Article

06364 ／まむろがわまち

Yamagata Prefecture 最上郡

Mamurogawa Town

The same type of engine that ran 28 km.

Mamurogawa Forest Railway

Photo by ブルーノ・プラス (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Window saw

The window saw, popular in the West,was made practical at Nozoki in 1921.

Sixteen years after settling in Nozoki, in 1921, the window saw was put to practical use, drawing on talk among forestry workers and sawyers. These window saws were made for three generations, and at their peak 30 craftsmen working day and night could not meet demand.

Made practical in 1921
Made for three generations
Peak: 30 craftsmen

02 ／ Fossils

Mamurogawa Kujira is not a species,but the collective name for a fossil group.

From 1992 to 1994 the Yamagata Prefectural Museum excavated many large whale fossils about 6 million years old in Mamurogawa Town. Bones were first found in a road cut in the mountains. The museum gives the count as at least 9 and at most 45 individuals. The name Mamurogawa is the town's name.

About 6 million years old
Excavated 1992-94
At least 9 to at most 45 individuals

03 ／ Clay figurine

The dogu, tilted up about 50 degrees,looks as if gazing into the distance.

This is a complete dogu clay figurine of the late Jomon period, an Important Cultural Property. It is said to have been found by chance by a local in the spring of 1915. It is 23.4 cm tall, reddish brown overall, with linked I-shaped patterns running from chest to back.

Important Cultural Property, designated 1965
23.4 cm tall
Said to have been found in 1915

Mamurogawa Town from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

20161974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

2016 (shot FY2016)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（年度別空中写真（2016年度）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

Sixteen minutes from Shinjo by the Ou Main Line.

about 7,000 people
Rural district town

The town's access guide, updated on May 18, 2026, says it takes 187 minutes on the Tsubasa Shinkansen limited express from Tokyo to Shinjo, then 16 minutes on the Ou Main Line from Shinjo to Mamurogawa. The town lies at the northern end of Yamagata Prefecture, bordering Akita Prefecture, and is mountainous: forest covers 86.2% of its 374.22 km².

People living here: 7,203people
Area: 374.22km²
Households: 2,320households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 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 6 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Mamurogawa Town in Japan38.858°N 140.252°E

Territory of Mamurogawa Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.

North to south

25.4km

Yamagata Prefecture: Kaneyama Town, Sakata City, Sakegawa Village, Shinjo City
Akita Prefecture: Yurihonjo City, Yuzawa City

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

Mamurogawa Town isthis kind of town.

01The Mamurogawa Forest Railway ran 28 km in all, from Kamabuchi Station on the Ou Main Line to the far end of the line. From 1938 to 1962 it carried beech and cedar from national forest on one round trip a day. The locomotive now kept in running order is of the same type
02The window saw was made practical at Nozoki in 1921 and was made for three generations. Mamurogawa Kujira is the name for a group of whale fossils about 6 million years old, excavated in 1992-94
03The Goromae dogu is an Important Cultural Property, 23.4 cm tall. The town also has an Important Cultural Property bronze seated Buddha, kept in the Yakushi hall. It is 16 minutes from Shinjo on the Ou Main Line

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Mamurogawa Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes