This site is an online media that delivers all sorts of trivia about the six Tohoku prefectures, from sightseeing and gourmet spots to local customs, history, and more
Kisakata and Kujukushima are scenic spots on the Sea of Japan coast of Nikaho City, at the northern foot of Mount Chokai, which towers over the border between Akita and Yamagata prefectures. Small island-like hills float here and there across the rice paddies, creating a beautiful landscape that resembles a land-based version of Matsushima (Matsushima Town, Miyagi Prefecture), which is known as one of the Three Most Views of Japan.
Edo period travel writers Matsuo Basho and Sugae Masumi were also deeply moved by Kisakata and the Kujukushima Islands, praising their beauty. However, there is a big difference between the Kisakata and Kujukushima Islands we see today and the scenery that Basho and Masumi saw.
The scenery of Kisakata, which has been praised alongside Matsushima since the Heian period
Kisakata and the Kujukushima Islands were featured in waka poetry by poet Noin, who compiled a list of famous places and historical sites (utamakura) from all over Japan during the Heian period, and by the monk Saigyo of the same period, and were known as a spectacular sight in the Tohoku region even during the Edo period
What Basho and Masumi saw was a landscape of small islands similar to Matsushima floating in the sea. We can no longer see these islands, but fortunately there are still illustrations from the Edo period that have survived, allowing us to get a glimpse of what they looked like.
Did Basho's "Oku no Hosomichi" travelogue begin because he wanted to see Kisakata?
left behind Oku no Hosomichi" (The Narrow Road , which focuses on the Tohoku region
On March 27, 1689 (old calendar; April 16 in the modern solar calendar; hereafter, "Oku no Hosomichi" will be written in the old calendar), when he was 46 years old, he set off by boat from Fukagawa in Edo (Fukagawa, Edogawa Ward, Tokyo) with his disciple Kawai Sora, and from Senju (Senju, Adachi Ward, Tokyo) headed north on foot.
He passed through Saitama, Tochigi, and Fukushima, and in Miyagi Prefecture he was deeply moved by Matsushima ( "Matsushima, oh Matsushima, Matsushima " is believed to have been written by his disciple, Tawarabo).
Later, in Hiraizumi (Hiraizumi Town, Iwate Prefecture), where the Oshu Fujiwara clan was at the height of its glory during the Heian period, he gazed upon the place where Minamoto no Yoshitsune died and composed the poem " Summer grass, remains of the soldiers' dreams ." He then crossed the Ou Mountains into Yamagata Prefecture, visiting the (Gassan, Haguro, and Yudono) and Yamadera , he left behind the famous poem The silence, the sound of the cicadas seeping into the rocks
After leaving Yamadera, the group travels down the Mogami River by boat (" The Mogami River flows quickly, gathering the May showers ") and arrives at Sakata (Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture), the largest port town on the Sea of Japan side of Tohoku.
The group arrived in Sakata on June 13, 1689 (Genroku 2), and set off for Kisakata on June 15. "Oku no Hosomichi" is a journey that visits increasingly distant destinations, but Kisakata was the only destination that was planned to depart from Sakata and return to Sakata three days later
It is said that Kisakata was the main destination on "Oku no Hosomichi" because it was a landscape that Basho desperately wanted to see
Despite the heavy rain, we made it through the difficult mountain pass and arrived at Kisakata
The road to Kisakata runs along the Sea of Japan, where the base of Mt. Chokai sinks into the sea. "View of the sea from Minamihikarizaka, Shindo-no-uchi, Fukiura Village, Akumi County." Property of Yamagata Prefectural Library
To get from Sakata to Kisakata, you have to go through the foot of Mount Chokai, which towers north of Sakata, and cross three mountain passes
Mt. Chokai is a rare mountain with its base rising directly from the Sea of Japan, and the coast is lined with steep cliffs. The road at the time was built right on the sea's edge, making it extremely dangerous depending on the weather
Also, on the border with Akita Prefecture, there are three capes ( Kanonzaki, Daishizaki, and Fudozaki ) formed by lava from the eruption of Mount Chokai.Although they are not very high in altitude, these are also known as mountain passes that are difficult to pass.
Even for a middle-aged Basho with strong legs, crossing the mountain pass required considerable resolve. However, Kisakata is such a place that he wanted to go that he said, " I have seen countless beautiful landscapes of rivers, mountains, sea and land, but the thought of being able to see Kisakata now makes my heart race." So he set off without minding the difficulties.
The group left Sakata in the morning and arrived in Fukuura (Yuza Town, Yamagata Prefecture), just before Mount Chokai, in the early afternoon. Heavy rain fell, forcing them to stay overnight in Fukuura and wait for the weather to improve. However, the next morning it rained again. Still, Basho, eager to get to Kisakata, forced himself to leave
Due to a storm, they were forced to take temporary refuge in a boathouse at Uyamaya no Seki, which is said to be on the prefectural border, but they managed to arrive at Kisakata that same day
Misaki Old Highway <Information>
Facility name: Misaki Old Highway (Misaki Park)
Location: Kosagawa Misaki, Kisakata-cho, Nikaho City, Akita Prefecture
Phone number: 0184-43-6608 (Nikaho City Tourism Association)
access:
Public transportation: Approximately 15 minutes by car from Kisakata Station on the JR Uetsu Main Line
By car: Approximately 15 minutes from Kisakata IC on the Nihonkai Tohoku Expressway
Google Map
Basho compared the beauty of Kisakata to that of the unparalleled beauties of ancient China
"Ushu Zokagata no Zu" (Map of the Kujuku Islands), which Basho described as a peerless beauty so beautiful it could destroy a country. Collection: Ishimoto Collection, University of Tokyo
Shiokoshi Village where Kisakata is located , we visited Notoya, where we had planned to stay, changed clothes, ate some udon noodles, and then set out to see Kisakata and the Kujukushima Islands, even though it was still raining.
