has remained closed. Take the main line from Kanaya to Ieyama Station, then change to the town-run Senzu–Ieyama bus (six round trips daily) for Senzu Station. From Senzu, the Ikawa Line and a town bus to Sumatakyō Onsen depart.

People living here: 6,206people
Area: 496.88km²
Households: 2,639households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 8 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 4 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Kawanehon Town in Japan35.047°N 138.082°E

Territory of Kawanehon Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

41.6km

Shizuoka Prefecture: 静岡市, 浜松市, 島田市
Nagano Prefecture: 飯田市

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

Kawanehon Town isthis kind of town.

01The Ikawa Line, Japan's only Abt rack railway, climbs a 90‰ grade on a cogwheel
02Only ten people at a time may cross Yume-no-Tsuribashi in Sumatakyō
03The Tokuyama Bon Odori is one of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage Furyū-odori

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kawanehon Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