Darumapedia

11 Jun 2018

EDO - Sudacho district Kanda

https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2018/06/suda-sudacho-district-kanda.html

Suda Sudacho district Kanda

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
- - - - - Koyanagi district see below
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Kanda Sudacho　神田須田町 Suda district
Kanda Sudachō, first and second sub-district

This district is located on the Northeastern part of Chiyoda Ward.
It borders (across Kanda River) Soto-Kanda and Kanda-Sakumachō on the north, Kanda-Iwamotochō on the east, Kanda-Kajichō and Kajichō on the south, and Kanda-Awajichō, Kanda-Ogawamachi and Kanda-Tachō on the west.
Sudachō once had a terminal which served for a number of the Tokyo City Streetcar lines. It is one of the few areas that survived the bombing of Tokyo in World War II resulting in many historic buildings still existing.
- quote wikipedia -

- quote -
Kanda is the heart of Edo and the Mecca of Edokko, in other words the essence of the Edo culture.
After the Maiji restoration, Kanda, in particular the Sudacho area was developed and enjoyed prosperity so long as Manseibashi station (now Transportation Museum : see the map below) was the main station in Tokyo. From the end of the 19th century Manseibashi became the center of the downtown in Tokyo. Then, the Great Kanto Earthquake occurred in 1923 and destroyed everything.
The reconstruction
rapidly took place and many of the traditional buildings which we can see now were constructed in the period.
However, the central shopping area of Tokyo shifted to Nihonbashi and Ginza when the Second World War was approaching.
Then,
the air-raids in 1944 and 1945 burnt down almost everything on the surface of Tokyo. In Kanda ward 18,650 houses were destroyed by the air-raids from November 29, 1944 till April 13, 1945, and only 3,000 houses, mostly in the Sudacho area, were left at the end of the war.
Many of those old houses
were thereafter torn down and replaced by modern and tasteless buildings.
However, the Sudacho area is still very interesting to stroll and stop by.
..... Anyhow, there are few places in and around Tokyo which retain the old atmosphere due to the air-raids during the War and the development which took place in the last decades. So, the Sudacho area is a very precious place for us, especially because it is located in the midst of the busiest areas of Tokyo and easily accessible
- source : ocada.jp/archive-japanasitis/sudacho... -

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. Shrine Yanagimori jinja 柳森神社 .
千代田区神田須田町2-25 Chiyoda, Kanda, Sudacho
This shrine is famous for its Tanuki tales.

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Kotsu Hakubutsukan 交通博物館 Transportation Museum
東京都千代田区神田須田町1-25 / 1 Chome-25 Kanda Sudachō, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō
- museum reference -

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. Kanda renjaku machi 神田連雀町 Renjaku-Cho district .
Now comprising the following districts in Kanda :
神田連雀町 - - - 万世橋　Manseibashi bridge toward 須田町一丁目 Sudacho first district and 、淡路町二丁目 Awajicho second district.

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Koyanagi choo 小柳町 Koyanagi district "small willow tree"
代田区神田須田町二丁目 Chiyoda ward, Kanda, Suda second sub-district

After the great earthquake and fire of 1933, the old name 東京都神田区小柳町 Tokyo, Kanda ward, Koyanagi
was changed to its present name.

This small district used to be a large temple compound. But the temple burned down in the Great Meireki fire, 1657, and after that, the estates of Daimyo were established here:
Echizen Ono Han　越前大野　土井能登守俊房　Doi Noto no Kami Toshifusa and others.
In 1698, these estates were relocated again and a village for the townspeople developed.
The place name refers to its location below the river bank Yanagihara dote 柳原土手下.

Yanagihara tsutsumi 柳原堤 Yanagihara embankment
江戸名所図会 Edo Meisho Zue

Around 1745, dealers of old Kimono and robes and used household tools settled here and the area became quite busy. This can be seen in the illustration above.

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. Kanda 神田 Kanda district　 .

There is also a Koyanagi cho in Fuchu, Tokyo.
Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0013

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

.................................................................................　Chiyoda ward 千代田区

reiken 霊剣 the magic sword
In 小石川諏訪町蕎麦切横町 Koishikawa, Suwacho, Sobakiri Yokocho lived a man named 折原岩之助 Orihara Iwanosuke. On the 16th day of the 3rd lunar month in 1826 he had a dream.
At a tool dealer in Kanda Koyanagicho there was a very special sword. He saw this dream for many nights in a row, therefore on the 21st day he went to see the shop. There was an old sword indeed. He bought it and on that night he had another dream. A man wearing white robes on top of his armor appeared and told him about the many virtues of the sword.
It had the inscription 小倉五郎源宗広 Kokura Goro Minamoto Munehiro and was more than 470 years old.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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EDO - Samezu district

https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2018/06/samezu-district-shinagawa.html

Samezu district Shinagawa

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
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Samezu 鮫洲 "Shark sand bar"
品川区南品川　3－5、東大井

In 1251, a huge shark was seen in the water. When a brave fisherman came close, he realized the animal was already dead. He pulled the animal ashore and cut it open. Inside was a wooden statue of Kannon Bosatsu. The fishermen felt great reverence and now called the area Samezu.
The Kannon statue was given to the Kamakura government, which in turn had a temple built to house it,
海晏寺 Kaian-Ji. - see below -

. same　鮫 (さめ) shark .

