The municipality as we know it today was officially founded on December 1, 1954, but the area was settled much earlier. Lying in a small valley in the Kitakami mountain range, halfway between the coast and the fertile valley of the Kitakami river, it was a convenient and busy trading post, with a reputation for horse breeding.
Today, one can still visit a few preserved Magariya, L-shaped houses with a thatched roof which were shared by a farming family and their horses. The most famous, the Chiba Family Magariya, was home to a family of 25, along with 20 horses.
Today, one can still visit a few preserved Magariya, L-shaped houses with a thatched roof which were shared by a farming family and their horses. The most famous, the Chiba Family Magariya, was home to a family of 25, along with 20 horses.
Tono is known throughout Japan as the cradle of Tōno Monogatari (Tales of Tōno), written in 1910 by Yanagita Kunio, who gathered folk tales of the area. This book is now considered one of the greatest studies of Japanese folklore, and inspired the 1982 movie of the same name.Several of these tales involve the Kappa, mischievous water sprites. A legendary location in Tono is the Kappa-buchi, a water stream where kappas are said to live.
The mascot of the city, Karin-chan, is a cute kappa holding a bellflower. She is usually depicted walking in front of a Magariya.
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