Let me introduce My name is Minako Shio
. I was born in Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan on April
22, 1984.
I am a first year student at Kagawa Junior College. My major is Nutrition .
My hobbies are listen to music.
http://www.geocities.co.jp/CollegeLife-Labo/4001/2004/403024.html
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My Favorite Region
Quoted furom the Shikoku,
Bilingual Guide book 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 generations 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.
Though 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 0- Shikoku -san, sowing that "Dear
old Shikoku Pilgrimage" is synonmous with this island and
provides sanctuary to the soul of Japan. The scenes along the
Shikoku Pilgrimage correspond well to what Shikoku offers- the
Seto Iniand 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 mild; 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
byso many archaeological findings.
Remote as it was for many centuries,
hwever, Shikoku did not stand aloof but observed movements on
the Inland 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 alarge number of people from
the capitals and other parts of the main island of Honshu and
neighboring Kyushu.
Naturally thouse 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
Kagawa
Takamatsu City
nTakamatu 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 Tokushima 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
fligts to and from Seoul Korea.
Another place inTakamatsu appropriate
as a gateway to Shikoku is the Takamatsu Heike Monogatari Historikal
Museum 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 ofLord Ikoma I as governor of Sanuki Province.
The castle he duilt on the harbor was succeeded by 4 generations
of his descendants, governing Takamatsu Province with a fiet of
120,000 koku.
One ninth of the former castle ground
is preserved as Tamano Koen Park across the street from JR Takamatsu
Station. The dongon is gone, but two of the 15 turrets and Mizute
Gomon Gate from the 17th century (Important Cultural Properties)
survived the air raid in 1945. Admission: \\100.
Traditionally the popular sightseeing
spots in Takamatsu are Ritsurin Koen Park near down and Yashima
Plateau over looking the city and the inland Sea. The accessible
by bus or tram, with terminals at Takamatsu Chikko just opposite
JR Statio.
Ritsurin Koen Park
30 minutes' walk from JR Takamatsu Station.
The busy street in front of downtown Takamatsu ,and leads
to the main street of downtownTakamatsu, and leads to the maingate
to Ritsurin Koen Park, aNational Special ScenicSpot. This spacious
garden laid out with shapelymounds, cool ponds and about 160 varieties
of trees and flowers provides a classic example 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 charm of flowers and blossoms such as ume
(Japanese plum blossoms) in February, camellias in March, cherry
blossoms in April, wisteria and azaleas in May, Irises and watar
lilies in June, giant lotuses in August, and Japanese bush clover
in September, and brilliant maple leaves in Nobember add to the
pleasure of strolling.
Kikugetsu-tei, one of the pond-side teahouses, was originally
one of the Matsudairas'formal buildings. The museum just inside
the main gate houses a variety of mostly local handicrafts. There
is a zoo, too, inside the gate.
Open daily. Admission to the prak: About 300.
Yashima Plateau
Bus: 30 minutes' ride from Chikko to
the terminal (Kotoden Bus for Yashima-sanjo or Yashima Hilltop)
Tram+Cable: 30 minutes' tram ride from
Chikko to Yashima(Shido-sen Line)+5 minutes' 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 mhigt,3 km wide ,jutting 5km out into the
sea.
The hilltop, overlooking the archipelago
of the Inland Sea, features Yashima-ji , an aquarium and observatories
all linked by forest promenades.
One of the observatories, Dankorei ,
commands a view of the inlet fringet 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, Edmud Blunden,
visited Yashima and wrote a poem that was engraved on a stone
here at Dankorei observatory:
Like a long roof, men say, and will
they say, This is hill of warrior ghosts surmounts the plain.....
Gempei War
In 794 kyoto became the capital of Japan and it enjoyed peace
for about 350 years (811-1155)-the longest pease 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 clans-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 temporarily 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 Minamotos in exile.
In 1181 the patriarch of the clan Taira noKiyommori died just
when the Tairas faced more battles against the Minamotos, who
were gradually consolidating their power.
In 1183 the Tairas ware driven from the Gapital along with
the 6-year-old Emperor Antoku and his mother, who was Kiyomori's
daughter. They wandered far in search of supporters, while fighting
losimg battles.
Now in 1185, Minamoto no Yoshitsune attacked the remaining
Tairas here at Yashima, then at Dan- no-ura in wes ternmost 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 ancient
nobility yielded to the age of Shoguns(1185-1867).
Yashima-ji Temple treasures in its museum a foldind screen
depicting the Gempei no Kassen Battles. The bell in the belfry
, cast in Kyoto in 1223, was depicated 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.(See p.50) Minamoto no
Yoshitsune(1159-89): By bringing about victory in the civil war,
Yshitsune had greatly helped Mnamoto no Yoritomo, his elder brother,
who in 1192 was to establish the first Shogunate at Kamakura.
But Yositsunehad to spend the rest of his life escaping Yoritomo,
untilfour years later he killed himself. His tragic life and death
wasso appealing to Japanese sentiment that he was taken on heroic
proportion in Kabuki, Noh and Joruri plays. based on what is called
Yoshitsune Literature.
Very few Japanese visit Yashima without being reminded of
an episode shown in the picture above: It was on the afternoon
of February 19, 1185, that Minamoto no Yoshitsune mounted another
surprise attack against the Tairas at the then Yashima Island.
Frightened by imgined immensity of enemy forces, the Tairas jumped
into their boats and sailed off. A fierce battle lasted for hours.
Now the sun was setting. Both sides began to retreat, when a fair
vessel parted from the Tairalegions and stpped 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 shore.
"What does she mean ?" said Yoshitsune .
"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 ar chers," said his attendant.
"The let it be shot down by someone ," said Yoshitsune.
Soon a young man call