Nanbu Town

Original cusped windows still remain.

Saionji Temple Buddha Hall

Photo by Sablier de Verrie (CC0)

01 ／ Paleolithic

Paleolithic finds from a school groundtrace life over 10,000 years ago.

The prefecture designated the Paleolithic daily-life materials found on the Manzawa Elementary School grounds, such as knife-shaped tools, together with preserved gravel clusters, as Tenjindo site finds in 2004. It writes that they let us trace in concrete detail the oldest life in the prefecture, over 10,000 years ago. The owner is Nanbu Town.

Prefectural designation, 6 May 2004
1,034 items
Knife-shaped tools and more

02 ／ Private school

A foreign teacher was invited to the schoolof Kondo Yoshinori, born in a honjin family.

Mokengakusha was the private school of Kondo Yoshinori, born into a family that ran the honjin at Nanbu-juku. The town writes that it was a leading private school of the early Meiji period in the prefecture, also known for inviting the prefecture's first foreign teacher. A prefectural magazine adds that Yoshinori spread mitsumata cultivation along the Fuji River.

Began in 1869 as the private school Chosuido
Mainly Chinese classics, mathematics, English
Spread mitsumata cultivation

03 ／ Ginkgo

People are said to have worked their fieldsby when the ginkgo leaves changed colour.

The ginkgo at Fukushi Kanayama Shrine is a female tree with a root circumference of 12.7 m, a trunk girth of 8.85 m at 1.5 m above ground, and a height of about 30 m. The prefecture calls it the largest big tree in the prefecture and designated it a Natural Monument in 1958. Nearby residents are said to have long read the seasons from its leaf colour.

Root circumference 12.7 m
Girth 8.85 m at 1.5 m
Prefectural designation, 1958

Living here

About 60 minutes to Kofu, about 70 to Shizuoka.

about 7,000 people
Rural district town

The town has four stations on the Minobu Line: Ide, Utsubuna, Toshima and Yorihata. The limited express Fujikawa stops at Utsubuna. JR Central's guide gives about 60 minutes to Kofu and about 70 minutes to Shizuoka. The town lies at the southern tip of Yamanashi Prefecture, borders Shizuoka Prefecture on the east, south and west, and is 87.4% forest.

People living here: 7,156people
Area: 200.87km²
Households: 2,819households
Rent (average for rentals): —
Healthcare: 0 hospitals ／ 9 clinics

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

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2003-03-01 に合併。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —3 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.

Nanbu Town in Japan35.242°N 138.486°E

to ShizuokaLtd. exp. Fujikawa70min
to KofuLtd. exp. Fujikawa60min

Travel times follow JR東海の公式の駅時刻表（身延線内船駅の発車時刻表と『停車駅のご案内』の所要時間の目安。2026年3月14日改正）と、町公式『南部町へのアクセス』の電車の路線図（画像） (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Nanbu Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

23.5km

Yamanashi Prefecture: 身延町
Shizuoka Prefecture: 静岡市, 富士宮市

Nanbu Town isthis kind of town.

01The Buddha hall of Saionji Temple is a national Important Cultural Property. The prefecture's cultural property guide says it is thought to date back to the Oei era of the early Muromachi period, and is one of the oldest Zen-style structures in eastern Japan
02Paleolithic materials found on the Manzawa Elementary School grounds are prefecturally designated. Mokengakusha was the private school of Kondo Yoshinori, and the town writes that it was also known for inviting the prefecture's first foreign teacher
03The town writes that it is the birthplace of the Nanbu clan, and the prefecturally designated Utsubuna Kabuki and the Nanbu fire festival on 15 August have been held. The prefecturally designated ginkgo at Fukushi Kanayama Shrine is called the largest big tree in the prefecture

See the town as it is now.

Facebooktown.nanbu ↗

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

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nanbu Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