Minobu Kaido Highway

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. Kaido 街道 Highways - ABC Index .
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Minobu Kaido 身延街道 Minobu Highway
Minobu Michi 身延道 / 身延路 Pilgrim Road to Mount Minobusan

This old road connected the sea of 駿河 Suruga (Shizuoka　静岡県) with the city of Kōfu 甲府 Kofu in the inland province of 甲斐 Kaii (Yamanashi　山梨県).
It was a trade route and also used by the army, especially by 武田 Takeda Shingen and the 今川 Imagawa clan.
There are still many 題目道標 stone markers along the road.

Another name for this route was the

Sunshu Okan 駿州往還 Sunshu Highway
(so called when starting from Kai)
or
Koshu Okan 甲州往還 Koshu Road
(so called when starting from Suruga)

- Not to mix with the
. Kōshū Kaidō 甲州街道 Koshu Kaido Highway .
From Nihonbashi in Edo via Kofu to 諏訪　Suwa.

The part along the river Fujikawa was called
Fujikawa Kaido 富士川街道 Fujikawa River Road

There were many stations since many pilgrims to Mount Minobusan used the road.

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- Stations on the road

河内路・身延道（興津ルート）Okitsu route (Kawauchi ji, Minobu michi)
甲府宿 Kofu
市川大門宿Ichikawa Daimon
鰍沢宿 Kajikazawa - Harbour of the Navy from Fujikawa 富士川水運の港町
岩間宿 Iwama
西島宿Nishijima
切石宿 Kiriishi
八日市場宿 Yokaiichiba
飯富宿 Iitomi
下山宿 Shimoyama
身延宿- Minobu temple town for Kuon-Ji
南部宿 Nanbu, Nambu
万沢宿 Manzawa
宍原宿 Shishihara (Shizuoka)
興津宿 Okitsu - connecting with the Tokaido.

岩淵ルート Iwabuchi route
万沢宿 Manzawa (Yamanashi)
内房宿 Utsubusa (Shizuoka)
岩淵宿 Iwabuchi- connecting with the Tokaido.
(- as an ai no shuku 間の宿 station between 吉原宿 Yoshiwara and 蒲原宿 Kanbara)

由比ルート Yui route (Shizuoka)
内房宿 Utsubusa
由比宿 Yui - connecting with the Tokaido.

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Kajikazawa 鰍沢
From Kajikazawa, Nichiren reached the basin of Kai passing the rivers Kamanashi and Fuefuki.

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- difficult parts of the road -

富士川 River Fujikawa was especially fast and dangerous to cross.

砥坂（とさか） Tosaka slope / 砥坂の渡し Tosaka no watashi river crossing

日下り道 Hisagari michi

早川の横渡し Hayakawa no yokowatashi river crossing

長峰三里 Nagamine sanri along the mountain ridge

西行峠 Saigyo Toge pass

. Saigyō Hōshi 西行法師 Priest Saigyo Hoshi . - (1118 – 1190)

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The Fuji River (富士川, Fuji-kawa or Fuji-gawa)
is a river in Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures of central Japan. It is 128 kilometers long and has a watershed of 3,990 square kilometers .
With the Mogami River and the Kuma River, it is regarded as one of the three most rapid flows of Japan.
The river arises from Mount Nokogiri in the Akaishi Mountains in northwest Yamanashi as the Kamanashi River (釜無川, Kamanashi-gawa), and meets the Fuefuki River at the town of Ichikawamisato. There it changes its name to the Fuji River. It then flows around the west foot of Mount Fuji and into Suruga Bay at its mouth in the city of Fuji.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Kanbara: View of the Fuji River from Iwafuchi
(Kanbara, Iwafuchi yori Fujikawa o miru zu),
Utagawa Hiroshige

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- reference : wikipedia -
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Minobu Michi 身延道 Pilgrim Road to Mount Minobusan

- quote
Kuon-ji (久遠寺)
is a major Buddhist temple in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Founded by Nichiren in 1281 it is today the head temple of Nichiren Shū. While the Ikegami Honmon-ji in Tokyo is also the Nichiren sect's administrative centre, Kuon-ji today plays an important role as a seminary. Locally it is referred to as the Minobu-san Temple, after the mountain upon which it is built.
..... After returning from banishment to the island of Sado, Nichiren returned for a period to Kamakura, the seat of the Kamakura shogunate which ruled Japan at the time. He was invited by the magistrate Nambu Sanenaga, one of his converts, to relocate to Kai province, where the Nanbu clan had its ancestral estates, in 1274. Soon after his arrival Nichiren set up a hermitage that became a centre of learning for his disciples and adherents.
The original dwelling became too small and in 1281 Nichiren founded a temple nearby, which he named Minobu-san Hokke-in Kuon-ji.
- source : wikipedia

. Nichiren, Saint Nichiren 日蓮 (1222 – 1282) .
lived on 身延山 Mount Minobusan.

