Country Japan Area 65.35 km² Local time Sunday 12:35 PM Prefecture Wakayama Prefecture | Region Kansai Population 8,221 (2003) District Arida District, Wakayama | |
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Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) Website www.town.hirogawa.wakayama.jp Weather 13°C, Wind NW at 14 km/h, 56% Humidity Points of interest Inamura-no-Hi no Yakata, Hiro Hachiman-jinja, Tennozan | ||
Hirogawa (広川町, Hirogawa-chō) is a town located in Arida District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.
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Map of Hirogawa, Arida District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 8,221 and a density of 125.80 persons per km². The total area is 65.35 km².
History
Thanks to the story called Inamura no Hi: The Burning Rice Fields" by Tsunezo Nakai (translated and published in English by Sara Cone Bryant) and Lafcadio Hearn's Gleanings in Buddha-Fields(1897), Hirogawa (then Hiro-Mura) is often referred to the home of "A Living God" : Goryo Hamaguchi (1820-1885). In 1854, Goryo Hamaguchi saved many lives from the tsunami struck the Kii Peninsula following the big earthquake. He set fires to rice sheaves (inamura) to help guide those in great danger to safety on the hilltop. He also devoted himself to help fellow villagers find jobs (hiring them) and build confidence by constructing a huge sea wall along the shore.
Goryo Hamaguchi and others established a private academy called "Taikyu-sha" (current Taikyu Junior/High School) to give the villagers the opportunity to learn. (According to the school record, they are not teaching the way to be successful or be famous but to be practical in many ways, such as farming and ironing.) In 1907, Mr. George Trumbull Ladd, assisting Marquis Ito (Hirofumi), visited the school and later published his journal "Rare Days in Japan" (1910) in the U.S.