Minami-Shinagawa and Samezu Coast
Utagawa Hiroshige

In the Edo period there were many temples and shrines in the area, apart from the local fishermen and hunters.

- quote -
鮫洲 is just the popular local name for the area. There was never an official place, for example Samezu Mura 鮫洲村 Samezu Village or Samezu Machi 鮫洲町 Samezu Town. The name is only preserved in the name of a shrine, Samezu Hachiman Jinja 鮫洲八幡神社 Samezu Hachiman Shrine and whatever local businesses or spots have chosen to don the name Samezu. The actual official name of the area is Higashi Ōi 東大井 East Ōi. Except for the shrine and a few local spots, the name might have fallen into disuse, except in 1904 a train station called Samezu Eki 鮫洲駅 Samezu Station was opened in the area.
In the Edo Period,
the area was known as the 大井御林猟師町 Ōi o-hayashi ryōshimachi 大井御林猟師町 Ōi o-hayashi fishing villages. The area that is now called Samezu today was home to two villages,
Shinagawaura 品川浦 Shinagawa Inlet and 御林浦 Ohayashiura 御林浦 Ohayashi Inlet.
御林 o-hayashi were forests that fell under the direct control of the shōgunate. Most of the resources from this area – be they timber or seafood – were generally for the consumption of the shōgun family in Edo Castle. The area may not have been beautiful but it had shōgunal prestige. It was honored in one of Utagawa Hiroshige's prints, which depicted the seaweed farms lining the coast....

Supposedly,
traditional Edo style fishing and seaweed harvesting continued in the area right up until the 1960's. In the early 1950's, Tōkyō government officials and other corporate interests began planning a redevelopment of Tōkyō Bay. Japan was exporting a lot at that time, particularly to their rich trade partner, the USA. As Japan rose from the ashes of WWII to become the dominant economic power in Asia, old Edo-style ports were just not cutting it, they were downright embarrassing. Modern ships could fish farther out at sea and return faster with new technology. When the 1964 Olympics came around, perhaps Tōkyō could boast a safe, modern bay that had never been seen in Asia before...
And so from 1962-1969,
the Tōkyō government began buying out and relocating fishermen from the area in order to fill in the bay and reclaim the area. By 1969, the process was more or less complete and much of the shape of Tōkyō Bay today dates from that decade. So by this time, Samezu was officially cut off from the sea. Its proximity to the bay isn't far, and there are a few controlled inlets that survive. But the Tōkaidō that bordered the sea no longer borders the sea in the former shōgun's capital.
- Look at more photos on this link :
- source : japanthis.com/2014... -

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Samezu Hachiman Jinja 鮫洲八幡神社 Samezu Hachiman Shrine
Shinagawa, Higashioi, １丁目20−10 // 東京都品川区東大井1丁目20-10 Higashi-Oi

The deity in residence is
Homutawake no mikoto 誉田別尊

In former times, the shrine was called 御林八幡宮 Ohayashi Hachimangu.

This shrine is first mentioned in 1668. In 1929, it was united with 白山神社 Hakusan Jinja.
The present main hall was reconstructed in 1972.

- quote -
At the entrance of the shrine are stone Komainu guardian dogs with "Hunters of the Town" written on them.
There are also stone lanterns donated by local hunters, showing that a strong faith was given as the guardian of Ryoshimachi in Samezu.
- source : shinagawa.kokosil.net/en... -

The Grand Annual Festival of Samezu Hachiman Shrine 鮫洲八幡神社例大祭
From 3:00am they take the large mikoshi (portable shrine) out of the main shrine grounds and walk the city mainly along the old Tokaido route until the morning sun comes.

There are float parades and children mikoshi parades during the afternoon hours.
- source : ohmatsuri.com/en/matsuri-list... -

There were two temples in the Shrine compound during the Edo period:

Joorinji 常林寺 Jorin-Ji

. Raifukuji 来福寺 Raifuku-Ji .
Gofunai Pilgrim Temple Nr. 26

In May 1851, a huge whale washed ashore at Samezu.
It was buried at the shrine in honor, as many whales were at that time.

The Japanese Culture of Mourning Whales: Whale Graves and Memorial Monuments
- reference source : Mayumi Itoh -

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Kaianji 海晏寺 Temple Kaian-Ji
品川区南品川3-5-21 // Shinagawa, Minamishinagawa

Kaian-Ji became a famous spot to enjoy the red autumn leaves. Many temporary tea shops, Momiji chaya　紅葉茶屋 were installed during that time.

source : Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Maple-leaf Viewing at Kaian-ji
Utagawa Hiroshige

The temple was founded in 1251, as written above, to venerate the wooden statue of Kannon Bosatsu.

The temple name is 補陀落山 Fudarakuzan. It was founded on behalf of the Kamakura government by the founder of temple 建長寺 Kencho-Ji in Kamakura.
During the period of the Sengoku 戦国時代 Warring states it was devastated and later rebuild on orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu and in 1593 it came under the supervision of 本多佐渡守正信 Honda Masanobu (1538 - 1616).
It is now a pilgrim temple of Kannon Temples :
Nr. 30 in 東海三十三観音霊場 Tokai and Nr. 1 in 東京三十三観音霊場 Tokyo.

. 東京三十三観音霊場 Pilgrimage to 33 Kannon Temples .

