Mouth of the Matsumoto River

 

The area of Hagi around the port and the mouth of the Matsumoto River is called Hamasaki.

Though there was still more than a month until Girls day, March 3rd, there were several displays of Hina dolls...

Hamasaki is one of three Historic Preservation Districts in Hagi, though on this visit I was in a hurry to get home so didn't tarry or explore.

I did pass a few old, traditional buildings, and one not so old but in an advanced state of collapse.

The reach the Matsumoto River, the name of the easternmost fork of the Abu River that creates the delta upon which Hagi was built.

I start  to head downstream to the first bridge crossing the river so I can continue East.

I did not know it at the time, but there is a small, unique ferry that crosses over here. On later trips is used it and will write about it then.

I am not sure what the wooden posts protruding from the river were from, but they make great resting spots for seabirds.

Some type of cormorant and some kind of gulls.... forgive me for not being a twitcher...

I head east and pass the big warehouses of a sake brewery.

A little later, a noborigama, the traditional kind of climbing kiln used in Japan.

Hagi is famous for its pottery. Started by kidnapped Korean potters at the end of Hideyoshi's failed invasion of Korea in the 16th century.

This climbing kiln is at the Yoshiga Tabi Memorial Museum. Yoshiga Tabi was an early 20th century potter.

The final shot is at the waterside shed of Japan Fisheries, looking at the Ebisu Shipyard World Heritage Site.

This was where the Mori tried to build a western-style warship in the mid 19th century. I will cover it and the other World Heritage sites inHagi in later posts.

This was the end of day 29 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and day 30 would begin in a couple of months during cherry blossom season. From here the route is basiclly up the Jaoan Sea coast, through Shimane, my home area, and then through Tottori., a much more relaxed and less populated region compared to the first part of the pilgrimage.

The previous post in this series was the Sumiyoshi Shrine in Hamasaki.

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Tonomachi Street Tsuwano Samurai Quarter

 

Koi swimming in small canals along the street are an icon of Tsuwano, a small castle town in the mountains of Shimane.

In the previous post we looked at Tonomachi Street, the main street of the town that is part of an Historic Preservation District.

That post looked at the merchant section of the street, but in this post we will look at the samurai section of the street, closer to the castle.

Fewer of the buildings remain in this section, but plenty of walls and gates remain.

One of the remaining building is the Yorokan, the domaoin school for samurai. Running alonside it is the main canal filled with koi.

It was founded in 1786 by the 8th Lord, and closed in 1872.

Mori Ogai, the famous author born in Tsuwano, studied here.

It used to hold a huge collection of artifacts relating to local history and folklore, as seen above, but has been renovated back to its original condition, as seen below.

While some space was for book learning and lectures, most of the spaces were used for various weapons training.

There are a lot of large storehouses in the immediate vicinity.

One of the first group of buildings inside the samurai quarter, opposite the Catholic church, has been converted into a restaurant, coffe shop and tearooms, and souvenir shop called Saronoki, well worth visiting for its garden.

The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the other section of the old street, the merchant quarter.

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Tonomachi Street Tsuwano Merchant Quarter

 

Tsuwano, a former castle town in the remote mountains near the Shimane and Yamaguchi border is known as a "Little Kyoto".

Little Kyoto is actually a registered name you can use if you pay the organization the right fees, and I find it quite misleading. What it really means is there are historic attractions in a relatively small area, not that they are pretentious, overcrowded, and overpriced like the real Kyoto.

Tsuwano is also one of the more than 120 areas of Japan that is a Historic Preservation District. Actually the Japanese term is a long-winded title involving "traditional buildings," but I prefer the simplicity of Preservation District.

Tsuwano is also classified as a Japan Heritage site, a fairly recent system that includes sites and practices that they can't get onto UNESCO World Heritage status. Actually, that is a little cynical of me.... a lot of the Japan Heritage sites are quite interesting...

The preservation district in Tsuwano centres on Tonomachi Street, the main street of the old town, and it was in earlier days divided into the samurai section, closer to the castle, and the merchant section. At that time a huge gate separated the two sections. That gate is now relocated to be the gate of Yomeiji Temple.

Worth exploring are the narrow side streets...

In fact a few traditional ryokan are hidden away down side streets...

The main street does have some modern buildings on it, but also a range of traditional businesses...

There are a couple of sake breweries....... incidentally, the final photo of the post is from inside one Sake brewery.

There is a traditional rice shop, well worth visiting for the small ponds crammed full of koi in the rear...second photo of the post

There are some eateries and coffee shops....

My favorite though is a traditional pharmacy filled with weird and wonderful example of Chinese medicine....

The Japan Heritage information centre is also well worth a visit.....

In the next post I will look at the samurai quarter....

I have done quite a few posts on Tsuwano, click here to see some in reverse chronological order....

I have also posted on quite a few Preservation Districts, recent ones being Yanai in Yamaguchi and Yuasa in Wakayama.

The previous post was on the gardens at the Hori Mansion, a little out of town...

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.