Kitayama Village

Twisted branches are said to bind the raft's logs.

Nejiki, how rafts are woven

Photo by さかおり (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Enclave

By geography it belonged with Nara;the villagers' wish, it is said, put it in Wakayama.

The village says that when Shingu was incorporated into Wakayama Prefecture in Meiji 4 (1871), Kitayama, which geographically would belong to Nara Prefecture, was also incorporated into Wakayama on the villagers' view: "If Shingu has gone into Wakayama Prefecture, then us too." A prefectural article says that because the whole village and part of Shingu City are enclaves, there are five tripoints of three prefectures.

Joined Wakayama in Meiji 4
Borders no other municipality in Wakayama
Five tripoints, per the prefecture

02 ／ Otonori

Once called "younger brother's ride,"a rapid an eldest son was said to skip.

Otonori is the first rapid on the sightseeing raft run. The village records a story that it was once called "younger brother's ride" and that the eldest son, the heir, was said not to ride. From the village to the Doro Gorge area is described as the hardest stretch, and a raftsman's paddling through it was said to be the flower of the raftsman's craft.

First rapid of the sightseeing raft run
Heirs said not to ride
Paddling called the raftsman's flower

03 ／ Jabara

A tree growing alone in a villager's yardbecame a registered variety.

The village describes jabara as a natural hybrid growing as a single tree on one villager's land. The owner of the original tree, Mr. Fukuda, urged the village head and assembly to spread the taste he had known since childhood. In 1971 (Showa 46) the village asked a citrus-classification specialist, Dr. Tanaka, to survey it; a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries document says it was registered as a variety in 1979 (Showa 54).

Survey requested by the village, 1971
Variety registration, 1979 (ministry document)
Original tree's owner: Mr. Fukuda

Living here

From Kumano Station, about an hour by village bus.

about 1,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the village; the village says to take the village bus from JR Kumano Station in Mie Prefecture for about an hour and get off at Okutoro Park. By the timetable (revised 1 October 2023, Reiwa 5), the 9:10 departure from Kumano Station arrives at 10:10. The village says it measures 20 km east to west and 8 km north to south, with forest covering 93% of its area.

People living here: 404people
Area: 48.2km²
Households: 223households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 1 clinic

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

Children waiting for childcare: —0 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.

Kitayama Village in Japan33.932°N 135.969°E

to KumanoshiLocal bus60min

Travel times follow 北山村公式『観光ガイド＞交通と宿泊＞電車・バスで北山村へ』（https://www.vill.kitayama.wakayama.jp/kanko/access/train.html。2026-10-14 取得）が載せる『北山村営バス運行時刻表』PDF（https://www.vill.kitayama.wakayama.jp/kanko/access/files/bus_jikoku.pdf。サイトの表記は『R5.10.1更新』、PDF の作成日は 2023-10-17。北山村役場総務課）。『JR熊野市駅』発の列を読んだ (checked 2026-10-14). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Kitayama Village

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

10.6km

Mie Prefecture: 熊野市
Nara Prefecture: 下北山村, 十津川村

Kitayama Village isthis kind of town.

01Nejiki is one way of weaving a raft: the village tourism guide writes that branches are twisted and woven, cypress in summer and mixed-wood branches in winter. The logs of a mega raft are bound with wisteria vine or nejiki, and the vine is now replaced by wire. The Kitayama River rafting technique is a prefectural intangible folk cultural property (designated 17 March 2017) and is also registered as a Forestry Heritage of the Japanese Forest Society (fiscal 2022)
02A village in Wakayama Prefecture that borders no other municipality in Wakayama. The raftsmen's path is the mountain way raftsmen walked home from downstream to their houses in the gorges, and the village has made it a walking course
03Jabara is the village's specialty, and its original tree grew as a single tree on one villager's land. The village community hall made a set of dialect karuta cards to preserve the Kitayama dialect and gave them to those who asked

See the town as it is now.

Facebookkitayamamura ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kitayama Village official site ↗Wikipedia ↗