On the Road to the North Mahoroba (Aomori)

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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. 41Kita no Mahoroba.

In the previous article, we discussed the roads of Sado, Niigata Prefecture.This time we travel to Aomori Prefecture. Walking through Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Honshu, which flourished as “Mahoroba” in the Jomon period, we will ask what life is like in the prefecture in accordance with its climate. We will inquire about the history of Tsugaru, Nanbu, and Shimokita, which Osamu Dazai lamented as a sad country.

Aomori Prefecture is located in the Tohoku region of Honshu, facing the Pacific Ocean, and has a population of approximately 1.26 million. Aomori borders Akita Prefecture to the west and Iwate Prefecture to the south, and has two peninsulas, the Tsugaru Peninsula and the Shimokita Peninsula, which are located in the prefecture, and is also close to Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait.

The name “Aomori” was given by the Hirosaki Clan in the early Edo period (1603-1868) when it began building a port town in present-day Aomori City.

In Aomori, in 1998, carbides attached to earthenware excavated from the Ohira-yamamoto site in Sotogahama-cho from the early Jomon period were measured and corrected using a high-precision radiocarbon dating method, resulting in a date of approximately 16,000 years ago, making it the oldest earthenware in Japan and attracting attention.

The Paleolithic period, when people began to live using knife-shaped stone tools, began about 30,000 years ago, and the appearance of pioneer earthenware called “unmarked earthenware” was generally dated to about 13,000 years ago, making Aomori’s earthenware 3,000 years older than that.

In Aomori, many other Jomon-era ruins have been found, including the Sannai-Maruyama Ruins. The Sannai-Maruyama Ruins have been designated a World Heritage Site, and visitors can experience the Jomon culture through reconstructions of buildings and lifestyles of the time.

The word “mahoroba” becomes an archaic Japanese word meaning “wonderful place” or “a good place to live. Ryotaro Shiba speculates that Japanese culture and political institutions spread along with rice cultivation. Aomori was described as a “mahoroba” where such a period without rice cultivation lasted until the Middle Ages, and a hunting-oriented culture flourished, which was different from the rice-centered Japanese culture.

As described in “Kaido yuku Shirakawa-Aizu no Michi” (The Road to Shirakawa and Aizu), ancient Japanese rule extended as far as Fukushima, where rice could be grown, but In the Middle Ages, as described in “Kaido yuku – Mutsu-no-michi“, it extended to Iwate, where the Fujiwara clan prospered and Konjikido and other buildings were erected.

Later, the Kamakura Shogunate destroyed the city, and the Ando clan, dispatched by the Kamakura Shogunate, established Tosaminato on the western shore of Lake Tosan in the northwestern part of the Tsugaru Peninsula, thus beginning a clear central rule. Tosaminato prospered during the Muromachi period (13th century) as a base for the northern tribes mentioned in “Kaido yuku Okhotsk Kaido: The Story of the Moyoro Site” and for the Japan Sea route mentioned in “Kaido yuku Akita Stroll, Matsuo Basho, Sugae Masumi and Ningyo Dosojin” (A Walk in Akita, Matsuo Basho, Sugae Masumi and Ningyo Dosojin).

In the Warring States Period, the Tsugaru region was formed as a result of the invasion of the Nanbu clan, which is mentioned in “Kaido yuku – Mutsu no Michi“, the defeat of the Ando clan, and the independence of Tsugaru Tamenobu, who was a member of the Nanbu clan.

Hirosaki Castle, famous for its cherry blossoms, was built by these Tsugaru, and Ryotaro Shiba called it “one of the seven best castles in Japan.

This history has led to a rift between the Tsugaru and Nanbu regions, and even after the abolition of feudal domains in the Meiji Restoration, when Tsugaru and a part of Nanbu were merged to form Aomori Prefecture, the feeling of antagonism between the two remained. Incidentally, at the time of the initial abolition of the han system, the center of the prefecture was Hirosaki, but the first governor dispatched by the government at the time moved the prefectural office to Aomori-cho (now Aomori City) because he thought it would be better located in the center of the prefecture and facing the sea.

Aomori City is located at the northernmost tip of Honshu and extends into the eastern part of the Tsugaru Peninsula. The city is rich in nature, with various tourist facilities such as the aforementioned Sannai-Maruyama Ruins, the Aomori Museum of Art, and the Nebuta House Wa-Rasse.

Here, Ryotaro Shiba’s group visits Nebuta House. The Nebuta House will be a facility that introduces the history and charm of the Nebuta Festival, one of the three major festivals in Tohoku, and allows visitors to experience the Nebuta. The Nebuta Festival is held in Aomori City and Hirosaki City in early August, and is a grand festival that attracts a total of over 2 million tourists each year.

The well-known origin of the festival is that Tamuramaro Sakagami, who later became a barbarian general, used to make a loud noise with big lanterns, flutes, and drums to catch the enemy off guard and lure them to the battlefield during the conquest of Emishi in Mutsu Province (the third stage of the Thirty-eight Years’ War). However, it is now widely believed to be a variation of the indigenous Tanabata Matsuri and Misogi-nagashi events (misogi-exorcism) that are found throughout Japan.

In this festival, large lanterns are carried through the town, and dancers called haneto dance in front of and behind the lanterns, shouting “rassera, rassera” (rassera, rassera), creating a special atmosphere in the town.

The Aomori Museum of Art, located in the city, has a variety of distinctive exhibits. The most famous in recent years is the giant Aomori Dog by Yoshitomo Nara

Also on display is a huge print by Munakata Shikō, who aspired to become an artist after encountering Van Gogh’s paintings described in “How Van Gogh became Van Gogh” as a boy and saying, “I will become Van Gogh.

Speaking of huge exhibits, “Standing Woman” at the Towada Museum of Contemporary Art in the same prefecture of Aomori is also a powerful one.

Food in Aomori is famous for Oma tuna, garlic, and apples.

The “On the Road” section ends with the history of the apple. Apples are said to have originated in western Asia, from where they were introduced to Europe or China, and were already being consumed in Japan during the Heian period (794-1185). In ancient times, apples were grown in Sagano, Kyoto, and it was not until the Warring States Period that Nagano and Aomori began to produce apples.