It is said that Takehara began when Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto developed the land based on the law of the Nara period that allowed the land that was cultivated by oneself to be owned by oneself. This law was the beginning of the manor system, and wealth was concentrated in those who had the financial power to cultivate the land by themselves, and it triggered the collapse of the world centered on the emperor.
takehara1
takehara9
takehara8
takehara2 chosei temple
takehara12 golden tree
takehara11
takehara16
Anyway, Takehara has a connection with Kyoto and still retains a townscape called Little Kyoto. Incidentally, the Kamo River, which has the same name as Kyoto, runs through the center of the city. Also, like Kyoto, sake brewing is thriving, and one of its descendants founded Nikka Whiskey in Japan.
takehara13
takehara4 takezuru sake brewery
takehara5 frontier of japanese whisky
takehara6 massann and lita
A feature that is completely different from Kyoto is salt making in salt fields. At that time, 80% of the salt produced in Japan was produced in Hiroshima Prefecture.
By the end of the 19th century, British travel explorer Isabella Bird called the Okitama area including Yonezawa basin ‘the Arcadia of Asia’.
The place name of Okitama is not familiar to modern Japanese people, but it is based on the Ainu language. It is a large granary area surrounded by deep mountains. Perhaps she was impressed by the green land spreading in front of her after crossing a difficult mountain. But that’s not all for the arcadia.
Okitama area had been dominated by the Uesugi family in the Edo period. Everyone knows that a pioneer warlord of Uesugi family, Kenshin Uesugi, had ruled Niigata area, not Okitama area. In addition, every year during the cherry blossom season, the Kawanakajima battle between Kenshin Uesugi and Shingen Takeda (actually done at Nagano) is reproduced in Yonezawa !
At the end of the Warring States period, Kenshin’s successor ruled Aizu under the order of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, but after Ieyasu Tokugawa took power, the Uesugi family, his hostile, had been moved to Okitama, which had a low rice production. The Uesugi family and chief retainer Kanetsugu Noe did not dismiss their subordinates and developed cultivated land.
150 years later, Youzan Uesugi, the new lord appeared to save the financial difficulty by educating people instead of dismissing them and creating new industries that continue to this day.
“People belong to the nation, not the king.”
This is what he advocated and is exactly the idea of modern democracy. President Kennedy reportedly raised Youzan Uesugi, Yonezawa lord, as a Japanese politician he respected in his inaugural interview. There are many Japanese who do not know this person, but the following sayings, rather than as a poem written by him, have been heard at least once .
“If you try to do, it can be achieved, if you don’t, it will never be achieved. Achieving nothing is due to one’s own intention to not try.”
What the two reformers had in common was that they value people and thought that people were property. The arcadia may have been created by people who were carefully protected in this countryside.
By the way, Kenshin, a successor Kagekatu and Youzan in Uesugi family were not related by blood but adoption. It’s cool !
Yonezawa castle3
Yonezawa castle2
As you walk along the Yonezawa Castle Ruins, the center of Arcadia, imagine the history of hardship. If the time is right, you can see the Rakuchu Rakugai folding screen (National treasure) donated by Nobunaga Oda to Kenshin Uesugi. Incidentally, Masamune Date has been moved to the northern part of Miyagi Prefecture from the Okitama area by the order of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Therefore, at the battle of Sekigahara, Date was attacking Uesugi as an excuse to side with Tokugawa. Places like each other.
When I travel to Tohoku, I often stop at a gas station, so I often see Kamei’s mark (red flag on the sea). When I visited Shiogama Shrine and walked along the long back path, Kamei’s villa suddenly appeared and I was surprised why it was in such a place. So I learned that Kamei was a company that originated from Shiogama City and lasted over 100 years.
There are many companies in the world that have been in business for more than 100 years, but according to a survey by Nikkei BP, Japan was twice as many as the United States, which was second in the number of companies in the world. In Japan, the ratio of these companies was high in the manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and lodging/restaurant industry, but low in the service industry. Prolonged life is proud, but I think it’s because of the conservative constitution of business practices and it leads to conservative job hunting for students who are only looking at large companies. Amazon is taking over the Japanese market in the retail industry with ICT as a weapon. I hope that a new venture that will bring innovation will be created. I think Japan must learn more about the reincarnation of Buddhism.
kamei villa11 bat
Returning to Kamei, many companies that have continued for over 100 years are transforming themselves. General Electric(GE) was also a company that manufactured and sold Edison’s inventions, but it is now a major player in the energy and aviation industries while changing industries. Kamei also focused on new energy oil at that time and established a sales route in Tohoku based at Shiogama Port. It was explained that the contractor at that time was the current ENEOS, energy supplier, and the design of the bat of the company emblem was incorporated into this villa. Perhaps it could be the story when the president of Kamei received the contract customer at this villa. Nowadays it is surrounded by commercial areas, but it is imagined that the view of Shiogama Port and Matsushima Bay would have been good because it was located on a hill. It’s a great place to take a break on a hot day. It’s free.