They set sail into the waters of Kisakata and traveled to Noin Island, where
Basho and his companions returned to Notoya, but because the day fell on a festival day in Shiogoshi, there were no rooms available, so they stayed at an inn called Mukai-ya. The next morning, it started out raining, but the weather gradually cleared up, Temple , and after dinner they took a boat tour of the bay, enjoying Kisakata to the fullest. They returned to Sakata the following day, June 18th.
Basho was inspired by the scenery of Kisakata and Kujukushima, and left behind several poems
“In the rain, Xi Shi is blooming with the flowers of the Japanese snowbell”
Basho describes the beauty of Kisakata by comparing it to an ancient Chinese woman named Xishi, who was so beautiful that her king became obsessed with her beauty that he ended up destroying his country. He also writes that while Matsushima has a bright, sunny landscape that seems to smile, Kisakata has a dark, melancholic, resentful quality
In 1784, 95 years after Basho's visit, the travel writer Sugae Masumi visited Kisakata and, upon seeing the same scenery that Basho had seen, praised it highly in Akita no Karine (Akita no Karine)
The Kisakata earthquake completely transformed the sea into land in one day
Twenty years after Sugae Masumi's visit, on July 10, 1804 (solar calendar), an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.0 struck the Kisakata region. The landscape of the Kujukushima Islands was completely transformed in just one day. The islands that had previously been floating in the sea were transformed into small hills scattered across the land
The earthquake caused the land of Kisakata to rise by about 2 meters. The area that was once shallow sea dried up, becoming a reclaimed land
Kisakata suffered devastating damage from the earthquake, but the Honjo Domain, which controlled Kisakata, immediately put efforts into reconstruction. They received a temporary loan from the Edo Shogunate and began rebuilding the village and cultivating the uplifted land. Records from 1846, about 40 years after the earthquake, state that " the former lagoon had become rice fields ," and rice paddies spread across the area that had been the Kujukushima Islands.
The Honjo Domain must have found the small hill that was an island to be a hindrance, so they started to demolish the mountain and cultivate the land
However, people who could not forget the sight of the Kujukushima islands peeking out from the water surface objected to this policy. In particular, Kakurin, the 24th head priest of Rumanji Temple , submitted numerous petitions to the domain on the grounds that Rumanji Temple had long held Kisakata as temple land, but his petitions were not accepted.
Kakurin came up with a plan. If Rumanji Temple became a temple connected to the Imperial family (the Emperor and the Imperial Family), the domain would not be able to lay hands on the Kujukushima Islands, which were temple land. After much effort, he succeeded in making Rumanji Temple a place of prayer for the Kan'innomiya family, and he persuaded the domain to stop the demolition of the hill
However, Kakurin's actions enraged the clan, and he was pursued for disobeying the clan's orders. Sensing danger, Kakurin fled to Kan'ei-ji Temple in Ueno, Edo (located in Taito Ward, Tokyo), but was discovered and taken back to Honjo, where he was imprisoned
Kakurin died in prison in 1822. Thus, the landscape of Kujukushima has survived to this day in exchange for Kakurin's death
Rumanji Temple <Information>
Facility name: Kanmanji Temple
Address: 2 Kisakatajima, Kisakatacho, Nikaho City, Akita Prefecture
Phone number: 0184-43-3153
Admission fee: Adults 300 yen, High school students 150 yen, Elementary and middle school students 100 yen
The Nikaho City Kisakata Local History Museum displays the completely different landscape of the Kujukushima Islands that was created by the Kisakata earthquake, through the folding screen painting " Kisakata Colored Screen ," which depicts the Kujukushima Islands before uplift, and a 1/825 scale replica.
The museum also displays materials related to Matsuo Basho's "Oku no Hosomichi," as well as Shiokoshi Port, which flourished as a port of call for Kitamaebune (merchant ships that conducted large-scale business between Tohoku, Hokkaido, and Kansai, traveling through ports on the Sea of Japan) from the Edo to Meiji periods
Nikaho City Kisakata Local History Museum <Information>
Facility name: Nikaho City Kisakata Local History Museum
Address: 31-1, Kitsumori, Kisakata-cho, Nikaho City, Akita Prefecture
Phone number: 0184-43-2005
Opening hours: 9:00-17:00
Closed: Mondays, the day after national holidays and substitute holidays, and the New Year holidays (December 29th to January 3rd)
Admission fee: Adults 150 yen, High school students and other students 100 yen, Elementary and junior high school students 50 yen
My love of travel led me to work for a travel magazine some time ago, and now I work as a travel writer for an online publication. I have visited all 47 prefectures in Japan, focusing on the Tohoku region, and I enjoy soaking in hot springs and experiencing traditional Japanese culture, including old townscapes, lifestyles, and performing arts and crafts