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Suruga Province 駿河国 Suruga no kuni
was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and was bordered by the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay to the south.
Its abbreviated form name was Sunshū (駿州) Sunshu.
. . . During the Edo period, Suruga prospered due to its location on the Tōkaidō, and numerous post towns developed. For defensive purposes, the Tokugawa shogunate forbid the construction of bridges on the major rivers of Suruga Province (such as at the Ōi River), which further led to town development on the major river crossings.
During this period, the major urban center of Sunpu remained a tenryō territory, administered directly the Shōgun by the Sunpu jōdai, and several smaller feudal domains were assigned to close fudai retainers.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Kai Province (甲斐国, Kai-no-kuni)
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Yamanashi Prefecture. Kai bordered on Sagami, Suruga, Shinano and Musashi Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Kōshū (甲州). The origin of its name is uncertain. It lies in central Honshū, west of Tokyo, in a landlocked mountainous region that includes Mount Fuji along its border with modern Shizuoka Prefecture.
- History
Kai was one of the original provinces of Japan established in the Nara period under the Taihō Code. The original capital of the province was located in what is now Fuefuki. Under the Engishiki classification system, Kai was ranked as a "superior country" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the 16 "middle countries" (中国) in terms of distance from the capital. Although not directly on the Tōkaidō, it was also included as one of the Tōkaidō provinces.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Shichimensan 七面山 Mount Shichimensan, Shichimen San
and temple 敬慎院 Keishin-In
shichimen means seven faces, seven aspects.

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Mt. Shichimen is one of the famous mountains which has a great view of Mt. Fuji.
It is located Hayakawa Town, Yamanashi Prefecture. The summit of the mountain is 1989m high and there is Keishin-In Temple on the top of the mountain. Keishinin is one of the sacred temples of Nichiren Buddhism, and many believers practice at this temple.
Also, because Mt. Shichimen is located exact west of Mt. Fuji, at Spring and Autumnal Equinox Day, the sun rise from the top of Mt. Fuji. This phenomenon is called "Diamond Fuji." It is also called "Goraiko."
- source : mustlovejapan.com... -

敬慎院 Temple Keishin-In

- reference source : kuonji.jp/shichimenzan... -

In this temple, 七面大明神　Shichimen Daimyojin, the protector deity of the Lotus Sutra, is enshrined.

Her incarnations are
吉祥天 Kisshoten, 弁才天 Benzaiten, 瀬織津姫 Seoritsuhime, 市杵嶋姫命 Ichikishima Hime no Mikoto and
サラスヴァティー Sarasvathi, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, wisdom, and learning

. Hokekyo 法華経 / Hokkekyo - The Lotus Sutra .

At the temple 瀬町長源寺 Chogen-Ji in Nagano
Shichimen sama 七面様 is venerated.
In the year 1276 in December, Saint Nichiren was giving a sermon. One of the visitors was a beautiful young woman of about 18 or 19 years.
When Nichiren asked her, she said the wanted to be blessed and become a protector of Buddhism, her name was 吉祥天女 Kissho Tennyo.
She asked Nichiren for some water and when he gave it to her, she changed into kooryuu, kōryū 蛟龍 a rain and flood dragon, flying away to the Western sky.
This is the origin of Shichimen Daimyojin.
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Saint Nichiren sat on a rock and practised austerities at Mount Minobusan near 早川町 Hayakawa town. Many people came to see him. Once a beautiful princess came, but some young men shouted that she was disturbing.
So Nichiren asked her who she was. She poured some water of the pond into a lotus leaf and spilled it on the ground.
There came smoke and wound around her, taking her up to the sky as she turned into a hebi 蛇 serpent.
Nichiren said:
"This was 七面明神 Shichimen Myojin.
She lives in a lake about 20 miles down the mountain."
- Other versions of this tale say she turned into tairyoo 大龍 a huge dragon and flew away.
This was Shichimen Dai Tennyo 七面大天女 / ナナメンダイテンニョ Nanamen Daitennyo.
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In 都留市 Tsuru city they say that 七面様 Shichimen Sama was an incarnation of 弁天様 Benten Sama.
She was also seen as kaiko no kami カイコの神 a protector deity for silk worms and a deity preventing fire and other disasters.

