Kaminokawa Town

Its stone is now banned from quarrying.

Shirasagi Shrine, Nikko stone

Photo by Miyuki Meinaka (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Inscribed tiles

Tiles on a government storehouse roofwere carved with about 100 names.

The Kamikōnushi–Mobara government office site, shared by Kaminokawa and Utsunomiya, was an office of ancient Kawachi District. Among its storehouses, only one building had a tile roof, and those tiles were carved with the names of about 100 people, such as Sakabe and Kōnushibe. Name-carved tiles turning up together at an office site is rare nationwide, and in 2024 they were designated Important Cultural Properties.

About 100 names carved
1,461 inscribed tiles
Designated Important Cultural Properties, Aug. 2024

02 ／ Two-storey gate

A two-storey gate whose timber framingkeeps traces of the Muromachi era.

Mangan-ji Temple has a town-designated gate and Yakushi hall. The two-storey gate keeps traces of Muromachi-period timber framing but is thought to be an early Edo building. Its imposing, masculine look makes a fine contrast with the gentle, pyramid-roofed Yakushi hall.

Town-designated tangible cultural property (1972)
Two-storey gate
Pyramid-roofed Yakushi hall

03 ／ Origami

An origami boat given at age fourwas where it began.

Yoshizawa Akira, born in Kaminokawa, moved to Tokyo at 13 and began serious origami research while working at an ironworks, becoming a creative origami artist. The town says he made "ORIGAMI" a word understood worldwide, and it holds about 500 of his works. His first exhibition in his hometown, in 2003, drew about 15,000 visitors over 58 days.

Born in Kaminokawa, 1911
About 500 works held by the town
2003 exhibition: about 15,000 visitors

Living here

28 minutes by bus from Utsunomiya Station.

about 30,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in town; the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Utsunomiya Line pass along its western edge. A Kanto Bus route runs from the west exit of Utsunomiya Station to the Kaminokawa Yakuba-iriguchi stop in 28 minutes at the quickest. Within town, the reservation-based demand transport Kamitan-go picks passengers up at home.

People living here: 30,806people
Area: 54.39km²
Households: 11,544households
Rent (average for rentals): 49,461yen
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 18 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —6 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.

Kaminokawa Town in Japan36.439°N 139.910°E

to UtsunomiyaLocal bus28min

Travel times follow 関東自動車の運賃・経路検索（http://kantobus.info/route/ 。『2026/10/08現在の時刻』）で、宇都宮駅西口→上三川役場入口（85系統『屋板・上三川』行き）を 2026-10-09（金）・10-10（土）・10-11（日）の日付で引いた。毎日の便の最速は28分（金 9:10→9:38・12:51→13:19ほか／土 7:50→8:18ほか／日 10:25→10:53ほか）。朝夕の便は31・33・36分。逆方向（上三川役場入口→宇都宮駅西口）は34〜40分 (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Kaminokawa 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

10.7km

下野市, 宇都宮市, 真岡市

Kaminokawa Town isthis kind of town.

01Shirasagi Shrine's torii, a town-designated cultural property, is made of Nikko stone, now banned from quarrying, and its copper plaque records a donation in September of Hōei 5 (1708)
02The Kamikōnushi–Mobara government office site, a National Historic Site shared with Utsunomiya, yielded inscribed tiles designated Important Cultural Properties in 2024
03Mangan-ji Temple has a town-designated gate and Yakushi hall, and the town holds about 500 works by its native origami artist Yoshizawa Akira

See the town as it is now.

Facebookkaminokawa.town ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kaminokawa Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