Article

06426 ／みかわまち

Yamagata Prefecture 東田川郡

Mikawa Town

Old cypress home of a beloved "Sensei."

Atoku-sensei no Yakata, old home

Photo by Ebiebi2 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Bridge

The Gabikyo Bridge over the Akagawa Riverwas repaired at their own cost by a son and grandson.

The defense of the castle town came first, so the Akagawa River had no bridge. Sugawara Bisei and others began work, and the bridge was completed in 1873. The name comes from a shape like a beautiful eyebrow. Bisei's son and grandson paid to keep repairing it until the prefecture rebuilt it in 1910.

Completed 1873
Named for a shape like a beautiful eyebrow
Repaired at their own cost until 1910

02 ／ Plant breeder

A breeder born in one of the three founding villagesdeveloped the rice "I-go."

He lived from 1883 to 1948 and was born in one of the three villages that merged into the town. Hoping to grow rice suited to the climate of Shonai, he worked hard on improving rice varieties and developed "I-go." The town's booklet says it resisted disease and tasted good, so it left a great mark on later rice farming.

1883 to 1948
Born in one of the three founding villages
Developed the rice "I-go"

03 ／ Giant tree

Beside a mountain-deity hall stands a large zelkova,a symbol of the town.

The town's booklet presents the large zelkova beside the hall as the town's symbol. Its age is estimated at over 400 years in the booklet and 350 to over 400 years on the prefecture's tourism site. The trunk is over 6.4 m around, and it is listed in the town's cultural property list as No. 9.

Age estimated at 350 to over 400 years
Trunk over 6.4 m around
Town cultural property list No. 9

Mikawa Town from the sky

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

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot June 2024)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／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

Fourteen minutes by bus from Tsuruoka Station.

about 8,000 people
Rural district town

There is no railway station in the town. On the Shonai Kotsu local bus Tsuruoka-Mikawa-Sakata Line, it takes 14 minutes from the stop in front of Tsuruoka Station to Mikawa Town Office, with no transfer. In the timetable revised on April 1, 2026, all 12 buses, eight on weekdays and four on weekends and holidays, take the same 14 minutes. The town's overview booklet gives the elevation at the town office as 8.89 m.

People living here: 7,601people
Area: 33.22km²
Households: 2,332households
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.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Mikawa Town in Japan38.795°N 139.850°E

to TsuruokaLocal bus14min

Travel times follow 庄内交通『時刻表：鶴岡⇔酒田』（https://www.shonaikotsu.jp/local_bus/tsuruoka-sakata.html。令和8年〈2026年〉4月1日改正。2026-10-28 に読んだ。表は『通過予定時刻』）の『鶴岡－三川－酒田線』酒田方面行き（エスモールバスターミナル・鶴岡駅前 → イオンモール三川）。鶴岡駅前①のりば発→三川町役場前着：平日 6:53→7:07・7:33→7:47・9:58→10:12・10:58→11:12・13:53→14:07・16:23→16:37・17:53→18:07・19:03→19:17、土日祝休日 9:58→10:12・10:58→11:12・13:53→14:07・16:08→16:22。**平日8本・土日祝休日4本の全12本が14分**（平日と土日祝で時刻が違う便もあるが、9:58・10:58・13:53の3本は両方に載り、どれも14分）。『8/13〜16、12/30〜1/5 は土曜・日曜・祝休日ダイヤ』の注記がある (checked 2026-10-28). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Mikawa Town

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

North to south

10.5km

Tsuruoka City, Sakata City, Shonai Town

Mikawa Town isthis kind of town.

01Atoku-sensei no Yakata is an old house, a single-story cypress building from the early Showa era designed by an architect who also worked on buildings connected with the imperial family. Its nickname, chosen through a public call for names, comes from its owner, a university teacher who was fondly called "Atoku Sensei"
02The Gabikyo Bridge was completed over the Akagawa River in 1873, and a son and grandson of Sugawara Bisei paid to repair it until the prefecture rebuilt it. A breeder born in one of the three founding villages developed the rice "I-go"
03The town's booklet presents the large zelkova beside the mountain-deity hall as a symbol of the town. A local bus takes 14 minutes with no transfer from the front of Tsuruoka Station to Mikawa Town Office

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Mikawa Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes