山陰道

ROUTE 48. THE SAN-INDO. THE COAST OF THE SEA OF JAPAN FROM MIYAZU WESTWARD TO HAGI: BATHS OF TOGO-IKE, ASCENT OF DAISEN, MATSUE, KIZUKI AND THE GREAT SHINTO TEMPLE OF IZUMO, SAMBE-YAMA. [HAMADA ACROSS COUNTRY TO HIROSHIMA ON THE INLAND SEA.] The principal object of interest on this route is the Great Temple of Izumo. Notwithstanding the historic and religious interest of this temple, it may be doubted whether the majority of travellers will find the long and arduous land journey sufficiently repaid. An easier way of reaching it is by steamer from Shimonoseki to Sakai, but this also has its discomforts. A third way is to strike across country from Okayama or Kurashiki on the Sanyo Railway.

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Itinerary. MIYAZU to: Iwataki, 2 ri 28 cho, 6 3/4 m.; Kuchiono, 1 ri 20 cho, 3 3/4 m.; Mineyama, 1 ri 23 cho, 4 m.; Nonaka, 3 ri 23 cho, 9 m.; Kumihama, 2 ri 8 cho, 5 1/2 m.; TOYOOKA, 3 ri 7 cho, 7 3/4 m.; Yushima, 2 ri 31 cho, 7 m.; Takeno, 1 ri 26 cho, 4 1/4 m.; Naraya, 2 ri 24 cho, 6 1/2 m.; Kazumi, 2 ri 2 cho, 5 m.; Yobe, 2 ri 7 cho, 5 1/4 m.; Hamasaka, 3 ri 18 cho, 8 1/2 m.; Uratomi, 4 ri 18 cho, 11 m.; TOTTORI, 4 ri 32 cho, 12 m.; Takaragi, 4 ri 26 cho, 11 1/2 m.; Aoya, 2 ri 25 cho, 6 1/2 m.; Tomari, 1 ri 34 cho, 4 3/4 m.; Hashizu, 1 ri 31 cho, 4 1/2 m.; Kurayoshi, 2 ri 16 cho, 6 m.

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Yura, 2 ri 25 cho, 6 1/2 m.; Akazaki, 2 ri 23 cho, 6 1/2 m.; Shimoichi, 2 ri 5 cho, 5 1/4 m.; Mikuriya, 1 ri 29 cho, 4 1/2 m.; Yodoe, 2 ri 7 cho, 5 1/4 m.; YONAGO, 2 ri 17 cho, 6 m.; Yasuki, 2 ri 31 cho, 7 m.; Arashima, 1 ri 13 cho, 3 1/4 m.; Kajiya, 1 ri 10 cho, 3 m.; MATSUE, 2 ri 29 cho, 6 3/4 m.; Anamichi, 4 ri 31 cho, 11 3/4 m.; Naoe, 2 ri 9 cho, 5 1/2 m.; Imaichi, 1 ri 26 cho, 4 1/4 m.; Oda, 4 ri 7 cho, 10 1/4 m.; Hane, 3 ri 7 cho, 7 3/4 m.; Ota, 2 ri 2 cho, 5 m.; Omori, 3 ri 30 cho, 9 1/4 m.; Fukumitsu, 3 ri 14 cho, 8 1/4 m.; Asari, 2 ri 17 cho, 6 m.; Etsu, 1 ri 21 cho, 3 3/4 m.; HAMADA, 5 ri 17 cho, 13 1/4 m.

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Misumi, 5 ri 14 cho, 13 1/4 m.; Masuda, 4 ri 34 cho, 12 m.; Iiura, 4 ri 10 cho, 10 1/2 m.; Esaki, 2 ri 3 cho, 5 m.; Susa, 1 ri 31 cho, 4 1/2 m.; Uda, 2 ri 32 cho, 7 m.; Nago, 3 ri 5 cho, 7 3/4 m.; HAGI, 3 ri 33 cho, 9 1/2 m.; total, 138 ri 31 cho, 338 3/4 m.

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At the vill. of Iwataki there is a choice of roads to Toyooka, - the new jinrikisha road (shindo), and a shorter way for the pedestrian over Myoken-zan to Kuchiono. This latter alternative is recommended, on account of the beautiful panorama which it affords of the pine-clad peninsula of Ama-no-Hashidate, described on p. 347. Luggage should be sent by the new road to meet the traveller at Kuchiono, between which place and Kumihama (Inns, Yoshizawa, Taniguchi) the Hijiyama-toge is crossed, commanding a fine prospect of the mountains of Tajima and the valley of the Sano-gawa.

