Ｆｕｍｉ Ｔａｎｉｇｕｃｈｉ’ｓ Ｈｏｍｅ ｐａｇｅ
Ｓｅｌｆ－Ｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ
Let me introduce myself. My name is Fumi Taniguchi. I was born
in Tokushima-shi, Tokushima-Ken, Japan on April thirteenth, 1982.
I am a second year student at Kagawa Junior College in Japan.
Our class home is http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/students.My
major is Life Culture.
My hobby is shopping.
My Favorite Links
Websites
My Friend
Mobile phones
Ｍｙ Ｆａｖｏｒｉｔｅ Ｒｅｇｉｏｎ
Quoted from the Shikoku Bilingual Guidebook
by Akiko Takemoto and Steve McCarty
PREFACE
Visiting or living in Shikoku is something special, for this
island has always been the spiritual sanctuary of the Japanese
people. No other place in Japan has been visited by so many generation
of people from all over the country.
They have often spent more than 60 days walking along the whole
circuit of the eighty-eight temples that compose the longest,
oldest and most popular pilgrimage in Japan.
Even those who have arrived here in weariness of life, in unhappiness
or weak health, have usually left the island with a lighter heart,
more enlightened, and in many cases in improved health.
Thougt today the island is quite accessible and traveling around
it can be very easy, some of the eighty-eight temples still remain
very hard to reach.
This pilgrimage circling the island is nationally known as
O-Shikoku-San, showing that "Dear old Shikoku Pilgrimage"
is synonymous with this island and provides sanctuary to the soul
of Japan. The scenes along the Shikoku offers - the Seto Island
Sea, the Uwa-kai Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the green mountains that
crown a large part of the island, cosy little towns and middle-sized
cities that fringe the coasts.
Its climate is mind; the seas are bountiful; the land is fertile.
Naturally local people have been content with their blessed island,
even if it has remained underdeveloped since the 8th century.
Until then the northern coast of Shikoku was among the first areas
to enjoy civilization in Japan, as proved by so many archaeological
findings.
Remote as it was for many centuries, however, Shikoku did not
stand aloof but observed movements on the Island Sea as an artery
of Japan's cultural, political and economic development. On the
other hand, Shikoku's unique attractions such as the Shikoku Pilgrimage,
Kompira worship and the Dogo Onsen Hot Spring spa have always
drawn a large number of people from the capitals and other parts
of the main island of Honshu and neighboring kyushu.
Naturally those visitors brought something new with them each
time, just as refugees and exiles from the capitals added color
to the island's history. They were welcomed and sometimes the
culture they brought here was carefully preserved or developed
even long after being forgotten in its homeland- language, festivals,
arts and techniques. These cultural assets now peculiar to Shikoku
have added another dimension rewarding travelers to this island.
A new type attraction in Shikoku is the fruit of modern technology
that the waves of development have finally brought here in the
1980's and 90's - the colossal bridges connecting Shikoku with
the main island, pleasure resorts, theme parks, museums, skyline
dreves and relatively inexpensive golf courses. So the charm of
Shikoku can rightly be called an exquisite coexistence of tradition
and modernity, nature and art.
Lsst but not least is a spiritual climate of Shikoku that has
produced people like the father of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, who
is often credited as a father of Japanese culture, the man who
aired the idea of the Seto Ohashi Bridge, and two young men who
turned out to be most instrumental in carrying out the modernization
of Japan, opening Japan's opening Japan's door to the world as
an independent nation. They were all rare cosmopolitans in Japanese
history. There must have been something inspiring on this island.
We hope this guidebook will help you enjoy Shikoku, and Japan
herself seen through Shikoku, finding inspiration of your own
by traveling around this small but great island. Bon voyage!
Ｋａｇａｗa
Quoted from the Shikoku Bilingual Guide by Fumi Taniguchi and
Steve McCarty.
Takamatsu is the capital of Kagawa Prefecture,which has traditionally
been called the gateway to Shikoku, with the whole land of the
prefecture jutting out into the Seto Inland Sea like a porch.
