Shimoichi, Nara
Encyclopedia
is a town
located in Yoshino District, Nara
, Japan
.
As of September 1, 2007, the town has an estimated population
of 7,404 and a density
of 119.40 persons per km². The total area is 62.01 km².
The town is perhaps famous for the Tsurube Sushi Shop which features in the popular kabuki
play Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura
. The shop still operates today, and claims to have existed as far back as the 17th century.There are several restaurants and tea houses throughout the town offering sushi, okonomiyaki, udon, takoyaki, and soba.
Shimoichi-cho is well known for its multiple waribashi (disposable chopsticks
) factories, onsen
, persimmons, shrine ornaments and wood work, bath salt plant, and regional dessert souvenir factory. There are also konyaku, somen
, and soba
factories.
Shimoichi-cho also has its own television station. Shimoichi-Terebi offers news coverage, local sight-seeing information and tours, as well as various public information; such as fire, earthquake, and storm updates. Shimoichi-terebi offers a large amount of local school coverage for sports and cultural festivals.
Railways on the Minami Osaka Line. Get off at Shimoichiguchi in Oyodo-cho and walk across Sangokobashi Bridge to arrive at Shimoichi-cho. 5-10 minute walk.
southwest of Nara
.
visited the event as the streets were lined with various fair foods, games, door prizes, and plants for sale. On the afternoon of Hatsuichi an annual shrine pulling parade occurs.
In July Shimoichi-cho’s neighboring town, Oyodo-cho, will host the Yoshino-gawa festival which includes a dynamic fireworks display and various festival games and foods.
Early October the town will hold a sports festival in honor of Japan’s national “Health & Sports Day” holiday. An opening ceremony including fireworks and lighting of an Olympic style torch takes place as the neighborhoods compete in various games. Door prizes are awarded on the neighborhood and town level. Door prizes include; bags of rice, bicycles, toaster ovens, heaters, tissue, beer, game systems, and various household items. The town’s schools participate in the event with various dances and performances.
The Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) will be held middle to late October. Activities involve a parade of lanterns and drums down main street until reaching its destination at one of the town’s temples which resides on near the top of a mountain. The town’s bunkasai (cultural festival) will also take place near this time inside the community building. Art including calligraphy, pottery, painting, flower arrangement, etc will be on display from local artists.
The Junior High School has over 200 students and about 30 faculty and staff members. Their mascot is the dragonfly. School clubs include; volleyball, chorus, brass band, art, shuji (calligraphy), baseball, track and field, English, and table tennis. SJHS’s chorus club has a 50 year first place winning streak. The baseball club also has prefectural reputation and was chosen to participate in a prefectural baseball tournament during the 2007-2008 school year.
The Shimoichi-cho Board of Education is a participant in the Japanese Education and Training (JET) Programme. The JET Programme
is a Japanese government organization which places native English speakers in predominately rural areas, offering students and the community an opportunity to converse with a native English speaker as well as enjoy cultural exchanges. Shimoichi-cho currently has two native English speakers who work as Assistant Language Teachers (ALT). One works in the elementary schools, while the other works in the Junior High School. Past ALTs have been from the United States of America and South Africa. The junior high school has had an ALT since the year 1997. The elementary school first acquired an ALT in the year 2006.
Towns of Japan
A town is a local administrative unit in Japan. It is a local public body along with prefecture , city , and village...
located in Yoshino District, Nara
Yoshino District, Nara
Yoshino is a district located in Nara Prefecture, Japan.As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 59,020 and a density of 26.14 persons per km²...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
As of September 1, 2007, the town has an estimated population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 7,404 and a density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 119.40 persons per km². The total area is 62.01 km².
The town is perhaps famous for the Tsurube Sushi Shop which features in the popular kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
play Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura
Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura
Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura , or Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, is a Japanese play, one of the three most popular and famous in the Kabuki repertoire...
