Buzen Kaido Highway

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. Kaido 街道 Highways - ABC Index .
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Buzen Kaido 豊前街道 Buzen Highway
Now part of Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture

From Kitagami in Kumamoto to Kokura in Fukuoka.

Mostly used for Sankin Kotai.

- Postal stations and spots on the road -
Kitagami 北上
Ueki 植木
Kao 鹿央
. Yamaga 山鹿 .
Nagomi 和水
Nankan 南関
Buzen 豊前
Kokura 小倉 - Fukuoka
. シュガーロード sugar road / 砂糖の道 sato no michi .
The road between Nagasaki and Kokura (Ogura) 小倉, then on to Kyoto during the Edo period.
A lot of Western cultural elements travelled this road, when even very expensive white sugar was only available at the island of Dejima.
Towns along this road were able to produce sweets with white sugar.

The road was used by the army during the Satsuma rebellion in 1877.

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- - - - - places of interest on the road - - - - -

mimage no kadogoya 御馬下の角小屋　
274 Yomogimachi, Kita Ward
A resting place for the Daimyo, after he left Kumamoto castle, passed the 山伏塚 Yanboshizuka Mound for Yamabushi priests.
The house is now a museum.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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Yanboshizuka 山伏塚（やんぼしづか）Mound for Yamabushi priests
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
The Yamabushi mountain priests who had performed special rituals after Kumamoto castle was finished were on their way home, but were killed here to keep the secrets of the castle.

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Mitori Kannon 味取観音
The wandering priest 種田山頭火 Taneda Santoka stayed here for some time.
Mitori, the postal station in the Edo period, flourished with tea stalls during Sankin Kotai.

. 種田山頭火 Taneda Santoka (1882 - 1940) .

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temple Zengyo-Ji 善行寺
Used by the lords of the Hosokawa and Shimazu domain for Sankin Kotai. There is a large room in the temple,
onari no ma お成りの間, where they rested.

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temple Kohei-Ji 康平寺
Kaomachi Shimono, Yamaga, Kumamoto
An old temple of the Heian period, with a statue of Kannon with 1000 arms, surrounded by many other statues.

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Somon gate 惣門
Along the river 菊池川 Kikuchigawa to supervise the people coming and going to 山鹿 Yamaga town. Iw was opened and closed at six in the morning and evening.
The town preserves its old features to our day.

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Yamaga Onsen 山鹿温泉 hot spring
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Yamaga Onsen was first documented as a hot spring town in the 倭名類聚抄 "Wamyo Ruijusho" a historical dictionary written in the Heian Period over 1,000 years ago.
Legends say that the hot spring was discovered by Shichiro Uno, a military commander of the Heian Period, who found an injured deer nursing itself in the water of the spring. The soft water is so abundant that a famous folk song claims ”A thousand homes in Yamaga, and not a tub in sight,” as back in olden times locals could wash directly in the water sources themselves.
- source : kumanago.jp/en/spots/hotspring... -
The hot spring was used by 細川忠利 lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi (1586 - 1641) and his warrior-friend 宮本武蔵 Miyamoto Musashi.

. Miyamoto Musashi 宮本武蔵 (1584 - 1645) .

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. Yamaga Yachiyoza　山鹿八千代座　Yachiyo-za Theater .

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Tanaka-jiro ato 田中城跡 remains of Tanaka castle
The lord was 和仁親実 Wani Chikazane (? - 1587).
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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harakirizaka 腹切坂 slope for "Seppuku ritual suicide"
The original meaning was according to the landscape : hara 原 a plain - kiri 端（切り : at the end of the plain
It was quite steep and difficult for the Sankin Kotai processions.

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Nankan town 南関町

Many old merchant houses are still preserved.
The Lords of Hosokawa stayed at the local tea shop during Sankin Kotai.

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Border stones for Bungo / Buzen

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豊岡の眼鏡橋 Toyooka arched bridge
（植木町 Ueki town）

Over the river 中谷川 Nakatanigawa, built in 1802.

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. Konoha saru 木の葉猿 monkeys from Konoha .
玉東町 Gyokuto town

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高瀬目鏡橋 Takase Meganebashi arched bridge
玉名市 Tamana city

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tawara korogashi 俵ころがし跡 remains of the stone slope for rolling rice barrels
玉名市 Tamana city

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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繁根木八幡宮 Hanegi Hachimangu Shrine
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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蓮華院誕生寺本院 Temple Renge-In Tanjo-Ji
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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Shodai yaki 小代焼 Shodai pottery
荒尾市 Arao city
Mount Shodai with suitable earth for pottery
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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Onari mon 御成門 "Gate for the Lord"
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Built in 1831 for the Daimyo to rest.

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岩本橋 Iwamotobashi bridge

On the border between the 肥後藩 Higo domaine and 三池藩 Miike domaine.
Built by 橋本勘五郎 Hashimoto Kangoro (1822 - 1897).

. Iwamoto Bansho barrier 岩本番所 .

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野原八幡宮 Shrine Nobara Hachimangu, Arao city
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Built in the early Heian period.

