Kozagawa Town

A jointless cliff, like a screen.

Ichimai-iwa, Kozagawa's cliff

Photo by Kansai explorer (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Research forest

Hokkaido University asked the National Governors' Association,and Wakayama Prefecture stepped forward.

Hokkaido University's Wakayama Research Forest was founded in 1925 and covers about 450 ha. The forest's own site says there were four candidate sites in the prefecture, and that it was finally created by buying part of the woodland the Hirai community managed jointly. The main building dates from 1927.

Founded 1925
Main building built 1927
Registered Tangible Cultural Property, 29 March 2013

02 ／ Potholes

In a riverbed carved into potholes,linked waterfalls can be seen.

Takinohai, on the Ogawa, a tributary of the Kozagawa, is a prefecturally designated Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument. The prefecture's park plan says the riverbed of alternating sandstone layers was eroded by water and gravel into round, boat-shaped, groove-shaped and jar-shaped potholes. The town introduces the ayu tonton fishing that uses this terrain.

Prefectural designation, 16 March 2010
Round, boat, groove and jar-shaped potholes
Tonton ayu fishing: cooperative members only

03 ／ Gomeisha

Of the festival's five districts,Takaike Shimobe's youth association performs the lion dance.

The Mifune boat rites of the Kochi Festival belong to five districts around a rocky islet near the mouth of the Kozagawa, and in Takaike Shimobe a youth association called Horyukan Gomeisha performs the lion dance. The town describes its Gomeisha hall as a Taisho-era wooden building in a Western style, with carved wooden Greek-style pillars at the entrance.

Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, 21 Dec 1999
Three districts in Kozagawa, two in Kushimoto
Gomeisha hall: Taisho-era Western-style wooden building (town)

Living here

From Koza Station, 6 to 12 minutes by town bus.

about 2,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town; the station the town guides visitors to is JR Koza Station, in Kushimoto. The town-run Kozagawa Furusato Bus runs from Koza Station to the Town Office, and the timetable shows a 6-minute trip and a 12-minute trip. Its cover reads revised 1 June 2021, and the town's overview says forest covers about 96% of its area.

People living here: 2,480people
Area: 294.23km²
Households: 1,248households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 6 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.

Kozagawa Town in Japan33.532°N 135.815°E

to KozaLocal bus6min

Travel times follow 町公式『ふるさとバス時刻表』（http://www.town.kozagawa.wakayama.jp/yakunitatu/sub001.html。同じ内容が https://www.town.kozagawa.lg.jp/ にもある）が載せる PDF『古座川ふるさとバス時刻表』（https://www.town.kozagawa.lg.jp/yakunitatu/bus_jikokuhyou.pdf。表紙は『令和3年6月1日改正』、ファイルの最終更新は HTTP の Last-Modified で 2023-03-28）。2ページ目『ふるさとバス小川線』『ふるさとバス本川線』の『JR古座駅』→『役場前』の列を、画像のPDFを拡大して目で読んだ（文字は取れない画像PDF） (checked 2026-10-14). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 6 municipalities.

Territory of Kozagawa Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

23.5km

串本町, 那智勝浦町, 田辺市, すさみ町, 新宮市, 白浜町

Kozagawa Town isthis kind of town.

01Kozagawa's Ichimai-iwa is a national Natural Monument. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database describes a great quartz-trachyte wall rising over the Kozagawa, with not a single joint, a scene like one standing folding screen
02Hokkaido University's Wakayama Research Forest lies in the Hirai community upstream on the Hiraigawa; its main building is a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Takinohai, on the tributary Ogawa, is a prefecturally designated Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument
03The Mifune boat rites of the Kochi Festival are a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, and Takaike Shimobe, Utsugi and Tsukinose in Kozagawa are among the five districts that carry it. The town also has Mushikui-iwa, a national Natural Monument, the Kumano-zakura cherry as its town flower, and Myojin's submersible bridge, which hides under water when the river rises

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kozagawa Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