海晏寺 Kaian-Ji
南品川鮫州海岸 Samezu Coast

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Shinagawa ku 品川区 Shinagawa ward

. Shinagawa - Introduction .
The first station of 東海道五十三次 The 53 stations of the Tokaido .
1. Shinagawa-juku 品川宿 (Shinagawa)
Shinagawa jinja 品川神社 / Ebara jinja 荏原神社

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .

. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

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- - - - - #shinagawa #samezu - - - -
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8 Jun 2018

FUDO - Hachiman Gudokun

https://fudosama.blogspot.com/2017/12/hachiman-gudokun.html

Hachiman Gudokun

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. Legends about Fudo お不動さま - 不動明王 .
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Hachiman gudōkun 八幡愚童訓
Hachiman Gudokun (written around 1300)
Tales of the God of War Told to the Simple

"Hachiman Gudokun" is a history of temples and shrines that narrates the miracle and divine virtue of Hachimanshin (Shinto god of War) which is considered to have been compiled in the middle or late Kamakura period.

source : blogs.yahoo.co.jp/nonki_harumi...

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- quote -
The Mongols brought an advanced technology weapon that terrified the Samurai. It was an early form of "shock and awe". In addition to their clouds of arrows fired continuously, the Mongols also brought explosive Chinese bombs. These bombs were flung from Trebuchets.

An account from Hachiman Gudokun reads,
"The commanding general kept his position on high ground, and directed the various detachments as need be with signals from hand drums. But whenever the Mongol soldiers took flight they sent iron bomb shells flying against us which made our side dizzy and confused. Our soldiers were frightened out of their wits by the thundering explosions, their eyes blinded, their ears deafened, so that they could hardly distinguish east from west."
These "mighty iron balls" were flung and "rolled down the hills like cartwheels", they sounded like "thunder" and when they exploded "looked like bolts of lightning".
The Mongol shock tactics definitely worked in the opening engagement between the two armies.
- source : greendragonsociety.com/warriors... -

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- quote Simpson, Emily Blythe -
Sovereign, Shaman and Bodhisattva :
A Medieval Reinterpretation of Empress Jingū in the Hachiman gudōkun
Empress Jingu (traditionally 169-269 CE) is a legendary figure, appearing in myths of the gods in the earliest chronicles of Japan, the Kojiki (712) and the Nihon shoki (720). According to these accounts, she was a shaman as well as empress and the vessel through which the gods made known their will to the emperor. At Emperor Chuai's death, she took up the divine mission bequeathed to her husband and organized an invasion of the Korean peninsula, calling on the gods whenever her goal was frustrated. She returned triumphant to Japan, bore a son, and ensured his succession to the throne through her own period of rulership. Though the paucity of historical evidence has led to various theories regarding the story's factual basis, its importance as a legend is evident from its appearance and reinvention through over a thousand years of Japanese history.

This thesis charts what may perhaps be considered the first phase of that reinvention. In the later classical and medieval periods of Japan, Jingu's son, Emperor Ojin, was identified with Hachiman, a local god of increasingly central importance and an emblem of syncretic religious traditions within Japan. With the growing importance of Buddhism, both Hachiman and his mother were reimagined with Buddhists elements in their histories. Focusing on the Hachiman gudokun, a shrine-temple origins account written in the first decades of the fourteenth century, this thesis charts the developments of the Jingu narrative in various documents of the medieval period.
Highlighting three key roles of Jingu's character --ruler, shaman, and Buddhist-- I show how the Hachiman gudokun presented a version of Empress Jingu's story revitalized by contemporary developments in Buddhist and political thought, paving the way for the powerful martial image of Jingu that emerged during the Meiji Period.
- source : Emily Blythe Simpson -

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Das Hachiman-gudōkun (I) als historische Quelle, insbesondere zu den Invasionen der Mongolen in Japan
Wolfgang Bockhold
- source : google books -

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- quote -
「愚童訓」とは八幡神の神徳を「童蒙にも理解出来るように説いた」の意味である。諸本に書かれた書名によって
『八幡大菩薩愚童訓』及び
『八幡愚童記』などともいい、江戸時代初期に作成されたものの表題に附された訓に基づいて「はちまんぐどうきん」とも呼ばれる。
----- 甲種本
--- 上下二巻。
甲種本は、史上の異敵とその降伏（こうぶく）に関する事蹟が述べられ、上巻においては神功皇后のいわゆる「三韓征伐」、皇后の皇子であり八幡大菩薩とされる応神天皇の事蹟、文永の役における蒙古軍の襲来、対馬・壱岐への侵攻、九州上陸と九州御家人勢との戦闘の状況、箱崎八幡宮（筥崎八幡宮）の焼亡などが記される。
--- 下巻は弘安の役における思円上人・叡尊の修法、蒙古退却の奇瑞などを記述する。
甲種本の特徴としては、文永の役におけるモンゴル・高麗連合軍である蒙古軍の対馬・壱岐侵攻に関する史料となっている点である。また、箱崎八幡による奇瑞や神威の顕現によって度々蒙古軍が撃退されたことが述べられている。さらに、叡尊の祈祷による霊験の成果が強調されており、本書の成立に社寺の祈祷に対する朝廷からの恩賞問題が関わっていた可能性が指摘されている。（群書類従第一輯神祇部巻十三　収録）
----- 乙種本
上下二巻。
乙種本は、八幡大菩薩の霊験・神徳について14章にわたって述べ、阿弥陀信仰との習合を説いた教義書的性格を持つ。
序にはじまり、
垂迹、名号、遷坐、御躰、本地、王位、氏人、慈悲、放生会、受戒、正直、不浄、仏法、後世の十四章からなり、各項目にわたり広大無辺なる八幡大菩薩の神徳霊験が述べられている。（続群書類従第二輯神祇部巻三十） ...
- reference source : wikipedia -

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. Empress Jingu Kogo 神功皇后 .

