Aizu's New Year

World Mixed Heritage, and the Sea, Mountains, Rivers, and People – Part 1

Since last June, I have been talking at length about Keitoku Inari Shrine, which is located in Kitakata City. Speaking of Inari Shrine, I remember that when I was a child, I often visited Tsurugajo Inari Shrine to offer fried tofu. The offerings are not made to the shrine itself, but to a dark hole at the base of a pine tree planted to the right of the shrine, barely large enough for a fox to enter. When I went there the next day, it had completely disappeared. The castle was transformed into a circus venue, a zoo, and even a bicycle racing track. I still remember the first time I rode an elephant or a sea turtle. This was before television. My relationship with the ever-changing castle continued until I graduated from high school. My school was in Minamimachi, so I would usually go south on Route 121 with Nishidemaru on my left, but at the end of the year I entered the school, the school building burned down during the final exams. Therefore, the place where students went to school was a two-story wooden school building that was the betting booth and office of the bicycle racing track, which had been transformed into Tsuruga Castle Gymnasium. The following year, the school was shaken by the Niigata earthquake. Only the graduation ceremony was held in the newly built school building, but the most moving thing was the feeling of exhilaration when I raced down the bank of the bicycle racing track on my bike.
On the south side of the castle, where such special emotions well up, the Yukawa River flows and the Tenjinbashi Bridge spans it. On the bank by the river stands Sugawara Shrine. Within the grounds, there is a small shrine that is easy to overlook. It is Matsumoto Inari Shrine. I was surprised to learn about this shrine. It was not the first time that the school building had caught fire. On March 28, 1935, the school building was burned down on the day the new building was completed.
The troubles of this shrine began with the forced relocation of the Ashina clan, who became the feudal lords of Aizu during the Kamakura period, from Misato-cho (formerly Aizu Takada Funaoka). The victim is the Matsumoto clan, who has a deep connection with Tsuruga Castle. In Mukai Yoshishige’s Aizu Four Families Study, the Matsumoto clan’s rebellion against the Ashina clan is mentioned frequently, so the signboard that describes the origin of Matsumoto Inari Shrine cannot be ignored lightly. The defeat against Date Masamune and the disaster of the Boshin War may have been a blow to those who still neglected the divine power and forgot the meaning of “single-minded reverence”. Moreover, the god of learning, Sugawara Michizane, is enshrined together with Inari Tenjin, looking down on the bridge. He is the leading figure of the three great vengeful spirits of Japan, so his divine power knows no bounds. It is not just about fox fire. It seems that these two gods are not placed where they should be. The compass is upside down. This is the same as ignoring Izanagi Izanami-no-Mikoto, who gave birth to Japan. From the Paleolithic period to the Kofun period, direction was an extremely important marker.
The Furisode fire, a great disaster in Edo, experienced by Aizu feudal lord Hoshina Masayuki must have made him realize that ignoring direction in shrine placements can bring about tragedy. We must not forget that the graves of Ieyasu and Masayuki are both located precisely on the compass to protect the common people who supported them.
So let us tie our Korean strings and pledge to “Aizu Mine” that this year will be Japan’s first ever registered World Heritage Site.