Wonderful bike & train tour in Fukushima 福島大好きおじさんの自転車・鉄道旅日記

Today was February 11, 2018, Shirakawa Dharma Dolls Market Day! People crowded at the venue to buy this year’s new Dharma dolls. The venue was along the main street close to JR Shirakawa Station. The street was part of an old highway “Oshukaido” from Edo Period about 400 years ago. The market as you see in the photo above started about 100 years ago in Meiji Period. In recent years, the market has been held on February 11th (National Foundation Day) of every year.
本日は、２月１１日、白河だるま市の日です。大勢の人達が、今年のだるまを求めに、やってきました。会場は、ＪＲ白河駅すぐ近くの通りで、４００年前から続く旧奥州街道の一部です。写真のようなだるま市は、約１００年前の明治に始まりました。近年は、毎年２月１１日（建国記念の日）に、開催されています。


A god of the market called “Ichigamisama” was enshrined at a shrine in the center of the market as shown above. Shirakawa City’s local manga character “Komine shiro” on the upper left was also cheering up the market.
会場の中央には、写真のように、市場の神様「市神様」をお祀りしている神社があります。左上の小峰シロ（白河市のまんがキャラクター）も、応援しています。


Another similar sales stand is shown above. There were about 30 of these shops as well as many other food stands.
写真も、同様な売り場です。このような売り場が、３０ほど向い合せに続きます。この他に、出店が数多くでます。


These are the Dharma dolls I purchased today. The left one is from Watanabe Dharma Workshop, and the right one is from Sagawa Dharma Workshop. These are the two main workshops in the city today. The design is different but the common feature is that both include crane, turtle, pine tree, bamboo, and ume blossoms as symbols of good luck and longevity.
写真は、本日のだるまです。左が渡辺だるま店、右が佐川だるま製造所のものです。現在、市内には、主にこの２ヶ所が製造しています。形、デザインは違いますが、共通点は、鶴、亀、松、竹、梅の、縁起の良い模様が描かれています。






I stopped at some of the historic heritage in the city. One was Kansenji Temple as shown above, located a few minute walk from the marketplace. A description in Japanese was at the site, as shown in the middle picture above. The temple was first built in 1336 by a Shirakawa lord Yuki Munehiro at the time. His statue was placed in the precinct as shown above. The Yuki family controlled the Shirakawa area for about 400 years between 12th and 16th century.
このあと、市内の史跡などを巡りました。最初は、だるま市から歩いて３分ほどにある、写真の関川寺（かんせんじ）です。中央に説明がありますが、１３３６年に、当時の白河領主の結城宗廣が開基しました。宗廣の像も、境内に建っています（写真）。白河結城氏は、１２世紀から１６世紀まで、約４００年の間、白河を治めました。


Next, I stopped at Shohoji Temple as shown above. The temple was first built around the middle of 14th century by Yuki Chikatomo who was a son of Munehiro, for the memorial of his father.
次に寄ったのは、写真の小峰寺（しょうほうじ）です。結城宗弘の子、親朝が、父の供養のため、１４世紀半ばに建てました。


In the afternoon, I visited Mahoron as shown above, which was a Fukushima Prefecture Cultural Assets Center. This was located just south of Shirakawa city center, where ancient Paleolithic remains, Ichiridan A site, were excavated.
午後は、福島県文化財センター「まほろん」を訪ねました。白河市中心街から南に位置し、旧石器時代の遺跡、一里段Ａ遺跡が発掘された場所にあります。


Some of the ancient stone tools unearthed from Ichiridan A site were displayed as shown above.
一里段Ａ遺跡から発掘された、旧石器時代の石器が、展示されています。


Within the area of the facility, an old house from Nara Period, some 1300 years ago, was restored as shown above.
敷地内には、１３００年前の、奈良時代の住居など、復元されています。


A set of restored harnesses found at Zaruuchi Tumuli site from 7th century, are also displayed in the facility as shown above.
７世紀の笊内（ざるうち）古墳群（白河市）から発掘された、馬具一式（復元）も展示されています。

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。

関連記事

• Yanagiya Ryokan site in Shirakawa: Oct. 4, 2018. （白河の柳屋旅館跡 戊辰１５０年 ２０１８年１０月４日） (2018/10/04)
• Shirakawa Dharma Doll Market, February 11, 2018 （白河だるま市 と 歴史探訪２ ２０１８年２月１１日） (2018/02/11)
• Shirakawa history tour, February 3, 2018 （白河歴史探訪 ２０１８年２月３日） (2018/02/03)