Area Information

•½ς@Hiraizumi
* Hiraizumi Culture Heritage [English] [Japanese]
* Guide to Hiraizumi [Korean] [English] [Japanese]@or [English]

Hiraizumi was a political and cultural center in northern Japan under the administration of the Oshu Fujiwara for nearly one hundred years in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Its unique cultural heritage is characterized by Kyoto-influenced yet idiomatic Buddhist temples, monasteries, and Pure Land gardens. Hiraizumi's fusion with the natural landscape constitutes a cultural landscape of unrivaled importance in the world.
(from Hiraizumi Culture Heritage)

Hiraizumi was the central city in the Tohoku region ~1000 years ago. In northern Japan, the sole local power remaining at the close of the eleventh century was Fujiwara no Kiyohira. Fujiwara no Kiyohira moved his base of operations thirty kilometers southwest from contemporary Esashi to Hiraizumi around the end of the eleventh century. Kiyohira first built a single pagoda atop the 134-meter hill called Kanzan, located about one kilometer southwest of the confluence of the Kitakami and Koromogawa Rivers. This single tower marked Hiraizumi as the center of eastern Japan, and symbolized Kiyohira's utopian dream....
(from the Hiraizumi web pages above)

’†‘ΈŽ›‚Ζ‹ΰF“°@@Chusonji and the Golden Hall
[English]@[Japanese] or [English]
It is recorded that when Kiyohira moved to Hiraizumi around 1100, his first project was the construction of Chusonji. The Konjikido (the golden hall), the temple's centerpiece, was completed in 1124. The golden hall is distinguished by the unparalleled lavishness of its use of gold, silver, and mother-of-pearl inlay, and by the mummies of the three Oshu Fujiwara lords which lie inside its three daises.


–Ρ‰zŽ›@Motsuji
[English] [Japanese] or [English]
Motsuji was founded by Ennin (Jikaku Daishi), though most of its structures were not built until the twelfth century, when the second and third Hiraizumi Fujiwara lords, Motohira and Hidehira, brought the temple to prominence. At its peak, Motsuji was a complex of 40 halls and stupas, and 500 monks' quarters. ....




History

Fujiwara Sandai @‰œB“‘Œ΄ŽO‘γ
The Northern Fujiwara were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tohoku region (the northeast of Honshu) of Japan from the 12th to the 13th centuries as if it were their own realm. They succeeded the semi-independent Ezo families of the 11th century who were gradually brought down by the Minamoto clan loyal to the Imperial throne based in Kyoto. Ultimately they were conquered by the Kanto samurai clans led by Minamoto no Yoritomo. During the 12th Century, at the zenith of their rule, they attracted a number of artisans from Kyoto and created a capital city, Hiraizumi, in what is now Iwate prefecture. They ruled over an independent region that derived its wealth from gold mining, horse trading and as middlemen in the trade in luxury items from continental Asian states and from the far northern Ezo and Ainu people. They were able to keep their independence vis-a-vis Kyoto by the strength of their warrior bands until they were overwhelmed by Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1189.
The Rise of Fujiwara no Kiyohira
Fujiwara no Kiyohira
Fujiwara no Motohira
Fujiwara no Hidehira
Fujiwara no Yasuhira



Minamoto Yoshitsune and Musashibo Benkei@ŒΉ‹`Œo‚Ζ•‘ –V•ΩŒc

Minamoto no Yoshitsune ŒΉ‹`Œo
[English] (from Samurai Archive) [Japanese]
Minamoto no Yoshitsune (ŒΉ ‹`Œo 1159 ? ) was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo (the third son of Yoshitomo) founded the Kamakura shogunate. Yoshitsune's name in childhood was Ushiwakamaru.Yoshitsune was born during the heiji Rebellion of 1159 in which his father and oldest two brothers were killed. His life was spared and he was put under the care of Kurama Temple, nestled in the Hiei Mountains near the capital of Kyoto, while Yoritomo was banished to Izu Province.Eventually, Yoshitsune was put under the protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira, head of the powerful regional Northern Fujiwara clan in Hiraizumi.After the Gempei War, Yoshitsune joined the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa against his brother Yoritomo. Fleeing to the temporary protection of Fujiwara no Hidehira in Mutsu again, Yoshitsune was betrayed, defeated at the Battle of Koromo River, and forced to commit seppuku along with his wife and daughter, by Hidehira's son Fujiwara no Yasuhira. (from Wikipedia)

Musashibo Benkei •‘ –V•ΩŒc
You know, the name of the Hotel is MUSASHIBO
[English]
Musashibo Benkei (1155 - 1189), popularly called Benkei, was a Japanese warrior monk who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune. He is commonly depicted as a man of great strength and loyalty, and a popular subject of Japanese folklore. His life has been embellished and distorted by kabuki and Noh drama, so that truth cannot be distinguished from legend. As Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep of the castle of Koromogawa no tate to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) on his own, Benkei fought on at the bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune. It is said that the soldiers were afraid to traverse the bridge to confront him, and all that did met swift death at the hands of the gigantic man. Long after the battle should have been over, the soldiers noticed that the arrow-riddled, wound-covered Benkei was standing still. When the soldiers dared to cross the bridge and look more closely, the giant fell to the ground, having been dead in a standing position for some time before that. This is known as the "Standing Death of Benkei"
(from Wikipedia)


Tohoku Area

Miyagi Prefecture ‹{ιŒ§

* Sendai ε‘δ [Korean] [English] [Japanese]
Tohoku University is located in Sendai.

* Matsushima Ό“‡
[Korean] [English] [Japanese]
Matsushima that has been written in Waka(Japanese poetry) since ancient times is well known as the place to dazzle sophisticated individuals every years to come. Matsuo Basho, a poet, once wrote in his famous work "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" extolled Matsushima Bay formed by more than 260 motley kinds of islands having different shapes and sizes. Matsushima as it has been called one of the most representative places in Japan that can offer the view with many beautiful islands truly brings the splendid and exhilarating time with each seasons come.


Iwate Prefecture@@ŠβŽθŒ§
@Tourism Guide of Iwate [English]@or Iwate Travel Guide [English]
@Iwate Tourism Map [English]


Other Topics

Kenji Miyazawa ‹{‘ςŒ«Ž‘
Wikipedia [English]
The world of Kenji Miyazawa [English]