. Pilgrimages to Fudo Temples 不動明王巡礼
Fudo Myo-O Junrei - Fudo Pilgrims .

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7 Jun 2018

SENNIN - Gyoei Koji

https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2018/04/sennin-gyoei-koji.html

Sennin Gyoei Koji

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. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .
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Gyooei Koji 行叡居士 Gyoei Koji

He is Nr. 13 of
. 日本の仙人37人 - The 37 Immortals of Japan .

The dates of his life are not clear. He was a monk, maybe living in the Asuka or Nara period.
He lived in a hermitage in the 東山山麓 Higashiyama Mountain range in 山城国愛宕郡八坂郷 Yasaka, Atago district of Yamashiro no Kuni.
In 778 priest 延鎮 Enchin came to visit him.
Gyoei gave Enchin a precious piece of wood and soon after he left for the Eastern Provinces and was not seen again.
Enchin was involved in the building of temple 清水寺 Kiyomizudera, together with Sakanoue no Tamuramaro.

清水寺　観音像　Kiyomizu Kannon

- quote -
It was said that Kiyomisu Dera was found by a Nara monk named Enchin who practiced asceticism in 778.
He met a Buddhist old recluse called Gyoei Koji while wandering nearby Otowa-ni-taki waterfall, to look for a site with a golden stream to build a temple, after being inspired in a dream.
Gyoei told him that he was a devotee to Kannon Bodhisattva and had been waiting for him to come as he was to leave. He presented the monk a piece of wood and left.
Monk Enchin soon found a pair of sandals on top of the hill and realized that the old hermit was a Bodhisattva.
The monk Enchin later created an image of eleven headed thousand armed image of Kannon and carved it on the sacred log given to him by Gyoei, and built a little hut to house it.
One day, General Sakanone Tamuramaro (758-811) happened to pass by the waterfall when hunting a deer. He met Enchin. Seeing him killing a deer and carrying it in hand, the monk delivered him a Dharma talk and lectured him with merciful teaching of Kannon Bodhisattva. General Tamuramaro repented and became a pious disciple to Enchin, devoted and in faith to Kannon. He donated a proper hall to enshrine the image of Kannon by dismantling his own house and in year 794, he contributed to the master
The Emperor's old residence that was gifted to him after the emperor built a new palace when moved to Kyoto. The building was made into the main shrine hall of the temple.
- source : ANICCA -

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. Kiyomizu-dera 清水寺 Kyoto .

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

. Sakanoue no Tamuramaro 坂上田村麻呂 .
(758 - 811)
conquering the Emishi (蝦夷征伐 Emishi Seibatsu) in Tohoku.

................................................................................. Fukushima 福島県　
田村郡 Tamura district 三春町 Miharu

kinma 木馬（きんま) "wooden horse"
Tamuramaro fought against the local tribesman, 大多鬼丸」（大滝丸） Otaki Maru, who lived in a cave at 大滝根山 Mount Otakine san (1,192 m).
延鎮上人 Saint Enchin had carved the statue of Kannon at temple Kiyomizudera and from the left-over pieces of wood had carved 鞍馬 100 wooden horses with saddles and sent them to Tamuramaro. Tamuramaro put the horses in his armor and left for Tohoku. When he was in a pinch fighting, all of a sudden 100 horsemen came out and helped him fight at Mount Otakine.
When he returned in triumph, the horses had disappeared from his armor.
One day later, one of the wooden horses was found all sweating at 高柴村 Takanomura village near 三春 Miharu. A man named 杵阿弥 Kiami realized it was one of the wooden horses given by Enchin and out of piety he carved the other 99 anew.
Three years later, the one horse became missing. The family of Kiami still preserves the memory of the wooden horses.
When they gave a horse to a family with an ill child, the child got well very soon. Now the horses are a kind of amulet for bringing up healthy children in Miharu.

People kept them as talismans for an easy birth of their horses.
They also build statues of a Kannon with a horsehead (Bato Kannon) at the entrance of their villages to protect their animals.

. Miharu koma 三春駒 horses from Miharu .

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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3 Jun 2018

EDO - Minowa district

https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2018/06/minowa-district.html

Minowa district

The area used to stick out like a nose into the sea. It was called
mizu no wa 水の輪 ring of water or mizu no hana 水の鼻 nose in the water.
The pronunciation has then changed to Minowa.
It was a kind of plain, 三ノ輪原 Minowahara.

During the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 most of the city of Edo burned down, including the pleasure district. The new pleasure district, Yoshiwara 吉原, was close to Asakusa and thus to Minowa

Even before the Edo period, this was a sort of highway station on the way to the North.
. Ōshū Kaidō 奥州街道 Oshu Kaido Highway .
connecting Edo with the Mutsu Province in Tohoku.
Just before leaving Edo, after crossing the 三ノ輪橋 Minowabashi bridge there were the new pleasure quarters.
The old bridge was demolished in 1926.

. Yoshiwara 葦原 /　吉原　pleasure quarters in Edo .

