Chizu Town

No car could reach it until 1967.

Itaibara, Rokushaku-michi

Photo by As6022014 (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Akazashi Cedar Seedlings

Snow-hardy cedar seedlings are raisedfrom cuttings of natural cedar.

The mother trees of the akazashi (赤挿し) seedlings were natural cedars in the beech forests of Mt. Higashiyama (1,388m) and Mt. Okinoyama (1,318m), in eastern Ashizu. The Chizu forestry landscape, made up of plantations, mountain villages, a post town and old highways, was selected as a nationally Important Cultural Landscape on February 13, 2018.

Mother trees in the beech forests of Higashiyama (1,388m) and Okinoyama (1,318m)
Seedlings made from cuttings of natural cedar
Feb. 13, 2018: selected as a nationally Important Cultural Landscape

02 ／ Suwa Shrine Hashira Festival

Four cedars felled in the town's hills are carriedand raised at the four corners of the main hall.

Every six years, in monkey and tiger years, Suwa Shrine holds its Hashira (pillar) Festival. It is said to have begun in 1782, after a great fire in Chizu-juku, as a ritual to ward off fire. Where Suwa in Shinano uses fir trees for its pillars, Chizu uses cedar.

Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Property
Every six years (monkey and tiger years)
Apr. 17, 2022: the 41st festival, held on a reduced scale

03 ／ Ishitani Residence

The main house of a forestry familyis built of Chizu cedar and other choice timber.

The Ishitani family served as a headman and post-station wholesaler in the Edo period, and made its fortune in the Meiji era managing vast forests. The estate was built between 1919 and 1929; its main house, completed in 1928, is a large modern Japanese-style building using fine cedar, a Chizu specialty, and other choice timber.

Dec. 8, 2009: main house designated an Important Cultural Property
3,000 tsubo of grounds, more than 40 rooms
Main house completed in 1928

Living here

Six districts, each with its own natural setting and character.

about 6,000 people
2 hours to a city centre
Rural district town

Chizu covers 224.70 km², more than 90% of it forest. It is made up of six districts: Chizu, Yamagata, Nagi, Haji, Tomizawa and Yamasato, ringed by mountains of around 1,000m. Rivers in the hills join to form the Sendai River, which runs to the Sea of Japan. The population is 5,789 (as of September 1, 2026, resident register).

People living here: 6,427people
Area: 224.7km²
Households: 2,400households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 4 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —1 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.

Chizu Town in Japan35.265°N 134.227°E

to OsakaLtd. exp. Super Hakuto118min
to KyotoLtd. exp. Super Hakuto156min

Travel times follow 鳥取県（輝く鳥取創造本部観光交流局まんが王国官房）のページ「スーパーはくと名探偵コナン号」に載る運行予定表PDF（20260924_timetable1011.pdf・2026年9月24日時点・「2026年3月14日改正」）の「スーパーはくと号運転時刻表」。京都・大阪→鳥取・倉吉の下り10本（智頭は全便に着発の時刻がある）。JR西日本・智頭急行の時刻をそのまま載せたもので、PDFに「スーパーはくと号の時刻は智頭急行㈱のHPからもご確認いただけます」とある。鳥取の agent（tottori）が見たものと同じPDFを取り直し、画像でも表の列を目で確かめた (checked 2026-09-29). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Chizu Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

16.1km

Tottori Prefecture: 鳥取市, 八頭町, 若桜町
Okayama Prefecture: 津山市, 西粟倉村, 美作市, 奈義町

Chizu Town isthis kind of town.

01Itaibara is a hamlet in a small mountain valley about 3 km northeast of central Chizu. Until the Itaibara Tunnel opened in 1967, no car could enter, and the only way in was the footpath called the Rokushaku-michi (六尺道).
02More than 90% of Chizu is forest, and it is a cedar town. A way of raising seedlings from cuttings of natural cedar marked a turning point for its forestry, and the landscape was selected as a nationally Important Cultural Landscape. Every six years, Suwa Shrine raises cedar pillars in its Hashira Festival.
03Chizu-juku, a post town on the daimyo's route to Edo, holds the estate of the Ishitani family, who made their fortune in forestry. Its main house is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property and is open to the public.

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Chizu Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