History and travel records

I usually plan my winter history tours to avoid snow as much as possible, and even when driving along the Pacific coast, I always check the weather forecast of Tokai area, where snow flows in from Mt. Ibuki, and Hakone tend to freeze easily. This year, I'm thinking of embarking on the pilgrimage to the 33 temples of the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage and the 88 temples of Shikoku, and I'm planning to start by heading to Seiganto-ji Temple in Nachikatsuura next month. I've driven t

As the new year began, my first historical tour of the year was in Okayama. While I lived in Hiroshima, I had business trips to Mizushima and Tamashima, but never had time to leisurely explore the area. This area, prominently located on the Sanyo Road and open since ancient times, has long intrigued me, so I was excited to explore the area. First, I decided to climb to a high point, standing atop the ancient fortress known as Ki-no-jo. After their defeat in the Battle of Baek

The Satomi clan was famous as a Sengoku daimyo based in Awa, and after the Battle of Sekigahara, was incorporated into the Edo shogunate and feudal domain system as a daimyo with 122,000 koku of rice and its main castle in Tateyama. Just before the Winter Siege of Osaka, the Satomi clan was implicated in the removal of Okubo Tadachika's fief and was ordered to be transferred to Kurayoshi, Hoki, with 30,000 koku of rice, but the actual territory there was only 4,000 koku, so i

The Ota clan, descendants of Minamoto no Yorimasa (Settsu Genji), who rose up against the Taira clan alongside Prince Mochihito, were based in Tanba (present-day Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture) and took the name Ota. They later moved to Sagami, where, under the reign of his father, Ota Sukekiyo (Doshin), he demonstrated his skills as the head retainer of the Ogigayatsu Uesugi clan. The Ogigayatsu Uesugi clan was a branch of the Yamanouchi Uesugi clan, which had produced the Kanto

I started this year's historical walk with a visit to Takasaki's ancient tombs, but before I knew it, the end of the year was upon us, and I had been planning to explore the ancient tombs on the opposite bank of the Tone River. Gunma Prefecture is lined from west to east with the famous mountains of Myogi, Haruna, and Akagi. The Tone River, which flows between Haruna and Akagi, splits vertically and gradually flows eastward as it enters Maebashi city. Akagi Shrine, esteemed a

Ieyasu's second son, Yuki Hideyasu, was adopted by Toyotomi Hideyoshi after the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute (1584), but after Yodo-dono gave birth to their first child, Tsurumatsu, Hideyasu was adopted by Yuki Harutomo after the Siege of Odawara (1590). In order to win over Ieyasu, Hideyoshi married off his sister (Asahihime) and also offered his mother (Omandokoro) as a hostage, but it was probably necessary to strike a balance by wanting to adopt Hideyasu, who could have

Yabakei is the general name for the gorge that unfolds in the upper and middle reaches of the Yamakuni River, and is a scenic spot with many different faces, created by the erosion of the large amount of pyroclastic flow deposits (welded tuff) from a major eruption that occurred one million years ago. This time, we visited the famous Hitome Hakkei, where countless stone pillars standing like grave markers and gaps in the cliffs are covered with trees of various colors. Rai Sa

I have only ever been to Ryogoku to watch sumo, but I decided to take a walk around the quiet Ryogoku area on a weekday when there was no sumo tournament. As November approaches, NHK's taiga drama series is reaching its final stretch. The protagonist of "Berabou," Tsutaya Juzaburo, is in his twilight years, and the story will depict Edo after the fall of Matsudaira Sadanobu. The script and cast are excellent, but what's particularly noteworthy right now is the comedian Kukki

Mt. Daisen has been quiet since it last erupted over 20,000 years ago and is now classified as a dormant volcano. It is a famous mountain that can be seen from anywhere in western Tottori Prefecture, but the mountain's body has a complex shape due to collapses caused by eruptions and lava domes from underground, and it looks completely different depending on the angle from which you view it. Looking up from Masumizu Plateau, it looks like twin mountains. From the top of Yonag

The Yamanobe Road is said to be the oldest official road in Japan, and runs along the mountain edge on the southeastern edge of the Nara Basin. The reason it is on a slightly elevated area is that much of the Nara Basin was wetland and swampland during the Kofun period, and going back even further, it was a lake during the Jomon period. The ancient tombs and shrines along the road tell the story of this area being the birthplace of the Yamato nation, and it's fun to walk alon

Kofuku-ji Temple was originally the family temple of the Fujiwara clan, and was a large temple complex that took over 100 years to build...

Two valleys (Kiso Valley and Ina Valley) run vertically through southern Nagano Prefecture, with the Kiso River flowing to the west and...

While living in Tokyo, one tends to think that Kamakura is close and one can go there anytime, but I decided to take a leisurely walk...

Taga Castle was built in the early Nara period (the first year of the Jinki era, 724) as an administrative center and a military garrison...

Fushimi is the lowest point in the Kyoto Basin, located at the confluence of the Katsura River, which flows through Kyoto City, the Kamo...

Asama is an archaic word meaning volcano, originally called "Asama" and then "Sengen" from the Middle Ages onwards, and coupled with the...