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Meisho Edo hyakkei - Minowa, Kanasugi, Mikawashima
名所江戸百景［箕輪　金杉　三河しま］
歌川広重初代 Utagawa Hiroshige 1

- quote
Minowa
Huge villas and gardens of feudal lords who served the Shogun were located here during the Edo period. As painted in ukiyo-e, the farming villages of Minowa and Kanasugi as well as Mikawashima were sites for the Shogun's hawk hunting.
In 1913, a tram that would be the present-day Toden Arakawa line started its operation to the town of Oji. Adjacent to tram terminal, on the site where 石川屋敷跡 Lord Ishikawa's villa had been, a new shopping district was built. The area is still a popular shopping district named ジョイフル三の輪商店街 Joyful-Minowa. Locals still call here "the new district." Here you can buy foods like tempura, dumplings, and メンチカツ menchi-katsu (a breaded, deep-fried meat patty) just as busy Japanese mothers have done since the good old days.
- source : National Diet Library

ジョイフル三の輪

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Minowa Station 三ノ輪駅 Minowa-eki
is a subway station in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. It is close to Minowabashi Station on the Tokyo Sakura Tram.

夜桜を見て横丁の三ノ輪線
yozakura o mite yokochoo no Minowa sen

viewing night cherry blossoms
and then into the back roads
along the Minowa line

両角玲子 Morozumi Reiko

Minowabashi Station Terminus 三ノ輪橋停留場 Minowabashi teiryūjō
is a station on the Tokyo Sakura Tram. This is the terminus of the line. It is close to Minowa Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

.................................................................................　西多摩郡　Nishi-Tama district
箕輪村 Minowa village

shirogitsune 白狐 white fox
There is an old family in Minowa. They tell a tale of a white fox who fell into the well and died on the first day of the New Year.
Since then the family had misfortunes and lost all their wealth.

. kitsune densetsu 狐　伝説 fox legends .

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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- - - - - H A I K U and S E N R Y U - - - - -

かたよりて右は箕輪の若葉哉
katayorite migi wa Minowa no wakaba kana

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 .

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朝顔や三ノ輪の猫のこぎれいに
asagao ya Minowa no neko no kogirei ni

大木あまり Ooki Amari (1941 - )

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .

. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

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2 Jun 2018

EDO - Kofun mounds

https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2018/06/kofun-burial-mound.html

kofun burial mound

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. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .
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kofun 古墳 burial mounds in Tokyo

. kofun jidai 古墳時代 burial mound period - 250 to 538 .
- Introduction and legends -

There are more than 200 burial mounds in Tokyo.

- collecting -
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Musashi Fuchu Kumano Jinja Kofun　武蔵府中熊野神社古墳
2-9 Nishi-Fuchu, Fuchu city

- quote -
The tomb mound consists of two lower stages in square shape in plan view and of a single upper stage in circular shape; thus the type is called jo-en kahofun (tomb mound with circular mound on upper stage and rectangular mound on lower stage). As per size, the lowest mound is ca. 32 m on side, the second mound ca. 23 m on side and the uppermost mound has a diameter of ca. 16 m. The structure for funeral is so-called stone chamber with a horizontal hole, which was built by lining cut stones. The total length is ca. 8.8 m, and the structure consists of 3 chambers.
Almost no relics
were excavated due to grave robbing and others, but a metal tip attached to a sword casing was excavated. The metal tip is decorated with silver Damascening.
The construction of the tomb mound
supposedly dates back to the middle to the latter half of the 7th century, on the ground of the shape of the stone chamber and characteristics of the metal tip.
There are four tomb mounds
with circular mound on upper stage and rectangular mound on lower stage which are identified in investigations. And it is said that the mound is likely to be the biggest and oldest one among the four mounds. Moreover, since the tomb mound is one of the largest ones in Musashi area of this period and it has a large-sized stone chamber, it is likely that the buried person was one of the most powerful chieftain in Musashi. Another interesting subject will be a link to Musashi Kokufu (Provincial Office of Musashi Province) and Tosando Musashimichi (Musashimichi branch of the Tosando main road), which were constructed immediately later.
- source : syougai.metro.tokyo.jp/bunkazai... -

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Ootsuka 大塚 Otsuka "big mound"
It used to be a farming region in Koishikawa village.
The name refers to an area of flat fields, in the middle of them was a large mound, a 古墳 Kofun.

. Koishikawa 小石川 - Bunkyo ward .

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Shiba Maruyama Kofun　芝丸山古墳
4-10-17, Shibakoen, Minato ward, Tokyo

- quote
Shiba Maruyama Kofun is a tumulus that is a 106-meter-long zenpo-koen-fun (a keyhole-shaped mound).
It is said to be the largest tumulus in Tokyo with the circular part at 64 meters in diameter, the square part at 40 meters in width at the front, and the narrowest part between the circular and square parts at 22 meters. It is located on the hill at a height of 16 meters above sea level with its frontal part facing south-southwest. Its original shape has been significantly damaged; particularly, the top and the back circular parts have been scraped off. When Japanese archeologists investigated the tumulus in 1898, the main part (the burial facility), thought to have been at the center of the back circular part, was already lost. The corpse and its accompanying burial goods were also missing. From the shape of the frontal part, which is lower and narrower, as well as the condition of the site, it is estimated to have been built in the 5th century. It was designated as an Important Historical Property of Tokyo in 1979. It is within walking distance from both the Toei Subway Mita Line Shiba-koen Station and the JR (Japan Railways) Yamanote Line Hamamatsucho Station.
- source : livejapan.com/en...

