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草津宿(Kusatsu unofficial inn town): survived atomic bomb blast

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Kusatsu is another unofficial inn town of San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido highway.  While the city center of Hiroshima is as completely wiped out by the atomic bomb, most part of Kusatsu survived with minor to moderate damages. This is the reason why we still see some of pre-WWII buildings. Of course, modernization has significantly changed its scene.   According to a local guide map, the inn town seems to start here. Saginomori shrine on the right side, was allegedly established in 904. The main building survived atomic bomb blast, according to Hiroshima city.  This temple, Jikouji temple, was established in 1447. The Sanmon gate survived atomic bomb blast.  Although Kusatsu inn town survived WWII, there are very few of pre-WWII buildings. This is Koizumi family residence. Probably this is the main attraction of Kusatsu unofficial inn town. It was build in late Edo period, and has been still in use as a sake brewery. Meiji emperor stopped by.  Across Koizumi family resi...
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広島宿(Hiroshima inn town/castle town) part 2: the hypocenter of atomic bomb

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 Let’s keep exploring Hiroshima inn town/castle town! We are getting close to the hypocenter of atomic bomb. Trams in Hiroshima city is another A-bomb survivor. Up today, there are two trains that survived the atomic bomb explosion and are still operating.  Going through an arcade street.  Hypocenter is just a step off from San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido route.  The hypocenter is above 600m of today’s Shima Internist Hospital, formerly known as Shima Hospital. Today’s Shima Internust Hospital is run by the grandson of the founder of Shima Hospital. The original hospital building was destroyed by the atomic bomb.  Crossing Motoyasu bridge. Originally named by lord Terumoto Mori in late 1500s after his uncle, Motoyasu Mori, the bridge built in 1926 survived the atomic bomb explosion. This is the closest bridge to the hypocenter. And the bridge was used until 1992 when the current bridge was built.  Now we are in the Peace Memorial Park.  The building on the left...
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広島宿(Hiroshima inn town/castle town) part 1: finding the trace of the old town out of the atomic bomb

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I wanted to complete Hiroshima inn town/castle town before 8/6, the A-bomb day of Hiroshima, or 8/15, the day of Imperial Japan’s surrender.  As you can imagine, today you will find almost no trace of old San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido highway in downtown Hiroshima. However, many pre-WWII records show what Hiroshima inn town/castle town used to be. I highly recommend to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum first as they have a diorama of pre-WWII downtown Hiroshima.  Alright, here is the overview.  According to old maps, east side of Enko bridge was the beginning of Hiroshima castle town, with the guard gate. One of old maps of Hiroshima castle town is available in Hiroshima castle, and Hiroshima city published a leaflet of San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido trail map bilingually, which I posted in the end of this article.  In this small square by the bridge, there is a relief of a song by a neo-Confucian scholar Rai San’yo(1780-1832).  Here the song says: “An evening mist is bein...
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海田市宿(Kaitaichi inn town): one more step to Hiroshima downtown

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I was sick, then with recovery, I decided to take summer vacation. Thank you so much for your patience.  So, in the last article, I wrote “We are finally entering Hiroshima city”. Yes, technically. But 海田市宿(Kaitaichi inn town) is located in Kaita town, not Hiroshima city. From Saijo, Aki ward of Hiroshima city comes for a while, then along with Seno river, we go through Kaita town. What is more confusing is that, then San’yodo goes on Hiroshima city - Fuchu town - Hiroshima city.  So, between Yokkaichi and Hiroshima inn town, we enter Hiroshima city x3! Google map shows Hiroshima prefectural R-274 as 安芸山陽道(Aki-San’yodo), which is substantially the same as pre-modern San’yodo or Saigoku Kaido.  Here is the overview.  When I looked at one of old maps on a local information board, the beginning of Kaitaichi inn town is around here. The road is narrowed here, which could indicate that there was a gate.  The structure that I circled blue reminds me of a Buddhist temp...
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