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Similarly beautiful is the descent, after passing the boundary line of the provinces of Tango and Tajima, to the town of Toyooka (Inns, Miki-ya, Oba-hei). Between here and Yushima there is a curious cave called Gemmudo. Yushima (Inns, Yuto-ya, Ita-ya), possesses hot-springs. Here also boxes are manufactured out of wheat-stalks and mulberry wood. From Yushima the road leads for some fifty dreary miles along the coast to Tottori. [There is an alternative path further inland leading over the Kama-toge and other steep passes - more picturesque, but not practicable for jinrikishas.

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It goes through the vill. of Yumura (Inns, Tomi-ya, Yane-ya), locally famed for its hot sulphur springs.] Tottori (Inns, Kozeni-ya, Kome-ya), now the capital of the prefecture of the same name and also of the province of Inaba, was formerly the seat of Matsudaira Hoki-no-Kami. Its chief industries are cotton and silk, but its prosperity has considerably declined since the fall of feudalism. From Tottori the road skirts some pretty lagoons encircled by pine-clad hillocks to Tomari. The

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traveller is, however, advised to make a detour of 1 ri 30 cho to another lagoon called Togo-ike, perhaps the pleasantest spot on this coast at which to make a lengthened halt. Not only are there excellent inns, the Yoyo-kwan and Unryu-tei, but also good natural hot baths, boating, and fishing. The springs in their present position date only from 1882. Formerly hot water used to issue from the hillside; but a flood altered the configuration of the soil, sweeping away the old springs and causing new ones to gush out in their stead. One rises in the middle of the lake, and kills all the fish that approach it.

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The pathway skirts the lake, leading back to the main road at Tajiri, 1 1/2 ri from Togo. Soon the Amano-gawa is crossed, and the first glimpse of Daisen obtained. The road onwards through Akazaki (Inn, Yamame-ya) is dull until reaching Mikuriya, where a path diverges l. to Daisen, the main road continuing along the coast to Yonago. [Daisen, or Oyama, is 6,650 ft. high, and is the loftiest as well as the most sacred mountain in the San-indo. Here dwells the great Shinto god, Onamuji-no-Mikoto. Founded in A.D. 718, the monastery owes its lasting celebrity to the seventh abbot, Jikaku Daishi, who is said to have landed here on his return from China, whither he had gone to study esoteric mysteries.

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It attained its greatest prosperity in the 14th century, at about the time when the hapless Emperor Go-Daigo was exiled to the Oki Islands. There were then no less than 250 temples in all on the mountain. During the Tokugawa regime, when the centre of civilisation had shifted to Eastern Japan, these had decreased to 40, and now little remains but moss-covered ruins and a few monks in abject poverty. The latter eke out a livelihood by letting rooms to pilgrims, to whom, however, their creed forbids their offering a more generous diet than potatoes and other scanty vegetables. The temples are situated half-way up the mountain side; the way is execrable, but the view from the top extensive.

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The chief features are the Oki Islands in the offing, Sambe-yama on the borders of Izumo and Iwami to the W., and Mikuni-yama and the mountains of Tajima and Tamba to the E. It is best to descend from Daisen to Kuruma Omura, 1 ri from Yonago.] Yonago (Inns, Komego, Yuwasa) is the largest town in the province of Hoki. It is a busy place in constant communication with Matsue. The distance to Matsue by road is over 8 ri; by water only 4 ri. The latter way is to be preferred, on account of the pretty scenery of the Naka-umi and Shinji-ko lagoons. Yonago is also the port of embarkation for the Oki Islands, which lie some 40 m. to the northward.

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Matsue (Inns, Omoya, Ueda), the most important town in the San-indo, is noted for its agates and crystals and for the manufacture of paper. Formerly the seat of Matsudaira Dewa-no-Kami, the remains of whose castle stand on a height in its midst, Matsue is a clean and prosperous city, splendidly situated on the borders of the Shinji-ko lagoon surrounded by lesser hills, beyond which rise the blue silhouettes of distant mountain ranges with Daisen towering high above all. The sea-port of Matsue is Sakai, whence there is

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general steam communication up and down the coast. In order to visit the great Shinto Temple of Izumo at Kizuki, the traveller should abandon the highway, and take steamer to Hirata near the W. end of the lagoon, whence the journey is made by jinrikisha in 3 to 4 hrs., the whole distance being 10 1/2 ri, or 25 1/2 miles. Sambe-yama looms up in front. Kizuki (Inns, Inaba-ya, Oshima-ya), a quaint little town at the base of Tabiishi-yama, is famed throughout the length and breadth of Japan for the Great Temple of Izumo (Izumo O-yashiro), which is dedicated to the god Onamuji and disputes with Ise the honour of being the most ancient and venerable shrine of the Shinto religion.

