Travel and History
Travel and history are closely related.
History can be the study of knowledge through the study of past human events, culture, society, politics, and economics. This study of past events and people’s behavior can provide important information for understanding the present and future and for considering human behavior and social change.
On the other hand, travel is an act that allows humans 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, which can help them understand history more deeply and broaden their own perspectives.
Furthermore, travel not only helps one to visit historical sites, but also to understand different historical perspectives and backgrounds, deepening one’s understanding of history and culture through interaction with different cultures and people.
Travel and history are interrelated and play an important role in deepening people’s knowledge and understanding of the human past and present. Traveling while learning about history can lead to deeper cultural experiences, personal growth, and expansion of one’s worldview.
In this section, we mainly focus on “Kaido yuku” by Ryotaro Shiba, a historical novelist who was also mentioned in “Ryotaro Shiba, Shotaro Ikenami, and Historical Novels,” and describe various travelogues in relation to the history of the region.
Details are given below.
Japanese domestic
<Hokkaido/Tohoku>
This trip will be to Oshu (Tohoku region). Starting from Hachinohe, we will talk about the story of the Nanbu clan that ruled Hachinohe, the ruins of Nejo Castle built by the Nanbu clan and Kushibiki Hachimangu Shrine, also built by the Nanbu clan, and the Kuji Highway that goes to Kuji via Hokaue and Karume, where we will see monuments to Takayama Hikokuro XX and Mifune Kyuzo, a famous judo player, then head north along the Hama Highway on the Rikuchu Coast to Itabashi, Samurahama, Koshinai and Taneichi, and then to Tanezaki Beach. Further north via Shiraishi, Towada, and the Rikuha Highway, we will pass through Nobechi and see the Shimokita Peninsula. From there, the journey ends at a place called Yotsumori, a mound marking the boundary between the Nanbu and Tsugaru clans.
This trip will be to the North Sea, etc. It starts from Hakodate and Matsumae town (lower left star on the map) and finally extends over a fairly wide area to Rikubetsu town (upper right star on the map). The difference from the previous “Kaido no Yuku” is that the first half of the book, up to Hakodate and Matsumae, is a historical story, but the second half is purely a travelogue (the history of Hokkaido is shallower than that of Nara, Kyoto, and the other Hanshin regions).
The journey begins at Scaphaiman-ji Temple, where Ryotaro Shiba’s comrade-in-arms is the chief priest, and from Zogata, with its unique landscape of numerous small islands scattered among rice paddies, to Akita, Noshiro, and on to Kazuno. The journey continues on to the stories of Ryokichi Kano, a prominent scholar of the Meiji era, and Konan Naito, the founder of Oriental historiography.
This trip is in Fukushima Prefecture. This time, we will travel the Shirakawa-Aizu Road in Fukushima Prefecture. The route will take us to Sakai no Myojin, the border between the Kanto and Tohoku regions, Shirakawa no Seki, of which no clear trace remains, Oiwake no Myojin, and Inugami Dam. Entering Shirakawa City, the tour will visit Sekigawa-dera Temple, which is associated with Munehiro Yuki, lord of Shirakawa Castle, and then visit the Shirakawa Harist Orthodox Church, where an icon painted by Rin Yamashita, an icon painter of the Meiji era, is on display. After that, the tour will visit Ouchi-juku, an inn town that remains as it was in the Edo period, and then extend to Aizu City to visit the tomb of Ujisato Gamo, the lord of Aizu at the end of the 16th century who developed the castle town, Iimoriyama, where the Byakkotai (a group of Japanese warriors who were killed by the Shogunate in Edo period) committed suicide, and the tomb and Ehiji temple of the Matsudaira family who were active in the Shinsengumi, the Shogunate’s military wing in the Edo period.
This trip starts with the story of the Jomon culture, then heads to Abashiri, staying at the Abashiri Kanko Hotel, and visiting the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples, Lake Nodori, Uwaranai with its coral grass, Lake Saroma, the Moyoro Shell Mound, and the Abashiri City Museum of Local History, which is similar to Schliemann who excavated Troy.
From Kaido Yuku, volume 10. This time it is the Hashu Kaido – the road to Yamagata. Ryotaro Shiba visits Yamagata to see the scenery of the Mogamigawa River, as described in Basho’s famous phrase, “The Mogamigawa River that gathers the May rain early. In Yamagata, the course will traverse the Ou Highway. The tour will start at Risshakuji Temple, an ancient Tendai sect temple, stop at a safflower farmhouse on the outskirts of Yamagata City, and stay overnight at Onogawa Hot Springs in southwestern Yonezawa City. The next day, the tour will visit Uesugi Shrine, Rinsenji Temple, and other historic sites associated with the Uesugi clan, then view the Mogami River at Arato, Shirataka Town, stay overnight at Kaminoyama Onsen, and enter Yamagata City the following day.
From Kaido yuku Kita no Mahoroba (Aomori), volume 41 of Kaido yuku. This time we travel to Aomori Prefecture. Walking through Aomori, the northernmost region of Honshu, which flourished as “Mahoroba” in the Jomon period, we ask what life is like in this region in accordance with its climate. We will inquire about the history of Tsugaru, Nanbu, and Shimokita, which Osamu Dazai lamented as a sad country.
This trip will be to Sendai and Ishinomaki. Ryotaro Shiba flew from Osaka Airport to Sendai, and as he saw the successor to Fuji from the plane, he wondered when the Oshu people had seen Fuji, and thought back to the westward expansion of power in the Tohoku region that had occurred 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.
This time, we will travel to the northeastern seashore of Hokkaido to inquire about the mysterious “Okhotskers,” a tribe of marine fishermen. The start of this trip will be divided into two parts. The first part of the trip will take visitors from Sapporo’s Hokkaido Kaitakushi Memorial Museum to Abashiri, where they will stay at the Abashiri Kanko Hotel and visit the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Folklore, Lake Notori, the coral grass forest of Uwanai, Lake Saroma, the Moyoro shell mound, and Abashiri City Folk Museum. The second part of the tour will take a 6-hour express train from Sapporo to Wakkanai, arriving in Minami Wakkanai with the Sarobetsu wilderness in sight. After visiting a bar and enjoying shabu shabu shabu with water octopus, we will visit Cape Nukai, Cape Nosappu, and Cape Koe, and then go through the Soya Hills to the northernmost Cape Soya, where we will see the Mamiya Rinzo monument and think about Sakhalin and Tartary, 40 km to the north. Traveling south along the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk to Sarufutsu Village, Hamatombetsu, and Edasai Town, the tour will visit the excavation site of the Menashidomari Ruins, the Omusaro Ruins Park in Monbetsu City, and the Okhotsk Drift Ice Science Center before heading to Abashiri, then Koshimizu, Shari Town, and finally the Shiretoko Peninsula, the final destination of the tour.
