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Summary
Travel is an act for human beings to visit new places and experience different cultures and histories. Through travel, people can actually feel historical events and people’s lives by visiting historical places and cultural heritage sites, and can gain a deeper understanding of history and broaden their own perspectives. In this section, we will discuss the historical background of the trip and the places visited based on Ryotaro Shiba’s “Kaido yuku” (On the Road) about this journey and history.
Kaidou wo yuku Vol.32 Awa kikou .
In the previous article, I described a trip to Shimabara and Amakusa. This time, I will describe the Awa Travels from Awaji Island to Tokushima.
Travel and History of Awa and Awaji Island
For this trip, we took a ferry from Fukahi, a small port in Osaka, to Sumoto Port on Awaji Island. We will drive through Awaji Island, cross the Onaruto Bridge connecting Tokushima and Awaji Island to view the Naruto whirlpools, go to Tosadomari to think of Kinukino and mention the achievements of the fishermen of Douura who spread the one-line fishing method and tegus at Douura, then go to Omabiko Shrine and view the German Bridge. After that, we will go out to the Yoshino River basin, following the ruins of Katsubata Castle and the Tanaka family residence, and experience the Awa Odori dance at a familiar ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant). At Reizanji Temple, the first of 88 temples in Shikoku, we will reflect on the pilgrimage and Itsue Takagun, and then continue west along the northern bank of the Yoshino River, passing through Wakimachi and Ikeda, on our way to Iya, a “hidden valley” hypothesized to be a place of the Heike clan’s fallen soldiers.
Awa is called Nankaido. This road was established at the time of Emperor Monmu (683-707) and divided the country into seven provinces: Tokaido, Higashiyama, Hokuriku, San’in, Sanyo, Nankaido, and Saikaido.
This trip begins with Ryotaro Shiba, a resident of Osaka, taking the Nankai Railway (a train that runs from Osaka Namba Station to Wakayama) to a port called Fukahi (Fukke).
From there, cross to Awaji Island by boat.
On Awaji Island, we will arrive at a port called Sumoto. Awaji Island is now connected to the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge from Tarumi in Hyogo Prefecture, making it a tourist destination easily accessible by car from the Kansai region.
The area has also been bustling recently with the relocation of Pasona’s headquarters, and is home to such architectural masterpieces as “Zenbo Yasuning” by architect Shigeru Ban, as well as
Nijigen-no-mori, located in Awaji Island Park, is a place where both adults and children can enjoy themselves.
Awaji Island has a long history and is believed to have been the first island created when the Japanese archipelago was created by Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto. This is said to be due to its close connection with the early emperor’s family (the existence of an empress from Awaji Island).
In the Edo period (1603-1867), Awaji Island was the domain of the Hachisuka family (whose ancestor was Koroku Hachisuka, a retainer of Hideyoshi Toyotomi from the early days of his reign), and was apparently treated as a part of Tokushima. The actual ruler of Awaji Island was a warlord named Inada Uemoto, who was a vassal of the Ueda family. After rebelling against the Inada family during the Edo period (about 300 years), the Inada family of Awaji, which was originally not a retainer of Hachisuka but of the same rank, insisted on being recognized as an independent “Inada clan,” and clashed with the Tokushima side, resulting in a fatal incident.
In response to this incident, the Inada were punished by being relocated to Shikotan Island in Hokkaido. In order to separate the Inada from Tokushima Prefecture, their affiliation was changed to Hyogo Prefecture, and Hyogo Prefecture paid for their relocation to Hokkaido, which became Hyogo Prefecture after the Meiji era.
Awaji Island is also the birthplace of Kahei Takataya, whose statue was erected on the island as mentioned in “Hokkaido’s Roads” earlier.
After passing through Awaji Island, we crossed the Naruto Ohashi Bridge. The Naruto Ohashi Bridge spans the famous Naruto whirlpools (the difference between the ebb and flow of the Seto Inland Sea and the Pacific Ocean creates whirlpools at Naruto, the border between the two seas, and is called one of the “world’s three great tides” along with the Strait of Messina in Italy and Seymour Strait in Canada), which can be seen several times a day.