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .

. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

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PERSONS - Udagawa Yoan

http://darumapedia-persons.blogspot.com/2018/04/udagawa-yoan.html

Udagawa Yoan

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. - - - PERSONS - ABC - LIST of this BLOG - - - .
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Udagawa Yooan, Udagawa Yōan 宇田川榕菴 Udagawa Yoan
(1798 - 1846)

- quote
a 19th-century Japanese scholar of Western studies, or "Rangaku". In 1837, he published the first volume of his Introduction to Chemistry (舎密開宗 Seimi Kaisō), a compilation of scientific books in Dutch, which describes a wide range of scientific knowledge from the West. Most of the Dutch original material appears to be derived from William Henry's 1799 Elements of Experimental Chemistry. In particular, the book contains a very detailed description of the electric battery invented by Volta forty years earlier in 1800. The battery itself was constructed by Udagawa in 1831 and used in experiments, including medical ones, based on a belief that electricity could help cure illnesses.

Udagawa's Science of Chemistry also reports for the first time in details the findings and theories of Lavoisier in Japan. Accordingly, Udagawa made numerous scientific experiments and created new scientific terms, which are still in current use in modern scientific Japanese: e.g., "oxygen" (酸素 sanso), "hydrogen" (水素 suiso), "nitrogen" (窒素 chisso), "carbon" (炭素 tanso), "oxidation" (酸化 sanka), "reduction" (還元 kangen), "saturation" (飽和 hōwa), "dissolution" (溶解 yōkai) and "element" (元素 genso).
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Tsuyama Archives of Western Learning　津山洋学資料館

- reference source : tsuyama-yougaku.jp -

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Udagawa Yoan and Coffee

The origin of the Chinese characters for coffee 珈琲

- reference source : nsh-s.com/wp... -

蘭学者で津山藩医の宇田川榕菴
In Okayama there was a school for rangaku 蘭学 Dutch learning of the West.
One of the masters there was 宇田川榕菴 Udagawa Yoan.
He knew the Dutch word ｋｏｆｆｉｅ and introduced the Kanji for it.
There are now sometimes memorial services in a temple, where coffee is offered to the ancestors and the visitors
- but in tea cups of the time.

. Coffee, Kaffee and Haiku .

津山藩主松平家菩提所天崇山泰安寺 Taian-Ji

Offering Coffee at the temple
. 泰安寺 Taian-Ji .

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Mead, Mede in the Edo Period in Japan ミード / 蜂蜜酒　
During a recent research an essay was found in the Archives of Western Learning in the city of Tsuyama in Western Japan. One of the doctors working for the local feudal lord, Yudagawa Yoan (1798-1846), had studied European medicine and even introduced coffee to Japan.
He has written the following report about Mead, which he called MEDE:
Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water.
- Read the details here :
. Gabi Greve .

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He also distinguished four different types of onsen 温泉 hot springs
salt, sulfur, alkali and plain hot

榕菴の温泉試説
Yoan wrote about 諸国温泉試説 different types of hot springs when he was 29 years old.
榕菴はまず色や臭いを観察し、自ら飲んで味も確かめます。それからホクトメートル（浮き秤）を使って比重を測定し、薬品や熱を加えてその反応をこと細かに記録しました。
- reference source : tsuyama-yougaku.jp... -

- source : iloveyu.jp/type-of-hot-springs... -

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- Reference - 宇田川榕菴 -
- Reference - Udagawa Yoan -

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TENGU - Yamanokami and taiko drum legends

https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2018/01/yamanokami-taiko-drum-legends.html

Yamanokami taiko drum legends

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
. Yama no Kami 山の神 Yamanokami - Introduction .
. Ta no Kami 田の神 Tanokami - Introduction .
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Yama no Kami 山の神 God of the Mountain
and taiko 太鼓 the big drum

The big drum is often used for festival music.
. taiko, oodaiko 大鼓、太鼓、大太鼓 big drum .

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. Yamanokami and Tengu 天狗 the Mountain Goblin .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

kamikakushi 神かくし mysterious disappearance
If a child did not come home and was nowhere to be found, in former times people thought they have been abducted by a Tengu or by Yamanokami. Villagers went out with bells and drums to search for them. Parents also warn their children not to play hide and seek in the evening any more, in case they may disappear.

............................................................................　Aichi 愛知県
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知多郡 Chita district 美浜町 Mihama

. Tengu sama no isami 天狗様のいさみ flute melody of Tengu .

............................................................................　Kochi 高知県
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幡多郡 Hatta district 大正町 Taisho

taiko 太鼓
In the hamlet of 芳川部落 Hogawa on the other side of the valley they can heard the sound of a big drum at night from about 9 to 10.
They asked a priest for advise. He told them that Yamanokami was angry and that soon something bad would happen to the mountain. They called a special saint to perform rituals of appeasement and the sound of the drum stopped!

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高岡郡 Takaoka district 窪川町 Kubokawa

taiko 太鼓
In a cave called 太鼓堂 Taiko-Do, Drum Hall, the sound of a big drum was heard every month on the 20th day of the old lunar calendar. Wild animals came to play in the water puddles around the cave.
The clever hunters came at night to shoot their pray.

............................................................................　Nagasaki 長崎県

Tengu
When people hear the sound of rinrin like festival flutes and big drums, they say
"Yama no Kami is dancing!"
Others say tengubayashi 天狗ばやし a group of Tengu with festival instruments are passing.