JR Takamatsu Station next to Takamatsu Harbor is the terminal
of the Kotoku Line for Tokusima Pref. , the Yosan Line for Ehime
Pref. and the Dosan Line for Kochi Pref. , while serving as the
bus terminal to Tokushima, Matsuyama and Kochi City. Takamatsu
Chikko just opposite JR Station is the terminal of Kotoden trams
to and from Kotohira, the seat of Kompira-san.
The New Takamatsu Airport handles non-stop flights to and from
Seoul, Korea.
Another place in Takamatsu appropriate as a gateway to Shikoku
is the Takamatsu Heike Monogatari Historical Museum 高松平家物語歴史館
that features not only the famous historical literature called
Heike Monogatari but also about 50 great historical figures closely
associated with Shikoku or native to Shikoku.
Takamatsu became the capital in 1587 with the advent of Lord
Ikoma I as governor of Sanuki Province. The castle he buill on
the harbor was succeeded by 4 generations of his descendants,
and then by 11 generations of Matsuyama lords, governing Takamatsu
Province with a fief of 120,000 koku.
One night of the former castle ground is preserved as Tamamo
Koen Park 玉藻公園 across the street from JR Takamatsu Station. The
donjon is gone, but two of the 15 turrets and Mizute Gomon Gate
from the 17th century ( Important Cultural Properties ) survived
the air rain in 1945. Admission: \100.
Traditionally the popular sightseeing spots in Takamatsu are
Ritsurin Koen Park near downtown and Yashima Plateau overlooking
the city and the Inland Sea. They are accessible by bus or tram,
with terminals at terminals at Takamatsu Chikko just opposite
JR Station.
Ritsurin Koen Park 栗 林 公 園
30 minutes' walk from JR Takamatsu Station.
The busy street in front of JR Takamatsu is the main street
of downtown Takamatsu, and leads to the main gate to Ritsurin
Koen Park, a National Special Scenic Spot.This spacious garden
laid out with shapely mounds, cool ponds and about and 160 varieties
of trees and flowers provides a classic of a Japanese garden or
even a Chinese Taoist paradise fit for meditation.
Originally it belonged to a local warlord, and then to Lord
Ikoma. When it was transferred to the Matsudairas, they spent
five generations developing it into a larger stroll-type garden
for their villa. Seasonal charms of flowers and blossoms such
as ume (Japanese plum blossoms) in February, camellias in March,
cherry blossoms in April, wisteria and azaleas in August, and
Japanese bush clover in September, and brilliant maple leaves
in November add to the pleasure of strolling.
Kikugetsu-tei 掬月亭, one of the pond-side teahouses, was originally
one of the Matsudairas formal, buildings. The museum just inside
the main gate 讃岐民芸館 houses a variety of mostly local handicrafts.
There is a zoo, inside the gate. Open daily. Admission to the
park :About \300.
Yashima Plateau 屋 島
Bus : 30 minites' ride from Chikko to terminal ( Kotoden Bus
for Yashima-sanjo or Yashima Hilltop 屋島山上 ). Tram + Cable
: 30 minites' tram ride from Chikko to Yashima ( Shido-sen Line
志度線 ) + 5 minites' cable-car ride.
Yashima, a pine-wooded tableland to the northeast of downtown
Takamatsu, is one of the world's rare lava mesas, about 290 m
high, 3 km wide, jutting 5 km out into the sea.
The hilltop, overlooking the archipelago of the Inland Sea,
features Yashima-ji 屋島寺 , an aquarine and observatories all linked
by forest promeades.
One of the observatories, Dankorei 談古嶺 , commands a view of
the inlet fringed with memorials to the Gempei Yashima Battle
( the second last battle in Gempei War fought between the two
rival clans, the Minamotos and the Tairas )
Once a British poet, Edmund Blunden, visited Yashima and wrote
a poem thet was engraved on a stone here at Dankorei observatory:
Like a long roof, men say, and will they say,
This hill of warrior ghosts surmounts the plain...
