Tsugaru Migration JUL, 2024

I've always wanted to go to the Sannai-Maruyama ruins, and there are many options for travel from Tokyo to Aomori, including the Shinkansen, airplane, and car. There are also Aomori Airport and Odate-Noshiro Airport. I've never been to Lake Towada, so I decided to head north from the Odate side to the lake. Lake Towada is a caldera lake that can be seen on a map, but it is an active volcano that has been around for 1.6 million years, and although the most recent eruption was in 915 (Engi 15), it is still designated as a volcano under constant observation by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

As we visited in mid-July, there was a risk of being cursed by rain depending on the position of the rainy season front, but fortunately we were blessed with good weather and were able to enjoy Lake Towada and the clear stream of Oirase that flows out of it. Oirase Stream is the only river that flows out of Lake Towada, and is a valley formed when one end of the caldera lake collapsed about 15,000 years ago. National Route 102 and a promenade run parallel to the river, but it is rare to see a river and a road so close together, and it was a luxurious time driving through an area surrounded by clear streams and tall trees.

Omachi Keigetsu, a Meiji period essayist of beautiful writing, was born in Tosa, but in later years he moved his registered domicile to the Tsuta Onsen Ryokan in the Oirase mountains, where he died of excessive drinking (stomach ulcers). I stayed at the same inn, where the bottom of the bath was laid over the hot spring water (46°C) that welled up from underground, and I was enveloped in a heavenly embrace of hot water and steam like I had never experienced before. I also enjoyed the food and sake made with Aomori ingredients,

It was easy to see why Keigetsu chose this place as his final residence. When I went there, I noticed that Antonio Inoki and his wife had also visited here frequently, and that they had built a grave here during their lifetime.

Normally, I should be soaking in a hot spring in a deep mountain valley and reflecting on my life so far, but this time I stayed for two nights and traveled back and forth between the mountains of the national park and the Tsugaru Plain, visiting historical sites. The original destination, Sannai-Maruyama Ruins, is located on the outskirts of Aomori City, and there are impressive facilities along with the ruins, making it a site that will rewrite Japanese history textbooks. The period is 5,900 to 4,200 years ago, after the peak of the Jomon transgression, and 80% of the Tsugaru Plain is still under the sea. A settlement of 500 people planted chestnut and walnut trees and lived by hunting, and there are plenty of fish and animal bones found in the garbage dump. There was also thriving trade within the region, and the quality of the jade and obsidian other than pottery confirms exchanges with the Nagano area.

The most famous feature of this site is the six-pillared building. Taking into consideration the holes in the ground, the thickness and spacing of the few remaining chestnut trees, and the technique of slightly tilting the pillars to stabilize the structure, a large tower has been reconstructed, although its purpose is unknown. It is a major discovery that the Jomon people built a certain-scale collective society and interacted with outside the region by both land and sea.

It is well known how quickly Tsugaru's ruler, Tsugaru Tamenobu, submitted to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and how he gained independence from and rebelled against the Nanbu clan, but it wasn't until the 13th century that the power struggle over the Tsugaru Peninsula that led to this became visible as historical fact. The battlefield of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro at the end of the 8th century (Kanmu Emperor Chronicle) was in the northern part of present-day Miyagi Prefecture, while the battlefield of Minamoto no Yoriyoshi and Abe no Sadato in the 11th century Zenkunen no Eki was in the Akita and Iwate prefectures at best, and it wasn't until the time of the Oshu Fujiwara clan (12th century), who became rulers of Oshu, that the Aomori prefecture area began to be mentioned in history.

During the Kamakura period, the area was home to many Hojo clan estates, and so the descendants of heroic clans of the time were fighting for supremacy, including the Miuchibito (e.g. Ando clan), who were sent to the area as vassals, the Nanbu clan (the clan that was sent to Tsugaru was the Oura clan, and later the Tsugaru clan), the Date clan, and the Oe clan (Sagae clan), and during the Northern and Southern Court period, the Southern Court general Kitabatake Akiie, and the Kira clan and Shiba clan (Osaki and Mogami clans) who were sent as part of the Ashikaga clan. The 400-year history of the Oshu Warring States period in the Middle Ages began to lose steam as the Date clan gained power, but after the Odawara Conquest, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Oshu Shioki ended the game, and the clans that managed to survive the Battle of Sekigahara survived as daimyo of the Edo Shogunate. In descending order of size, they are the Date clan, Mogami clan, Nanbu clan, Tsugaru clan, and Akita clan.