<Kanto/Koshinetsu>
Rinzai Zen, one of the pioneers of Zen in Japan, and the temples in Kamakura where many of these temples still remain (the Kamakura Gozan) will be introduced. First, the historical flow of Eisai’s Rinzai Zen and the five temples of Kamakura (Kenchoji Temple, Engakuji Temple, Jufukuji Temple, Jochiji Temple, and Jomyoji Temple) will be described, as well as the characteristics of each temple from the perspective of tourism.
This time, the stage shifts to the Kanto region and we head for Hachioji along the Koshu-kaido highway. Historical episodes in this area include the vastness of Musashino, as recited by Ota Dokan, the Bando people in the Sarashina Nikki, Nahaichi, the companion of Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, the Hachioji Sen-nin Doshin and Isamu Kondo, and finally Tokugawa Yoshinobu, as mentioned.
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 trip will be to Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Yokohama is a huge city with a population of 3.7 million, and for the purpose of this Kaido Yuku journey, we will cover the area of Kannai, which was considered the Yokohama district at the end of the Edo period.
This trip will be around Akasaka, Tokyo. Starting from a hotel in Akasaka, the tour will walk around Unnanzaka, Tameike, and Hie Shrine, drawing in your mind the scenes of Akasaka in the Edo period. At Hikawa Shrine and Toyokawa Inari, you will talk about Yoshimune Tokugawa and Koshiaki Ooka, and at Aoyama-dori, Nogizaka, and Keyakizaka, you will hear about the episode of Kigenori Nogi and the life of Korekiyo Takahashi.
This time, the journey starts from Fukagawa, where we will meet steeplejacks and former kawanami (raftsmen of Kiba), and think about the people who have lived chivalrously since the old days of Edo. In Honjo, we will visit the ruins of Kira Uenosuke’s mansion and the birthplace of Katsu Kaishu, and think about Sanyutei Enraku and Kawatake Mokuami, who lived in the Honjo Wari-water area. We will also take a boat ride down the Sumida River, view the town and bridges from the river, and finally visit Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s novel at Kaikyoin in Ryogoku.
From Kaido yuku, Volume 37. In this issue, we will discuss Hongo, a town that played the role of “switchboard” for accepting Western civilization and distributing it to the provinces during the Meiji period when Japan was rushing to modernize, and where Japan’s first university was located.
The route of the trip starts near the intersection of Kyoritsu Women’s University auditorium. This area was called Gojiin Kehara during the Edo period and the end of the Edo period, and the story jumps from Tokugawa Ieyasu’s construction of a castle town at the time of his entry to the Kanto region to anecdotes by Fukuzawa Yukichi and novels by Mori Ogai. Eventually, the journey moves on to the Kanda area, “one of the world’s leading cities for learning things”. At the site of Kanda Otamagaike Pond, visitors will come into contact with the Chiba Dojo of the Hokushin Itto school of swordsmanship, and then they will experience Edo learning at the Yushima Seido Temple. Next, while stopping by Nikolai-do and Kanda Myojin, we step into the antiquarian bookstore district of Jimbocho, where we end our journey with a discussion of the masters of publishing and bookstores.
This time it will be Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture. Sado Island is located in the western part of Niigata Prefecture. The entire island belongs to Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, and is included in the Sado Yahiko Yoneyama National Park and the Sado Geopark. The population is 52,135. The island is designated as a “remote island constituting a specific inhabited border island area” under the inhabited border island law.
From Volume 9. Previously, this trip was to Sendai and Ishinomaki. This time, we will take the Lagoon Road in Niigata Prefecture. Ryotaro Shiba, intrigued by the history of people who were not blessed with suitable land for cultivation but still struggled to expand their fields, visited the low marshy areas of Niigata. First, he visited Kameda-go, which was formed on the sandbank between the Shinano and Agano Rivers, and then crossed the Agano River to visit Toyoei City (present Niigata City).
From Volume 9. The previous journey was the Koyasan Road. This time, we will take the Shinshu-Sakudaira Road in Nagano Prefecture. The starting point of the trip was JR Nagano Station, where we followed the rise and fall of the Shinano warrior clans in the Middle Ages. 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”.
Nichiren was born in Kominato, facing the Pacific Ocean in Awa Province (present-day southern Chiba Prefecture), in the early Kamakura Period (1222), the year after the Jokyu Rebellion that symbolized the end of the court nobles’ rule, as described in “Kaido yuku – Miura Peninsula Ki”. At the age of twelve, he entered a local temple, Seichoji, and at the age of sixteen, he officially became a monk, spending ten years from twenty-one to thirty-two studying at Kamakura, Hieizan, Koyasan, Shitennoji, and other temples before returning to Seichoji. Nichiren likened Mt. Mishuku to Mt. Reishi, a holy place in India where the Buddha is said to have preached the Lotus Sutra, and Kuon-ji Temple, the head temple of Nichiren Shoshu, was built on this mountain.
The history of “Noroi,” which is said to be the prototype of fireworks, can be traced back to BC, such as ancient India, Greece and Rome. Gunpowder was accidentally invented by a Chinese medicine-making alchemist, and later gunpowder passed into the hands of military engineers to be used in weapons. It is said that firecrackers and other fireworks were on the market during the Southern Song dynasty. One of the most famous fireworks displays in Tokyo is the Sumida River Fireworks Festival. This is derived from a fireworks display held in the Edo period (1603-1867), and has been preserved in various ukiyoe prints.
Located in Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Nihonbashi is said to have been built in 1630, the year Tokugawa Ieyasu established the shogunate, and the year after it was built it was designated as the starting point for five major land transport routes (Tokaido, Nakasendo, Koshu Kaido, Oshu Kaido and Nikko Kaido) directly under the shogunate. The first four inns to leave Nihonbashi, Senju (top right in the diagram below) on the Nikko/Oshu Kaido, Itabashi (top left in the diagram below) on the Nakasendo, Naito Shinjuku (centre left in the diagram below) on the Koshu/Ome Kaido and Shinagawa (bottom left in the diagram below) on the Tokaido were called Edo Shijuku. These were the entrances to the various highways from Edo.
