Yuko Akagi's Home Page
Let me introduce myself. My name is Yuko Akagi. I was born
in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan in March 03, 1982.
I am a first year student at Kagawa Junior College. My major
is Infant Education.
My hobbies are listening to music, readiing books, and walking
my dog.
My home page address is: http://www.geocities.co.jp/CollegeLife-Labo/4001/2004/503002.html
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Quoted from the Shikoku Bilingual Guidebook by Akiko
Takemoto and Steve McCarty
PREFACE
Visiting or living in Shikoku is something
spesial, for this island has always been the spiritual sanctuary
of the Japanese peole. No other plase in Japan has been vusited
by so many gemerations 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 caseds
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 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 Inland Sea, the Uwa-kai Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the green
mountais 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 paple have been content
with their blessed island,even if it has remained underdepeloped
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 Inland Sea as an artery of Japan's cultural, political and
economic developmnt. On the other hand, Shikoku's unique attractions
auch as the Shikoku Pilgrimage, Kompira worship and the Dogo Onsen
Hot Spring spa have always drawn a large number of peple from
the capitals and other parts of the main island of Honshu and
neighborimg Kyushu.
Natually 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 doveloped even lomg after being forgotten in its hameland -
language, festivals, arts and techniques. These cultural assets
now peculiar to Shikoku have added another dimention rewarding
travelers to this island.
A new type of 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, museumes, skyline drives and relatively inexpensive golf
courses. So the charm of Shikoku can rightly be called an exquisite
coexistence of tradition and modernity, nature and art.
Last but not laest 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 door to the world
as an independent nation. They were all rare cosmopolitans in
Japanese history. There must have been something inspring on this
island.
We hope this guidebook will help you
enjoy Shikoku, and Japan hersalf seen through Shikoku, finding
inspiration of your own by traveling around this small but great
island. Bon voyage!
Kagawa
Takamatsu City
- the Gateway to Shikoku-
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 Tokushima Pref., the Yosan Line for Ehime
Pref. and the Dosen 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 geteway to Shikoku
is the Takamatsu Heike monogatari Historical Museum that features
not only the famous historical literature called Heike Momogatari
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 built on
the harbor was succeeded by 4 generations of his descendants,
and then by 11 generations of Matsudaira lords, governing Takamatsu
Province with a fief of 120,000 koku.
One ninth of the former castle ground is preserved as Tamamo
koen Park 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 raid in 1945. Admission: 100 yen.
Traditionally the popular sightseeing sports 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 Takamatsu Chikko just opposite JR Station.
Ritsurin Koen Park
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 160 varieties
of trees and flowers provides aclassic 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 stoll-type garden
for their villa. Seasonal charms of flowers and blossams such
as ume. (Japaneas plum blossams) in february, camellias in March,
cherry blossams in April, wisteria and azaleas in May, Irises
and water lilies in June, giant lotuses in August, and Japanese
bush clover in September, and brilliant maple leaves in November
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 mostry local handicrafts. There
is a zoo, too, inside the gate.
Open daily. Admission to the park : About 300en.
Yashima Plateau
Bus: 30 minutes' ride from Chikko to the terminal (Kotoden
Bus for Yashima-samjo or yashima Hilltop).
Tram + Cable: 30 minutes' tram ride from Chikkoto 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 m
high, 3 km wide, jutting 5km out into the sea.
The hilltop, overlooking the archipelago of the Inland Sea,
features Yashima-ji (No.84) ,an aquarium and observatories all
linked by forest promenades.
One of the observatories, Dankorei, commands a view of the
inlet fringed with memorials to the Genpei 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 Yshima 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 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 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 matial 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 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 Inperial Family, inviting animosity from the reigning
Emperores, the Ex- Emperors, powerful priests, warriors and lords,
to say nothing of the Minamotos in exile.
In 1181 the patriarch of the clan Taira no Kiyomori died just
when the Tairas faced more battles against the Minamotos, who
were gradually consolidating their power.
In 1183 the Tairas were driven from the capital 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
losing battles.
Now in 1185, Minamoto no Yoshitsune attacked the remaining
Tairas here at Yashima, them 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).
Yashimas-ji Temple 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 be-tween 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 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 the imagined immensity
of enemy forces, the Tairas jamped 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 Taira legions and stopped about
80 m from the beach. Then a beatiful 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 shoot the fun. 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 Yoshitsune."
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 pole.
All the Tairas in the boats and all the Minamotos on the shore
were watchig Yoichi. What would he do? Would he succeed?
Yoichi rode into the water as far as he could. But it was still
about 70 m to the target. He closed his eyes and prayed. Then
the wind fell for a momemt. He shot. The fan, flying up a moment
or to 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 others said, "Not
fair."
