Let me introduce myself. My name is Takaaki Ikeuchi. I was born in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan on November 27, 1984.
I am a first year student at Kagawa Junior College. My major is Infant Education.
My hobbies are skateboarding and listening to music.(Ram Ｊａｍ Ｗｏｒｌｄ etc)
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 know 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 Pilgrimage correspond well to what Shikoku offers- the Seto Inland 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 remaind underdeveloped since the 8th century. Until areas to enjoy civilization in Japan, as proved by so many archaeological findings.
Remote as it eas 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 development. On the other hand, Shikoku's unique attractions such as the Shikku 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 culutural assets now peculiar to Shikoku have added another dimension 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 ialand, pleasure resorts, theme parks, museums, 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 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 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 herself seen through Shikoku , finding inspiration of your own by traveling around this small but great island. Bon voyage!
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 TokushimaPref., 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 ?'Konpira-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 that features not only the famous historical literature called 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 habor 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 TamamoKoen Park across the street from JR Takamatsu Station . The donjon is gone , but two of the 15 turrets and Mizute Gomon Gate from the 17 th century ( Important Cultural Properties ) survived the air raid in 1945. Admission: 100yen.
Traditionally the popular sightseening spots in Takamatsu are Ritsurin Koen Park near downtown and Yashima Plateau over looking the city and the Inland Sea. They are accessible by bus or tram, with terminals at Takamatsu Chikko just opposite JR Station.
*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 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 charms 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 water lilies in June, giant lotuses in August , and Japanese bush clover in September, and brilliant maple leaves in November add to the pleasureof 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 zoo, too, inside the gate. Open daily. Admission to the park : About 300 yen.
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 Takamtsu, 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 (No, 84) 1, an aquarium 2 and observatories all linked by forest promenades. One of the observatories, Dankorei 3 , 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 Tairs ).
Once a British poet, Edmund Blunden, visited Yashima and wrote a poem that was engraved on a stone here at Dankorei observatory:
In 794 kyoto become 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 Tairs clans - began to acquire greater and grater influence in politics throughv 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 reignings 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 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, then at Dan-no-ura in the westernmost corner of the inland Sea, where the pround 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 treasures in its museum a folding screen depicting the Gempei no Kassen Battles . The bell in the belfry, cast in Kyotoin 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 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 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 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 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 arshers," said his attendant.
"Then let it be shot down by someone ," 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 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 the pole. All the Tairas in the boats and all the Minamotos on the shore were watching Yoichi. What would he do? Would he succeed?
Yoichi rode into the water as far as he could. But it was still about 70m 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 boats. 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 Taitas finally fell.
3 minutes' walk after leaving the bus at Toshogu-mae.(Kotoden Bus: Yashima-sanjo Toshogu-mae Chikko)
3 minutes walk from the cable-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 reassembled here, including a Farmers' Kabuki Theater, peasants' houses, a fisherman's house, a sugar mill, a shed for steaming mulberry bark to make paper, and workshops for making soy sause and so on. There is a reprica of Kazura-bashi from Nishi Iyayama-son, too. Open daily: 8:30~16:30. Admission: 500yen
On May 5, people including children from Shodoshima Island, from which the Kabuki Theater came here, stage an annual performance of their traditional famers' kabuki.
3 minutes' walk from Nihon Tabako-mae Bus Stop after 10 minutes' ride from JR Takamatsu. (Kotoden Bus : Asahimachi 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 second floor exhibits about 300 dolls portraying the 17 scenses 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 Japaneae 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 hard who traveled around chanthing The Tale of the Taira Family even before it was written down in the first half of the 13 th century. Its opening passage is especially famous for its Buddhist idea of impermanence that goes as follows:
- 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 yen
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 Kojima-Sakaide Route, popularly know 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 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 at present and for a dual track superexpress line in the future.
The first person to air the idea of 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 congratulatory speech he made as 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 planning and ten yesrs of construction, 13 million workers involved (with the loss of 17 lives), and costing 1,190,000 million yen.
Surprisingly, Jinnijo had also foretold man's traveling to the moon in his favorite to the moon in his favorite drinking song of his own making , which went as follows:
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 Districts, providing 2 parking areas for those who like to enjoy bridge-viewing, seafood and shopping.
To Yoshima : 25 minutes from JR Sakaide by bus.
Another is a rotating tower 132 m 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:800yen.Admission to the Hall:510.
To the Seto Ohashi Memorial Park: 10 minutes from JR Sakaide by shuttle bus (free of charge).
The Goid Tower 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, restaurants, stores and a World Toilet Museum.
Open daily. Admission to the tower:800/1000yen( Toilet Museum included).
To Gold Tower :8minutes' walk from JR Utazu. Bridge-viewing cruises are available from Keihan Fisherman's Wharf on Yoshima, Memorial Park and Sakaide Port.(1000~1500yen)
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.
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 wails from the 17th century. The 4-level 60 m ramparts, the tallest and among the most beautiful in Japan, also contribute to the beauty of the caysle.