- Daimyo Gyoretsu (daimyo’s procession)
The daimyo processions featured in historical novels such as Ichijo by Jiro Asada, which has also been made into a film, refer to the processions that daimyo would take when they went out with their attendants on official business, and the typical form was the procession between Edo and their domains during the daimyo’s daimyo’s visit to the capital. It is said that the daimyo’s procession was a kind of entertainment for the common people, and that the clans also made the processions more colourful to meet the expectations of the common people.
<Hokuriku/Chubu>
Fuji, an active volcano spanning Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures in Japan, stands 3,776 meters high, is registered as a World Heritage site, and will become widely known as a symbol of Japan. The trend of mass mountaineering as a form of religion later became a major breakthrough in the mid-Edo period. The “Fuji-ko,” a private group of believers, was responsible for its prosperity.
One of the oldest and most famous trail races in Japan is the “Fuji Ascent Race. Fuji, which takes place every July in Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture.
The course starts at an elevation of 770 m in front of the Fuji-Yoshida City Hall, and after running on level ground for a while, the runners will pass through the Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine and the trailhead (Yoshida-guchi trail) to Kusushi Shrine on top of Mt. The course must be run at a very fast pace, and the finish rate is less than 50%, making this a very difficult race.
In this article, we will discuss the Echchu-michi, the road from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan near the center of Japan, passing through Gifu Prefecture to the famous World Heritage Site of Shirakawa-go, the Gujo/Shirakawa Highway, and on to Toyama Prefecture. (Gifu Hatori Station, Egoma oil, Rape flower oil, Dosan Saito, Nobunaga Oda, Shinran, Jodo Shinshu, Ikko Putsch, Gujo Hachiman Castle, Nagara River, Kinkasan, Castle in the Sky, candy balls with meat cakes, Shirakawa Valley, Lake Omogi, Shirakawa-go, World Heritage, Japan Alps, Toyama)
This trip will start from Kaizu (lower middle star in the figure) on the northern shore of Lake Biwa, follow the official road of the Nara Period, pass through Border and Hikita (middle star in the figure), Tsuruga (upper middle star in the figure), Takefu, and head south on the Hokkoku Kaido, crossing Lake Yogo (lower right star in the figure) and Kinomoto over Tochinokidouge. The related history is that of the ancient exchange with Bohai Sea in northeastern China, Emperor Tsugitai, who is predicted to have greatly changed the ancient emperor system, and Katsuie Shibata and Hideyoshi Toyotomi in the Warring States Period.
This trip will be in Hida, a mountainous area in the northern part of Gifu Prefecture. We will take a cab from Gifu Hatori Shinkansen to Hida, pass through Nakayama Nanasato, Gero Onsen, Ichinomiya Mizunashi Shrine, see the carving of Jingoro Left, the ruins of Matsukura Castle, Hida Furukawa, and walk north to Mozumi in Kamioka Town to see Koshinaka, the border with Toyama Prefecture, before heading to Takayama city center.
This trip will be a journey to trace the “oi no kobun” and the Awaji/Akashi route from “Kaido yuku” volume 7.
This time, we will travel along various roads in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture. This trip begins at Hokeiji Temple. Hokeiji Temple was founded by Jakuen, a monk from China who admired Dogen, as described in “Zen Master Dogen. While thinking about Jakuen, who devoted himself to zazen meditation and keeping Dogen’s Zen style alive, I visited Hokeiji Temple, located deep in the mountains, and saw the famous images of Dogen and Jakuen in the Treasure House, which a young Unsui (a Buddhist monk) guided me to. That day we stay at an old ryokan in Katsuyama, and the next day we visit Hiraizumiji Temple. The next day, we visited Heisenji Temple, recalling the rise and fall of the temple, which was called Houshi Daimyo in the Middle Ages. We also visited the ruins of the Asakura family in Ichijodani, and thought about Yoshikage Asakura, who was destroyed by Nobunaga. After visiting Maruoka Castle and Mikuni Port, the last stop on the tour was the Echizen Pottery Village, where the visitors saw the old Echizen techniques.
The final volume of Kaido yuku, “Goi Sanshu Ki” starts from Nagoya Castle. Thinking of the young Nobunaga Oda’s miraculously victorious raid on Okehazama, and recalling Nobunaga’s movements, the route follows the road that Nobunaga ran to raid Yoshimoto Imagawa, passing Atsuta Shrine. Also in Midori Ward, Nagoya City, we will look down on Okehazama from Midori High School in Nagoya City. Next, we will visit Fujita Health Care University in Okehazama, visit the descendants of ophthalmologists at Mashima Meigan-in, a temple and eye hospital rebuilt in the Muromachi period, and then go to Kotoku-in at the Okehazama ancient battlefield.
Next, we will visit Mikawa and go to Matsudaira-go, where Tokugawa Ieyasu’s ancestors were based. This is the family temple of the Matsudaira clan. In Okazaki City, the tour will be reminded of the legend of Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Koroku Hachisuka, which is related to the Yahagi Bridge over the Yahagi River, and of Ieyasu Tokugawa, who used Okazaki as his base of operations.
<Kansai>
Kaido yuku” (On the Road) began in 1971 as a serialization in “Asahi Weekly” and continued for 25 years until Ryotaro Shiba’s death in 1996, making it a total of 43 volumes. From the first volume, I would like to describe the Kosai-no-michi. The Kosai-no-michi starts from the east side of Kyoto (the area around Nanzenji Temple, which is a separate temple from the five mountains of Kyoto, as opposed to the five mountains of Kamakura, as previously mentioned) and heads toward the Otsu area.
The stage for this trip is Nara Prefecture, the site of the ancient Yamato Imperial Court. The stage of this journey is the mountainous basin (Nara Basin), which is the only flat area (upper left in the above figure) in Nara Prefecture, which has many mountainous areas, and the highway (Takeuchi Kaido) that passes through the basin.
It is written in an ancient book (Nihon shoki) that the ancient Yamato court family came from Takamenohara (Takachiho), located on the outskirts of Kyushu/Miyazaki, up the Japanese archipelago to Nara. (Emperor Sutoku is mentioned as a person who came to Nara at the dawn of the Yamato Imperial Court.) You can learn more about the story of ancient Japan by reading the Nihonshoki and its commentaries, or, although the author’s imagination may be involved, by reading the “Ancient Messages” series or the “New Historiography” series, etc.
In this issue, we will discuss the Katsuragi Michi. The Katsuragi region is located in the southeast of the Nara Basin. While proceeding from Fuefuki-jinja Shrine, which enshrines Fuefuki-ren, the ancestor of the ancient Japanese clan Fuefukibu, to Ichiban-jinja Shrine, which enshrines the ancestor of the Katsuragi clan, the relationship between the ancient clans of Katsuragi and Japanese royal authority is described, including Ichiban-ren, Emperor Yusei and Yaku-gyoja (En no Kozuna), who is considered a member of the Kamo clan. The journey ends at Takagamo Shrine, which enshrines the ancestor of the Kamo clan.