While gazing at the Naruto Bridge, Ryotaro Shiba ponders the movie “Sophie’s Choice” and the Brooklyn Bridge that appears in it.
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most famous scenic spots in New York City and often appears in Person of Interest, which was previously mentioned in the article “Artificial Intelligence and TV Drama“.
After passing Naruto, we headed for Dounoura. This is where a white transparent fishing line called “tegusu” was discovered in the early Edo period (1603-1868), and this is where many fish were caught. This tegusu was originally a translucent thread that was used by a medicine wholesaler in Osaka to package oil paper used to wrap herbal medicine when he imported herbs, roots, and bark from China. The story of the fishermen began when the owner of the drug store became interested in importing only the thread, and asked the fishermen to become his salesmen by using the silk thread in the sea along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea to increase the demand.
The silkworm larvae contain a thick, slimy gland called the silk gland, which is extracted, dipped in soot, and stretched to make fine threads that can be used.
In Doura, the number of households doing business with silkworm silk increased, and the technique of single-strand fishing using silkworm silk flourished, which apparently spread to every corner of the Japanese archipelago.
In Naruto, there is a memorial hall called “Deutscheskan” (German POW Hall), which was built to convey to future generations the interaction between the German POWs who lived at the Bando Prisoner of War Camp, where German POWs from World War I were interned, and the people of Bando.
Until World War I, POWs were treated favorably, and the POW camp in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, during the Russo-Japanese War is famous worldwide, and there are stories that many soldiers surrendered from the Russian positions shouting “Matsuyama, Matsuyama. (Incidentally, the Matsuyama POW camp was built on the ruins of the castle’s Ninomaru, at the foot of the mountain where Matsuyama Castle is located, and later became a junior high school.)
The POW camp in Tokushima was also allowed a great deal of freedom, and they built their own huts on the vast grounds and taught the local people how to grow cabbage and tomatoes, which were rare at the time, and how to make butter and cheese.
After visiting the German Pavilion, we will visit the ruins of Katsuzui Castle, the castle of the Hosokawa clan that ruled Kyoto in the Muromachi period. Located along the Yoshino River, the ruins of this castle, also known as Abayakata, is the site of the moss-covered grave marker of Miyoshi, a retainer of the Hosokawa clan who destroyed them.
The Miyoshi clan was also destroyed by his subordinate, Hisahide Matsunaga, who killed the Muromachi shogun, Yoshiteru Ashikaga, and was then destroyed by Nobunaga Oda, which led to a chaotic history after the Onin War.
Indigo production flourished in Tokushima, and even the name of a place, Aizumi-cho, is a reference to this. Until the Meiji era (1868-1912), Japanese indigo dyeing was a business simply because it was beautiful, but it lost out when the economy internationalized and cheap Indian indigo from India and artificial indigo, a chemical dye, from Germany began to enter the market. Today, it is said that very little remains.
Another specialty of Tokushima will be the Awa Odori dance. The original form of the Awa Odori dance is said to be the Seirei Matsuri or Nenbutsu Odori, but its origin is unclear. It is said to have flourished after the Tokushima clan was established. One theory is that it originated when Hachisuka Iemasa, the Awa governor at the time, issued an order to the people of Tokushima Castle when it was completed, telling them to dance as they pleased as a celebration of the castle’s completion. Awa Odori is a dance in which a group of dancers called “ren” dance to the accompaniment of two beats of shamisen, drums, and other instruments.
It is known for the rhythm of the song “yoshiko,” which goes, “I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance, I’ll dance…. In reality, however, the yoshiko rhythm is not used very often except in major, well-known groups, and the yatsusa yatsusa call is used more frequently.
The tour will end with a description of the pilgrimage that begins in Tokushima. The pilgrimage is a journey to 88 sacred sites in Shikoku where Kobo Daishi (Kukai) practiced 1,200 years ago. It is said that by visiting all the sacred sites (fuda), one’s wishes will be fulfilled and the merits of Kobo Daishi will be obtained. Recently, the purpose of pilgrimages has been diversifying, with people visiting these places to pray for health, to make memorial services for relatives, to improve their health, and for self-discovery, among others.
In the next article, I will describe a trip around Kino River in Wakayama Prefecture.
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