Japan Heritage story
Hirokawa: the tsunami levee built for a hundred generations
「百世の安堵」
When a tsunami hit Hirokawa in Wakayama in 1854, Hamaguchi Goryo set rice sheaves on fire to light the way to high ground. He then paid for a great earth levee that held back the next tsunami in 1946, and the town still remembers him every year.
Key facts
- Theme
- Sea and waterside, Forests and timber, Festivals and rituals
- Era
- Edo
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 「百世の安堵」
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- 〜津波と復興の記憶が生きる広川の防災遺産〜
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 和歌山県（広川町）
The story
On 5 November 1854 an earthquake struck and a tsunami poured into the dark town of Hirokawa. Hamaguchi Goryo set fire to rice sheaves in the fields so people could see their way to the shrines and temples on the hill, saving many lives. The writer Lafcadio Hearn told the story to the world as "A Living God", and Japanese schoolchildren later read it as "Inamura no Hi" (The Fire of the Rice Sheaves).
To stop people abandoning the town, Goryo paid for a new levee "for the peace of mind of the people for a hundred generations". Over four years everyone, children included, carried earth from the hills and was paid each day. The levee is 5 m high and 600 m long, curved to soften the waves, with 1,000 pines planted in front. In 1946 another tsunami came before dawn, and the levee held it back while people fled up the main street to high ground.
What to see
- Hiro Village Levee: Goryo's earth levee, lined with pine trees.Google Maps 広村堤防 (opens in a new tab)
- Hiro Hachiman Shrine: the hilltop shrine where people took refuge, with a stone written by Katsu Kaishu.Google Maps 広八幡神社 広川町 (opens in a new tab)
- Gofuro: a grand three-storey wooden house built to shelter people from tsunamis.
- The old town: tiled roofs and plaster walls, and a pillar marking how high the 1854 tsunami reached.
Plan your visit with the Wakayama prefecture guide and see more history and heritage.
Good to know
- Walk the town's main street up to the shrine: it is the same evacuation route people used in 1946.
- On 5 November the town holds its Tsunami Festival, when people add earth to the levee.
- Look out for stones and building marks that record past tsunami heights.
Questions travellers ask
What is Inamura no Hi?
The story of Hamaguchi Goryo, who set fire to rice sheaves during the 1854 tsunami to guide people to safety on high ground.
Did the levee work?
Yes. When a tsunami hit again in 1946, the levee stopped the water from flowing into the town.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Living with whales on the Kumano coast
- Nyonin Koya: the temples where women prayed instead of Mount Koya
- Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage: Japan's 1,300-year journey of the heart
- Wakanoura: a bay of views that inspired poets
- Yuasa: where Japanese soy sauce began
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.