Life Tips & Miscellaneous Travel and History Zen Philosophy and History Art and Sport Navigation of this blog
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. 26 Sendai Ishinomaki.
The previous trip was to Sagano, a natural beauty spot in western Kyoto. This trip will be to Sendai and Ishinomaki. Ryotaro Shiba flew from Osaka Airport to Sendai, and the successor to Fuji seen from the plane reminded him of when the Oshu people saw Fuji and of the westward expansion of power in the Tohoku region, which had risen several times in history. He visited the mouth of the Abukuma River in southern Sendai and saw the Sadayama moat, a canal built by Date Masamune, and felt the depth of the Sendai clan’s customs in the appearance of the canal, which has been quietly preserved for 400 years. Basho’s “Oku no Hososo” (The Narrow Road to the Deep North) Following Basho’s “Oku no Hosomichi,” we continue our journey to the northeast, and at the ruins of Tagajo Castle, we contemplate our longing for poetry, which has continued since ancient times. In Shiogama, a port town overlooking Matsushima Bay, we visit Shiogama Shrine, the oldest shrine in Mutsu, and feel the old European style. In Matsushima, we lament the winds that seem to have lost their solemn respect for Basho, and in Ishinomaki, the final stop, we view the Kitakami River, which Masamune had repaired, from the top of Mount Mewa.
Miyagi Prefecture is located in the southeastern part of the Tohoku region. The Sendai Plain stretches across the prefecture, and large rivers such as the Kitakami River and the Abukuma River flow through the prefecture, developing alluvial plains in their basins. Facing the Pacific Ocean to the east, Matsushima in the central part of the prefecture is one of the three most scenic spots in Japan with its many islands. To the west, the prefecture is bordered by the Ou Mountains and is rich in nature, with the Kurikoma and Zao mountain ranges towering over the region.
Historically, the Yamato kingdom had been in power since the Kofun period, and the first national capital was established in Sendai City around the time of the Taika Reforms (645), when Michinoku Province and later Mutsu Province were established. From the end of the Nara Period to the beginning of the Heian Period, Emishi (barbarians) from the northern Sendai Plain and the Sanriku coast frequently attacked the strongholds of the Yamato Imperial Court, and the Thirty-eight Years’ War broke out.
To counter them, Taga Castle was built by Ohno Tojin.
He was the son of a general on the losing side of the Jinshin Rebellion (a civil war unparalleled in Japan that broke out in 672 when his younger brother, Emperor Omijin, raised an army against Emperor Tenchi’s son, who eventually won and became Emperor Temmu), and was not well off in government circles. He was not well off in government, so it is said that he volunteered for a mission in the frontier in order to climb out of his family’s plight.
The Tagajo ruins are located on a hill and have been excavated over the years since the end of the war, and are now a beautifully landscaped archaeological park.
Mutsu Province became a place that the people of the capital longed to visit, as described in “Kaido yuku Shirakawa, Aizu no Michi” (The Road to Shirakawa and Aizu). In particular, the vastness of Miyagino, the white clouds floating above it, the bush clovers blooming in the fields and fields, the abundant flowers, the abundant rivers flowing, the mountains in graceful blue, all became a source of admiration for the courtiers, who composed various poems about the region. For example, the following poem by Heian-period poet Nōinpōshi is from the same period.
The capital stands with a mist, but the autumn wind is blowing at Shirakawa-no-seki
Later, as described in “Kaido yuku – Mutsu-no-michi” the master of Tagajo became Minamoto no Yoshie and the Oshu Fujiwara clan, and when the Kamakura shogunate fell and the Nanboku-cho period began, he became a court noble, Kitabatake Akiiie.
He was said to be the most beautiful boy of the Nanbokucho period, and was also very talented. He successfully subjugated the ruffians of Oshu in order to pacify the Tohoku region, which was at the height of confusion at the time, and then led his own army to quell the confusion. He was also appointed to the post of Shogun of the Chinsatsu.
Furthermore, Ashikaga Takauji, who had conquered the remnants of the Hojo clan in the Kanto region, refused to obey the order of Emperor Godaigo and remained in the Kanto region. The Emperor considered this as a rebellion and sent a conquering army with Nitta Yoshisada as general, but he was beaten back, He drove Takauji’s army out of Kyoto.