This time, we will travel to Osaka/Kawachi area, which is the hometown of Ryotaro Shiba, who lived in Higashiosaka City. The Kawachi region is said to be the site of the ancient Japanese Yamato dynasty, which created huge burial mounds such as the Ojin and Nintoku Imperial Tombs, as the Miwa dynasty returned to the Kawachi dynasty over the Ikoma Mountains after its decline in the Yamato Basin (Takenouchi Highway and Katsuragi Road mentioned in the previous article).
This time, we will travel along the RAKUHOKU MICHAIDO (RAKUHOKU MICHAIDO), a series of roads in the mountainous area in the north of Kyoto. First, let’s start with stasta-boshi. Stastha-boji are monks who are literally walking with several people, also known as “ganjin-boji. The story of the stasta-boji is followed by the story of the mountain priests. The story then moves on from Kuramadera Temple to the monks and soldiers of the temple, and finally to the story of the Northern and Southern Dynasties at Yamakoku-ryo.
This time, we will travel south from Osaka to Kansai International Airport. In Sakai, we will recall the free cities of the Warring States Period, and then head to Nanshu Zenji Temple, which was founded by the monk Sawan. Then we will eat udon sukiyaki at Miu Miu, which has its main restaurant in Sakai.
This trip is a route from Kyoto to Osaka and Hyogo, starting from Nagaoka-kyo, which was temporarily built when Nara was moved to Kyoto, and Oharano Shrine (star on the far right in the figure), which was established there by the Fujiwara clan. The road goes through Ronosaka (right in the figure) to Kameyama Castle, built by Mitsuhide Akechi, Tamba Sasayama Castle (upper middle star in the figure), then south to Tachigui, where Tamba pottery studios gather (middle left in the figure), and then through Sanda to Arima Onsen, located at the upper Kobe area (lower left star in the figure).
This trip will be to Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture. As the title suggests, this will be a small “walking” trip around the coast of Kobe City. The trip will start from Kobe Portopia Hotel at the southern end of Port Island, a man-made island in the Port of Kobe, and take the Portliner to the Ikuta River, getting off at the Trade Center. The tour continues to Nunobiki Waterfall behind Shin-Kobe Station, the Old Foreign Settlement in downtown Kobe, and the Kobe Overseas Chinese History Museum.
This trip will take us to Negoroji Temple in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture, which was built by Kakuhan, a man of great prosperity who preached the Mikigon Pure Land, and the Negoro Sect, which boasted military prowess as an artillery group.
This trip will focus on Daitokuji Temple in Murasaki, Kita-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, as described in “Mahayana Buddhism, the Nirvana Sutra, and Zen Teachings” and “The Zen Way of Life. Daitokuji Temple is located in the city of Murasaki in Kyoto. The temple is located in a town called Murasaki, which literally means a field where purple grass grows. In ancient times, the color purple was considered the noblest color, and the grass from which the dye for this color is extracted was purple grass.
This trip will take us to Kumano in Wakayama Prefecture. In this article, I will introduce the Kumano Kodo and describe the Koza Kaido, a trip from Shikusanmi, Susami Town, 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 time, the topic will be Iga and Kouga Ninja and the Shigaraki Road of Kouga and Iga, focusing on the pottery town of Shigaraki.
This trip will take you to Sagano, a natural beauty spot in the western part of Kyoto. The journey in Sagano begins at Suio, a mountain gorge, which was described as a “ravine in the middle of a ravenous desire” in ancient times. At Watarigetsukyo Bridge in Arashiyama, the author describes the Hata clan, a warrior tribe from the ancient times who settled in the Yamashiro Province (Kyoto) and are said to have pioneered the Tano region with their civil engineering skills. Next, he visited Tenryu-ji Temple and ate Saga’s specialty, yudofu (tofu), at Chion-in, the pagoda of Tenryu-ji Temple, while describing the origin of tofu.
This time, we will take the Ibogawa-Murozu Road in Banshu, Hyogo Prefecture, famous for Himeji Castle. Banshu is also famous as a military commander in the Warring States period, and the journey will take us to Banshu, where Kanbei Kuroda, known as “Ryobei” along with Hanbei Takenaka, was active. To visit Yamazaki, where Kanbei Kuroda temporarily resided, we will drive along the Ibo River and walk through the precincts of Iwa Shrine, contemplating the ancient rice farmers, and see a few remnants of the Yamazaki Castle. In Tatsuno, we will remember Rufu Miki, famous for his children’s song “Akatombo” (Red Dragonfly), and then descend the Ibo River to Murozu, where we will think about the ships that sailed the open seas in the Middle Ages and about Honen Shonin, the Buddhist priest who stopped here on his way to Shikoku.
This trip will take the Koyasan Road. Koyasan was founded by Kukai, and Ryotaro Shiba and his party drove from Osaka to Kutoyama at the foot of the mountain, crossing the Kimi Pass to the south. At Mt. Kudozan, the group drove south over the Kimi Pass from Osaka and entered Kudozan at the foot of the mountain. At Mt. The town stone road leading up to Koyasan from Kutoyama was in disrepair at the time, and was almost as abandoned as the road itself. At the entrance to the road, we felt a sense of awe as if we were being drawn into a deep mountain valley. Next, thinking about the connection between Koya Sage and Kukai’s Pure Land faith, I visited the Shinbetsudo, a place where ascetic monks dedicated themselves to the practice of nenbutsu (the recitation of the Buddhist prayer).
This trip will be a journey to trace the “oi no kobun” and the Awaji/Akashi route from “Kaido yuku” volume 7.
In this article, I will describe the road to Tsubozaka, Yamato, Nara Prefecture. The journey begins at Yamato Yagi Station, on the way to Tsubozaka, stopping at the Takamatsuzuka burial mound, describing the steep slope from the castle town of Tosa to Takatori Castle, Lee, enjoying the view from the top, and descending toward Tsubosaka Temple.
