The Keihoku area, the forestry village where abundant nature remains, the headwaters of the Katsura River that fireflies in the clear stream, and the ruins of a castle related to Mitsuhide. Keihoku is located in the northern part of Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, and has the same area as Osaka City, but 90% of it is forest. It is a forestry village that has been supplying timber to the capital since the Heian period. The abundant nature spreads, and a group of giant trees of Fukujo Daisugi, which is said to be over 1000 years old, was discovered. It is also the headwaters of the Katsura River, which flows through the western part of Kyoto City, and in the summer, fireflies fly in the clear stream, providing healing that cannot be experienced in the city. There are also historical spots such as Joshokoji Temple, the founder of Emperor Kogon, who was retired in this area during the Nanbokucho period, and the ruins of Zhoushan Castle, which is said to have been built by Akechi Mitsuhide during the Warring States period.
Keihoku Town was a town that existed in Kitakuwada District, Kyoto Prefecture until March 31, 2005. It is a part of the current Ukyo Ward in Kyoto City, and corresponds to the area with the name of the town, Keihoku. Producing area of good cedar wood. Established on March 1, 1955 (Showa 30) by merging 1 town and 5 villages (Shuzan-cho, Hosono-mura, Utsu-mura, Kuroda-mura, Yamaguni-mura, Yuge-mura) in the southern part of Kitakuwada-gun.
Most of the town area is forest, and the forestry industry is thriving as a production center for Kitayama cedar logs. Since the Katsura River crosses the town and connects to Kyoto Saga, it has been an important timber supply area in Kyoto since ancient times.
The Keihoku area is located in the northern part of Ukyo Ward, and the northwestern part borders Nantan City. The shape is a rectangle 17.7km east-west and 21.7km north-south, with a total area of 217.68km2. The entire area is located in the Tamba Plateau and is located on the watershed of the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean, and more than 90% of the total area is occupied by forests full of greenery. The Kamikatsu River, which originates from Mikunidake at the eastern end, flows through the center of the area, and tributaries such as the Yuge River, Koshio River, and Hosono River join it. The lives of the inhabitants are carried out in the villages scattered in the flat areas with an average altitude of 240 m, which spread out in a belt shape in these rivers.
The weather conditions are inland, partly because it is surrounded by mountains, with cool summers, cold winters, and heavy rainfall. It can be said that this climatic condition is suitable for growing forests. In the Keihoku area, while inheriting the excellent traditions, culture, and industry that our predecessors have protected and nurtured, we are working to create an attractive area where residents can experience affluence and visitors will want to live. I’m out.
Keihoku Fureai Morning Market
A city where producers themselves sell freshly picked vegetables and processed products from Keihoku. It is held every Sunday as a place for producers and consumers to interact.
Haccho / Katanami headwaters
Natural rhododendron herds can also be found in these unspoilt areas. In the Katanami headwaters, a group of giant trees of Fukujodaisugi, which is said to be over 1000 years old, has recently been discovered.
Fukutokuji Temple and cherry blossoms
Gyoki was founded in the 4th year of Wado (711). The Yakushi Nyorai, Mochikoku Tenritsu statue, and Zhoucho Tenritsu statue are enshrined and designated as important cultural properties. In spring, weeping cherry trees, which are 270 years old, are in full bloom.
Takimata waterfall
The view of the waterfall falling from the 25m high cliff is wonderful, and the surrounding nature creates various waterfalls throughout the four seasons.
View of Kurio Pass
It is a pass on the Shuzan Highway (National Route 162) and has a panoramic view of the Shuzan area. Occasionally, thick fog wraps around the town, and the mountain range that you can see in it is a mysterious and often stopping scene.
Uogabuchi Suspension Bridge
Weeping cherry blossoms blooming at the foot of the suspension bridge, abandoned thatched-roof houses on the other side of the bridge, and the clear stream of the Kamikatsu River flowing under the bridge bring back the original scenery of the Japanese countryside. This area is also popular as a point for large sweetfish, and there are also places where anglers are constantly present during the season.
View from Bodhi Tree Road and Seminar House
A 600m long linden tree-lined avenue leads to the Prefectural Seminar House on a small hill. From there, you can overlook Mt. Atago, which is hazy in the distance, and the scenery of the countryside and mountains soothes people’s hearts.
Utsukyo
This place, which is the most downstream of the Kamikatsu River that flows through the Keihoku region, is a quiet place where water is quietly filled in the mountains. There is a hydrophilic leisure facility “Utsukyo Park” nearby. A large outdoor facility where adults and children can enjoy leisurely leisure by taking advantage of the Keihoku Utsukyo Park in Kyoto City and the abundant greenery and the clear stream of the Kamikatsu River.
Kyoto City Keihoku Athletic Park
1 baseball field and playground, tennis court (2 omni courts, 3 hard courts)
Keihoku Mountain Country House
It is a facility to promote hands-on activities for the healthy development of children’s mind and body and outdoor activities for citizens in the rich natural environment of the Keihoku area of Kyoto City. It can be widely used for multipurpose meeting rooms, Japanese-style rooms, open spaces for outdoor activities such as sports, training camps and workshops.
