Oyama information
City Emblems
Symbols of Oyama
Art and craft
Oyama Brand




Oyama Information

Oyama is located in the southern area of Tochigi prefecture, just 80 kilometres north of Tokyo. It is the gateway to the North Kanto area due to its easy access by national highways and railways and as a result has a growing industrial estate. The population of Oyama surpassed that of Ashikaga City in December 2005, and subsequently became the second largest city in Tochigi with a population of 160,000. The capital city in Tochigi, Utsunomiya, is the largest city in the prefecture.

shinkansen The Tohoku Shinkansen and Tohoku Main Line (Utsunomiya Line) service the North Kanto area from Tokyo. The Ryomo and Mito lines run west and east respectively from Oyama. The national road routes connect Tokyo and Oyama and include National Route 4 which runs to the west of the Tohoku Main Line and the New National Route 4 which runs to the east of the Tohoku Main Line. The National Route 50 runs east-west through Oyama and joins Oyama and Sano.

Although Oyama has a left-coast climate it reaches both extremes in the summer and winter months. Most summer days are over 30 degrees Celsius and occasionally reach 35. The rainy season is usually the month of June and the Omoi River fills right to the edge in some places. In winter, the lowest temperature is about -5 degrees and there are only about 3 or 4 days of snow but the wind chill factor makes for a very cold winter especially in January and February.

rainfall taemp




City Emblems

Bird
sekirei The city bird is a Japanese Wagtail (seguro-sekirei) which is a small excitable bird, mostly black with a white belly and is found in the mountain stream area.


Tree
shirakashi A majestic wide-spreading tree, perfect for spacious locations and are found in parks throughout Oyama.


Flower
sakura The cherry blossom is Japanfs national flower and takes prominent position in Japanese culture. There are dozens of different cherry blossom tree varieties, most of which only bloom for a few weeks in spring. The Omoigawazakura is a species of cherry blossom native to the Oyama area. This particular species is quite unusual as it blooms twice a year and it also has ten petals. It is believed that the first Omoigawazakura was found at a monastery near the Omoi River.




Symbols of Oyama

omoigawanantais The Omoigawa River is undoubtedly the principal feature of Oyama that has alone guaranteed the cityfs existence and continued growth. Many citizens in Oyama believe the Omoi epitomizes the qualities of Oyama: cleanliness, vibrancy and prosperity. The Omoi River is an attractive background to events such as fly fishing, floating Shimotsuke dolls and the walking track and fields for sport. It is also a popular spot for viewing cherry blossoms (hanami).

Pinky-chan
pinkychan Delightful pinky-chan has been the beloved mascot of Oyama for a long time. Last year Pinky-chan was given a fresh new look. As you may have guessed, Pinky-chan is an Omoigawazakura and appears everywhere in Oyama. As you may have noticed, Pinky-chan features a lot on our website ? whenever you want to go home just click Pinky!

Crest
citylogo The crest of Oyama consists of a triangle and circle. The triangle represents the progression of the city, always moving onwards and upwards. The circle represents the reconciliation of the citizens.




Art and Craft

The Oyama area is known for their textiles especially the Yuki Pongee , Mamada Braid and Shimotsuke Shibori.

Yuki Tsumugi Silk
yukitumubi Yuki pongee ('pongeef means a silk of plain weave made from filaments of wild silk woven in natural tan colour) is one of the oldest techniques in textile still around today. In Oyama City, west of the Kinu River there are two suburbs called Kinu and Kuwa. They were named after the sericulture (sericulture is the rearing and keeping of silkworms for making raw silk) that prospered in those areas. Kinu means silk and Kuwa means mulberry (silkworms live off mulberry leaves). This trade is still performed using the traditional technique from the olden days. It consists of 8 processes like spinning, dyeing and weaving, etc. Each process is done separately by a specialist.



Mamada Braid (Mamada Himo)
mamadahimo2 The Mamada braid is a silk cord which is usually attached to kimonos for decoration. Mr. Asaichi Watanabe took the traditional Edo braid and created his own signature braid. The braid consists of 7 processes and is elaborately done by hand on a small round wooden tool like a mini-table . In a quiet room you can hear the 'click, click, click' of the wooden balls which are strung with various threads of silk. The Mamada Himo (braid) shop is found in Mamada in the south of Oyama.




Shimotsuke Shibori
shimotukeshibori Shimotsuke Shibori is a technique used for tie-dyeing paper with astringent persimmon tannin. The end product is soft to the touch just like cloth and looks like wood or leather. The paper is used for making various artistic handicrafts or Shimotsuke traditional dolls. People still follow the old custom of praying for happiness by placing these dolls on mini-sized straw boats which are floated on the Omoi River. The custom called Nagashibina (Floating Hina Dolls) is held on the first Sunday in July every year.





Oyama Brand

Mild weather, bountiful nature and skillful farmers make it possible for Oyama to produce various Oyama branded agriculture and livestock products. These consist of Sake, beef (black colour Japanese cows), beer wheat and barley, rice, rice noodles, strawberries and strawberry wine.

oyamasake
Liquor
(Sake)
oyamawagyuu
Beef
(Japanese Cows)
ichigo
Strawverry
(Ichigo Tochiotome)
komeudon
Rice Noodles
(Kome Udon)
oyamasake
Beer Wheat/barley
(Beer Mugi)
ichigowain
Strawberry-Wine
(Ichigo-Wine)



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