Genpei War 源平合戦
In 794 Kyoto became the capital of Japan and it enjoyed peace
for about 350 years ( 811-1155 ) - the longest peace Japan has
ever attained in her history.
The last 30 years of this period,however, were far from peaceful.
In 1156 the first battle took place in the capital, thus opening
up a new era dominated by martial emotions. Two martial clans
- the Minamoto and Taira class - began to acquire greater and
greater influence in politics through fighting against each other
in the name of “ the Emperor ” or “ the Ex-Emperor ”.
In 1159, the Tairas succeeded temporaily in staving off the
Minamotos. The 20 years that followed saw the Tairas rise to increasingly
control the Imperial Family, inviting animosity from the reigning
Emperors, the Ex-Emperors, powerful priests, warriors and lords,
to say nothing of the Miyamoto in exile.
In 1181 the patriarch of the clan Taira no Kiyomori died just
when the Tairas more battles against the Minamotos, who were gradually
consolidating their power.
In 1183 the Tairas were driven from the Capital along with
the 6-years- old Emperor Antoku and his mother, who was was Kiyomori's
daughter. They wandered far in search of supporters, while fighting
losing battles.
Now in 1185, Minamoto no Yoshitsune attacked the remaining
Tairas here at Yashima, then at Dan-no-ura in the westernmost
corner of the Inland Sea, where the proud Taira finally fell,
the noblewomen casting themselves into the sea with the child
Emperor Antoku.
Thus the age of ancient nobility yielded to the age of Shoguns
( 1185 - 1867 )
Yashima - ji Temple 屋島寺 treasures in its museum a folding screen
depicting the Gempei no Kassen Battles. The bell in the belfry,
cast in Kyoto in 1223, was dedicated here for the repose of the
defeated Tairas. But no one can strike the bell, as there is no
hammer.They say, “ Strike the bell, and invoke the ghosts of the
Tairas. ”
On the last weekend in March the Gempei Yashima Festival is
held, whose highlight is the Warriors'Pageant.
It was an insurrection caused by the discord between Emperor
Goshirakawa ( 1127 - 92 ) and Ex-Emperor Sutoku ( 1119 - 64 ).
Sutoku was defeated and banished to Sanuki ( Kagawa Pref.) to
die a miserable death 8 years later. His ashes were buried at
Temple 81. In 1184 the court elevated him to Shinto deity to placate
his ghost.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune ( 1159 - 89 ) :By bringing about victory
in the civil war, Yoshitsune had greatly helped Minamoto no Yoritomo,
his elder brother, who in 1192 was to establish the first Shogunate
at Kamakura. But Yoshitsune had to spend the rest of his life
escaping Yoritomo, until four years later he killed himself. His
tragic life and death was so appealing to Japanese sentiment that
he has taken on heroic proportion in Kabuki, Noh and Joruri plays,based
on what is called Yoshitune Liferature.
Very few Japanese visit Yashima without being remided of an
episode shown in the pictuer above:
It was on the afternoon of February 19, 1185, that Minamoto
no Yoshitsune mounted another surprise attack against the Tairas
at the them Yashima Island. Frightened by the imagined immensity
of enemy forces, the Tairas jumped into their boats and sailed
off. A fierce battle for hours.
Now the sun was setting. Both sides began to retreat, when
a fair vessel parted from the Taira legions and stopped about
80 m from the beach. Then a beautiful lady appeared from the cabin,
produced a pole with a bright red fan on its top and beckoned
to the puzzled warriors on the store.
" What dose she mean? " said Yoshitsune. said Yoshitsume.
" Perhaps she is inviting one of us to shoot the fan.
Or she may be inviting you to come out onto the front line for
her archers, "said his attendant.
" Then let it be shot down by someone, " said Yoshitsume.
Soon a young man called Nasu no Yoichi appeared on horseback
with bow and arrow in his hands. The north wind was strong. The
boat was tossing up and down.
The fan painted with the golden sun at its center was fluttering
on the pole.
All the Tairas in the boats and all the Minamotos on the shore
were watching Yoichi. What world he do? World he succeed?
