三原宿(Mihara inn town/castle town): the castle ruins at the bullet train station

Thank you so much for your patience! It’s been quite busy days as my father-in-law went with the Lord last month. 

I am getting back to my routine. It means that there is going to be delay from my original plan. 

Mihara inn town can be divided into part 1 and 2, but I would like to hurry up to complete San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido route as I expect a few more places that need to be divided into two parts. And to be honest, Mihara is not a typical destination of tourism. 

Without further ado, let’s see what’s in Mihara. 

According to several blogs and resources, Mihara inn town is based upon the castle town of Mihara. The east side of the gate to the castle town was around here. 

We are going on Asahimachi street. There are some old houses. 

There is a small shrine, Ebisu shrine, that we pass by. 

Then here comes Shinmei honden shrine on the right. Shinmei is another name of Amaterasu, sun goddess that is known as the god of Ise shrine in Mie prefecture. In every February, Mihara city hosts Shinmei daruma festival. Most likely this shrine has something to do with the festival. 

Here on the left, there is Suishin Yamane sake brewery store, established in 1860. 

On the left, there is Sanada family mansion, built in 1912-1918. 

Ebisu shrine is on the left side here. Apparently this shrine becomes the center of Shinmei-ichi Daruma festival although the name Shinmei does not have anything to do with Ebisu shrine. 

The temple you see is Zenkyoji temple, a True Pure Land Buddhism, one of Buddhist sects. 

The year of the establishment is unclear according to my online research. 

There was a record that indicates 1554 battle of Kagetaka Kobayakawa vs Harukata Sue, at Kojima castle, by the river mouth of Numata river, the biggest river in Mihara city. One of Sue’s vassals was killed, then later the third son of this vassal got tired of battles and murders, who eventually became a Buddhist monk, and opened up this temple. 

Right before the entrance of Zenkyoji temple, there is a monument of land survey by Tadataka Inou(1745-1818). Inou was the pioneer of land survey in Japan, who drew the map of Japan almost identical to the satellite map. 

On this river, there are structures to ease and change currents of water, built in 17th century. 

Passing by the ruins of Mihara castle East Otemon gate. 

Here is more detailed info board about Mihara castle ruins. Later you will see more clearly that JR Mihara station is directly attached to the castle ruins. 

There is a monument nearby to commemorate Marquis Nagakoto Asano(1842-1937). He was the last Daimyo(lord) of Hiroshima domain, and a diplomat, an entrepreneur and a politician. 

I could not find a good sources that connects him with Mihara city itself. I need an info from locals. For more details, I would refer to Wikipedia, whether in English or in Japanese. 

Another gate for the castle, Nagaya gate, used to be here. 

According to images near here, there is a structure made by rocks to prevent soils and dirts of Saigoku Kaido from falling apart into the moat. 

Nagaya gate ruins of Mihara castle. 

This is A-bomb victims memorial monument. You might find it a little bit weird to see an A-bomb victims memorial monument here in Mihara city, about 70 km away from the actual hypocenter of the explosion. It is good to know that there are a lot of people who are related to victims and/or survivors of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima prefecture. Mihara city is not an exception. 

By the way, when I was finishing up this article, it happened to 8/6. I took a moment of silence. 

This old house is now open to public called “mihola”. It has a cafe and meeting place. 

I had fun looking at the Google map on west side of Mihara castle along San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido route. There a a fair number of old houses. I’m sure many were built in 1900s, but definitely some of them look older. 

More old houses…

Another part that brings nostalgia. 

This is the main gate of Junshoji temple. I could not confirm the date of establishment, however, according to the city website, the temple was relocated to the present place in 1471. The main gate is apparently from Mihara castle, and still in use. 

This is the west gate ruins of Mihara castle, the end of Mihara inn town/castle town. 

To get to Mihara is easy as JR Mihara station is one of the 

main stations on JR San’yo line, as well as a terminus of JR Kure line. Also, San’yo Shinkansen station is directly attached to Mihara castle ruins. 

The next stop is Hongo inn town. 

References:

Junshoji temple. Mihara Navi. Mihara Kanko Kyokai(Mihara tourism association. Originally:順勝寺　三原NAVI. 三原観光協会 In Japanese only) https://www.mihara-kankou.com/sightseeing/3149 (Accessed in 8/6/2025)

Mihara Shinmei-ichi Daruma Festival.Get Hiroshima. https://gethiroshima.com/features/art-entertainment/mihara-shinmei-ichi-daruma-festival/ (Accessed in 8/2/2025)

“Mihara Station - Mihara Photogenic Spots Trip” Dive!Hiroshima. Hiroshima Tourism Association/Hiroshima Prefecture/Hiroshima City. https://dive-hiroshima.com/en/course/mihara-sta/ (Accessed in 8/6/2025)

Nagakoto Asano. Wikipedia.com. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asano_Nagakoto (Accessed in 8/6/2025. More further info, go on 浅野長勲 on Japanese Wikipedia)

Suishin Yamane Flagship Store(酔心山根本店). Joy in Hiroshima. https://joyinhiroshima.com/todo/food-stores/suishin-yamane-flagship-store/ (Accessed in 8/2/2025)

Tadataka Inou. Wikipedia.com. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%C5%8D_Tadataka (Accessed in 8/4/2025)

Zenkyoji. Mihara Kanko Kyokai(Mihara tourist association). https://www.mihara-kankou.com/sightseeing/3117 (in Japanese only. Accessed in 8/4/2025)