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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 Volume 9 Sakudaira michi.
The previous trip was to Koyasan. This time, we will take the Shinshu-Sakuhira route in Nagano Prefecture. The starting point of this trip is JR Nagano Station, where we will follow the rise and fall of the Shinano warrior clans in the Middle Ages. In Ueda City, we will think of the Sanada clan, which was mentioned in the previous “Koyu Kaido yuku Koyasan Michi,” and at Bessho Onsen, our first overnight stop, we will consider the life of the renunciate Ippen, who abandoned everything to follow his own quest. The next morning, we visited Jorakuji Temple and Anrakuji Temple, and then headed for Sakudaira in Karuizawa. After staying the night in Minami-Karuizawa, we will visit Mochizuki Inn along the old Nakasendo Road, and finish our journey thinking about the fact that the fangs of Shinshu were a key military base for Kiso Yoshinaka and the description of Mochizuki Inn in Sei Shonagon’s “The Pillow Book”.
This trip will be a tour of Nagano Prefecture, visiting Nagano, Karuizawa, and Saku-daira. Located in the center of Japan, Nagano Prefecture is an inland prefecture not facing the sea, and is rich in nature, surrounded by mountains with large mountain ranges, including the Japanese Alps.
It is also called Shinshu, after Shinano Province, the name of the country under the Japanese imperial decree. Since the Higashiyama-road and the Nakayama-road crossed through the area from ancient times, and the area was an important transportation hub connecting eastern and western Japan, roads and travel routes leading to Shinshu were called Shinano-ji and Kiso-ji, and even today, scenic old roads and remains of inn towns in the mountains remain in many places.
Since the hills and mountains in the area make it difficult for travelers to pass through, the area is also dotted with the remains of many Dosojin (guardian deities of the road), as described in “Walking the Highways of Akita, Basho Matsuo, Masumi Sugae, and Ningyo Dosojin” for the safety of travelers.
From ancient times to the Middle Ages, the region had many hills and mountains with harsh natural conditions, but after the Meiji Period, access from the three major metropolitan areas became easier with the opening of railroads, and the region is known for its many highland and mountain resorts, notably Karuizawa and Kamikochi.
Historically, since ancient times, people have appeared who made earthenware and settled in the area, and in the Nagano Prefecture area, large settlements emerged mainly at the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains. As time progressed, the rulers of the southern Zenkoji-daira region became associated with the Yamato kingdom that emerged in Kinai (Kinai), and they constructed a posterior frontal tomb in the Koshoku region.
In the Asuka Period, “Shinano Province” was established, and in 704, the seal of “Shinano Province” was created, and the character “Shinano” began to be used publicly around this time.
Around the 10th century, the Seiwa Genji clan was appointed to Shinano Province as the Shinano governor, and they settled there and formed a group of samurai warriors, which was called the Shinano Bushidan. The Shinano Samurai were known as the Shinano Samurai.
Kiso Yoshinaka was destroyed by Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who was ordered by his cousin Minamoto no Yoritomo (Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Yoritomo’s younger brother, was also eventually destroyed by Yoritomo), and Shinano was then controlled by the Hojo clan. After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, the country entered a period of confusion, with frequent rebellions among the local people, and no independent and powerful feudal lord was created within Shinano. The Onin War and the Sengoku Period (1467-1568) followed without the emergence of any independent and powerful feudal lords in Shinano. Shingen Takeda, who was one of the first to become a feudal lord in neighboring Kai during the Warring States period, took control of Shinano, and the war with Kenshin Uesugi of Echigo, another neighboring province, as described in “Kata no michi (Niigata) on the Highway to Niigata” unfolded.
Uesugi Kenshin/Takeda Shingen fought five times in the famous Battle of Kawanakajima, but the battle was inconclusive, and each died of illness, and the region was once again in chaos. The Matsushiro domain was established by Nobuyuki, the eldest son of Masayuki, who was on the Tokugawa side, and led by the Matsushiro domain, a total of 19 domains were established in Shinano during the Edo period.
Ryotaro Shiba and his friends first disembarked at HR Nagano Station on their trip. The current Nagano Station was built with a modern design and was selected as one of the “10 stations with unique design.
Nagano is also home to Zenkoji Temple, which houses the Ikko-Sanson Amida Nyorai (Zenkoji Nyorai), said to be the oldest Buddhist statue in Japan.
From Nagano, we will pass by Ueda Castle, built by the Sanada clan and mentioned in the previous “Koyu Koya Michi” article, and head for Bessho Onsen Hot Springs.
Bessho, as described in “Kaido yuku Koyasan Michi” (Koyasan Road to Koyasan), is a religious site located away from the home of Buddhist temples, where Buddhist monks, known as saints, gathered around temples and built hermitages and Buddhist halls to practice asceticism. In other words, Bessho Onsen could be called a hot spring Buddhist facility.
The ema (votive tablet) dedicated to the Kitamukai Kannon Hall of Jorakuji Temple near Bessho Onsen, which Ryotaro Shiba visited, is called “Odori Nenbutsu” (Dancing Buddha) and “Rokkasen” (Six Poems).
The “Dancing Nembutsu” is a lively dance performed by six dancers who smile so much and dance so happily that the floor breaks with their full smiles on their faces.
This Ippen Shonin was a monk of the Kamakura period and the founder of the Jishu sect of Buddhism.” Tokimune was born in Matsuyama City, Iyo Province (Ehime Prefecture), as described in “On the Road: Clouds over the Hill and the Date Family in Tropical Japan. Jishu was influenced by the Jodo sect, which, as described in “Zen Philosophy and History, Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity,” emphasized belief in Amitabha Buddha. The Jishu, however, taught that one could be reborn in the Pure Land as long as one chanted the nembutsu, regardless of whether one believed or did not believe in Amida Buddha (the interpretation being that the Buddha’s true power was absolute, and therefore extended to those who did not believe).
Ippen means “one and yet omnipresent,” and as the name implies, Ippen is said to have led his people to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss through his “Odori Nembutsu,” a dance in which he chanted and danced the Nembutsu while traveling from place to place.
After leaving Bessho Onsen, the group will spend one night in Karuizawa, one of the most popular resort areas in Japan and dotted with many tourist facilities and resort hotels, before ending their journey at Mochizuki Inn along the old Nakasendo Road.
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