Yoichi rode into the water as far he could. But it was still
about 70 m to the target. He closed his eyes and prayed. Then
the wind fell for a moment. He shot. The arrow pierced through
a little above the rivet. The fan, flying up a moment or two,
came floating down, glittering in the setting sun. There was great
applause from both sides.
Then a man in armor appeared in the same boat. He began to
dance an elegant dance perhaps in genuine appreciation of Yoichi's
archery. Then Yoichi got another order and shot down the dancing
man, too. Some said, "Good shot ! " But other said,
" Now fair. "
The Tairas were silent this time. Was it a precursor or their
demise? Two months later, the Tairas finally fell.
Shikoku-mura Museum 四 国 村
◎ 3 minutes' walk after leaving the bus at Toshogu-mae 東照宮前.
( Kotoden Bus : Yashima-sanjo ←→ Chikko )
◎ 3 minites' walk from the cable-car station.
This is an open-air museum laid out at the foot of Yashima
Plateau. About 20 old rural building from various parts of Shikoku
have been reassembled here, including a Farmers' Kabuki Theater,
peasants' houses, a fisherman's house, a suger mill, a shed for
steaming mulberry back to make paper, and workshops for making
soy sauce and so on. There is a peprica of Kazura-bashi from Nishi
Iyayama-son, too.
Open daily : 8 : 30 -16 :30. Admission : \ 500
On May 5 , people including children from Shodoshima Island,
from which the Kabuki Theater came here, stage an annual performance
of their traditional farmers' kabuki.
Takamatsu Heike Monogatari Historical Museum
高松平家物語歴史館
◎ 3 minutes' walk from Nihon Tabako-mae 日本タバコ前
Bus Stop after 10 minutes' ride from JR Takamatsu.
( Kotoden Bus : Asahimachi 朝日町 Line )
◎ 30 minutes' walk from JR Takamatsu Station.
Japan's largest wax doll museum. The first floor is dedicated
to the 41 dolls of historical figures or modern men and women
of celebrity who have been closely associated with Shikoku.
The one of Kobo Daishi in his nyujo has its own corner as a
special exhibition.
The other dolls include :
Sakamoto Ryouma 坂本龍馬
Nakaoka Shintoro 中岡慎太郎
Nakahama Manjiro 中浜万次郎
Wenceslau de Moraes
Inokuma Genichiro 猪熊弦一郎
Takahama Kyoshi 高浜虚子
Ninomiya Chuhachi 二宮忠八
Setouchi Jakucho 瀬戸内寂聴（ literature: 1920- )
Makino Tomitaro 牧野富太郎
Yasuoka Shotaro 安岡章太郎
Kagawa Toyohiko 賀川豊彦 ( religion, social work, literature: 1888-1960
)
Yokoyama Ryuichi 横山隆一 ( cartoons: 1909- )
Terada Torahiko 寺田寅彦 ( science, essay: 1878-1935 )
Abe Yoshishige 安部能成 ( philosophy, education: 1883-1966 )
Nambara Shigeru 南原繁 ( philosopohy, education: 1888-1974 )
Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規
Kotoku Shusui 幸徳秋水
Nakae Chomin 中江兆民
Kikuchi Kan 菊池寛 ( literature: 1888-1948 )
Manabe Hiroshi 真鍋博 ( illustration: 1932- )
Yoshida Shigeru 吉田茂
Itagaki Taisuke 板垣退助
The second floor exhibits about 300 dolls portraying the 17
scenes from the Heike Monogatari or The Tale of the Tairas. The
Saga, composed of a large number of revealing episodes, was and
still is an inexhaustible source of Japanese literature and art.
Some of the most famous scenes took place at the foot of Yashima
Plateau at the northeastern tip of Takamatsu.
One hi-tech doll seen at the end of the exhibition is what
was called biwa hoshi or a blind biwa-playing bard who traveled
around chanting The Tale of the Taira Family even before it was
written down in the first half of the 13th century. Its opening
passage is especially famous for its Buddhist idea of impermanence
that goes as follows:
The bell of Gion Monastery tolls
The impermanence of all worldly things.