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The province of Izumo, and more or less the whole country eastward to Tajima and Tango, together with the Oki Islands, occupy a prominent place as the theatre of many of the tales forming the old Japanese mythology. Indeed that mythology has been traced by students to three centres, of which one is Kyushu with its warlike legends of Jimmu Tenno and Jingo Kogo, ancestors of the Imperial line, another is Yamato which in early days seems to have had native princes of its own, and the third is Izumo, wherein are located strange tales of gods, and monsters, and speaking animals, and caves through which entrance to Hades is obtained.

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Susa-no-o-no-Mikoto, born from the nose of the creator Izanagi and brother to the Sun-Goddess Ama-terasu, is the hero of some of these tales. The hero of most of the rest is his descendant Onamuji, also called Okuni-nushi, that is, 'the Master of the Great Land,' in other words, the King of Izumo, to whom later on an embassy was sent from heaven, requesting him to abdicate the sovereignty in favour of the Sun-Goddess's descendant, progenitor of the earthly Mikados.

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To this he consented, on condition of having a temple built for his reception and worship. So they built him a grand shrine on the shore of the land of Izumo, 'making stout the temple pillars on the nethermost rock-bottom, and making high the cross-beams to the plain of high heaven,' - and there he is worshipped to this day, the very name of Kizuki preserving to the faithful the recollection of the pestles (kine) with which the soil was beaten (tsuku) to render the foundations firm and everlasting.

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The buildings, which are in the unornamented style of pure Shinto, impress the beholder by their great size and solidity and the majesty of the approaches under successions of colossal torii. The services are conducted by priests gorgeously arrayed in white and purple robes with gold figuring. The chief priest, who is supposed to be the eighty-second descendant in a direct line from the god Susa-no-o, used to be styled Iki-gami - that is, a god upon earth. The temple possesses many curiosities and valuable documents.

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Here, too, may be seen the ancient fire-drill, which, though but a simple board with holes wherein a rapidly revolving stick kindles sparks, is still preserved as the only lawful means of producing the sacred fire. There are nineteen other shrines, not consecrated to any deities in particular, but in which all the Shinto gods and goddesses are supposed to assemble during the month of October. For this reason October is, in Izumo alone, called Kami-arizuki, 'the month with gods'; whereas, in the classical parlance of the rest of Japan, it is Kami-na-zuki, 'the month without gods,' because all the other shrines of the Empire are supposed to be then abandoned by their tutelary deities.

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On the seashore is a much smaller temple - the scene, so it is said, of the abdication of the sovereignty of Izumo by the great god Onamuji. From 200,000 to 250,000 pilgrims visit the Great Shrine yearly. All day long the sound of the clapping of hands, to call the attention of the god, is unbroken like the sound of a cataract. Owing to the prominent position of Izumo in mythology and legend, many Shinto shrines, besides that dedicated to the great god Onamuji, are found scattered about the province. Such are Kumano Jinja, 5 ri S. of Matsue, dedicated to Susa-no-o; Mio Jinja, 8

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ri N.E. of Matsue, dedicated to Hiruko, the first child of the creator and creatress Izanagi and Izanami; and Yaegaki Jinja, only 1 1/2 ri S. of Matsue, in the mountain village of Oba. The deity there enshrined, wife of Susa-no-o, is believed to be she who decides the lot of marriage for mortals; and young men desiring good wives and young girls wishing for good husbands visit Oba to make their petitions to the goddess.

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The story of Susa-no-o, of his wife Inada-hime, and of the palace with an eight-fold fence (ya-e-gaki, whence the temple's name) which he built for her reception, is thus narrated in the Kojiki: After having been expelled from heaven, Susa-no-o descended to a place called Torikami at the head-waters of the River Hi in the land of Izumo. At this time some chopsticks came floating down the stream. So Susa-no-o, thinking that there must be people at the head-waters of the river, went up it in quest of them, when he came upon an old man and an old woman, two of them, who had a young girl between them and were weeping.

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Then he deigned to ask, 'Who are ye?' So the old man replied, saying, 'I am an earthly deity, son of the Great God of Mountains. I am called by the name of Ashi-nazuchi, my wife is called by the name of Te-nazuchi, and my daughter is called by the name of Inada-hime.' Again he asked, 'What is the cause of your crying?' The old man answered, saying, 'I had originally eight young girls as daughters; but an eight-forked serpent has come every year and devoured one, and now is its time to come, wherefore we weep.' Then he asked him, 'What is the serpent like?' The old man answered, saying, 'Its eyes are like the winter cherry. It has one body, with eight heads and eight tails.

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Moreover, on its body grows moss, and also chamaecyparis and cryptomeria trees.

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Its length extends over eight valleys and eight hills; and if one looks at its belly, it is all constantly bloody and inflamed.' Then Susa-no-o said to the old man, 'If this be thy daughter, wilt thou give her to me?' He replied, saying, 'With reverence, but I know not thine august name.' Then Susa-no-o replied, saying, 'I am elder brother to the Goddess of the Sun, and have just descended from Heaven.' Then the old man and his wife said, 'If that be so, we will reverently offer her to thee.' So Susa-no-o, at once taking and changing the young girl into a multitudinous and close-toothed comb which he stuck into his top-knot, said to the old man and his wife, 'Do you distil some sake, refining it eight times; also make a fence round about; in that fence make eight gates; at each gate tie together eight platforms; on each

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platform put a vat, and into each vat pour the sake refined eight times, and wait.' So as they waited after having thus prepared everything in accordance with his bidding, the eight-forked serpent came truly, as the old man had said, and immediately dipped a head into each vat and drank the sake.

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Thereupon it was intoxicated with drinking, and all the heads lay down and slept. Then Susa-no-o drew the great sabre that was girded on him, and cut the serpent in pieces, so that the river Hi flowed on changed into a river of blood. Thereupon Susa-no-o sought in the land of Izumo for a place where he might build a palace. Then he arrived at a place called Suga, and in that place he built a palace to dwell in. When he built the palace, clouds rose up thence, whereupon he composed a song which said: 'Eight clouds arise, The eightfold fence of Izumo Makes an eightfold fence For the spouses to retire within. Oh! that eightfold fence!' So far this ancient tale, as given in the Kojiki.

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The number eight, so often mentioned in it, is the Japanese mystic number. The concluding little poem is venerated by the Japanese as the earliest effort of the native muse. The tale still lives, not only in the pages of the Kojiki, but in the hearts of the simple Izumo folk. Almost every spot in hill or dale has some shrine commemorating an act or tracing the footsteps of Susa-no-o, of the maiden his first love, or of her parents. Every place where the serpent can possibly be conceived to have passed still holds some legend concerning it. A pretty 4 ri excursion from Kizuki is to the banks of the Kobe-gawa, which, for the space of nearly a mile, exhibits charmingly fantastic rock scenery.

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The best plan is to take a boat down the river. A second, longer and very much rougher, expedition is up Sambe-yama, the highest mountain in all this country-side, Daisen only excepted. The view from the top over the Sea of Japan and multitudinous mountain ranges is very fine. Other excursions are to Ichibata-yama, a celebrated resort for persons suffering from diseases of the eyes, who go there to be cured by the divine power of the Buddhist god Yakushi Nyorai;

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and to Hamamura which possesses delightful hot-springs, whose waters are led into every house and are equally good for drinking and for bathing in. The main road leads right along the coast to Hamada in the province of Iwami, and thence to Hagi, the capital of the province of Nagato (Choshu); but the scenery is hardly such as to compensate for the roughness of the way, except in the eyes of those who wish above all things to traverse unbeaten tracks. Both Hamada and Hagi have steam connection with Shimonoseki, and also with places on the W. coast.

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Hamada (Inns, Dogu-ya, Hamaoka) is chiefly known on account of the terrible earthquake which half wrecked it in 1872, and in which over 2,000 persons perished. Hagi (Inn, Osaka-ya) was in early feudal times the residence of the great Mori family, the Daimyos of Choshu, before their removal to the town of Yamaguchi, 12 ri further to the south. [There is a cross-country road from Hamada to Hiroshima on the Inland Sea, a distance of approximately 30 ri, or say, 3 days' journey. The first part is very rough, over steep hills and with scant accommodation; but jinrikishas can be taken on portions of the road.

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From Mizaka, which is on the boundary of the provinces of Iwami and Aki, and where is also the water-shed between the Sea of Japan and the Inland Sea, it is down-hill almost all the way for over 12 ri to Kabe, whence a run of 4 ri on the flat takes one into the suburbs of Hiroshima.]

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