. The shop still operates today, and claims to have existed as far back as the 17th century.There are several restaurants and tea houses throughout the town offering sushi, okonomiyaki, udon, takoyaki, and soba.
Shimoichi-cho is well known for its multiple waribashi (disposable chopsticks
Chopsticks
Chopsticks are small, often tapered, sticks used in pairs of equal length as the traditional eating utensils of China and its diaspora, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Northern provinces of Laos, Thailand and Burma. Generally believed to have originated in ancient China, they can also be found in some...
) factories, onsen
Onsen
An is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth...
, persimmons, shrine ornaments and wood work, bath salt plant, and regional dessert souvenir factory. There are also konyaku, somen
Somen
are very thin, white Japanese noodles made of wheat flour. The noodles are usually served cold and are less than 1.3 mm in diameter. The distinction between sōmen and the next thicker wheat noodles hiyamugi and even thicker Japanese wheat noodles udon is mostly the size of the noodle...
, and soba
Soba
is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is synonymous with a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and in Japan can refer to any thin noodle . Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup...
factories.
Shimoichi-cho also has its own television station. Shimoichi-Terebi offers news coverage, local sight-seeing information and tours, as well as various public information; such as fire, earthquake, and storm updates. Shimoichi-terebi offers a large amount of local school coverage for sports and cultural festivals.
Train access
Shimoichi-cho may be reached via KintetsuKintetsu
, named Kinki Nippon Railway Co., Ltd. in English until June 27, 2003, is a Japanese rail transit corporation commonly known as . It is the largest non-JR railway in Japan. Its complex network of lines connects Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Tsu and Ise...
Railways on the Minami Osaka Line. Get off at Shimoichiguchi in Oyodo-cho and walk across Sangokobashi Bridge to arrive at Shimoichi-cho. 5-10 minute walk.
Geography
Shimoichi-cho sits nestled between mountains covered with pine trees and bamboo along Yoshino RiverYoshino River
The Yoshino River is a river on the island of Shikoku, Japan. It is 194 km long and has a watershed of 3,750 km². It is the second longest river in Shikoku , and is the only river whose watershed spreads over the four prefectures of the island.It is regarded as one of the three greatest rivers of...
southwest of Nara
Nara Prefecture
is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....
.
Surrounding municipalities
- Nara PrefectureNara Prefectureis a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....
- YoshinoYoshino, Narais a town located in Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, Japan.As of September 1, 2007, the town had an estimated population of 9397 and a density of 97.93 persons per km². The total area was 95.65 km².-Geography:...
- KurotakiKurotaki, Narais a village located in Yoshino District, Nara, Japan.As of 2003, the village has an estimated population of 1,114 and a density of 23.35 persons per km²...
- ŌyodoOyodo, Narais a town located in Yoshino District, Nara, Japan.As of September 1, 2007, the town has an estimated population of 19,835 and a density of 521.15 persons per km²...
- GojōGojo, Narais a city located in Nara Prefecture, Japan.As of May 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 35,380 wit 13,864 households and the density of 121.17 persons per km²...
- Yoshino
Festivals
Hatsuichi is an annual festival early February which means “first market.” Long ago in Shimoichi before supermarkets and modern conveniences existed, the townspeople would gather every ten days for a market. This started on the first of every month. Hatsuichi marked the first market of the new lunar year. Over time Hatsuichi and Ebisu Shrine joined efforts to form the modern day festival. Ebisu is a business god and one of seven Chinese gods derived from China. Ebisu Shrine is colorfully decorated with illuminated lanterns, traditional shrine ornaments and colors for this event. This festival marks the annual opening of the shrine in which members of the community and visitors may enter and pray for good business. In 2009, Nara’s mascot Sento-kunSento-kun
is a mascot created by Nara City Office to commemorate the 1300th anniversary of Nara Heijō-kyō, the ancient capital of Japan, in 2010.The city of Nara has a long tradition of adopting guardian deities such as Nio , Asura, Jūni Shinshō and Shitenno...
visited the event as the streets were lined with various fair foods, games, door prizes, and plants for sale. On the afternoon of Hatsuichi an annual shrine pulling parade occurs.