The color of sal blossoms shows the truth that
Even the most prosperous inevitably decline.
The proud will fall like a dream on a spring night.
The valiant must perish, too, as
Frail as dust blown by a puff of wind.
The doll begins to talk and sing the first line of the opening
passage when it senses visitors approaching. Open daily. Admission:
\ 1200 ( High school students: \ 800 Children \ 600 )
Yoshida Shigeru ( 1878 - 1967 ), Prime Minister from 1946 to
1954, is credited with giving Japan direction through her most
difficult times after the war.
The Seto Ohashi Bridge
The Kojima-Sakaide Route, popularly known as the Seto Ohashi
Bridge 瀬戸大橋, was completed in 1988. It is the world's longest
two-tiered bridge system, stretching 13.1km from Kojima to Sakaide,
connecting the 5 islands in between. The 11 bridges in the system
include 3 suspension bridges, 2 twin cable-stayed, 1 truss and
5 viaducts.The upper level accommodates a motor expressway of
four lanes, and the lower contains Japan Railway's system for
a dual track superexpress line in the futuer. The first person
to air the idea of the Seto Ohashi Bridge was Okubo Jinnojo 大久保 （
1849-1891 ), a Kagawa native, who at that time was construvcting
the first Shikoku Roads to link all the prefectures on the island.
In 1889 Jinnjo disclosed his dream in a congratulatory speech
he made as a member of the Prefectural Parliament at the opening
ceremony of the first railrord in Shikoku between Marugame and
Kotohira. Exactly a century later, the Bridge came into being
after decades of planning and ten years of construction, 13 million
workers involved ( with the loss of 17 lives ), and costing １，１９０，０００
million yen. Surprisingly, Jinnojo had also foretold man's traveling
to the moon in his favorite drink-ing song of his own making,
which went as follows:
I'll tell you, dear, don't laugh at me, a hundred years from
now, I'll be seeing you flying to and from the moon in a space
ship. Its port, let me tell you, dear, will be that mountaintop
over there !
One of the best points to view the Bridge Yoshima Island 与島,
a central pier of the Bridge. It also serves as a sightseeing
outpost for the Shikoku and Inland Sea Districts, providing 2
parking areas for those who like to enjoy bridge-viewing, seafood
and shopping.
◎ To Yoshima: 20 minutes from JR Sakaide by Seto Ohashi Express
Bus 瀬戸大橋高速バス
Another is a rotating tower 132 m tall at the Seto Ohashi Memorial
Park 瀬戸大橋記念記念公園 at the foot of the Bridge in Bridge Sakaide. The
Memorial Hall provides all kinds of information on the Bridge
and its constrution, while the park itself applies modern art
to stone and water.
Admission to the tower: \ 800.
Admission to the Hall: \ 510.
◎To the Seto Ohashi Memorial Park: 10 minutes from JR Sakaide
by shuttle bus ( free of charge ).The Gold Tower ゴールドタワー near
JR Utazu Station offers a marvelous view, too. The 144 m tower
made of half-mirror glass is the tallest of its kind in Japan,
housing the Sky Lounge, restaurant, stores and a World Toilet
Museum. Open daily. Admission to the tower: \ 800 / \ 1000 ( Toilet
Museum included ).
Bridge-viewing cruises are available from Keihan Fisherman's
Wharf 京阪フィッシャーマンズワーフ on Yoshima , Memorial Park and Sakaide Port
( \ 1,000-\ 1,500 )
Marugame City 丸亀市
- Castle ＆ uchiwa -
◎ 25 minutes' train ride from JR Takamatsu.
To the Castle: 15 minutes' walk from JR Marugame.
The three-storied donjon on top of a green hill crowns the
city of Marugame. When a Marugame Province of 53,000 koku was
formed in 1641, an old castle was reconstructed and the castle
seen today dates back to 1660, one of the few genuine Edo Period
castles remaining in Japan.
The present-day Marugame is famous for uchiwa or round paper
fan manufacturing, producing about 90 % of these fans in Japan.
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