瀬川宿(Segawa inn town): close to the Osaka International airport and Osaka University
Segawa inn town is in Minoo city, Osaka prefecture.
Minoo city is famous for Minoo waterfall, but that’s way up in north of the city.Segawa inn town is in south of the city along Hankyu railways Minoo line.
This is one of inn towns that I had hard time in my research. There are very little information online. And Google map does not show much about Segawa inn town. I see very few shrines and temples. Segawa shrine is probably the most notable one. Otherwise, I see Osaka university and Osaka International airport(not Kansai International airport) nearby. If anybody lives in Minoo or if you are a Minoo native, I would love to hear from you. As other inn towns have, there are some old houses, probably dating back to late Edo or early Meiji period. But according to my research, most part of the inn town is just like many other places of late 20th century Japan.
When I see old houses, I smile and get excited.
Going further, there is another old houses. This is one of discoveries in Segawa inn town. A 12-century warrior/monk Benkei stopped by this small pond, looked at his own face on the water, forecast the upcoming battle he was going to engage. This is called Benkei no Kagami Mizu(Benkei’s mirror water), and there are a lot of places in Japan that have similar stories with Benkei. He really liked to forecast battles by looking at his face on the water.
This is the end of Segawa inn town. The route is bearing left here to continue.
When I see old houses, I smile and get excited.
Former Segawa honjin inn is now a driving school.
In front of the driving school, there is a sign to explain what Segawa inn town and Honjin inn used to look like. Going further, there is another old houses. This is one of discoveries in Segawa inn town. A 12-century warrior/monk Benkei stopped by this small pond, looked at his own face on the water, forecast the upcoming battle he was going to engage. This is called Benkei no Kagami Mizu(Benkei’s mirror water), and there are a lot of places in Japan that have similar stories with Benkei. He really liked to forecast battles by looking at his face on the water.
This is the end of Segawa inn town. The route is bearing left here to continue.
The next inn town, Koya, is in Hyogo prefecture. We are getting out of Osaka prefecture.
Segawa inn town is right between Hankyu Minoo line Sakurai station and Ishibashi-Handai Mae station.
Reference:
Saigoku Kaido guide map. Rekishi Kaido Promotional Council. (The original title: 西国街道みちしるべ 歴史街道推進協議会) https://www.rekishikaido.gr.jp/aruku/saigoku/ (Accessed in 4/20/2025)
Comments
Post a Comment