Wonderful bike & train tour in Fukushima 福島大好きおじさんの自転車・鉄道旅日記 Historic sites of Tanagura, July 7, 2017 （棚倉町の史跡など２０１７年７月７日）

Historic sites of Tanagura, July 7, 2017 （棚倉町の史跡など２０１７年７月７日）

I stayed last night at Tanagura Town after bike climb to the summit of Mount Yamizo. This morning, before leaving the town I visited two of the historic sites. A photo above was one of them, which was called Baba-tsutsukowake Shrine. The shrine was established in this place in 1624 by the first lord of Tanagura domain Niwa Nagashige. An ancient legend Yamato-takerunomikoto and one another were enshrined. The shrine had been the most prominent one or “Ichinomiya” in Tohoku region. The main building ‘hondo’ was designated as a national important cultural asset.
八溝山にチャリで登った後、昨夜は棚倉町に泊まりました。今朝、棚倉の史跡のうち、２ヶ所を見て回りました。写真は、その１つの馬場都々古別（ばばつつこわけ）神社です。初代の棚倉藩主の丹羽長重が、１６２４年にこの地に移しました。神社には日本武尊命ともう一人が祀られています。東北（正確には陸奥）では一の宮であり、本堂は国の重要文化財になっています。

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Saigo Tanomo who had been a chief retainer for Matsudaira lord family in Aizu once served as a chief priest for this shrine after the new Meiji Period started. A board above explains about his career.
会津松平家の家老だった西郷頼母は、明治維新後にこの神社の宮司を務めています。写真は、彼の生涯を説明しています。

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Then I visited nearby Tanagura Castle site. Tanagura feudal domain was established in 1622 with small scale of 50,000 ‘goku’, where one goku is equivalent of rice necessary for a person for one year. The first lord was Niwa Nagashige and he built Tanagura Castle two years later in 1624. Niwa Nagashige himself was moved to Shirakawa two years later and became the first lord with 100,000 ‘goku’. Tanagura Castle continued for about 250 years before it was burnt down in 1868 during Boshin civil war. A board above explains the details.
次に、その近くにある棚倉城跡に行きました。棚倉藩は、１６２２年に初代大名丹羽長重の５万石で始まりました。長重は、２年後に白河藩１０万石の初代大名として白河に移りましたが，棚倉城は２５０年近く続き、最後は戊辰戦争で１８６８年に落城しました。その経緯が、写真の説明板に書かれています。

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Photo above shows a part of inner moat with a fountain. All the structures were gone and only the Honmaru ground in the center, inner moat, and some of stone walls were left at the site.
写真は、噴水がつけられている内堀です。城跡には、全ての建物はなくなっており、中央の本丸跡地、内堀、その外の石垣が一部残っています。

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Finally, on the way back home I stopped at Kumogoro iris garden in Asakawa Town. It was located on the foot of Mount Kumogoro in the town. A sign board for the entrance is shown in the upper photo above. Local people have taken care of the iris garden for about 20 years and it showed beautiful scenery during every best season. Today, the season was almost over and only a part of the iris flower field was left as shown above. A local man was taking care of the plants when I visited and the next best season in late June is highly expected.
最後に、帰途、浅川町の雲五郎あやめ園に寄りました。町の雲五郎山の麓（登山道入口）にあります。写真の道案内が、道路脇にありました。地元の方達が２０年に渡り手入れしてきたもので、見頃の時は大変きれいです。今日は、もう見頃は終え、写真のようにごく一部残っているだけでした。地元の方が１人、念入りに手入れをしており、来年の６月下旬の見頃の時が期待できます。

The inn I stayed last night at Tanagura was Akadate Ryokan located on a hillside. This family operated inn was actually like a business hotel with two good meals. Despite its old rustic exterior, all the rooms inside were renovated in a modern style and the owner family were very kind. With this quality the charge was very reasonable (7500 yen).
昨夜は、棚倉町の丘の上に立つ赤舘旅館に泊まりました。家族経営で、おいしい２食付のビジネスホテルでした。外観は古いですが、内部は新装されて大変きれいな上、ご主人、女将さんは、大変親切な方でした。価格も大変手頃（２食付７５００円）です。

The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。