Totsukawa, Mountain village in Yoshino District, Japan
Totsukawa is a mountain settlement in Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, spreading across forested slopes and narrow valleys. The community sits in the southern part of the prefecture, surrounded by steep mountain sides and crossed by small river courses.
After a major flood destroyed large parts of the community in 1889, many residents migrated to Hokkaido. There they founded a new settlement that they named after their homeland.
The name comes from the deep river valleys that cut through the area and made contact with the outside world difficult for centuries. Today, this remoteness shows in the traditional wooden houses scattered among dense forests and connected by narrow mountain roads.
Buses run from Kintetsu Yamato Yagi in the north to Shingu Station on the Pacific coast, linking the community with larger cities. The journey through the mountains takes several hours and follows winding roads along river valleys.
Manual rope gondolas cross river bends at several points, allowing individuals to pull themselves across water courses. These simple constructions of rope and wood have served as private crossings for remote farms for generations.
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