[Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture] Kurihara Historical Walk ~, Kurihara City, where people have lived on the fertile land since ancient times, and was a territory of the Sendai clan during the Edo period

The Kurihara area, which makes up Kurihara City, is located at the southeastern foot of Mt. Kurikoma, and originates from Mt. Sanhasamagawa) is playing. The river has created large wetlands in its downstream area, and Izunuma and Uchinuma are home to many geese and swans, and are called ``Japan's No. 1 wild bird paradise.''

After the wars of the Sengoku period, it became the territory of the Sendai domain in the Edo period.

People have lived in the Kurihara area since the Paleolithic period, and many ruins have been discovered there. After the Middle Ages, many villages were dotted around the area, and powerful clans appeared to rule over them, leading to an era of feudal lordship. During the Sengoku period, it came under the control of the Kasai clan, but there were constant internal conflicts with the Tomizawa clan, which descended from the Kasai clan, and conflicts with the neighboring Osaki clan.

In the Kurihara area, from the Kamakura period to the Muromachi period, many castles were built by powerful clans (see Palace/Kurihara City Cultural Properties), but most of them are now ruins and the details are unknown. Among them, Tsurumaru Castle in Iwagasaki (Iwagasaki/Kurikoma Iwagasaki) was built by the Tomizawa clan during the Sengoku period, and at the end of the period it functioned as a branch castle of the Date clan (Sendai domain).

INFORMATON

URL: Cultural assets of Kurihara City

Kurihara has many inns and stations along the Oshu Kaido road. The main camp is placed on the wall.

In Kurihara during the Edo period, the Ou Kaido road ran north and south, and along the road there were spots such as Takashimizu, Tsukidate, Miyano , Sawabe , Kannari, and Arikabe. An inn station was placed there. In particular, Tsukidate-juku, which was the junction with the road heading towards the Akita domain (currently National Route 398), was very crowded, and the main shrine (a nationally designated historic site) was located at Arikabe-juku.

Towards Akita Domain, go north along the western foot of Mt. Kurikoma and enter Akita Prefecture at Hanayama Pass, but just before the pass is the Sendai Hanayama Village Kanyu Bansho, a checkpoint for inspecting travelers and luggage. (Sendaihan Hanayamamura Nuru Yubansho)" was established.

During the Great Heisei Merger, 10 towns and villages merged and Kurihara City was born.

Kurihara became Kurihara Prefecture in the Meiji period, and was incorporated into Miyagi Prefecture in 1876 (Meiji 9) , Ichihasa Town and Uguisawa Town, which belonged to Kurihara County at the time, were established. The current Kurihara City was created of Zawacho , Kananari Town, Kurikoma Town, Shiwahime Town , Semine Town , Takashimizu Town , Tsukidate Town, Wakayanagi Town , and Hanayama Village. , Kurihara County disappeared.

Tsurumaru Castle, which managed the Kurihara area as a branch castle (fort) of the Sendai domain

Tsurumaru Castle is unknown, it is said to have been built during the Sengoku period by the Tomizawa clan, a member of the Kasai clan that ruled the Kurihara area. It was built on a small hill in what is now Kurikoma Iwagasaki, and was large, measuring approximately 650 meters from east to west and approximately 400 meters from north to south.

Date Masamune's fifth son, then his sixth son, became the lord of Tsurumaru Castle, which came under the control of the Sendai domain, and Masamune placed great importance on this castle. After that, when the One Country, One Castle Order was promulgated, it was nominally demoted from a castle to a fort, but until the end of the Edo period, senior vassals of the Sendai domain became castle owners, and were responsible for defense against foreign enemies such as the Akita domain. It plays an important role as a branch office of the Sendai Domain.

Currently, the Tsurumaru Castle ruins are being maintained as Kurikoma Tateyama Park

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Kurikoma Tateyama Park
• Location: Tateyama Park, 93-1 Kurikoma Iwagasaki Urayama, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture
• Phone number: 0228-25-4166 (Kurihara City Tourism and Products Association)
• Free stroll
• access:
  • Railway: From Ishigoe Station on the JR Tohoku Main Line, take the city bus Kurihara Denen Line bound for Kurikoma for about 37 minutes, then get off at Kurikoma bus stop and walk for about 15 minutes.
  • Car: Approximately 30 minutes from Tohoku Expressway Wakayagi Kananari IC via Prefectural Road Nakata Kurikoma Line

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``Kurikoma Muikamachi Dori Shopping Street'' is a retro shopping street that is once again attracting attention.

Iwagasaki, where Tsuruga Castle was located , opened the Kurihara Tramway (later Kurihara Denen Railway) in 1922 (Taisho 11) , and was extended to the Hosokura Mine in 1942 (Showa 17) It is a very lively town that is responsible for the logistics of northern Kurihara. In 1955, it merged with several surrounding villages, including Kurikoma Village, and became Kurikoma Town.