In this article, we will discuss the Tendai sect and Mt. Hieizan, the largest academic center in the Middle Ages, which was founded by Saicho and gave birth to Dogen, Honen, Shinran and other schools of Buddhism. In Sakamoto, a town at the eastern foot of Mt. Hiei, we will focus on the stone walls that reflect the high technology of the E-anataishu, and we will also pay a visit to Hiyoshi-taisha Shrine near Honzaka, where Saicho is said to have climbed the mountain, to consider the historical connection between Mt. Then, we visited Akayama Zen temple, which is associated with Ennin, recalling Ennin’s arrival in Tang Dynasty China. We will also visit the ruins of Manjuin Monzeki Temple, which is located near Unmo-zaka, a slope at the western foot of Mt. After visiting the summit of Mt. Hiei, Ryotaro Shiba will visit Mudoji Valley, the home of the 1,000-day Kaiten Gyogyo, and finally, he will see a ceremony of the Hokkekai, a secret ceremony of the Tendai sect.
Kofukuji Temple is located in the center of Nara Prefecture, near the site of the Heijo-kyo Capital, and is the head temple of the Hosso sect of Buddhism. Although Kofukuji Temple is a temple, it has also appeared in various novels as a sacred place for the martial arts. It is also famous as the temple with the largest number of designated national treasures and Buddhist statues in Japan.
- On the Road: The Totsukawa Highway
In this article, I will describe my journey in Totsukawa Township, which stretches deep into the mountains of Yoshino, Nara. The journey begins in Osaka, where we take a cab southward through Tondabayashi and into the mountains of Mount Kongo, changing to a local cab at Gojo. In the mountains on the way to Totsukawa, he believes that “Totsukawa has long been exempt from taxes and escaped the restraints of the state, so that a “Totsukawa Republic” could be created, and in fact probably was, in hindsight. At Amatsuji Pass, the entrance to Totsukawa Township, he thinks about the fate of the Tenchugumi at the end of the Edo period, and at Kamiyu, about Mitsuaki Tanaka and others who fled to Totsukawa after being chased by the Shin-Sen-Gumi. Finally, he paid a visit to Tamaki Shrine and headed for Kumano, which he called a “hidden country.” Compared to Totsukawa, Kumano “feels like a wide open field that I want to look at with my eyes.
Tea is a drink made from the leaves and stems of the Camellia sinensis evergreen tree. In Japan, tea is said to have come from Tang China during the Nara period (710-794), and there is a record of Saicho offering tea to the emperor as described in “Kaido yuku Eizan no Shodo (Saicho and the Tendai sect),” which was written in the book “Kukai and the Shikoku pilgrimage to Santiago,” and a record of Kukai taking tea seeds back to Japan, which is the origin of Yamatocha The tea ceremony was started by Kukai, who brought back tea seeds to Japan, and this is the origin of Yamato tea.
- On the Road: A Walk in Nara
In this issue, I would like to describe a walk in Nara. Ryotaro Shiba visited Nara on the afternoon of March 1, 1984, when the Shuni-e (water-drawing) ceremony at Todaiji’s Nigatsudo Hall was about to begin. The next day, he visits Tabu Peak and contemplates the Western-style painter Atsushi Rokujo. At Kofukuji Temple, he admires the beauty of Ashura and contemplates the abolition of Buddhism in the early Meiji period over the five-story pagoda. He also walks around Nigatsudo Hall of Todaiji Temple and ponders the “culture” of Shunikai, which has continued for more than 1,000 years.
- Kaido yuku Omi Walk
This will be the last trip in Kaido yuku: Omi Stroll. Ryotaro Shiba talks about the beat of Omi’s private houses and the spiritual soil and climate of the Omi Monks. He mentions that he once visited the birthplace of the writer Shigeru Tonomura in Kondo, Kanzaki-gun, and shows his interest in Omi merchants. He then stopped by the Fuwaseki Museum in Sekigahara, before turning back to Omi and heading for the village of Neyamonogatari. At Kashiwabarajuku on the Nakasendo Road, he stopped by the mogusa shop “Kameya Sakyoya” and examined the business acumen of the Omi people. Seeing Hikone Castle, we think about Ii Naokatsu and Naotaka, who built the castle, and their son, and about Kinami, a member of the Domei Shu. The next day, at the Anegawa ancient battlefield, he contemplated the battle between Asai and Asakura and Oda and Tokugawa, and in the village of Kunitomo Kaji, he thought about the introduction of guns and their relationship with Nobunaga. Climb to the top of Azuchi Castle Ruins for a view of Lake Biwa. While taking a tour of the water moat in Konoe Hachiman City, the trip ends with a prayer for the continuation of life in Lake Biwa.
<Chugoku/Shikoku>
Kazuaki Teratani, a 41-year-old divorcee, lives in Innoshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, with his two elementary school-age sons while working as a truck driver.
One night, he is involved in a traffic accident, and a mysterious angel appears in front of him and gives him a “magic ball that flies at will.
Kazusho goes to take the Hiroshima Carp’s entrance test to fulfill his childhood dream of making the Carp the number one team in Japan.
A full-length entertainment depicting a man’s choices and way of life through his family and the human drama that surrounds them.”
From the amazon introduction.
Choshu-ji is the present-day cities of Hagi and Yamaguchi in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and is also the stage from which many of the Bakumatsu no Shishi (patriots at the end of the Edo period) who appear in Ryotaro Shiba’s novels emerged. After describing the temperament of the Choshu people, who were the driving force behind the Meiji Restoration, with their combination of sagacity and inquisitiveness, the trip started at the Amidadera and Dannoura towns in Shimonoseki on the Kanmon Straits, and went back in time to the Ouchi and Mori periods of the Warring States period, before proceeding to Yudaonsen, Yamaguchi City, and Tsuwano, where Tsuwano began to smile at the forest. It concludes with stories about Ogai, Saishu, and others.
This time, the southern and western parts of Shikoku. In terms of prefectures, they are Ehime and Kochi. In Ryotaro Shiba’s novels, “Clouds over the Hill” is set against the backdrop of the Russo-Japanese War and features the Akiyama brothers from Matsuyama, while “Hanakami” is set at the end of the Edo period and features Masujiro Omura, who was born in Choshu but became very famous in Uwajima, as mentioned earlier.
The tour starts from Matsuyama. As mentioned in “Clouds over the Hill,” Matsuyama is a place where haiku poetry flourishes, and many haiku poets such as Shiki Masaoka, Kyoshi Takahama, Hekigoto Kawahigashi, and Santoka have written haiku. In the book “Masaoka Shiki” written by Kyoshi Takahama, there is a scene in which Kyoshi in junior high school meets Shiki for the first time at a military drill ground under Matsuyama Castle, who was then attending a university prep school in Tokyo.
