Aramachi's giant waraji, Murayama City
Article

06208 ／ むらやまし

Yamagata Prefecture

Murayama City

A ward's giant waraji for Sensoji.

Aramachi's giant waraji

Photo by 江戸村のとくぞう (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Shrine

In Murayama, which the city calls the birthplaceof iaido's founder, Hayashizaki has a shrine.

Shrine in Murayama City
Photo by Suz-b (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The city's website describes Murayama as the birthplace of Jinsuke Hayashizaki Shigenobu, the founder of iaido. The shrine in Hayashizaki is formally named Kumano Iairyo Shrine. At the 10th Iaido Demonstration on September 7, 2025, groups from various schools took part, with the shrine as the venue.

  • Birthplace of iaido's founder, per the city
  • Formal name: Kumano Iairyo Shrine
  • 10th Iaido Demonstration on September 7, 2025

02 ／ Archaeological site

From the Paleolithic to stone pagodas and tablets,a hill site with finds from every age.

This prefecturally designated historic site lies on a hill 194 m above sea level, 3 km west of Tateoka, along the Mogami River. Local people found it while clearing land in 1945. The city says its Paleolithic stone blades are of the same type as those from the Lake Nojiri lakebed site.

  • Prefectural historic site (designated August 1, 1955)
  • Hill 194 m above sea level
  • Found while clearing land in 1945

03 ／ Person

Born in Tateoka Village,he joined eight shogunate expeditions to Ezo.

Person in Murayama City
Photo by Kawahara Keiga, 1826 (in Siebold, Nippon, 1832) (Public domain)

Mogami Tokunai was born in Tateoka Village in 1755 and joined the shogunate's Ezo survey party in 1785 as a pole-bearer. He served on eight expeditions in all, and in 1826 he met Siebold in Edo.

  • Born in Tateoka Village, 1755
  • Joined the Ezo survey party, 1785
  • Met Siebold, 1826

Murayama City from the sky

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

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

2018 (shot FY2018)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（年度別空中写真（2018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

Tokyo in 2 h 43 min on Tsubasa No. 131.

  • about 20,000 people
  • Shinkansen stops here

Tsubasa No. 131 from Tokyo Station reaches Murayama Station with no change. JR East's timetable (November 2026) gives 2 hours 43 minutes, while the city's overview diagram says 170 minutes.

People living here
22,516people
19952020

−8.8% since 2015

30,506 → 22,516

Area
196.98km²

88.81km² of it habitable

2024

Households
7,579households

3.0 people per household

2020

Rent (average for rentals)
39,656yen

National average 60,630 yen

2023

Healthcare
0 hospitals ／ 21 clinics

9.3 per 10,000 people

2023

Area196.98km²Habitable land88.81km² ／ 45%
Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103
Children waiting for childcare
—7 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.

Murayama City in Japan38.483°N 140.380°E
TokyoOsakaMurayama City
Murayama Station
村山駅2024
  • to TokyoYamagata Shinkansen163min

Travel times follow JR東日本「駅の時刻表」（2026年11月版）の村山駅 山形新幹線 新庄方面（下り）の平日（tt0964/0964010）と土曜・休日（0964011）に載る列車ページから、東京発・村山着を `jr_count.py`（毎日運転のみに絞った写し）で数えた。毎日運転（平日・土休日とも同じ分数で、運転日の欄が空）の最速は列車番号131B（東京09:24発→村山12:07着）の163分。下ごしらえの本体の数え（東京駅の列車ページから。163分）とも一致 (checked 2026-10-28). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities.

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

Murayama City isthis kind of town.

  1. 01The Aramachi giant waraji began in 1929, when the Aramachi youth group made one and placed it at the Nio gate of Komatsuzawa Kannon; it has been dedicated eight times to Sensoji between 1941 and 2018, and the city says it now hangs on the Hozomon gate
  2. 02The city says Murayama is the birthplace of the founder of iaido, Jinsuke Hayashizaki Shigenobu, and Hayashizaki has the Kumano Iairyo Shrine, and the Kawashimayama site is a prefectural historic site with finds from the Paleolithic on
  3. 03Mogami Tokunai, from Tateoka, served on eight shogunate expeditions to Ezo, and the city also has a city-designated signpost to Mount Hayama and a prefecturally designated stone torii

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Murayama City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes

Similar towns

Next town Yamagata Prefecture Oishida Town →A round schoolhouse stands in the hills.