thumb|right|290px|Totsukawa Village Hall

is a geographically large village in the Yoshino District of Nara, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 1,322 and a population density of 4.0 persons per km<sup>2</sup>. The total area of the village is .

Surrounding municipalities

Nara Prefecture

  • Gojō
  • Kamikitayama
  • Shimokitayama
  • Nosegawa

Mie Prefecture

  • Kumano

Wakayama Prefecture

  • Shingū
  • Tanabe
  • Kitayama

Climate

Totsukawa has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa), which is hot and humid in the summer (above ) and is somewhat cold in the winter with temperatures dropping to around freezing ()

Demographics

The population of Totsukawa in 2020 was 3,061 people. Totsukawa has been conducting censuses since 1920.

History

Etymology

The name of the Totsukawa River , which the village is named after was originally composed of the kanji , meaning distant, , meaning harbor (or port), , meaning river, as the river was, and especially for the time its name is first said to appear (), far away from any ports. Because the village built along the river is also distant from the capital, , it was given the name , as a play-on-words meaning village of the river

distant from any ports or the capital. The word used for the first kanji in the current name, , and the original name for the river, , as well as the word for capital, , all contain a reading of to.<!--please fix this abomination and wikify this-->

End of Kamakura and Muromachi period

In 1333, Emperor Go-Daigo overthrew the Kamakura Shogunate and thus began the Kenmu Restoration. However, many samurai, including Ashikaga Takauji were dissatisfied with the new policies, and so a struggle ensued between them and the emperor. As a result of the struggle, the emperor fled to Yamato Province, which composed much of present-day Nara Prefecture and included Totsukawa within. There he established the Southern Court. Totsukawa was deeply intertwined with the southern court, and Prince Morinaga once sought refuge there. Old documents written by the second emperor of the court, Gomurakami and Morinaga's son, Prince Okura are still kept and preserved within the village, and contain directives to the people of the village to assist the southern court. The people were said to be skilled martial artists and hunters, which is attributed to their recognition by multiple successive emperors within southern court. The residents opted to name the new settlement “Shintotsukawa”, literally “New Totsukawa". It is one of Japan's longest steel-wire suspension bridges, and is located in the Tanize/Uenoji area in northern Totsukawa. It was built in 1954 and is high and long. Each family in the village donated towards the construction. The money collected from the villagers totaled approximately in donations.

Yaen gondolas

thumb|left|Totsukawa Yaen Gondalas

There are gondolas called in Totsukawa village. Yaen are small gondolas hung from ropes above a river and move from shore to shore of the river, moving forward by pulling on a rope inside of the gondola. The name yaen comes from the Japanese word for wild monkey, and were named as such because a person using one has the appearance of a wild monkey climbing a vine. They were historically used for transportation across the river by the villagers, as it would only take the average person around 10 minutes to move the entire route. They are no longer used as a means of transportation, and are now only used as a novelty.

Sasa-no-taki waterfall

thumb|right|Sasa-no-taki Waterfall

is a waterfall located on the outskirts of Totsukawa, and is ranked by Kodansha as one of the 100 Best Waterfalls in Japan. It is about tall and away from Takikawa gorge, and has an altitude of with multiple hiking trails leading up to the waterfall. The area directly under the waterfall, however, has its access restricted due to the safety hazard imposed by the risk of falling rocks.

Tamaki Shrine

thumb|left|Tamaki-jinja

is a Shinto shrine located at the top of . It was built by Emperor Sujin in 37 BC and is surrounded by several large cedar trees. Tamaki Shrine is registered as a landmark with the UNESCO World Heritage Center as one of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range."

Totsukawa Onsen

right|thumb|Totsukawa Onsen

is an onsen hot spring located in the middle of Totsukawa village. Around the hot spring, there are multiple bathhouses, also known colloquially as onsen, which utilize the hot spring. is the oldest bathhouse in the village, dating back to 1581. The bathhouses pipe the water from the hot spring into their facilities without recycling, heating or prior treatment.

Notes

References

  • Totsukawa Village web page (in Japanese)