In July Shimoichi-cho’s neighboring town, Oyodo-cho, will host the Yoshino-gawa festival which includes a dynamic fireworks display and various festival games and foods.
Early October the town will hold a sports festival in honor of Japan’s national “Health & Sports Day” holiday. An opening ceremony including fireworks and lighting of an Olympic style torch takes place as the neighborhoods compete in various games. Door prizes are awarded on the neighborhood and town level. Door prizes include; bags of rice, bicycles, toaster ovens, heaters, tissue, beer, game systems, and various household items. The town’s schools participate in the event with various dances and performances.
The Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) will be held middle to late October. Activities involve a parade of lanterns and drums down main street until reaching its destination at one of the town’s temples which resides on near the top of a mountain. The town’s bunkasai (cultural festival) will also take place near this time inside the community building. Art including calligraphy, pottery, painting, flower arrangement, etc will be on display from local artists.
Education
Shimoichi-cho has two elementary and one junior high school. Once students reach the high school level they must either move somewhere else, but most go to high school in a neighboring townThe Junior High School has over 200 students and about 30 faculty and staff members. Their mascot is the dragonfly. School clubs include; volleyball, chorus, brass band, art, shuji (calligraphy), baseball, track and field, English, and table tennis. SJHS’s chorus club has a 50 year first place winning streak. The baseball club also has prefectural reputation and was chosen to participate in a prefectural baseball tournament during the 2007-2008 school year.
The Shimoichi-cho Board of Education is a participant in the Japanese Education and Training (JET) Programme. The JET Programme
JET Programme
or is a Japanese government initiative that brings college graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers and Sports Education Advisors in Japanese kindergartens, elementary, junior high and high schools, or as Coordinators for International Relations in...
is a Japanese government organization which places native English speakers in predominately rural areas, offering students and the community an opportunity to converse with a native English speaker as well as enjoy cultural exchanges. Shimoichi-cho currently has two native English speakers who work as Assistant Language Teachers (ALT). One works in the elementary schools, while the other works in the Junior High School. Past ALTs have been from the United States of America and South Africa. The junior high school has had an ALT since the year 1997. The elementary school first acquired an ALT in the year 2006.
History
- 1889-Shimoichi village is created.
- 1890-Shimoichi village is renamed Shimoichi town.
- 1956-Akino village and Niu village is merged into Shimoichi town.
Notable places
- Niukawakami Shrine
- Ryudouin
- Hirobashi Cherry treeCherry TreeCherry Tree may refer to:* A tree that produces cherries* An ornamental cherry tree that produces cherry blossomsPlaces* Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania, a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States* Cherry Tree, Oklahoma...
Forest - Gangyō temple
Nearby attractions
- Shimoichi onsenOnsenAn is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth...
; 500 yen, includes separate bathing areas for men and women as well as a restaurant. - Yoshino, NaraYoshino, Narais a town located in Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, Japan.As of September 1, 2007, the town had an estimated population of 9397 and a density of 97.93 persons per km². The total area was 95.65 km².-Geography:...
; a popular spring tourist attraction due to its millions of sakura (cherry blossoms). 10 minutes via Shimoichi-guchi Kintetsu train station - AsukaAsukaAsuka is a Japanese personal, family and place name derived from Ashuku nyorai, the Japanese name for Akshobhya, one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas.-Places:...
; 20 minutes to Asuka via Shimoichi-guchi Kintetsu train station - Kashiharajingu Shrine; 40 minutes to Kashiharajingu-mae via Shimoichi-guchi Kintetsu train station
- Aruru “Diamond City” Aeon Mall; 50 minutes to Yamato-yagi via Shimoichi-guchi Kintetsu train station, from Yamato-Yagi take bus #40.