Oshiro 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 were and glassware dating back to 2500 B.C. through the 1200's A.D. Open daily.
Admission to the Garden & galleries: 1000yen( Students: 600yen, Chirdren: 400 yen)
10 minutes' walk from Nakazu-bashi Bus Stop after 10 minutes' ride from Marugame Toricho near the castle. (Kotosan Bus for Zentsuji via Tadotsu)
Zentsu-ji Temple, is know as the birthplace of Kobo Daishi Kukai. Kukai is one of the greatest geniuses Japan has ever produced. He made a great contribution in remolding Japanese religion , while making unpralleled achievements as a scholar, poet, artist, calligrapher, sculptor, architect, educator, social worker, inventor, discoverer and civil engineer.
The giant camphor trees near the five-storied pagoda in the East Precinct are said to have a already been several hundred years old when Kukai was born in 774. The Mieido Hall in the West Precinct at the foot of the green hills is the Birthplace.
Visitors may traverse of the hall along a pitch-dark path. This introspective journey is called kaidan-meguri. The entrance is at the right -hand corner of the Hall. The entrance fee includes the admission to the museum. (300yen)
The utter blacknees along the path symbolizes the darkness of the human mind or human ignorance of the Truth. The notice says:" Go along with the palm of your left hand pressed against the left-hand wall. The wall , painted with mandalas , angels and lotus flowers, is the Buddha's Way. You will be safely guided as long as you are on His Way."
After the Kaidan-meguri, arrows guide you to the Museum. The temple treasures exhibited there include a small clay pagoda Kukai molded at 7, a bowl used by Kukai as a mendicant priest, a robe and a ritual stick (a National Treasure) of Indian make, both presented to kukai by his Chinese master Abbot Hui-kuo, and a sutra scroll (a National Tresaure) with each of the Chinese characters accompained by a little Bodhisattva on a lotus pedestal; Kukai did the calligraphy, his moter the painting.
Shoringi Kempo is not merely a sport or martial art, but a religious exercise to approach the Buddha's spirit in the principles of "self-realization" and "help each other."
It was started by So Doshin I (1911-1980) in 1947. Two years before he had been repatriated from Manchuria, the northeastern part of China that "Imperialist Japan" held for 13 years till the end of World War 2. Doshin had seen how people could be dehumainzed in the dire extremites of war and its aftermath. "Developing good humanity is the only way to save Japan and the world at large," he kept saving to himself. Doshin, who had learned various martial arts in China, pondered over the Zen philosophy of Bodhidharma, trying to restore the martial art that Bodhidharma himself was said to have practised about 1,500 years ago when he brought Zen from India to China. Finally, Doshin succeeded in restoring and reorganizing the whole body of that art, which he named Shorinji Kempo. Now its Headquarters has more than 100 branches in 23 countries in the world.
The Shorinji Kempo Headquarters (0877) 33-1010 is on southern slope of Toryo Koen Park Hill 15 minutes' walk from JR Tadotsu Station. The Bodhidharma Festival is held on the 1st Sunday in October.
-the mecca of Kompira worshippers-
- [From JR Takamatsu to JR Kotohira]
- 60 minutes by shuttle train (Dosan Line)
- [From Takamatsu Chikko]
- 70 minutes' tram ride to Kotohira (Kotoden).
- [From JR Okayama]
- 67 minutes' train ride by special express.
- 2 hours to Kotoden Kotohira Station by Seto Ohashi Kosoku Bus.
- Especially Noted Product : Ittobori woodcarving.
Kotohira-gu, a great shrine complex, of ten affectionately called Kompira-san, has been a celebrated destination for pilgrims and tourists for hundreds of yesrs.
According to legend, Kompira-san came into being when Kumbhira - a guardian god of Buddhism, originally a Hindu crocodile god of the Ganges, was beckoned by a Buddhist priest of Matsuo-ji, a thousand -year-old temple in this neighborhood.
Kumbhira from the holy waters of the Ganges was naturally believed to be a mighty patron deity for seamen, fishermen and rice-growing famers, and in later years came to be considered a Great Incarnation of the Buddha himself.
But the temple remained a Shinto shrine in part, with Omononushi-no-mikoto, the native god of fertility, medicine and commerce also summoned from the mythological land of Izumo. Omononushi-no-mikoto, along with Daikoku-ten representing Chinese folk religion , were then identified with the Indian god Kumbhira (Kompira), a case of religious internationalism in classical Japan.
In 1868 Buddhism and Shintoism were separated by law, and Omononushi became the chief god along with the deified Emperor Sutoku who had been enshrined here in the 15th century. Yet "Kompira Worship" continued to flourish, for the Hindu deity had already enshrind himself deep in the hearts of the Japanese people.
There are 785 stone steps to climb before one reaches the Main Shrine. Fortunately its route consists first of a colorful street of souvenir shops and then of a quiet promenade lined with gardens, shrines and museums. The numberless granite lanterns, fences and tablets bordering the approach were all dedicated by Kompira worshippers nationwide, as were the stone steps themselves.
Many of the
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