| Oyama information |
| City Emblems |
| Symbols of Oyama |
| Art and craft |
| Oyama Brand |
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.
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.
A majestic wide-spreading tree, perfect for spacious locations and are found in parks throughout Oyama.
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.
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).
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!
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.
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.
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 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.![]() Liquor (Sake) |
![]() Beef (Japanese Cows) |
![]() Strawverry (Ichigo Tochiotome) |
![]() Rice Noodles (Kome Udon) |
![]() Beer Wheat/barley (Beer Mugi) |
![]() Strawberry-Wine (Ichigo-Wine) |