Hirogawa Town

A red door stands in the embankment cut.

Akamon, the Hiromura tide gate

Photo by アリオト (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Pines and wax trees

About 1,000 pines were planted betweenthe two banks, about 100 wax trees inside.

The Hiromura Embankment, a National Historic Site, has two tiers: a stone bank by the Hatakeyama clan and a bank built by Hamaguchi Goryo in the Ansei era. The town's special website says Goryo planted pines between the banks and wax trees (haze) on the inner side, using the wax trees to pay for repairs, and that the pines are second generation and a few of his wax trees remain.

National Historic Site (designated 1938)
About 1,000 pines, about 100 wax trees
Two tiers of banks

02 ／ Yogen-ji main hall

The main hall in the town centrecarries shachi roof tiles on its ridge.

Yogen-ji is a Nichiren temple. Its main hall is a hip-roofed, tiled building with a one-bay front porch, and an entrance hall with a hip-and-gable roof joins it on the northeast. The inner sanctuary has a coffered ceiling, and its pillars and brackets are painted. Built in the third year of Shotoku (1713), it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in February 2026 with the Daikoku hall.

Hip-roofed, tiled
Shotoku 3 (1713)
Registered Tangible Cultural Property, 2026

03 ／ Dengaku at Hirohachiman

The demon circles the dance hall, welcomesthe crocodile and circles with the dancers.

At Hiro-Hachiman-Gu Shrine, a dengaku long called "shipparaodori" is offered in the dance hall at the annual festival on 1 October. The dancers rub their sasara and dance, and the demon welcomes the crocodile and then leads out the lions and dances. It is a nationally selected performing art, and the shrine's main hall is an Important Cultural Property from the Muromachi period.

Every 1 October
Performed by 14 people
Nationally selected, 1973

Living here

The Hirogawa River runs through the town to the Kii Channel.

about 7,000 people
Rural district town

The town lies at the southern tip of Arida District and covers 65.35 km². It says Wakayama City is 40 km away and Osaka City 100 km. It was formed in April 1955 by merging one town and two villages, and its name comes from the Hirogawa River that ran through all three. The only railway station is Hirokawa Beach on the JR Kinokuni Line, where limited expresses do not stop. For the town office and the Inamura-no-Hi no Yakata, the town's own guide names Yuasa Station in the neighbouring town first.

People living here: 6,781people
Area: 65.35km²
Households: 2,481households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 4 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —2 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 5 municipalities.

Hirogawa Town in Japan34.030°N 135.173°E

Territory of Hirogawa Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

9.4km

日高川町, 湯浅町, 由良町, 有田川町, 日高町

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

Hirogawa Town isthis kind of town.

01The Akamon in a cut of the Hiromura Embankment is a tide gate, and the Omichi road running through the middle of town leads from there to Hiro-Hachiman-Gu Shrine; the embankment is a National Historic Site
02At Hiro-Hachiman-Gu Shrine the main hall, worship hall and tower gate are Important Cultural Properties, a nationally selected dengaku is offered at the 1 October festival, and the main hall of Yogen-ji became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2026
03The Hamaguchi Residence, including the Gyofuro, is an Important Cultural Property, as is the bell tower of Hozo-ji Temple, the Nanki Otokoyama kilns once stood on the hill east of the shrine, and the Inamura-no-Hi no Yakata is a town facility

See the town as it is now.

Facebookhirogawa ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Hirogawa Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