Generally speaking of cows in a shrine is associated with Tenmangu, which enshrines Michizane Sugawara, senior official in Heian period, as the god of learning. So, It is a major source of income for the shrine during the examination season. However, at Shiogama Shrine, cows are worshiped in the hope that the business will continue for a long time like cow drool. The drool is not smart, but it is strongly associated with the development of Shiogama as a port town.
shiogama shrine garden
Shiogama Shrine is the No. 1 shrine in Tohoku, and sits in a position to protect the demon gate of Tagajo, which is the agency of the Yamato Imperial Court. It is located on a ridiculous hill in expectation of a tsunami caused by an earthquake. If you climb from the main approach, you will find 202 stone steps. At the time of the festival, 16 people carry one ton of mikoshi on the stone steps, so each person carries the same weight as their own weight.
shiogama shrine main approach bottomshiogama shrine main approach top
I could see many small islands floating in Matsushima Bay from the precincts, and I felt that the hard work of climbing was rewarded.
shiogama shrine view matsushima
There is Shiogama Sakura, a large-flowered double-flowered cherry tree designated as a natural monument in the precincts, but when it was about to disappear due to aging, it revived thanks to Kyoto gardener Sano Toemon. If you have the opportunity, definitely enjoy the wonderful Shiogama Sakura.
Haiku Basho wrote about this lantern in his travel journal.
Detour
The Tagajo, which was the agency for the Yamato Imperial Court and guarded by shrine, is explained at the Tohoku History Museum near Kokufu-Tagajo station. Excavations are still ongoing at Tagajo and there is a good walking course.
tohoku history museum1 emishitohoku history museum2
‘Gathering early summer rains / Even more rapid / The Mogami River’
by Basho
boat going down
Basho traveled to Tohoku district during the Edo period and left many famous haiku poems. One of them is the Mogami River.
waterfall from the cliff
The seasons were different, but the flow was not as intense as I expected.
Time seems to have stopped and the area is quiet. I can only hear the sound of pointing the boat’s rod to the river. A stream of water falls from the cliff and the boat song of the boatman is sucked into the mountains. On the way you can see the ruins of Oshin’s outdoor studio. I fell asleep on the way.
The following is a boat landing. One-way, two-way, etc. you can chose according to your schedule.
In the Edo period, silver production in Japan was about one-third of the world and the representative ‘ Iwami Ginzan(Silver mountains)* ‘ became World Heritage. ‘Ginzan Hot Spring ‘ has the same story adding hot spring and the downtown is said to be retro-modern and is visited by many foreign tourists like Kyoto.
public bath
But the best way to spend time was to take a public bath in the entrance of the village designed by Mr.Kuma Kengo, architect who designed the main stadium Tokyo2020 after visiting mine ruins at the end of village (small walk).
mine ruins
*)Ginzan and Ginza(silver guild or place)
Since the foundry of silver coins was placed in Tokyo during the Edo period, Ginza has developed into a high-class shopping district and any central shopping districts of even small towns in Japan have been named as the same Ginza district.
Higashine city is famous of cherry producer and even the station name has the name of cherry like ‘Cherry Higashine’. But ‘Big Zelkova Tree'(Keyaki) is far more famous since ancient times. The sacred tree quietly stands in the lively voice of elementary school students.
rice terraces
Yamagata was a place to ship rice to the Edo Shogunate by Kitamae ship being collected through Mogami River, so rice production was also popular. You can still see many beautiful rice fields. I like branded rice, ‘Tsuya-Hime'(Shiny princess).
Soba, a thin noodle made of buckwheat flour, is eaten or the scent enjoyed all over Japan and had become a subject of classical literary arts, especially rakugo.
Yamagata was a place to ship rice to the Edo Shogunate by Kitamae ship, so rice production was popular. Soba has historically been offered as thank-you after the rice farming work that many neighbors helped, and its taste was a showcase for the farmers. That is why soba became famous in Yamagata prefecture.
Soba fields spread along the Oishi Kaido(highroad) in the countryside, and many soba restaurants are concentrated in it. In August, the fields are filled with small white flowers, and in the fall you can enjoy the fragrant new soba.
Gallery (click photos)
soba highroad left
soba highroad right
soba menu left
soba menu right
The restaurant ‘Heikichi’ I found in the countryside by chance is the following.
The place name is “Jinego”, literary ‘next year’s children’ in Japanese characters, because it was too snowy to register the birth at the government office only next year.