Keihoku Forest Park
A mountain village experience exchange facility that opened in April 2000. On the site of about 3 hectares, there is an exhibition room that explains mushrooms in an easy-to-understand manner, barbecue in the lawn park (there is also a covered furnace), wooden playground equipment, maitake hunting, shiitake hunting, and shiitake mushroom hunting. You can enjoy fungus-beating experience and handmade pizza experience in a stone oven. Please spend a wonderful day while interacting with nature as a family group.
Famous places and historic sites
Joshokoji Temple
A Zen temple of the Rinzai sect Tenryuji school. The opening of Emperor Kogon in the first year of Joji. The garden, precincts, and back mountains are all located on a 12,000 square meter site. Designated as a historical natural environment conservation area in Kyoto Prefecture, cherry blossoms such as Kokonoe-zakura, which is famous for its natural monuments, are in full bloom in spring, fresh green in summer, colored leaves in autumn, and a tasteful snowy landscape in winter, showing the taste of each season. ..
The first Emperor Kogon of the Northern Court during the Northern and Southern Dynasties was erected and settled here. In the garden, there are famous trees such as the national natural monument “Kuju Sakura”, “Sakon no Sakura” branched from the Imperial Palace, and “Mikareka”. In 1579 (Tensho 7) during the Warring States period, after the temple area was completely destroyed by the burning of the mountain country of Mitsuhide Akechi, the guardian of Tanba, as in the spillover story of Emperor Gomizuo’s “Twist” during the Edo period. It gradually recovered due to payment. In addition, due to the restoration of the royal government in the late Tokugawa period and the Meiji era, the imperial economy repeatedly gave gifts to historical temples and expanded the Dou garden, but many Terada and temple assets were lost due to the influence of World War II. After that, it was restored to its current form.
Seryo no Sato
Ningyo Joruri and Kabuki “Sugawara Denju Tenshokan” is a legendary place famous for its terakoya. There is a mansion site of Genzo Takebe who educated Sugawara no Michizane’s orphan Keino. A great hiking course along the mountain stream from Ashiya to Seryo.
Zhoushan Castle Ruins
It is said that Akechi Mitsuhide built a mountain castle about 400 years ago (Tensho 7) in “Shiroyama” northwest of Zhoushan. In addition, it is said that the place name “Zhoushan” was also named after Mitsuhide’s fact that Zhou Wu King of China proclaimed good politics. Currently, only the flat land called Magake Bus Stop and the old well are left on the summit, but the shadow of the castle ruins remains at the stone wall ruins.
Zhoushan Abandoned Temple Ruins
It is said that it was built in the Hakuho period from the excavated cloth tiles of the Hakuho period. Metallic grape mirrors from the Six Dynasties of China, gold and bronze wind chimes from the Nara Dynasty, old coins from the Tang, Song, and South Song dynasties in China, earthenware using the oldest glaze in the Orient, etc.・ Many valuable relics made by the latter half of the Heian Dynasty have been excavated. The remains of buildings such as Namdaemun, Todo, Three-storied Pagoda, Nakado, Nishido, and Hokudou have been confirmed, but at present, only the remains of Todo are preserved as cornerstones.
Dofu Shrine
Ono no Michikaze, one of the famous calligraphers of the Heian period, is celebrated. Also known as Takemei Shrine, it is a local god of the town. In addition to the main shrine, there is a shrine and worship hall dedicated to Fudo Myoo, and a well of famous water known for Japanese perfume in the precincts. It is said that the worship was in 920 (Engi 20). Theaceae Sakaki in the precincts of Dofu Shrine. It is located on the flat ground in the shrine precincts on the shore of the mountain at the foot of the mountain on the outskirts of the town. Dofu Shrine is a village shrine whose deity is Ono no Michikaze.
Kinkayama Hosenji Temple
It is said that in the first year of Enbun (1356) during the Nanbokucho period, Shinren Shonin prayed for the healing of his mother’s illness and moved from Kaohsiung Mountain Jingoji Temple to Keihoku with the eleven-faced Kanzeon as his principal image. I will. After that, as a temple of the Shingon sect Omuro school, we have been praying for the well-being of people and practicing Homa for a long time. In the fall of 2018, a project to plant 200 cherry trees on the mountain behind Hosenji started. Originally, many cherry blossoms bloom every year at Hosenji Temple, such as the 50-year-old Yae Beni Weeping and the Omuro cherry blossoms transplanted from Ninnaji Temple, a World Heritage Site. The large double red weeping weeping is nicknamed “Heian weeping cherry tree” and “Kannon cherry tree”. The cherry blossoms bloom a little later than the center of Kyoto city, and reach full bloom around mid-April, making it a cherry blossom spot known to those in the know.
