Article

06402 ／しらたかまち

Yamagata Prefecture 西置賜郡

Shirataka Town

They made paper by trading for kozo.

Miyama washi, kozo and binder

Photo by Spyle135 (CC BY 3.0)

01 ／ Wild silk

One bolt of wild silk fabric needsabout 4,000 to 5,000 cocoons.

According to a town series from October 2021, the Shirataka Wild Silk Society (Shirataka Tensan no Kai) in the Miyama district raises wild silkworms on oak trees in a 2-hectare field, and does everything from reeling to weaving in town. Cocoons are harvested from late July to early August.

2-hectare field in Miyama
About 4,000 to 5,000 cocoons per bolt
15 members (2021)

02 ／ Plate-dyed kasuri

Thread is pressed between boards and dyed.The craft of kasuri boards revived in 1966.

The prefectural designation is named Honba Yoneryu (Shirataka Itajime Kogasuri). The prefecture describes the steps as making kasuri boards, dyeing thread pressed between them, and weaving on a high loom. The board makers once disappeared for a time, but board making revived in 1966.

Prefectural craft designation, 2007
Itajime sosogi dyeing
Board making revived in 1966

03 ／ Stone tower

The inscription on the seven-tiered toweris read as the 7th year of Tensho (1579).

This seven-tiered stone tower stands in the grounds of a temple in Ayukai and is 3.54 m tall. The prefecture says the inscription is badly flaked and hard to read, and the Shirataka Town History reads it as erected in the 7th year of Tensho (1579).

Prefectural designation, building, 1952
3.54 m tall
In a temple's grounds, Ayukai

Shirataka 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 October 2013)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

The Mogami River runs through, 30 km to Yamagata.

about 10,000 people
Rural district town

The town describes its east as the Shirataka hills and its west as the Asahi mountains, with the Mogami River running through the middle. Yamagata City is 30 km away and Yonezawa City about 35 km. For rail, it points to Arato Station on the Yamagata Railway Flower Nagai Line.

People living here: 12,890people
Area: 157.71km²
Households: 4,389households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 8 clinics

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

Children waiting for childcare: —4 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 4 municipalities.

Shirataka Town in Japan38.183°N 140.099°E

Territory of Shirataka Town

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

North to south

15.6km

Asahi Town, Nagai City, Nanyo City, Yamanobe Town

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

Shirataka Town isthis kind of town.

01Miyama washi is handmade paper from Miyama, a prefecturally designated craft. The town says its only raw materials are kozo and the binder nori-utsugi, and until the mid-Showa era it was made by trading for each home's kozo, mostly as shoji paper
02Wild silk fabric is woven from silk of wild silkworms raised in a field in Miyama. Itajime kogasuri is a prefecturally designated craft of pressing thread between boards to dye it, and kasuri board making in town revived in 1966
03A temple in Ayukai has a seven-tiered stone tower whose inscription is read as 1579. Arato Station on the Yamagata Railway Flower Nagai Line is the gateway by rail

See the town as it is now.

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Shirataka Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes