Have you seen the new version of ‘Shogun’? It is really fantastic, and covers a pivotal time in Japanese history. We are in the city of Aizu-wakamatsu, who brand themselves as the Samurai City. Events here in the 19th century closed the bracket on the chapter opened in ‘Shogun’
After a long period of civil war, in the year 1602 the Tokugawa shogunate began, and lasted until 1868. While there was an Emperor, he was a figurehead, relegated to life in Kyoto. The Shogun ruled with an iron fist from Edo (which is now Tokyo). It seemed like this would be the way forever. Until the American s arrived in 1853, demanding that the Shogun open the country to trade. This was the beginning of the end of the Shogun’s feudal reign. The Emperor was restored to power as ruler, an event known as the Meiji Restoration. There was resistance, and rebellions broke out sporadically through the country. It all came to a head in 1868 in the city of Aizuwakamatsu. The shogun’s supporters were vanquished and banished and the Meiji restoration was secure.
Every September 23 the city of Aizu celebrates the events with a festival and we decided we needed to see it. The city is in Fukushima prefecture in a big inland valley. There are small ski resorts in the surrounding hills. We’re not quite into the Japanese alps, but they get quite a lot of snow up here.
Turns out they get a lot of rain up here, too. Like holy cow a lot of rain!
The original castle was destroyed after the insurrection, but it was reconstructed by 1965.
Yes, there is a story about the red cows. They are called Akabeko, and have a story…
They are Everywhere here!
Haven’t seen a Hello Kitty, a Pikachu or a Kumamon since we’ve been here, but little red cows are everywhere.
Anyhoo. The castle is very nice and the inside is an interesting museum of the area. After the war the losing side was banished to the northern end of the island, but it looks like many of the capable people were reabsorbed into Japanese society becoming teachers and police officers.
The high point of the Aizu Festival is a parade that involves 500 participants in costume. With horses…. We were uncertain because on Saturday it rained and rained and rained. A good 30mm worth. Sunday we got up and went to the info centre at the train station and they were very confident that the parade would happen. No matter that it was pouring. We sloshed down the street, heading for the shopping district. A few food stalls appeared, and then we heard cannons being fired. And sure enough when we got further down the street we found everyone.
This part of this street is arcaded so we could get out of the torrential rain. The parade participants – not so much….
There was a big range of clothing and weapons as the participants represented the rulers of the city over a 400 year span. There were also drummers, sword dancers and a variety of performers. It was quite a spectacle and we were glad to have been able to see it. Too bad bout the rain, though. It was quite a production for a city of about 120,000 residents.
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