However, with the closure of the Hosokura Mine in 1987 (Showa 62), Kurikoma-cho rapidly declined, and its once-bustling shopping street became deserted.

More than 30 years later, a cafe opened in the forgotten Muikamachi-dori shopping street , and along with the retro boom that was popular nationwide at the time, tourists began to visit in droves. As a result, people began to start businesses in this town, and along with the activities of the Town Revitalization Cooperation Team, the town began to attract attention as a shopping district where something interesting could happen

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Muikamachi Street Shopping Street
• Location: Muikamachi, Kurikoma Iwagasaki, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture
• Phone number: 0228-45-2191 (Kurikoma Uguisawa Chamber of Commerce and Industry), 0228-24-7871 (Muikamachi Regional Revitalization Cooperation Team Office)
• Free stroll
• URL: Muikamachi Street Shopping Street
• access:
  • Railway: From Ishigoe Station on the JR Tohoku Main Line, take the city bus Kurihara Denen Line bound for Kurikoma for about 37 minutes and get off at Kurikoma bus stop.
  • Car: Approximately 20 minutes from Tohoku Expressway Wakayagi Kananari IC via Prefectural Route Nakata Kurikoma Line

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The former Arikabe-juku Honjin building remains from the mid-Edo period and still looks exactly as it did back then.

Arikabe-juku was founded in 1619 as an inn station on the Oshu Kaido Road, and the Sato family served as town officials and managed the main building for generations. The Honjin is a lodging facility for feudal lords and senior vassals of the Matsumae and Nanbu clans during Sankin-Kotai.

The current main building was renovated in 1744 and is a valuable building that retains its original appearance. The Onarimon Gate, which was used by the feudal lord, has not been opened since Emperor Meiji entered and exited the gate in 1881 (Meiji 14), and is still closed to traffic. The former Arikabe-juku Honjin is designated as a national historic site and a tangible cultural property of Miyagi Prefecture

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Arikabe Honjin (Miyagi Prefecture Intangible Cultural Property)
• Address: 31 Kananari Arikabe Honmachi, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture
• Visit: Free to view only the exterior
• access:
  • About 5 minutes walk from Arikabe Station on the Railway/Tohoku Main Line
  • Car: Approximately 15 minutes from Wakayagi Kananari IC on the Tohoku Expressway　

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One of the few existing guardhouses in existence, “Sendai Hanayama Village Kanyu Guardhouse Ruins”

Sendai Hanayama Village Kanyu Bansho Ruins is a guard post (checkpoint) established by the Sendai Domain on the border with the Akita Domain. To pass from the Sendai domain to the Akita domain, you must cross Hanayama Pass, which has an altitude of 741 meters and is known as ``Hanayama Pass''. The Sendai clan set up a guard post in front of the pass and strictly controlled entry and exit. The guardhouses established at the boundaries of the domain are called ``Kuchidomebansho'' or ``Sakaimebansho,'' and they are valuable as they retain their appearance. Its existence makes it a nationally designated historic site

“Kanyu” refers to the hot springs that used to be near the guardhouse, and are now Nuruyu hot springs.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Sendai Hanayama Village Kanyu Bansho Ruins
• Location: Hanayama Honzawa Onyu, Kurihara City
• Phone number: 0228-56-2040 (Hanayama Onsen Onsen Villa)
• Opening days: April 1st to the end of November　
• Opening hours: 9:00-16:30
• Admission fee: General 210 yen, elementary, junior high and high school students 110 yen
• access:
  • Railway: Approximately 50 minutes by car from Kurikoma Kogen Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen
  • Car: Approximately 40 minutes from Tohoku Expressway Tsukidate IC

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Izunuma/Uchinuma, a Ramsar Convention-registered wetland, a haven for migratory birds where tens of thousands of geese overwinter

If you visit Kurihara City, you should definitely stop by Izunuma/Uchinuma .

Izunuma/Uchinuma straddles Kurihara City and Tome City, and is the largest lake in Miyagi Prefecture with a total area of ​​491 ha (Izunuma 369 ha, Uchinuma 122 ha). Its characteristic feature is that the water is shallow, with an average depth of 80 cm and a maximum of 1.6 m, and aquatic plants grow all the way to the center of the marsh, making it home to many insects and birds.

it is a wintering place for geese, ducks, and swans that migrate from Russia from autumn to winter Tens of thousands of white-fronted geese and over 2,000 whooper swans have migrated here, making this the largest number in Japan. Izunuma, Uchinuma, and the surrounding rice fields are designated as registered wetlands under the Ramsar Convention

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Izunuma/Uchinuma
• Location: 17-2, Wakayagi, Kamihata Okashiki, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, etc.
• Phone number: 0228-25-4166 (Kurihara City Tourism and Products Association)
• access:
  • Railway/About 10 minutes by car from Kurikoma Kogen Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen
  • Car: Approximately 10 minutes by car from Tohoku Expressway Tsukidate IC, or approximately 20 minutes by car from Wakayagi Kananari IC

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