The Tairas were silent this time. Was it a precursor of their
demise? Two months later, the Tairas finally fell.
Shikoku-mura Museum
3 minutes' walk after leaving the bus at Toshogu-mae. (Kotoden
Bus:Yashima-sanjo ----Toshogu-mae ---- Chikko) 3 minutes' walk
from thecable - car station.
This is an open - air museum laid out at the foot of Yashima
Plateau. About 20 old rural buildings from various parts of Shikoku
have been ressembled here,in cluding a Farmers' Kabuki Theater,
peasants' houses, a fisherman's house, a suger mill, a shed for
steaming nulberry bark to make paper, and workshops for making
soy sauce and so on. There is a reprica of Kazura-bashi from Nishi
Iyayama-son, too. Open daily: 8:30 - 16:30. Admission: 500en
On May 5, people including children from Shodshima Island,
from which the Kabuki Theater came here, stage an annual performance
of their traditional farmers' Kabuki.
Takamatsu Heike Monogatari Historical Museum
3 minutes' walk from Nihon Tabako-mae Bus Stop after 10 minutes'
ride from JR Takamatsu.
30 minutes' walk from JR Takamatsu Station.
Japan's largest wax doll museum. The first floor is dedicated
to the 41 dolls of histrical 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 Ryoma, Nakaoka Shintaro, Nakahama Manjiro, wencesloau
de Moraes, Inokuma Genichiro, Takahama Kyoshi, Ninomiya Chuhachi,
Setouchi Jakucho, Makino Tomitaro, Yasuoka Shotaro, Kagawa Toyohiko,
Yokoyama Ryuichi, Terada Torahiko, Abe Yoshishige, Nambara Shigeru,
Masaoka Shiki, Kotoku Shusui Nakae Chomin, Kikuchi Kan, Manabe
Hiroshi, Yoshida Shigeru, Itagaki Taisuke.
The second floor exhibits about 300 dolls portraying the 17
scens 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 follow:
- The bell of Gion Monastery tolls
- The inpermanence 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:1200en
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, 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 bridres,
2 twin cable-stayed, 1 truss and 5 viaducts. The upper level accommodates
a motor expressway of four lans, and the lower contains Japan
Railway's system for a dual track ordinary line in the future.
The first person to air the idea of the Seto Ohashi Bridge
was Okubo Jinnojo (1849-1891), a Kagawa native, who at that time
was constructing the first Shikoku Roads to link all the prefectures
on the island. In 1889 Jinnojo disclosed his dream in a cogratulatory
speech he made as a member of the Prefectural Parliament at the
opening ceremony of the first railroad in Shikoku between Marugame
and Kotohira.
Exactly a century later, the Bridge came into being after decades
of plannimg 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 drinking 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 frying 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 is Yoshima Island,
a central pier of the Bridge. It also serves as a sightseeing
outpost for the Shikoku and Inland Sea Disyricts, 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.
Another is arotating tower 132m tall at the Seto Ohashi Memorial
Park at the foot of the Bridge in Sakaide. The Memorial Hall provides
all kinds of information on the Bridge and its construction, while
the park itself applies modern art to stone and water.
Admission to the tower : 800en.
Admission to the Hall : 500en.
To the Seto Ohashi Memorial Park : 10 minutes from JR Sakaide
by shuttle bos (free of charge).
The Gold Tower near JR Utazu Station offers a marvelous view,
too. The 144m tower made of half-mirror glass is the tallest of
its kind in Japan, housing the Sky Loung, restaurants, stores
and a World Toilet Museum.
Open daily. Admission to the tower : 800en. / 1000en (Toilet
Museum included).
To Gold Tower : 8 minuts' walk from JR Utazu.
Bridge-viewing cruises are availabele from Keihan Fisherman's
Wharf on Yoshima, Memorial Park and Saide Port. (1000en-1500)
Marugame City
-Castle & uchiwa-
25 minuts' 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 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.
The Castle Park, 15 minutes' walk from JR Marugame, is surrounded
by moats, featuring the donjon, a couple of main gates (all Important
Cultural Properties) and walls from the 17th century. The 4 -
level 60m ramparts, the tallest and among the most beutiful in
Japan, also contribute to the beauty of the castle.
O-shiro Matsuri Castle Festival is held on the 3rd weekend
in May.
The Inokuma Genichiro Modern Art Museum adjacent to JR Marugame
Station is dedicated to Inokuma Genichiro(1902-93)
Banshoen Garden built in 1688 as a villa for the Lord of the
Province is 10 minutes' drive from downtown Marugame. One of
the galleries there houses Chinese ceramic ware and a collection
of Iranian earthenware and glassware dating back to 2500 B.C.through
the 1200's