- Two more legends about the Tengubayashi from 茨城県 Ibaraki

多賀郡 Taga district 黒前村 Kurosaki village and 高岡村 Takaoka village
The villgers sometimes hear the Tengubayashi, often from 1 to 2 in the morning.
In Takaoka village there has been a huge landslide on the mountain top, where the Tengu is now venerated.
If it rains for a long time in Takaoka, they say the Tengu is having a festival and beats the big drums.

............................................................................　Niigata 新潟県

Ta no kami 田の神
Before cutting the weeds around the fields, the farmers walk around the fields with bells and big drums to chase away the insects and animals (虫送りの行事 mushi-okuri).
This is the day when Tanokami comes down to the fields, so the farmers take a rest and say prayers in his honor.

............................................................................　Saitama 埼玉県
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秩父郡 Chichibu district 大滝村 Otaki

Yamanokami ga sawagu 山の神が騒ぐ Yamanokami is making noises
Sometimes Yamanokami makes a loud noise with flute and big drums in the early morning hours.

............................................................................　Toyama 富山県

Tengu 天狗
The words "Tengu" and "Yamanokami" are not said directly, people just say アノヒト "ano hito", "that person".
yatsudaikouchi ヤツダイコウチ means the Tengu beats a large drum with eight colors.
If people hear the sound and go to the forest, they are usually lucky to hunt a bear.

Once a man was taking care of a place all by himself when he heard the sound of the big drum from Yamanokami. It sounded like two beating the drum, Yamanokami and a Tengu.
He was quite amused and did not feel lonely any more.
On cloudy days, the drumming can even be heard during lunchtime.

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東砺波郡 Higashi-Tonami district 城端町 Johan

ヤマノバーバノタイコ，Yamanbaaba no taiko and マトギ matogi
If a Tengu beats the big drum or a mujina 狢 badger gets excited and beats his stomach, the villagers call it Yamanbaaba no taiko ヤマノバーバノタイコ, the mountain hag beating the big drum.
If it can be heard in the evening of a spring day, this is the sign of a good harvest in the coming year.

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- reference source : nichibun yokai database -

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. Yama no Kami 山の神 - Table of Contents - .

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sangaku shinkoo　山岳信仰 religion of the High Mountains is a different matter.

. Shrine, Shinto Shrine (jinja　神社) - Introduction .

. kami　神　Shinto deities - ABC-LIST - .

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EDO - Azabu district

https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2018/05/azabu-district.html

Azabu district

source : jin3.jp/juban/history...
①一の橋 ②二の橋 ③古川 ④善福寺 ⑤仙台坂（仙台藩屋敷） ⑥がま池 ⑦有栖川宮記念公園
⑧一本松 ⑨南山小学校 ⑩毛利家 ⑪六本木 ⑫広尾 ⑬四の橋 ⑭狸穴
麻布十番の歴史 History of Asabu Juban

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Azabu is an area within Minato ward in Tokyo, Japan, built on a marshy area of foothills south of central Tokyo. Its coverage roughly corresponds to that of the former Azabu Ward, presently consisting of nine official districts:
Azabu-Jūban 麻布十番, Azabudai, Azabu-Nagasakachō, Azabu-Mamianachō, Nishi-Azabu, Higashi-Azabu, Minami-Azabu, Moto-Azabu and Roppongi.
It is known as Tokyo's most expensive upscale residential district; many artists, business people, and celebrities reside there.
- History
The name Azabu literally means hemp cloth. Until the early Edo period, the area was agricultural. Archaeological evidence indicates that the area was inhabited as far back as the Jōmon period. The Juban Inari shrine (formerly known as Takechiyo Inari) was constructed in AD 712, the temple of Zenpuku-ji in 824,
and the Hikawa Shrine in 939 (on orders of Minamoto no Tsunemoto).
The area became urbanized in the 17th century,
after Tokugawa Ieyasu established his seat of government in nearby Edo.
Azabu soon became home to the Juban Horse Grounds, Edo's largest horse market.
In 1859, the first United States delegation in Japan was established at Zenpuku-ji.
- source : more in the wikipedia

. Hikawa Jinja shrines 氷川神社 .

A group of 100 Koga ninja members 甲賀百人組 settled in Kanda in Edo, in
Koogamachi 甲賀町（こうかまち） Koga Machi, Koga Village.
This placename was kept until 1933, when it was renamed to
神田駿河台一、三丁目 Kanda Surugadai Ichi - Sanchome.
And Kogaichoo in Azabu 麻布の笄町（こうがいちょう）は「甲賀町 Koga-cho・伊賀町 Iga-cho」was named after the Koga and Iga ninja.
. Surugadai　駿河台 .

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Azabuichibeichoo, Azabuichibei 麻布市兵衛町 Azabu Ichibei town, Azabu Ichibee
Azabu Ichibei machi, azabuitibei
Minato ward, part of Roppongi 1 and 3 sub-district, Roppongi 4 sub-district
港区六本木一丁目の一部、六本木三丁目の一部、六本木四丁目

This small district borders on many other small districts in this hilly area and has access via many steep slopes.

