Rediscovering Japan

Travel (Tokushima)


by tomizuta

Upstream of Yoshino River in west Tokushima

 

We went on a 3 day trip to Tokushima in Shikoku, the smallest of the four main islands constituting Japan. Shikoku, means 4 countries. The name comes from the 4 areas that compose Shikoku. Awa(now Tokushima prefecture), Tosa( Kochi), Iyo(Ehime) and Sanuki(Kagawa). This was our first visit to Tokushima. Our main interest was to visit Mima, famous for its still maintaining many Edo period houses with their magnificent Udatsu, Oboke-koboke one of the most picturesque valleys in the Shikoku Mountains, “Scarecrow Village” Nagoro, and the whirlpools of Naruto.

The famous scarecrows of Nagoro village at the village bus stop

 

The old town district of Wakimachi in Mima city has been designated as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings. We walked through the main street, which has houses owned largely by wealthy Ai (blue dye produced from the Ai plant) merchants from the Edo and Meiji Eras. A main feature of the buildings is their magnificent Udatsu, extensions of the roof that served as protection from the spread of fires from the houses next to it.

The main road in Mima. Notice the Udatsu on the right

It should be noted that prominent merchants were located facing the main roads to attract customers the most. Typically the shop was at the front and the owners lived in the back. The shops were built next to each other with very little space in between. These shops are called Machiya. Fire spreading from a neighbor was an inherent risk in a row of crammed shops facing the main road.
Udatsu is usually erected on the second floor, as fire tends to spread at second floor level rather than the first. The magnificence of the Udatsu shows how prosperous the Ai merchants were in the Edo and early Meiji period. There is an expression in Japanese that someone is not raising his Udatsu, which means the person is not doing well in the world.
As usual, I entered a liquor shop and asked for some local Sake. An elderly lady shopkeeper, told me that there no longer are any Sake breweries nearby. I bought a medium bottle of Udatsu no agaru Sake (raised Udatsu Sake), which is made by a brewery further east. I found the Sake smooth and palatable, best slightly chilled if possible.

1.8 litre bottle of Housui special honjozo, brewed in Miyoshi city

 

We stayed at an Onsen(hot spa) hotel in Oboke-Koboke, which is about 40 miles west of Tokushima city.That was our foothold to visit Kazura-bashi and Nagoro village. Alll these sites are in the Iya district, in the western mountainous side of Tokushima prefecture

On a boat cruise from Oboke-Koboke

In order to appreciate this area, one needs to know about the battle between the Minamoto family (Genji) and Taira family (Heiji) in the 12th century. Both families are descendants of emperors in the 9th century, and their seizing power is regarded as the rise of the Samurai families. In the 10th century, it became increasingly difficult for the emperor’s government in Kyoto to fully govern the whole of Japan.Riots against the governors sent to the countryside were frequent, and the government had to rely on some lower ranked nobles to defeat them. Some of these nobles, after settling the riot would stay there, and gain power in the area.These armed samurais rose particularly in the east, which were better breeding places for horses. The samurais were also employed as police and guards in the capital of Kyoto.Genji and Heiji both came from the east.There were continuous power struggles within the imperial court, and members of the two families were called to assist both sides. 

It was a Heiji family led by Kiyomori Taira that first gained a strong foothold in the emperor’s court. He would marry his daughters to the imperial family, a very traditional method to gain power. The Heiji became so powerful that they would boast that “You’re worth nothing if you are not one of a Heiji.” This displeased many of the Genji as well as some disgruntled fractions in the imperial court, that in the late 12th century, a battle arose between the Heiji and Genji. Genji won the first battle in the Fuji area, and gradually drove the Heiji back to the west. The last battleground was in Dan-no-ura, Yamaguchi prefecture, where the Heiji were finally wiped out.

There are a handful of areas in Japan that is said to have hosted the survivors of the Heiji into their villages. Iya district is one of them.  

Kazurabashi is a 45 metre vine made bridge over the River Iya.

Kazurabashi in Iya

It is regarded as one of the 3 oddest bridges in Japan, the other two being Kintaikyou in Yamaguchi prefecture and Saruhashi in Yamanashi prefecture. Legend says that the Heiji that fled into the Iya Mountains made them so that they could cut it off whenever the Genji came on a pursuit. You need to pay 500 yen to cross the bridge in one direction only, but the view of the Iya valley below and the experience itself is worth the money. 

East of Kazurabashi lie the scattered houses of the Ochiai district. These are also said to be the legacy of the fleeing Heiji. The houses are located on the gradual benches on the mountain slopes. Many are from the Edo era. These houses have also been designated as Important Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings. We went to the observatory on the opposite mountain slope where you get a panoramic view of the houses.

View of Ochiai scattered village

A lady going up the hills asked where we had come from, and thanked us pleasantly for visiting the place. Such contact is rare for the Japanese that tend it is politer not to approach and converse with strangers. But generally in the Iya district, we found the people to be so warm towards visitors.

 

If you are travelling in and out of Tokushima Airport, one place you should not miss is the beautiful Japanese garden of Tokushima castle. The castle itself was dismantled in the Meiji era as were so many castles, but the gardens have been left intact and maintained by Tokushima City. It is adjacent to Tokushima Castle Museum, and you can enter the gardens only for a modest 50 yen entrance fee. What is unique is that you can freely stroll along the entire garden, and not just view it from the peripheral.

Inside the gardens of Tokushima Castle


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