Setouchi Triennale: Art (Chichu Art Museum, Lee Ufan Museum, Teshima Art Museum, Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum), James Bond (007), and Udon noodles on the islands (Naoshima Benesse Hotel) in the Seto Inland Sea (Naoshima, Teshima, Takamatsu)
This trip will take us to Hiroshima Prefecture, known as Aki and Bingo. The journey begins at Hiroshima Station and takes us along National Route 54 to Honjo City, Yoshida, which was the base of the Mori Clan, famous for the anecdote of the three arrows, and Miyoshi, where there are many ancient burial mounds.
For this trip, we will take a ferry from Fukahi, a small port in Osaka, to Sumoto Port on Awaji Island. We will drive through Awaji Island, cross the Onaruto Bridge connecting Tokushima and Awaji Island to view the Naruto whirlpools, go to Tosadomari to think of Kinukino and mention the achievements of the fishermen of Douura who spread the one-line fishing method and tegus at Douura, then go to Omabiko Shrine and view the German Bridge. After that, we will go out to the Yoshino River basin, following the ruins of Katsubata Castle and the Tanaka family residence, and experience the Awa Odori dance at a familiar ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant). At Reizanji Temple, the first of 88 temples in Shikoku, we will reflect on the pilgrimage and Itsue Takagun, and then continue west along the northern bank of the Yoshino River, passing through Wakimachi and Ikeda, on our way to Iya, a “hidden valley” hypothesized to be a place of the Heike clan’s fallen soldiers.
This trip will take visitors to the Tottori region, which is steeped in ancient culture, including the Shirouto beach known for the myth of the “White Hare of Inaba” and places associated with Otomo no Iemochi, a Manyo (710-794) poet. The route will start from Hayano in Chigashira-cho, Tottori Prefecture, and return along the riverside national highway to Tottori, where Muneyoshi Yanagi’s folk art movement will be described, and after visiting the Inaba National Office site and thinking about Otomo no Iemochi, the tour will head to Tottori Sand Dunes, then leave Tottori for the Hakuto Coast, famous for the myth of the “Inaba White Hare”. Then, we will go to Kurayoshi, eat tofu at Santokuzan Kaiseiin and talk about the charm of Kurayoshi kasuri, and head to Yonago, where we will see Mt.
This trip will be a journey along the route that Ryoma Sakamoto and other samurai of the last days of the Tokugawa Shogunate took to escape from Tosa to Iyo. Fly to Kochi City. After visiting Sakawa-cho to see the remains of Sakamoto Ryoma, Takasugi Shinsaku, and other materials related to the Meiji Restoration, we will take a stroll along the sake brewery street, an old street of sake breweries. Next, they will enter Higashi-Tsuno Village (now Tsuno Town), where they will discuss Gido Shushin, a Muromachi Period Gozan literature master from Tsuno, and Zekkai Nakatsu, before stopping at a tea plantation and a tea house in Takano. In Yusuhara Town, he will visit Senmaida and the tombs of the six Yusuhara warriors and think about Ryoma Sakamoto. In the evening, he will visit Tsunoyama Kagura at Mishima Shrine, the guard house of Miyanozono, and Kaitomi Shrine, then leave Kochi people at Himezuru-daira, the border of the prefecture, and head for Matsuyama.
This trip will visit the remains of tatara iron manufacturing from Izumo in Shimane Prefecture to Kibi in Okayama Prefecture, based on Ryotaro Shiba’s long-standing interest in iron. The trip began at Yonago Airport, entered Yasugi City on the Unbaku border, saw the “Wako Memorial Museum,” and then visited the Torigami Coal Pig Iron Factory located at the foot of Torigami Tree (Mt. Funadori), where the eight-headed serpent was vanquished. After that, they proceeded westward along the shores of Lake Shinji, met the Korean bell at Komyoji Temple, and traveled up the Hii River to Yoshida Village to visit the Sugatani Tatara, the only surviving early modern tatara site in Japan. The tour will then cross the difficult Izumo Highway, the Shijukyoku Pass, into Okayama and visit Yubara Onsen Hot Spring. Finally, after visiting the Mantoyama burial mound in Kamo Town, the tour will enter Tsuyama, Sakushu.
Kukai, also known as Kobo Daishi, was a monk in the early Heian period (around 800 AD) and the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. The Shikoku Pilgrimage is a 1,400-km pilgrimage that circles the four prefectures of Shikoku, following in the footsteps of Kukai’s ascetic practices. In contrast, the pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain, described in “Kaido yuku Nanban-no Michi (2): Spain and Portugal,” aims at the cathedral of Santiago de Convostela, and is similar to the “mairi” or “moude” in Japan.
<Kyushu/Okinawa>
This trip will take us to the southern part of Kyushu (Kumamoto and Kagoshima). It starts from Kumamoto Airport, visits Tahara-zaka, a famous old battlefield of the Seinan War in Ueki-cho, the northern neighbor of Kumamoto City, describes the historical rivalry between Higo and Satsuma, and then describes Takamori Saigo, the main character of the Seinan War. From Tahara-zaka, he moves to Yatsushiro to see the ruins of Yatsushiro Castle, and then travels upstream along the Kushimaro River to Hitoyoshi at the foot of Aso, where he describes the Sagara clan that settled the area.
From Volume 29 of Kaido Yuku: On the Roads of Shimabara and Amakusa. This trip will take us to the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki Prefecture and the Amakusa Islands in Kumamoto Prefecture in the northwestern part of Kyushu. The route of the trip includes a flight to Nagasaki, then from Nagasaki Airport, along the Shimabara Peninsula to Shimabara Bay, through Shimabara Castle and Hara Castle to Kuchinotsu, where the story of the Shimabara Rebellion of the Edo period takes place. He then takes a ferry to Amakusa Shimojima in Kumamoto Prefecture, climbs the hill of Martyrdom Park at the ruins of Hondo (Hondo) Castle, and describes the Amakusa Shiro Rebellion that occurred at the same time as the Shimabara Rebellion.
This time, we will travel to Okinawa Prefecture. After visiting Shuri and Itoman Fishing Port on the main island of Okinawa, we will go to Ishigaki Island, the entrance to the Sakishima Islands, to visit the market, Miyara-dennai, Ishigaki Family, and Miyajima Gogoku, and then to Taketomi Island by boat to visit Inu no Ido, Ushioka no Oka, Kaji-toge in the forest, Hoshisuna no Hama, Kihoin, and Shushukan, Ogi-mori, Shimanaka Family, and the Asato Family of Mijo Kuyama. Next, from Ishigaki Airport to Yonaguni Island, Japan’s westernmost island, the trip ends with a visit to Sanninu-dai, the large rock and monument of the female chief San’ai Isoba, and Tunguta.
