Category: 雲仙市観光物産課 [EN]

Daimon Bridge; Yakushido

Daimon Bridge

Daimon Bridge, about 40m east of Yakushido, is a bridge over the Kojiro River, the boundary between the Shimabara Clan and the Kojiro Nabeshima territory. A stone bridge without railings used to be located 30m uptown from the present site, in a key shape against the entrance to the Kojiro territory. The bridge was destroyed in a major flood in 1957 and replaced in its present location.

Yakushido

The Yakushido enshrines the Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyaguru), Jizo Bosatsu (Ksitigarbha) and the Hattengu. Yakushi Nyorai is a Buddha who helps people suffering from illness. Jizo Bosatsu is a bodhisattva who is said to have saved sentient beings from the death of Sakyamuni until the appearance of Maitreya Bodhisattva, and was built in 1723 and 1757. Hattengu, a god of fire prevention, was re-enshrined from Tanakayama in Shimokoga in 1960 due to a series of fires in the Daimon area.

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Kunimi Walking Map

The Ito Family

The Ito Family has been a family of doctors from the Edo Period (1603-1868) to the present day. Although the residence does not remain, large trees over 200 years old, such as a magnolia tree, remain. The Ito Family was founded by Shinzaemon, the 1st generation of the Family. The 3rd generation was taken on by the Christian feudal lord Arima Harunobu as a doctor and married a daughter of the Christian warlord Yuki Yaheiji

The Ito Family moved to Hijikuro village in 1668 in their 4th generation and opened ‘Hiundo‘, where they provided medical treatment. During the Shimabara Earthquake of 1792, records show that the 7th generation of the Ito Family treated the injured and others who were forced to evacuate due to tsunami damage and other problems.

Yuki Yaheiji was from Mino (Gifu Prefecture), and served as lord of Yabe Castle when Konishi Yukinaga entered Uto Castle in Higo (Kumamoto Prefecture).

After the Battle of Sekigahara (1600), he was welcomed by Arima Harunobu as lord of Kanayama Castle. Kanayama Castle was locally known as Yuki Castle and the ruins of the castle remain.

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Kunimi Walking Map

Fuda-no-moto; Guard Station Ruins

Fuda-no-moto

This crossroads used to have an official governmental bulletin board defining local laws and was called Fuda-no-moto. When the lord used the port of Hijikuro to travel to and from Edo (present-day Tokyo), he used to pass through these crossroads. In one corner of the intersection, a signpost erected in 1890 still remains, inscribed East (Shimabara), West (Nagasaki), South (Unzen) and North (Prefectural Road), respectively, indicating that this was a major crossroads in the past.

Guard Station Ruins

A guard station was established in the Edo Period (1603-1868). Guard stations were set up at important traffic points to keep an eye on passers-by, inspect shipments and collect taxes. A stone wall with a key-shaped entrance used to stand here, but was demolished when the road was widened.

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Kunimi Walking Map

Kanakuso Field

‘Kanakuso’ refers to the slag produced during iron-making from iron sand. Any digging in this area, whether on roads or in the fields, produced a lot of slag, hence the name Kanakuso Field. The nearby slope is called Kanakuso Slope. Iron manufacturing seems to have been actively carried out in this area since ancient times.

Iron sand, a raw material for iron-making, is believed to have been extracted from the Hijikuro River, which is also known as the Iron River (Kurogane River).

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Kunimi Walking Map

Hackberry Trees (Enoki Trees)

Hackberry trees were planted along the Shimabara Road, and some of these trees still retain their original appearance.

It is said that in the early Edo Period (1603-1868), when all the main roads in the country were being developed and trees were to be planted about every 4km as landmarks, the shogun’s words “Yo-no-ki (other trees) are better” were misheard by his vassals, and enoki trees were planted.

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Kunimi Walking Map

Ruins of Seed Store; Silkworm Farm

Near the current Baba Settlement Centre in the Taira area, there used to be a building where silkworm larvae were raised for distribution to silkworm farmers. It is said that farmers’ daughters worked there under supervision. East of here, there was a seed store that handled silkworm eggs, and sericulture instructors were stationed there to provide guidance.

