Kosaka Mining Shrine

Akita Prefecture's Kosaka Town once flourished as a mining town and was one of Japan's leading cities during the Meiji era. Western-style buildings retaining the spirit of the Meiji period—including the Kourakukan (designated a National Important Cultural Property and one of Japan's oldest wooden theater buildings) and the Kosaka Mining Office—are scattered throughout the area. Walking through the townscape while imagining the bustle of its heyday is an experience like traveling through time.