After defeating Kusunoki Masanari and Nitta Yoshisada, who are also mentioned in “Kaido yuku – Kawachi no michi“, he fought against Kitabatake Kenke again and was defeated by the army led by Kounomoronao, who was only 20 years old. He was defeated by the army led by Kou Moronao, and died at the age of only 20 years old.
The Sengoku period (1467-1568) followed, and the era of Date Masamune, the “Dokuganryu” (a dragon with a single eye), began. The Date clan joined Minamoto no Yoritomo’s army in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and became a family that had its roots in the Oshu region. During the Nanbokucho Period, the Date clan belonged to the aforementioned Kitabatake Kenke and became the side of the losers, but gradually regained power through steady efforts to manipulate the Imperial Court and the Shogunate, and became a feudal lord controlling a significant portion of the Tohoku region during the reign of Date Masamune.
However, in the central part of Japan, the Toyotomi and Tokugawa dynasties were beginning to take over, and their territories were reduced or their eldest sons were sent to distant territories, as described in “Kaido yuku – Minami-Iyo, Nishi-Tosa no Michi: Clouds on the Hill and the Date Family in Southern Japan” (in Japanese).
The canal built by Date Masamune was the “Sadayama moat,” which became the Takekoma Shrine in Iwanuma and the Hachiman Shrine in Osaki.
In visiting these shrines, Ryotaro Shiba reflects on shrine architecture, temples, and Buddhist statues. In ancient times, there were no houses of gods or Buddha, but only purifying places (such as the mountains themselves, or the banks of springs or the streets of fields) where dignified spirits dwelled or descended. This would be more awesome in terms of sensing the spirits.
It was not until the arrival of Buddhism that people began to think that even deities needed homes, and they were amazed to find Buddhist statues living in their homes.” As stated in “On the History of Japanese Art and Buddhist Statues” when the Buddha was teaching Buddhism, there were no Buddhist statues, but only metaphysical objects developed in the logical language of Sanskrit. Considering the Buddha’s thought, a metaphysical form or visible object such as a Buddha statue was not appropriate.
However, ideas moved with time, and in the third century B.C., when Buddhism was moving toward northern India, there were Greeks, descendants of the soldiers of Alexander the Great’s eastern expedition, living there in addition to the Persians who had been there for a long time. The Great King adopted a policy of racial integration, forcing his soldiers to marry locally, and also to preserve Greek culture. Gandhara in northern India was one such Greek garrison, where the Greeks’ outstanding sculpting skills took root and they sculpted gods.
Then Buddhism moved north and said, “We are not good at seeing the gods with logic, poetic description, and imagination (i.e., with speech). Can you explain to us what these Buddhas look like? We will carve them” or something like that. In other words, it can be said that Buddhism was conceived by Indians and Buddha images were created by Greeks.
The Buddha images traveled eastward along the Silk Road and eventually entered China, where they were given a home. In Gandhara, Buddha images were mainly carved into rocks in relief, and were often decorative. However, people in semi-arid regions with little rainfall did not think of giving homes to the Buddhas because they did not have to worry about rain and dew in their daily lives.
This was transmitted to China. The word “temple” existed before the arrival of Buddhism and meant “government office” or “government building. The Chinese of that time (the Later Han Dynasty) believed in Confucianism, which was also a bureaucratic system, and therefore they could think of no other place than a government building as a place for a sacred object from the West to rest.
Ryotaro Shiba’s book, “Buddhism with Houses” and “Buddhism with Statues,” was introduced to Japan via Korea, and Japanese deities came to have houses as well.
After Sendai, we headed to Matsushima, one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. The three most scenic spots in Japan are Amanohashidate in Tango, Miyajima in Aki, and Matsushima, which is mentioned in “Kaido yuku – Geibi no Michi” (The Road to Geibi), and where Matsuo Basho also visited and composed a haiku.
The journey ends in Ishinomaki. The landscape along the coast of Miyagi has changed dramatically since Ryotaro Shiba’s time due to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The streets along the coast are gone, and new bridges and embankments have been built.
The building above will be the Shotaro Ishinomori Museum, the famous manga artist who created Kamen Rider, Cyborg 009, etc.
The next trip will be Niigata Prefecture, Lagoon Road.
コメント