The route of the trip starts from Fukuoka, entering Fukuoka Airport by airplane and visiting the Genko Bastion and the Mongolian mound in Imazu while thinking about the Mongolian invasion (Genko). Passing through Niji-no-Matsubara, he went to Yobuko and Tonotsu, thinking about the Matsuura party of maritime people. After staying in Karatsu, take a ferry from Hiradoguchi to Hirado Island and visit Hirado Castle, the ruins of the Dutch trading post, Xavier’s Monument, Matsuura Museum of History, Inzanji Residence, and the Anjin Miura Bone Monument, and think about the Dutch, British and Portuguese in the Age of Discovery. We will return to Hiradoguchi by ferry and stay overnight in Sasebo. Following in the footsteps of the Portuguese who left Hirado, we will head for Yokoseura and then south along Omura Bay to Nagasaki, where we will stay overnight. We visited Fukudaura, Shuntokuji Temple on the site of the Todos os Santos Association, and the ruins of the castle of the Nagasaki clan, and reminisced about Nagasaki when it was Portuguese territory.
This trip will be to Tanegashima, Yakushima, and the Amami Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture. Tanegashima, Yakushima, and the Amami Islands have appeared in Japanese history since ancient times. In recent years, they are also famous for their rocket launch bases.
This trip will be centered on Oita Prefecture, home to more than 40,000 Hachiman shrines, Nakatsu and Usa in Oita Prefecture, Yufuin, a city of hot springs, and Hita, called Kyushu’s “little Kyoto.
Located between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, Iki and Tsushima have served as iron transportation routes since ancient times, and have been the stage for historical exchanges between people and cultures of Japan and Korea, with mysterious aspects in mythology and folklore.
Outside Japan
The Ironman race in Hawaii takes place on the Big Island of Hawaii. The start/finish line is in the rural seaside town of Kailua-Kona, just a few kilometers from the small Kona airport, the gateway to the air route. After a 3.8 km swim in the beautiful ocean, where sea turtles also swim, and a change of wetsuit into a bike jersey, the cyclist climbs a steep hill for the first little over 1 km to the highway and At the top of the hill, the cyclists turn left onto the highway, which is an endless stretch of blasted lava road, and ride 180 km back to Kailua-Kona, then put on their running shoes and run 42.195 km along the ups and downs along the coast in a race full of nature.
This trip will take us through France/Spain/Portugal. Following in the footsteps of Francisco Xavier, a Namban who visited Japan during the Warring States period and exerted great influence on the country, this journey will take us from Paris, France to the Basque Country in Spain, and then to Spain and Portugal, countries called Namban by the Japanese during the Warring States period.
From Kaido yuku 22 vol. 23. In the last issue, we followed in the footsteps of Francisco Xavier, a Namban who visited Japan during the Warring States period and exerted a great influence on the country, from Paris, France to the Basque Country in Spain. This time, we will continue our journey to Spain and Portugal as part of the Nanban Road.
This time, we will travel to Ireland. The trip starts from London. It is said that this was because he wanted to enter Ireland after feeling the inseparable relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom. In London, he recalls the melancholy of Soseki Natsume, who was studying in London at government expense, and takes a walk around Charing Cross Station while thinking about Sherlock Holmes. Later, he travels to Liverpool, where about 40% of the population was Irish at the time, and ponders the Irish in the Beatles, visits the Anglican Church and the Catholic Cathedral, and describes the conflict between Britain and Ireland that has lasted for over 800 years.
This time, Ryotaro Shiba continued his journey in Ireland. After arriving in Dublin by air from London and Liverpool, Ryotaro Shiba first toured Dublin city and its suburbs. Next, he returned to Dublin after visiting Galway, Arran Island, and Kerry Island. In the village of Cong, near the western tip of the island of Ireland, he examines the ethnicity of the Irish and Irish immigrants based on John Ford’s “The Quiet Man,” which was filmed there. In the Aran Islands, the documentary film “Aran” and other films will provide clues about living in a harsh natural environment where there is only bedrock and no soil. While visiting the Kerry Peninsula, Killarney, and Kenmare, he will also consider Ireland as a fairy kingdom, using Yayoi and Koizumi Yakumo as material for his discussion.
For this trip, I left Japan for Mongolia. The trip began in Niigata, Japan. From Niigata Airport, we flew to Khabarovsk, Russia, and then to the Mongolian Consulate in Irkutsk, where we received our visas and changed planes twice before arriving in Mongolia. Today, there is a direct flight to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, which takes about 5 hours, but in 1973, this was the shortest route to Mongolia. In Khabarovsk, Ryotaro Shiba looked out over the far-reaching Chinese territory on the other side of the Amur River and felt the irony of fate and history in his memories of his days as an officer in a tank regiment that once faced Soviet troops across the border. In Irkutsk, he remembered the trail of Daikokuya Kotayu, who drifted ashore from Japan during the Edo period. In Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, where he finally entered the country, Ryotaro Shiba lamented the unfortunate encounter between Japanese and Mongolians in the nightmare of the Nomonhan Incident, while in South Gobi, where he went further afield, he was struck by the star-filled sky, the steppe with hundreds of millions of flowers in bloom at one view, and the pure nomads, with whom he felt so close to home. The South Gobi is a place where you will never want to go back.
In this issue, I would like to describe my trip to New York City in the United States. This trip was centered on Manhattan Island. After visiting Inwood Hills on the northern tip of Manhattan Island by cab and then visiting Central Park, Ryotaro Shiba and his group went to the Brooklyn borough and visited the Brooklyn Bridge project of Roebling and his son, which was mentioned in “Kaido yuku Awa to Awajishima no Tabi to Rekishi”.
This time, we will travel to the Netherlands, a country that was among the first in Europe to establish autonomism, rationalism, and modern civic spirit, as described by Ryotaro Shiba, who said, “The world was truly created by God, but only the Netherlands was created by the Dutch.
From the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024, the exhibition Van Gogh and Still Life Painting – From Tradition to Innovation opened at the SOMPO Museum of Art in Shinjuku, Tokyo, introducing the still life paintings of Vincent van Gogh and the masters of Western painting, starting with the museum’s iconic Sunflowers. In Kaido ni Ikiru Holland Kiko, Ryotaro Shiba visits Van Gogh’s trail.