In the early Sengoku period, the Tsugaru Plain was dominated by a three-way battle between Ando (Akita clan), Oura (Tsugaru), and the Kitabatake clan of Namioka, with the Nanbu clan frequently interfering from the direction of Hachinohe and Morioka. Tosaminato, which prospered from the 13th to 15th centuries, was originally developed by the Oshu Fujiwara clan as a trading base with the rest of Japan and the continent, but was seized by the Ando clan and used as a base, but fell into disuse after being invaded by the Nanbu clan in the 15th century. Lake Tosa is now a brackish lake, but at the time it was an inland sea with good access to the sea, and being at the confluence of ocean currents flowing in from the north and south, it was an excellent location for a trading port.

The port, mansion and townscape are buried under a quiet fishing village, but the sea route from that time can be seen, although it is narrow. The Ando clan survived the Sengoku period as the lord of Akita and entered the Shogunate-han system. The Satake clan, who did not take a clear stance at Sekigahara, entered the area from Hitachi, and the Akita clan (Ando clan) was transferred to Hitachi, and then transferred to Miharu in Fukushima Prefecture, where they welcomed the Meiji Restoration.

The descendants of the Southern Court's divine general, Kitabatake Akiie, stubbornly ruled over a corner of the Tsugaru Plain, using Namioka Castle as their base, until they were attacked and destroyed by Oura Tamenobu in 1578 (Tensho 6). Namioka Castle has been designated as one of the 100 Greatest Castles in Japan, and it is interesting to note that after Akiie's death, his descendants continued to exert their influence in the northern part of Honshu for 140 years. Located on the plains, it was a long and narrow castle, and appears to be small enough to be defended by around 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers, so it cannot be said to be a particularly strong castle, but it was apparently known locally as the Imperial Palace, and combined with the name value of the Kitabatake clan, it was probably sufficient as a castle residence.

Tamenobu left the Nanbu clan, adopted the Tsugaru clan name, and succeeded in becoming a vassal of Hideyoshi, as mentioned above. Tamenobu's behind-the-scenes work was thorough, and he had approached Sakihisa, the head of the Konoe clan, for some time, and had him acknowledge that Tamenobu's grandfather Masanobu was the illegitimate son of Konoe Hisamichi, who had come down to Tsugaru. The Tsugaru clan adopted the name of the Fujiwara clan, which was distinct from the Nanbu clan (Seiwa Genji), and they were allowed to use the Konoe family crest (Konoe peony). The Kitabatake clan was a distinguished family that descended from the Murakami Genji clan, and perhaps becoming a member of the Konoe family, which was of a higher rank as an aristocrat, was an effective governing tactic for Tamenobu.

When Tamenobu went to Kyoto to see Hideyoshi's Jurakudai, he renovated his castle, Horikoshi Castle, and although it was a castle built on earth, he renovated the main citadel and each enclosure, bringing it closer to the layout of a modern castle. The construction of Hirosaki Castle began after the Battle of Sekigahara, and after Tamenobu's death, Nobuhira completed it. The castle tower has now been moved slightly, and the stone walls are undergoing repairs. It is famous for its cherry blossoms, which are in full bloom during the long weekend.

The family crest given to us by the Konoe family proudly hangs at the construction site.

The family temple of the Tsugaru clan is Choshoji Temple, located at the end of a street called Zenrin-gai, and the thirty-three Soto Zen temples lined up neatly on both sides of the street are magnificent. A bell with the date 1306 (Kagen 4) is hung in the temple grounds. The name of the regent Hojo Sadatoki is also on the temple, and I wondered if it was originally a temple of the Ando clan, but it seems that the origin is unknown. The castle is beautiful, but it was a place where I could feel the castle town of the Hirosaki domain with 100,000 koku of rice.

On the way back to the airport, we visited the place in Odate where Yasuhira, the fourth lord of the Oshu Fujiwara clan, was killed. This place was originally the site of the Yamato Imperial Court's castle (Nie no Saku), and his vassal Kawada Jiro killed Yasuhira, decapitated his head and delivered it to Minamoto no Yoritomo. The mummified head found in the Golden Hall of Chusonji Temple was Yasuhira's, and the local villagers buried and worshiped the remaining torso (Nishiki Shrine).

In front of the shrine there is a small lotus tree that has grown from seeds that was found in the box containing Yasuhira's head.

Odate is famous for its Akita dog (Hachiko) and Hinai chicken. I didn't have time to go to the Akita dog tourist facility, but I ate Hinai chicken at a restaurant in the airport before boarding the plane. Next time, I'd like to visit the Shirakami Mountains and the Gono Line.