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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.
From “On the Road,” Volume 8. In the previous article, I introduced the Kumano Kodo and describe the Koza Kaido, a trip from Shikusanmi, SusamiTown, Wakayama Prefecture, to Koza along the Koza River, passing by Shizuku no Taki Falls, Masago, Ichimaiwa, Myojin no Kawashujuku, Submarine Bridge, and Kawachi Shrine. This trip will be to Tanegashima and Yakushima in Kagoshima Prefecture and the Amami Islands.
Tanegashima Island is located in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan. The name of Tanegashima today is probably best heard in reference to the Space Development Center operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which is located on the southeastern coastline of the island.
The center has a “Large Launch Complex,” “Satellite Assembly Building,” “Satellite Fairing Assembly Building,” and other facilities. At these facilities, a series of operations are carried out, from final checks of satellites to loading them onto launch vehicles, assembly, maintenance, inspection, and launch, and tracking of the launch vehicles after launch, It plays a central role in satellite launches in Japan’s space development.
Tanegashima Island is also famous as a surfing spot facing the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, making it a place where one can enjoy some kind of surf all year round.
The island of Tanegashima is also mentioned in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) as Tanegashima-bito.
In this month, a feast was given to the Tane-shimabito and others under the western tsuki of Asukadera Temple.
When the Lord of Tanegashima sent a messenger, the Yamato government took good care of him, and the emperor himself presided over the banquet and entertained them. Furthermore, Emperor Temmu dispatched two high-ranking officials to Tanegashima. The Tanegashima family was the subsequent head of Tanegashima Island from the Kamakura period (1185-1333), and even though the island was merged into the Shimazu family of Kagoshima (Satsuma), which was located on the opposite shore (43 km away) from Tanegashima to the north during the Warring States period, the island was not abolished and its status as the head of the island was guaranteed, and the Shimazu family continued as one branch until the Meiji period.
According to Ryotaro Shiba, rather than being influenced by Satsuma, Tanegashima went directly to Kamigata (Kyoto/Osaka area) by ship, and its cultural sphere was greatly influenced by that of Kamigata. This is analogous to the Kamigata region, where, for example, the expression “delicious” and the sweetness of sugar are not distinguished as gustatory expressions, but are simply “umai,” whereas in Tanegashima, delicious is umai, sweet is amai, and light is mizukusai.
This connection with the Kamigata region also influences the introduction of guns, which are historically famous when people hear of Tanegashima.
In 1543, a Chinese ship drifted ashore at Tanegashima, and the Portuguese on board had a gun. The head of the family at that time was Tanegashima Tokitaka, and in his residence stayed Tsuda Kanmono, a member of Negoroji Temple in Kishu, as described in “Negoroji Temple and Saiga Shu in the Kino River Basin on the Road to Kishu“. The Tsuda family was a large landowner on the Kishu River.
The Tsuda family was a large landowner in the Kishu River area, and the Tsuda family was either a general of the Negoro-ji monks or a political and economic leader of a mountain. The Tsuda family received a Portuguese-made gun from Tokitaka of Tanegashima, which led to the introduction of guns and the power to move the warring states from an allied state to a unified state.
Tanegashima can be accessed by direct flights from Tokyo and Osaka, but the main access is by ship or plane from Kagoshima.
Eighteen kilometers southwest of Tanegashima is Yakushima Island. Yakushima is a treasure trove of nature, with a virgin forest of giant trees, including Yakusugi cedars, and a variety of flora and fauna. 10,747 hectares, or about 20% of the island, is registered as a World Natural Heritage site.
Yakushima Island has also appeared in history since ancient times. In the Sui Dynasty’s official history, “Zuishu,” the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty, in the 3rd year of the reign of Daegye (607), wrote, “He sent soldiers to the East Sea to investigate the customs of a foreign country, but they could not understand his language, so he brought back one local man and returned home. The next year, however, he sent one local man back, but he was not obeyed, so he took some cloth armor and returned home. It is recorded as follows. This Japanese envoy is said to have been Ono Imoko, a Japanese envoy to Sui Dynasty China, and this “Iyaku” country is said to be Yaku Island.
In addition, on December 12, 753, Ganjin came to Yakushima, as described in “On the Road to Okinawa and Sakishima” and after the fall of the Heike clan, there are still legends and place names related to Ochidot (fallen Heike warriors). In the Middle Ages, the Tanegashima family settled both Tanegashima and the island, and it eventually became a part of the Satsuma clan.
Access to Yakushima is also mainly by boat or plane from Kagoshima.
Further southwest from Yakushima and Tanegashima are the Amami Islands, including Tokunoshima and Amami Oshima.
Amami Oshima Island offers a beautiful natural environment and is influenced by a subtropical climate. Rich forests, beautiful beaches, coral reefs, and clear streams make it an attractive place for nature lovers and divers, and the waters around Amami Oshima are known as a habitat for marine life.
The island also has a peaceful landscape of sugar cane fields.
Access to the Amami Islands is also mainly by boat or plane from Kagoshima. From the time of Ryotaro Shiba until around 1990, the airline was Nansei Airlines, but
It is now Japan Transocean Airways, Inc. (JTA), a JAL affiliate.
Continuing southwest through the Amami Islands, we come to Okinawa and Sakishima, as described in “Kaido yuku: Road to Okinawa and Sakishima.
In the next article, it will be the road to Shigaraki in Kouga and Iga.
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