This blog is based on Ryotaro Shiba’s “Kaido yuku” (On the Road), in which he describes countries in Japan and abroad that he visited with great interest. In his Tamna Travels, he mentions that he would like to visit the Mongolian Plateau, the Pyrenees, the island of Ireland, and the Hungarian Plateau as countries he would like to visit abroad. Among them, he has visited the Mongolian Plateau, the Pyrenees, and Ireland, and has fulfilled his wish to visit each of them. In this article, I would like to discuss Hungary, which he was not able to visit.
On this trip, from Taipei, we were invited to meet President Lee Teng-hui at his official residence along with writer Chen Sun-sin. While walking through the streets of Taipei, we will think about the Japanese who were involved with this area, visit Silicon Valley in Hsinchu, the scenic Sun Moon Lake in Shanzhong, and see the bronze statue of Hatta Hsin-ichi, who led the construction of a dam, and his wife’s tombstone at the “Chishantou Water Depot” on the Chianan Plains. From Kaohsiung to Tainan. Afterwards, the tour will visit the Chikan Tower and Zeelanja Castle built by the Dutch during the Age of Discovery, and while eating tanzai noodles, think about the activities of the Dutch and the life of Teiseikou Zheng, who is famous for the Kabuki play “Guozhengya Gassen” (The Battle of Guozheng and Yeonggye).
This trip will take us to Jeju Island, Korea. On Jeju Island, we will visit the sacred site of Samseonghole, and then travel southward in a westerly direction, stopping at Hanrin Park and the final resting place of the Sambyeoljangun, who resisted Yuan rule to the very end. In Seogwipo City in the southern part of the island, we will meet with local elders and drive across the foot of Mt. Halla to think about the Mongols and Mongolian horses that migrated south in search of grasslands in the 13th century. In the old port of Chaocheon, we will ponder the bureaucrats who were exiled to the island during the Yi Dynasty, a Confucian state that lasted 500 years, and conclude the trip with a long-awaited meeting with shamans and haenyeo (female divers).
In the central part of Eurasia, where the Silk Road takes place, there is a vast expanse of plains called the Eurasian Steppe. The climate in this region is harsh, with hot and dry summers and cold winters, making it unsuitable for agriculture and suitable for the nomadic lifestyle. In this article, I would like to discuss the nomadic tribes along the Silk Road.
- On the Road to Bin, China
This time, I would like to describe a trip to Fujian Province (Min, the ancient name of Fujian Province) in China. As mentioned in the previous article, “History of the Silk Road and the Plains,” there are two trade routes connecting the East and the West: the Silk Road that crosses the Eurasian continent and the Sea Road that was pioneered during the Age of Discovery. Fujian Province (Min) was the scene of the latter sea route, and is mentioned in Marco Polo’s “Marco Polo’s Travels in the East. It is also the location of the Yue people, who were rice farmers and drifters in ancient times.
- On the Road: Travels in the Land of Korea
This time it is a trip to Korea. Ryotaro Shiba embarks on a journey through the farming villages of Korea in an attempt to experience ancient Korea. In Yongdusan (Mt. Yongdu) in Busan, he sees a statue of Yi Sun-sin and pays homage to the sea captain who saved his country. In Gimhae, near Busan, he visits the tomb of King Suro, the founder of the Kim family, and sees people worshipping at the tomb, and is seized with the feeling that the Yi Dynasty, a Confucian nation, is continuing. At Bulguksa Temple in the suburbs of Gyeongju, we encounter an outdoor playground reminiscent of “utagaki” in the Manyoshu, and at nearby Gakreung, we join a group of elderly people enjoying a drink reminiscent of ancient times. In the village of Yulgok-dong (Yulgok-ri) near Daejeon, the visitors will experience the reality of a warlord who surrendered in Korea during Hideyoshi’s invasion of Korea, and in Buyeo, the former capital of Baekje, they will ponder the relationship between ancient Japan and Baekje and the emotions of the soldiers who were scattered in the Baekchon River.
- On the Road to Jiangnan, China
This time, we will travel to Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo, which built a great ancient civilization through Jiangnan (a vast fertile area south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), China, which has a close relationship with Japan through its history. This trip starts from Suzhou, where the relationship between the Song Dynasty and Japan is described along the existing city gate, and the influence of Chinese tea on Japan is described by looking at the tea plantations of Longjing (Dragon Well). In Shaoxing, he visits Lu Xun’s former residence and discusses the life of the Chinese intellectual class. In Ningbo, his last stop, he visits the port where the Tang Dynasty envoys and students from the Kamakura period landed, and Tendo Mountain, and reflects on the Japanese people of the past who worked to absorb the culture.
- On the Road to Shu, China
This trip begins with a trip from Shanghai to Chengdu, the capital of Shu. Shu used to be a steep and difficult place to reach, and it is said that the weather is cloudy all year round due to its topography. In Chengdu, after enjoying conversations with locals about ethnic minorities, chili peppers, tofu, etc., we will head to Dujiangyan, the dam that has kept the Chengdu Basin moist for over 2000 years, and admire Li Bing, who built the dam, and his technology. On the way back to Chengdu, we stopped by a farmhouse in a village called Happy People’s Corporation and thought about the similarities with Japanese private houses. In Chengdu, they will visit the Wu Hou Hsi, a shrine dedicated to Zhuge Liang, and think about the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and the heroes of Shu. After contemplating the intellectuals of a Confucian nation at the Du Fu Cottage, they will visit the Mangjianglou Park to see the bamboos, which are different from those in Japan, and visit the neighboring Sichuan University.
- On the Road to Yunnan, China
On the flight from Chengdu to Kunming, I thought about the “Xinan Yi,” a people who formed a civilization separate from the Han Chinese in ancient Yunnan, and developed thoughts about their rice cultivation and the possibility that they were the ancestors of the Japanese. He also thinks about the gold seals excavated from the Shihzhai Mountain site near the 滇池, and how they are connected to Japan. They visited the Douguan (Longmen Grottoes) in Suibijin (Xishan) to see the 滇池 from above and think about Zheng He, a great navigator born in Kunyang, and visited the Yunnan Provincial Museum to see the magnificent bronze artifacts excavated from the Shizhaishan site. The tour will also visit a village of the Sameh, a branch of the Yi ethnic minority in the suburbs of Kunming. The tour will end with a visit to Daguan Park overlooking the 滇池, and a talk at a teahouse in the city with an elderly man who fought in the anti-Japanese war in the city.
History
- The Rise and Fall of World History: Where Will Humanity Go?
- A History of Christianity without Honor
- What is the “Wabi” of Sen no Rikyu?
- Scythia and the Xiongnu
- The Celtic Water Vein
- The Hegemony of Modern Europe
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