In addition, 400m to the west, along the banks of the Hijikuro River, Matsumoto Nobuteru, a native of Hijikuro, set up a silkworm-raising facility and was engaged in sericulture research. Matsumoto succeeded in the storage of silkworms by using the cold air of the wind caves in Mount Unzen. He is regarded as the person who laid the foundations of sericulture in the Shimabara Peninsula.

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Kunimi Walking Map

Shimabara Road; Palanquin (Kago) Stands

Shimabara Road

Shimabara Road was a major road that circled the Shimabara Peninsula during the Edo Period (1603-1868). The road from Shimabara Castle to Aino (North Road), which runs half-circularly along the Ariake Sea on the northern side of the Shimabara Peninsula to Aino, is still called the ‘Lord’s Road’. It is so called because it joined the Nagasaki Road at Isahaya on the way to Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the pilgrimage of the daimyo (feudal lord) to Shimabara.

Along the road extending from the Shimabara City border east of here towards Mount Unzen are the ruins of Gomanchoja. These ruins are thought to be the remains of a representative temple in the Takaku-no-kori area of Hizen Province in the Nara period, and three burial mounds, including Koge Tomb, which is thought to have been built in the mid-6th century is called ‘Cave of the Demons.’

Palanquin (Kago) Stand

The palanquin or kago stand is where the lord had his palanquin placed when he took a rest. It is thought that this is where the palanquin stood to rest during a long journey.

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Kunimi Walking Map

Townscape of Kawanishi

The town of Kōjiro-Kawanishi flourished as a town of the Kōjiro-Nabeshima domain, which was established as an enclave of the Saga Clan.

There are still a few merchant houses in the shopping street that tell of the prosperity of the past, and a group of Ebisu statues from the history of the Saga clan still remain along the street.

Nabeshima residence is a 10-minute walk from Kōjiro-Kawanishi. Please come and visit.

Nabeshima residence was the former residence of the lord of Kōjiro in the Saga domain and was designated as a national important cultural property in 2007.

https://www.city.unzen.nagasaki.jp/info/prev.asp?fol_id=22441

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Former Honda Sake Brewery

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The Honda Family is an old-established family that has been running a brewery in the Kōjiro town centre for generations.

The existing building is a two-storey wooden structure, built in the Meiji period (1868-1912 ). The family residence and the shop are in the same building.

The exterior walls are plastered with white plaster for fire protection purposes, and the traditional architectural style of the roof and windows has been preserved to the present day.

The shop area on the ground floor, facing the road, is over 40 square metres in size. The pillars are made of large machilus trees, suggesting the prosperity of the Honda family in the past.

The building is a valuable example of a traditional Kōjiro merchant house.

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Kōjiro Castle Ruins

This medieval castle was built on a hill overlooking the port of Kōjiro. It is said that the castle dates back to the period of the Northern and Southern Courts period (1336-1392 ), when Takamasu Kōjiro entered the castle.

In 1584, at the battle of Okitanawate, where the Shimazu and Arima allied forces clashed with the Ryūzoji forces, the lord of the time, Kōjiro Takashige, sided with the Ryūzoji forces. When Ryūzoji Takanobu was killed in battle, the defeated Takashige took refuge in the castle of Kōjiro. Surrounded by the sea and marshland, the castle was well defended and the Kōjiro clan fought well but eventually perished in the ensuing battle.

Kōjiro Castle was granted to Nabeshima Naoshige by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587. In 1608, when the castle came under the control of Nabeshima Nobufusa, it was rebuilt as a residence, but was later abandoned under the One Kingdom, One Castle Order.

It is said that cranes (‘Tsuru’ in Japanese) used to fly in the sky and turtles (‘Kame’ in Japanese) used to swim in the surrounding sea, hence the name ‘Tsurukame Castle’.

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