On the Road – Miura Peninsula Chronicles

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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 42 Miura hantouki.

In the previous article, I described the Hokkoku Kaido and its side roads. This time, I will describe the Miura Peninsula.

Miura Peninsula Chronicles

This trip is centered on the Miura Peninsula in Kanagawa Prefecture, and covers the period from the end of the Heian period to the Kamakura period and during the war.

This time, being on the Miura Peninsula, Ryotaro Shiba apparently stayed at the Prince Hotel on top of a hill in Isogo.

This hotel is now gone, and a luxury condominium has been built. The Miura Peninsula is first and foremost Kamakura, and the story begins with Minamoto no Yoritomo’s story of the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.

Since the story is about the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, it is not only about the Miura Peninsula, but also about Izu and Boso Peninsulas. In Izu, the story is about Izuyama Gongen in Atami, which Yoritomo often visited.

Izuyama Gongen can be reached from the road leading to Atami from the Odawara area. The story of Izuyama Gongen tells that when Hojo Masako was about to be married off to Taira Kanemori, a member of the Taira clan, she defied her parents and went to Minamoto no Yoritomo, who was hiding in Izuyama Gongen, to become a couple of her own volition.

Next, the Miura Clan, a powerful clan on the Miura Peninsula, is described. The first destination is Mt. Ookusu is also a hiking course that can be reached in about 80 minutes from the Maedabashi bus stop, a 25-minute bus ride from Zushi Station.

Miura on the Miura Peninsula was originally called “Miura,” and the Miura clan apparently adopted the name as their surname. The name “Miura” first appears in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), when it is said that a provincial governor in charge of Miura offered two red crows during the reign of Emperor Jito.

Miura Peninsula is famous for its rape blossoms, and there are beautiful rape fields on Soleil Hill in Yokosuka

They also come down from Mt. Ogusu to Akidani at the foot of the mountain to eat Miura daikon (a specialty of the Miura Peninsula; the roots are cylindrical, fleshy to the hips, sweet, and eaten mainly boiled).

Akiya was also the site of the battlefield where the Miura clan was destroyed by Ise Shinkuro (Hojo Soun) during the Warring States period (the clan was finally destroyed in Aburatsubo, at the end of the Miura Peninsula). Today, it is a quiet coastal town with a view of Mt.

Miura Yoshiaki, the head of the Miura clan in the Kamakura period, was also known as Miura Daisuke. Originally, the heads of the Miura clan were called “Suke” as the official name of the provincial governor, but only Yoshiaki called himself Daisuke. The Miura family’s castle was located on Mount Kinugasa in present-day Yokosuka City. It is said to be a place rich in nature and famous for its cherry blossoms in spring.

After the story of the Miura clan, the story continues up to the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate by Minamoto no Yoritomo, and then the stage shifts to Kamakura. First, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, the center of Kamakura, is described.

Hachimangu was originally a deity worshipped in Usa, in Buzen (Oita Prefecture), by the people of Japan who came to Japan. When the capital moved to Kyoto, Ishimizu Hachiman Shrine was built in the southern suburbs of the capital, and became the second major mausoleum for the imperial family, along with Ise Jingu Shrine. Furthermore, the shrine became the clan deity of the Minamoto clan, which had been descended from the Emperor Seiwa.

In particular, Minamoto no Yoshie, who played an active role in the pacification of Oshu in the Former Nine Years’ and Later Three Years’ War, was called Hachimantaro Yoshie (Yoshie the Hachimantaro) after his first oblation at Ishimizu Hachiman Shrine. Furthermore, Yoshie had a mansion in Kamakura, and Hachiman Shrine was enshrined in Yui Township. Yoritomo’s father, Yoshitomo, also had a mansion in Kamakura, restored the Hachimangu Shrine in Yui, and worshipped it, although he was always in Kyoto.

When Yoritomo arrived in Kamakura, he immediately visited the Hachimangu Shrine in Yui, and decided to move it to the present location of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, which he called “Wakamiya” because it was a newly built shrine. He also built a large road (Wakamiya-oji) from Yuhigahama to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

He also ordered Yoritomo’s residence and government office (shogunate) to be built at the foot of the mountain to the east of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine by Oba Heita Kageyoshi, who was located to the north of the present JR Tsujido Station.

Furthermore, the story mentions the encounter between Saigyo Hoshi and Yoritomo described in Azuma Kagami and the episode of Keshizaka described in Toshutsukatari. The Tosutsukatari is a diary of a Kyoto nobleman’s daughter who was ordained and went on a journey. It describes the story of the nun visiting Enoshima and staying overnight there (Enoshima’s Benzaiten is also enshrined by Yoritomo) before entering Kamakura, passing through Gokurakuji Temple, entering Kamakura, and passing through Wakamiya-oji Avenue to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine.

Next, Ryotaro Shiba and his group headed for the Junisho Shrine, which is located on the mountain road from Kamakura to Yokohama (Rokuura and Asahina). Here, the Asahina cut-through, one of the seven cut-throughs into Kamakura, still retains its old appearance.

This is one of the richest natural areas in Kamakura, and is also a hiking and MTB trekking course. Next, the group passed through the Asahina Cut-through and headed to Kanazawa Hakkei/Bunko via Rokuura. Kanazawa Bunko was established by Hojo Sanetoki, and is the oldest samurai family library. It is now a museum called “Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa Bunko. Kanazawa Hakkei is also famous for “Kanazawa Hakkei,” a series of eight ukiyoe paintings by Hiroshige Utagawa.

Particularly famous is probably Koizumi Yagyu, which depicts a rainstorm.

Crossing the Miura Peninsula to Yokohama, the era shifts to the end of the Edo period/war period, and the center of the stage becomes Yokohama/Yokosuka. The journey ends as we head for Mikasa Park in Yokosuka.

In the next article, I will describe the Kobe walk.