Ichikai Town

Warriors painted on a station's walls.

Musha-e, Ichihana Station

Photo by Suikotei (CC BY 4.0)

01 ／ Headman's house

Built over five years as famine relief,a village headman's main house.

The main house of the Irino family, village headmen from the early Edo period, was built over the five years from Tenpo 7 to 12 as a relief project for villagers during a famine, as the family's documents show. Kept in its original state with no major alterations, it is an Important Cultural Property of Japan, together with its hip-roofed front gate.

Five years, Tenpo 7 to 12
Relief project for villagers
Important Cultural Property, 1968

02 ／ Haniwa

Haniwa once said to be missingcame home after 65 years.

Yokozuka Kofun in Ichihana is a keyhole-shaped tomb 52 m long, among the largest in the town. Three implement-shaped haniwa found in a 1957 excavation were long reported missing, and returned to the town in fiscal 2021 after 65 years. In January 2025 the sword-shaped one and two spear-shaped ones were designated town cultural properties (archaeological materials).

52 m long
1 sword, 2 spears
Town-designated, Jan. 2025

03 ／ Boundary map

A map of the Shogunate court's rulingon five villages' borders and commons.

This is the map attached to a written ruling in which the Shogunate's court, the Hyojosho, decided five disputes over the boundaries and shared grass-cutting commons of five villages. After sending inspectors to examine the land, it gave each village a copy and ordered that the rulings be strictly observed. It is a town cultural property.

5 villages, 5 disputes
Ruling of the Hyojosho
Town cultural property

Living here

24 km east of Utsunomiya, about 50 minutes by bus.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town is a rectangle 9.9 km east to west and 15.6 km north to south, about 24 km east of the prefectural capital, Utsunomiya. Its three stations, Ichihana, Tatara and Sasaharada, are all on the Moka Railway, and Ichihana is the town's main station. The town says it takes about 50 minutes from Utsunomiya on a JR Bus service bound for Motegi. Tatara-numa pond lies in the south.

People living here: 11,262people
Area: 64.25km²
Households: 4,260households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 8 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —5 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 6 municipalities.

Ichikai Town in Japan36.543°N 140.102°E

Territory of Ichikai 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

15.4km

芳賀町, 茂木町, 益子町, 那須烏山市, 真岡市, 高根沢町

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

Ichikai Town isthis kind of town.

01The Ohata family's hand-painted musha-e banner making in Tanobe is a prefectural intangible cultural property (craft techniques), and the station walls show musha-e handed down in Tanobe
02A village headman's main house, built from Tenpo 7 over five years as famine relief for villagers, is an Important Cultural Property as the Irino residence
03Haniwa from Yokozuka Kofun, long said to be missing, came home after 65 years, and a map of a Shogunate ruling on five villages' commons is also a town cultural property

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Ichikai Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