Imbara to Kawahira along the Gonokawa

 

Early morning, October 15th, 2021, and I begin the 3rd leg of my walk along the south bank of the Gonokawa River to its source. I head along the top of the embankment out of the settlement of Imbara, where the Nigori River enters the Gonokawa.

When the embankment ends I have to cross the disused tracks of the former JR Sanko Line. I have been following the tracks since leaving the mouth of the river in Gotsu.

Imbara has the busiest crossing of the river since leaving the mouth at Gotsu. Route 261 has been following the river on the opposite bank to me but at Imbara it does a 90 degree turn and crosses the river and then follows the Nigoro River up into the mountains and then on to Hiroshima.

As with the whole journey so far, the opposite bank continues to be the most populated and with the busier road.

Another distinction between the two sides is that it was the border, until the Meiji Period, between the Hamada Domain... the side I'm on,.. and the Iwami Ginzan Territory, controlled directly by the Tokugawa Government.

I did read once that whereas most borders that followed rivers, the border would be considered the middle of the river, in this case the Tokugawa actually controlled both banks of the river.

Before reaching the outskirts of Kawamoto, there were few properties on this side of the river. Though Imbara was not so big in terms of population, its transportation junction is home to the biggest retail businesses since leaving Gotsu.... some national chain drugstores and home garden stores as well as the only pachinko parlor in the area and a Michi no Eki.

Kawamoto is the biggest town on the river  since leaving Gotsu and is unusual in that it has chosen not to be merged into a larger "city". In historical times it was home to a small domain with several small castles.

The previous post was on the section from Shikaga to Imbara

Along the Gonokawa from Shikaga to Imbara

 

Saturday October 2nd, 2021, and day 2 of my walk along the Gonokawa River to its source winds down.

After my detour to visit the Kannon Waterfall, I backtrack to the river and pass by Shikaga, once a stop on the defunct Sanko Line railway.

Much of the village is on the slopes, and the main road skirts it along the river.

The traditional riverboats, flat-bottomed like punts, were made of cedar, but now aluminum, plywood, and sometimes fiberglass are used.

The next couple of kilometers up to Imbara where the Nigori river joins the Gonokawa and Route 261, the main road along the river across on the other bank, veers away from the river and heads up the Nigori River towards Hiroshima.

In the photo below, the patch of new concrete on the opposite bank marks where the railway bridge crossed over the Nigori. While almost all the track, and the vast majority of the bridges of the rail line are still there, this bridge has been removed. I suspect because it offered a walking shortcut to Imbara.

Nearby is an abandoned hilltop park that had a small Inari Shrine. It was not well maintained twenty years ago when I first visited and now seems completely overgrown.

Imbara Obon Matsuri

For Obon we went upriver a little ways to Imbara, part of Kawamoto Town, to check out their matsuri. There was kagura performed by the local kagura group who play in Hiroshima style. First dance was Jimmu, a 4 person dance depicting the final subjugation of the Yamato area by Jimmus invading force.

Next up was a performance of Zeni Daiko, a "dance" using 2 tubes decorated with tassles. Traditionally the tubes are bamboo and strung inside them are old coins, but nowadays plastic is not unusual. The tubes are waved, shaken, tapped on the floor, spun, and flipped from hand to hand in time to the music and provide a percussive accompaniment. The dance seems to be very popular in local villages.

Then some traditional dancing.....

The second kagura dance was one I had not seen before. Yamanba, based on a Noh story is popular with Hiroshima style groups, and I was pleased to see a mask that was new to me.

The "mountain hag" of the story transforms into her evil form...

... and a final battle puts paid to her and her accomplice....

Then there was the Bon Odori itself, and unusually it only lasted about 40 minutes..... other Bon Odoris Ive been to have gone on for hours. Also unusually a few of the villagers wore costumes for the dance....

The finale was a firework display..... not big by city standards, but nice that there were no barriers and huge crowds....