Around 1610, it was part of the village 今井村 Imai mura, called 今井台町 Imaidai village.
In 1695, it was named after the village headman, 黒沢市兵衛 Kurozawa Ichibei.
In the beginning of the Edo period, there was a small okabasho 岡場所 red-light district, which was abolished during the Tenpō no kaikaku 天保の改革 Tenpo reform in 1840.
In 1869, part of the temple area of 麻布陽泉寺 Azabu Yozen-Ji was added and the name changed to 麻布市兵衛町 Azabu Ichibei, including the first and second sub-district, 麻布市兵衛町一丁目 and 麻布市兵衛町二丁目.
There were some rich estates in the first district, while the second district housed the townspeople and their shops.
During WWII most of the sub-districts was lost in flames, including the official 偏奇館 Henki-Kan, where 永井荷風 Nagai Kafu had lived.

- quote -
Kafu Nagai (1879 - 1959). Writer.
..... His Association with Minato City
Lived in seclusion by naming his painted house Henki-kan.
Nagai lived in a two-story timber house in Azabu Ichibei-cho (now 1-chome Roppongi) in 1920 and named the house "Henki-kan" because it was painted. He started his life of seclusion in this Western-style house with an extended kitchen and no shoji screens, sliding paper doors, or tatami mats.
The Great Tokyo Earthquake occurred in 1923, but the house fortunately received no fire damage, only a few fallen roof tiles.
..... In 1945, however, the house was destroyed in the Great Air Raids of Tokyo, and he lost his books, except for his diary and a briefcase containing his rough draft of a novel. Twenty?six years of his time in Henki-kan had ended, and until his death in 1959 at the age of 79, he never returned to Minato Ward. .....
- source : lib.city.minato.tokyo.jp/yukari... -

. Kafu the Scribbler, by Edward Seidensticker .

- quote -
Nadare-zaka なだれ坂　"Landslide slope"
The name of this slope has been written using different kanji, but it received its name because there had been a landslide.
It was also known as Kokoku(-ji)-zaka , Sachikuni-Zak and Ichibei-zaka.
Between 3-2 and 3-4 Roppongi
- source : minato-ala.net... -

- quote -
Ichimi-zaka 市三坂 "Ichi-Mi slope"
A new slope road opened around the year Meiji 20. It connected two sub-districts:
Ichibei town named after the village headman and 三河台町 Mikawadai-machi where the 松平三河守忠直 Matsudaira, Govenor of Mikawa, Tadanao's residence stood,
used the first kanji character from each town to make this road's name.
- source : ractive-roppongi.com... -

- quote -
Princess Kazu (和宮親子内親王 Kazu-no-miya Chikako naishinnō
(1846 - 1877)
... A series of tragedies hit Princess Kazu between 1865 and 1867. Her mother, who followed her to Edo to keep her company, died on 10 August 1865, followed by her husband shōgun Iemochi, who died in Osaka while commanding the Chōshū Expedition on 20 July 1866. She became a Buddhist nun, receiving the title of Seikan'in-no-miya (静寛院宮)[1] on 9 December 1866, but just a few weeks later her brother Emperor Komei would also pass away. ...
Seikan'in arrived in Tokyo in 1874 and she took up residence in the home of Katsu Kaishū, in the mansion in Azabu ichibei-cho.
She remained there until her death in 1877 of beriberi, at the young age of 31. Her grave is at Zōjō-ji, in Minato, Tokyo.
- source : wiki/Princess_Kazu... -

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The Strange Tale of Oyuki, 1993 film
Faced with a bout of ill health, global traveller, western-educated novelist Kafu Nagai (1879-1959) began to chronicle sundry episodes in his life, as well as thoughts and observations of contemporary Japanese society, in a series of intimate journals that would eventually span the early half of 20th century. Based on A Strange Tale from East of the River, Nagai's semi-autobiographical novella, the events presented in The Strange Tale of Oyuki begins in 1920, as a middle-aged Nagai (Masahiko Tsugawa) having recently moved into a new residence in Ichibei in the Azabu district, attempts to impress his doting mother (Haruko Sugimura) – the only relative who accepts his excessive and disreputable lifestyle – by painting the house in time for her arrival.
- source : filmref.com/2017... -

. Persons and People of Edo - Personen .

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

.................................................................................　麻布市兵衛町 Azabu Ichibei

kitsune 狐 the fox
In June 1752, the maid servant of a villager of Azabu Ichibei village was suddenly possessed by a fox. They tried all kinds of exorcism, but nothing helped.
The fox seemed to live in 松平紀伊守様屋敷 the estate of Matsudaira, Governor of Mikawa.
His daughter was from the Inari shrine of 石川近江守様屋敷の稲荷, his wife from the Inari shrine of 山王町の稲荷.
So they built a small Inari shrine to honor the fox family and prayed for the protection from fires.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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- - - - - H A I K U and S E N R Y U - - - - -

冬空や麻布の坂の上りおり
fuyuzora ya Azabu no saka no agari-ori

this winter sky -
I walk up the slope
in Azabu

永井荷風 Nagai Kafu

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昔麻布大山道の桔梗かな
野村喜舟 Nomura Kishu (1886 - 1983)

. kikyoo 桔梗 Platycodon grandiflorus .
- - kigo for autumn - -

石焼藷に雪降る麻布中之橋
Azabu Naka no Hashi

有働亨 Udo Toru (1920 - 2010)

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. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .

. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo　江戸の名所 .

. Doing Business in Edo - 商売　- Introduction .

. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .

. senryu, senryū 川柳　Senryu poems in Edo .

. Japanese Architecture - Interior Design - The Japanese Home .

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

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