The name Agui appears early in the historical record as a wooden tablet inscription, and that long continuity sits quietly beneath the town's surface. Landlocked within the Chita Peninsula's central hills, the terrain is all ridges and small basins, with the Agui River running as a quiet spine through the settlement. This is not a coastal town — no harbor, no ferry — just the interior rhythm of a peninsula that most visitors pass through on their way to the sea.
The temples here are numerous and unhurried. Doun-in, a Soto Zen temple and the bodai-ji of Oda no Kata — mother of Tokugawa Ieyasu — holds an annual ceremony in mid-March called *osembo* at Doun-in, drawing quiet attendance from the surrounding neighborhoods. Nearby, Koushoji hosts *mushikuyo*, a rite for the repose of insects, designated as an intangible folk cultural property of Aichi Prefecture. These are not performances for outsiders; they continue because the local calendar demands it. The spring festival circuit runs across several shrines — Shinmei-sha, Oyamatsumi-jinja, Atsuta-sha — each on its own Sunday, each with its own congregation.
The writer Niimi Nankichi grew up in the Uedai district, and the landscape he wrote from — wooded slopes, small paths, the particular quietness of inland Chita — is still recognizable. Pearl cultivation from *akoya-gai* and the presence of *heike-botaru* fireflies mark the town's natural character, even as the Meitetsu Kowa Line passes through on its way elsewhere.
Where to stay
A day is rarely enough.
Booking through these links supports AURA at no extra cost to you.
What converges here
48 within 25 km of the town office.
- Kamiya Museum of Art
- Handa Railway Museum
- Handa Sky Science Museum
- Handa Shiritsu Hakubutsukan
- Mizkan Museum
See the nearest 25
- Kawara Museum/Library of Takahama City, a Hometown of Ceramics
- Tokoname Tounomori
- INAX Museums
- Chita City Museum
- Takita Family Residence (Old Shipping Family)
- Kiyozawa Manshi Memorial Museum
- Philosophy Experience Village Mugaen
- Hekinan City Tatsukichi Fujii Museum of Contemporary Art
- KARIYA city Museum of History
- Obu City History and Folklore Museum
- Kariya City Art Museum
- Hands-on Science Museum
- Tokai City Heishū Memorial Museum
- Jōzan-en
- Akio Morita Library
- Morita Aji-no-Yakata
- Mikawakougei Glass Art Museum
- SCMaglev and Railway Park
- Iwase Bunko Library
- Nishio City Museum
- Tohogas Gas Energy Exhibit Hall
- Megrass Garden Nagoya
- Chiyokura Memorial Museum
- Anjo City Museum of History
- Inae Visitor Center
Distances are straight-line from the municipal office. Each website was checked in September 2026. Some locations © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Agui
- Tatsumigaoka
- Ueda
- Sakabe
- Shirasawa