Yamakuni Shrine
On the occasion of the transfer of capital to Heian, the timber built by the Imperial Palace was collected from the mountainous town, and this town was designated as the Imperial Property (the place where the wood is cut out), and the main shrine was built during the Houki period (770-780). It is a company where the government army “Yamakokutai” at the time of the Meiji Restoration made a vow to go out. The cedar grove in the precincts forms a symbolic landscape of the mountainous region together with the forest of Kitayama cedar that spreads in the background across the clear stream of the Kamikatsu River. Every October, the annual festival “Return Festival” is crowded with the march of the Ishin Emperor Oyama National Corps. It has been selected as one of the “200 Nature Selections in Kyoto”.
Shimeiin
This mountain was created by a performer who played the role of 650 (the first year of Hakuchi). In 829 (Tencho 6th year), Kobo Daishi was revived at the request of Emperor Junna, and the main acala was said to be a direct work of Kobo Daishi at the request of Emperor Junna, and Nemoto Chuin’s main eye power Fudo Myo was Uda. Since the sculpture of Michizane Sugawara Ichito Sanrei by the Emperor’s request, it has been revered as an imperial imperial palace. It is the mysterious spirit place of Japan’s oldest manifestation of Fudo Myo. It is said that one of the causes of the imperial reverence was to honor the spring water of the cave, which is the source of the Kamogawa river, to worship the water god, and to pray for clean water for the Kamogawa river. There is Kabuki Jyuhachiban “Narugami” which is famous as a legend of water.
In 1831 (Tenpo 2nd year), most of the people except the Sanmon were burned down due to a misfire, but the principal idol, Fudo Myo, escaped the disaster. After that, it was reconstructed by enthusiastic believers. The best time to see the shakunage forest in the precincts, which is designated as a natural monument of the city, is from late April to early May. It is said that the title of the anime “Princess Mononoke” was born from this forest at Yamadera, which Ryotaro Shiba liked.
Kishiikeyama Yakushiji Temple
It is said that it was erected during the Tenpyo era and the time of Emperor Shomu. Chokugan-ji was built by Emperor Kogon, the first emperor of the Northern Court, during the Ryakuo era (1338-) during the Nanbokucho period. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period, Akechi Mitsuhide tried to build a castle on Zhoushan, and recruited nearby temples and shrines to secure the materials, and Akechi’s minions came to remove it three times because the building of Yakushiji was also good material. However, there is an anecdote in the Yakushiji Engi Emaki that the army of Akechi could not destroy the temple due to the spiritual power of the principal idol Yakushi Nyorai. In addition, traces of Mitsuhide’s attempt to requisition still remain on the cylinder.
Events / festivals
Ayu fishing on the Kamikatsu River
Small salted pine
Keihoku Fureai Morning Market
Yashiro’s Tara Dance
Shimeiin Grand Festival
Procession of the Meiji Restoration Oyama National Corps
Nature / landscape
Keihoku, where forests occupy 93% of the area, is one of the best forestry areas in Japan. Since the Middle Ages, it has been a forbidden land that has contributed timber to the Imperial Palace, and has prospered as a timber supply center to Kyoto. We produce excellent timber, mainly sugi and cypress, with knowledge and technology backed by a long history, from sapling production to tree planting, childcare, felling, and export. It is also famous as a production center for malogs known as “Kitayama Sugi”.
Most of the forests in the Keihoku area, except for some, are privately owned forests, each of which is managed by the owner. Of the 20,243 ha of forest area, 47% are “artificial forests” that are planted and carefully cultivated by human hands. Most of them are Japanese cedar and cypress conifers, which are trimmed, pruned and thinned to protect and grow healthy forests and produce high quality timber.
Forests called “natural forests” other than planted forests are mixed forests of Japanese red pine and cypress and broad-leaved forests. Especially in Okuyama, natural Fushijodaisugi, which is said to be 1000 years old, remains, which is valuable in the area. It is a valuable asset.
With a focus on about 30 material producers, we boast a stable annual production of about 25,000 m3 of materials such as sugi, cypress, and pine. Timber cut from the mountains by using forest roads, collecting timber by overhead wires, and in some places by helicopter is mainly shipped to the local log market. Hokuso Lumber Center Co., Ltd., the only domestic timber market in Kyoto Prefecture, holds a competition market three times a month and ships it nationwide, mainly in the vicinity of Kyoto Prefecture.
In the Keihoku area, we produce about 50,000 floor pillars and about 5,000 girder logs annually by utilizing our excellent forestry technology. “Kitayama Ma Log”, which is famous as a high-class building material, is roughly divided into natural squeezed logs that originally have irregularities and squeezed patterns on the surface of the wood surface, and artificial squeezed logs that are artificially patterned. Artificial squeezed logs are made by wrapping a batten called “hashi” around the trunk of a cedar tree with a wire, and the squeezing pattern is created by the growth of the cedar over a period of one to two years, or even several years. The products, which are carefully polished and finished by about 40 processors, are mainly put up for competition in the market of Keihoku Town Meiki Production Cooperative.