- reference : kumanago.jp/contents/yonkaido... -

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The Miike Okan branched off at 植木町味取 Uekimachi, Mitori, Kumamoto .
This road was also called
豊前街道 Buzen Kaido
via
Konoha 木葉
Takase 高瀬
Iwamotobashi 岩本橋
Omuta Miike 大牟田三池
Enoura 江浦
Setaka 勢高（瀬高）
(Setaka (瀬高町 Setaka-machi) was located in the Yamato District, Fukuoka)

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Buzen Province (豊前国 Buzen no kuni)
was an old province of Japan in northern Kyūshū in the area of Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture. It was sometimes called Hōshū (豊州), with Bungo Province. Buzen bordered on Bungo and Chikuzen Provinces.
The ruins of the ancient capital of the province were found near Toyotsu, Fukuoka. The castle town of Kokura was also in Buzen, and a seat of many feudal rulers.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

.................................................................................　Buzen 豊前国
- Now part of Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture

. Kappa legends from Kyushu 河童九州 .
When people crossed the wide rivers of Buzen, they often met a Kappa who wanted to do Sumo wrestling. Among the retainers of 小笠原信濃守 Lord Ogasawara from Shinano there was a strong man named 大つか庄右衛門 Otsuka Shoemon , who tried a bout with Kappa. But Kappa moves very fast and his body was slippery like an eel. He has spikes like needles on his body and Shoemon was hurt all over. He fell ill after the bout.
Another story tells about Shoemon and his friend せ川藤吉 Segawa Tokichi. When they walked into the river and the Kappa appeared, Tokichi drew his sword and killed the Kappa. The Kappa was small like a child, had a whitish skin and sharp nails like a cat.

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. namazu なまず / 鯰 / 鮧 catfish - der Wels .
At the waterfall 千丈が滝 Senjogataki there is 観音堂 a Hall for Kannon Bosatsu.
When 大塚庄右衛門 Ozauk Shoemon and his dumb friend went to the bridge above it to cool down in summer, there is a catfish jumping up and churning the water. Almost like going to heaven, it soon begun to rain. So it must have been a ryuu 竜 dragon after all.
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munagi むなぎ dialect for unagi, eel
At the waterfall 千丈が滝 Senjogataki in Buzen there lives a special Munagi eel in the river.
Its ears are large like a handfan and he is crawling in the riverbed. Its stomach is almost golden. It is about 24 m long, they say.

. unagi うなぎ /　鰻と伝説 Legends about the eel .

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早鞆明神社 Hayatomo Myojin shrine
Shows a Shinto priest carrying a firebrand and running to avoid a large wave. In his left hand he carries me, an edible seaweed which he has gathered. This ritual was carried out at night on New Year’s Eve at the Hayatomo Myojin Shrine, in northern Kyushu.
The shrine is seen, top right, beneath a black sky.
- source : japaneseprints-london.com... -

.................................................................................　Fukuoka 福岡県

. kishin, kijin, onigami 鬼神の伝説　Oni Deity Demon Legends .
During the time of emperor 継体天皇 Keitai Tenno (?450 - ?531) there lived kijin 鬼神 a Demon Deity on 求菩提山 Mount Kuboteyama in 豊前国上毛郡 the district Koge who played many bad tricks on the villagers. Through the power of the venerable 卜仙 Bokusen he was exorcised and put into a bottle, which was buried on the top of the mountain.
Its soul in now worshiped here.

Kuboteyama, 782 m

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kobito 小人 a dwarf
In the 築城郡 Tsuiki district of Bungo there lived a farmer. His son 才次郎 Saijiro, who was 8 years old, was only 53 cm high. He was a decent boy and spoke politely, never causing trouble to others.
When he was born, he was so small he could be kept in the palm of both hands.

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shiratori 白鳥 a white bird
The emperor 景行天皇 Keiko Tenno (大足彦天皇) had dispatched 菟名手（うなて）Unate (Unade), an ancestor of the Bungo regents, to Bungo, to the village 中臣村 Nakatomi.
He saw a white bird coming from the North and caught it.
The bird turned into mochi 餅 rice cakes, then into many thousand ietsuimo 芋草 plants.
So the Emperor named this area 豊国 Bungo "rich and plentiful land".

. Nakatsu Kaido 中津街道 Nakatsu Highway .

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Emperor Keikō (景行天皇, Keikō-tennō) (13 BC - 130)
also known as Ootarashihikooshirowake no Sumeramikoto (大足彦忍代別天皇) was the 12th Emperor of Japan
His son was Prince Ōsu" (Yamato Takeru).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Emperor Keitai (継体天皇, Keitai-tennō) (?450 - ?531)
was the 26th Emperor of Japan. reigned from 507 to 531
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Bungo Province (豊後国, Bungo no kuni)
was a province of Japan in eastern Kyūshū in the area of Ōita Prefecture.
It was sometimes called Hōshū (豊州), with Buzen Province. Bungo bordered Buzen, Hyūga, Higo, Chikugo, and Chikuzen Provinces.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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神杉の根を踏み虞る梅雨豊前

井口荘子 Iguchi Shoko

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Edo - the EDOPEDIA -

12/10/2019

Buzen Kaido Highway

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