七面天女 Shichimen Tennyo
by 歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 - 1861)

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

.　千ヶ寺参り sengaji mairi / 千ヶ寺詣 sengaji mode -
pilgrimage to 1000 temples of the Nichiren sect .

.................................................................................　Yamanashi 山梨県

ryuujo 竜女 "dragon lady"
Once Saint Nichiren was giving a sermon. One of the listeners was a Dragon Lady which had shape-shifted into a woman.
Nichiren soon saw her real features and she became a protector deity of Minobusan.

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oha icho お葉公孫樹 / オハイチョウ leaves of the Gingko tree
In the year 1274 when Saint Nichiren had come to Minobusan, a visiting monk 善智法師 gave him poisoned mochi 餅 rice cakes and Nichiren was almost killed.
On this day he had been out walking and gave the rice cake to a shiroinu 白犬 white dog on the road. The dog died soon.
Nichiren took pity on the dog, held a memorial service for him and made a mound, where he put 銀杏の枝 his walking staff made from gingko wood into the ground.
The staff kept in the ground, got roots and became a strong gingko tree.
People used the leaves of this tree to protect themselves from poisoning.

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shimizu no sakura 清水の桜 cherry tree of the clear spring
In the year 1274 on the 17th day of the 5th lunar month, Saint Nichiren passed Minobu village and felt very thirsty.
He stuck his tsue 枝 walking staff, which was made from cherry tree wood, into the ground, prayed intensely and what do you know, a spring with clear water opened.
The staff kept in the ground, got roots and became a strong cherry tree.

sakura shimizu 桜清水 stone memorial

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While Saint Nichiren was walking along, he became thirsty and asked an old woman to give him some water.
The old woman went to draw water from the well and gave it to him.
Nichiren thought getting water was tough for the old woman. He stumped his tsue 杖 walking staff on the ground and a well begun to flow.
This is now called 姥清水 Uba Shimizu.

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. Chigo-Ike 稚児池 - 鬼子母神堂 Kishibojin Hall .
On the way to the 奥の院 Oku no In temple of Minobusan there is a small pond called Chigo Ike (pond of the young child).
Once there lived a woman which was very pious and kept all the precepts. But her child was not so pious and eventually she killed it in the pond.

The 鬼子母神堂 Kishibojin Hall at the temple in Minobusan is located along the route to the Oku-no-In sanctuary at the Chigo-Ike 稚児池 pond.

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Koyashiro 古谷城

Koyashiro 古谷城 area about 520 m high
- 身延町大城（おおじろ）古谷城 Minobu town, Ojiro, Koyashiro
Upstream of river 大城川 Ojirogawa.
A rather uninhabited area with tea fields.
- reference source : aikis.or.jp/~kage-kan.. koyashiro... -

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. Fudo Myo-O 不動明王　.
at Koyashiro 古谷城

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. hebi 蛇と伝説 Legends about snakes and serpents .
At 古谷城 Koyashiro there lived a beautiful young girl. A man from 梅ヶ島 Umegashima came to visit her every night.
Her mother was worried and one evening put a needle with a thread in his sleeve. She followed him to the river side 牛淵 Ushifuchi.
Later her daughter gave birth and was put into a tub with hot water, where she gave birth to hebi 蛇 a snake.

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. ushi 牛と伝説 Legends about ox, bull, cow . . .
kin no ushi 金の牛 the golden bull
At the river side 牛淵 Ushifuchi in Koyashiro 古谷城 there was a deep hole where the water whirled around.
From the riverbank the sound of ゴーンゴーン gooon goon was heard.
People said inside was a golden bull.
Therefore at Koyashiro they to not keep bulls or horses.
The Ushifuchi is used for amagoi 雨乞い rain rituals.

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. Inari kitsune densetsu 稲荷狐と伝説 Inari fox legends .
A fox who lived at the temple 飯高寺 Hanko-Ji wanted to learn more at Minobusan, but when he took a nap after lunch, he was found out as fox.
This fox has lived since the times of Gautama Buddha and still wanted to learn more about Buddhism. The priest who had detected the fox kept quiet and built a sanctuary,
Monju Inari 文殊稲荷

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Yamanashi 西八代郡 Nishi-Yatsushiro district 六郷町 Rokugo town

. Legends from Rokugo town .

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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- - - - - H A I K U and S E N R Y U - - - - -

水筒につめる身延の寺清水
suitoo ni tsumeru minobu no tera shimizu

in my water bottle
I collect the clear water
from Minobu Temple
Tr. Gabi Greve

仁科歌子 Nishina Utako

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Edo - the EDOPEDIA -

1/24/2020

Minobu Kaido Highway

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