Wonderful bike & train tour in Fukushima 福島大好きおじさんの自転車・鉄道旅日記 Shirakawa historic sites tour: day 1, Nov. 13, 2018. （白河史跡巡り１日目大信地区２０１８年１１月１３日）

Shirakawa historic sites tour: day 1, Nov. 13, 2018. （白河史跡巡り１日目大信地区２０１８年１１月１３日）

I was looking for days when I can go around historic sites in Shirakawa area by bike, and I found that this week was a perfect choice because of mild days before it gets colder.
On the first day, I started pedaling from Koriyama heading toward Taishin which was northern district of Shirakawa. Major topic today was an old Aizu (or Shirakawa) Highway in Edo Period between Shirakawa and Aizu which went through mountainous area of Taishin. Photo above shows late autumn view along the narrow highway.
白河の史跡巡りをチャリで考えていましたが、今週がちょうど穏やかな天気で来週は寒くなる予報なので出かけました。
初日は郡山から出発し、まず大信地区に入りました。江戸時代に白河と会津を結んだ会津街道（会津からみると白河街道）は大信地区を通りました。写真は、晩秋の旧会津街道の（狭い山間部の）様子です。

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I found an “ichirizuka”, a kind of milestone which was placed every 4km in Edo Period along major highways, as shown in the pictures above together with a description board on the site. This site was called Iidoyo Ichirizuka after the name of the location.
写真は、江戸時代の一里塚です。地名にちなみ、飯土用（いいどよう）の一里塚と呼びます。

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Photo above shows today’s view of Kamikoya village which prospered as one of the post towns along the highway. A map of the village together with history description was posted on the site as shown above. The village was formed in the late 1500’s and since then many high-ranking shogunate officials stayed at here.
写真は、会津街道沿いの宿場町だった上小屋宿の今日の姿です。地図と歴史も現地に掲示されていました。上小屋宿は、１６世紀頃から存在していたようで、１８０２年には日本地図を作った伊能忠敬も泊まったそうです。

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Entering into Taishin from north this morning, I first stopped at an old stone memorial as shown above. This kind of old stone plate memorial was called “itahi”. And this particular one was called Kencho-no-itahi which was inscribed as made in the year 1256.
今朝、北から大信入り後、最初に寄ったのが写真の「板碑」（いたひ）です。「板碑」は供養塔の一種で、ここにあるのは１２５６年につくられた建長の板碑と呼ばれるものです。

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The next stop was Nakayama Gishu Memorial Library located in the central part of Taishin as shown above. Gishu Nakayama (1900-1969) was a renowned writer from Taishin who won distinguished literary awards including Akutagawa Award. He always loved and referred to the beautiful landscape of Taishin.
次に寄ったのは、大信支所のそばにある写真の「中山義秀記念文学館」です。中山義秀（1900-1969年）は、大信出身の芥川賞作家で、生まれ育った故郷の大信を愛していました。

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Kumano Shrine in Taishin, as shown above, holds special treasure called “Mishotai” or “kakebotoke” which combines Shinto and Buddhism. The treasure made in 1433 was designated as a prefectural important cultural asset.
大信にある熊野神社には、御正体（みしょうたい）または懸仏（かけぼとけ）と呼ばれる神仏習合の対象が保管されています。１４３３年につくられたもので、県重要文化財に指定されています。

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At the end of old Aizu Highway, there was a place named “Onnaishi” where it was an entry point into the central part of Shirakawa as well as the start (or end) point of old Oshu Highway which led to Edo (Tokyo). In the late 1600’s the population of Shirakawa castle town was about 15,000 and at the same time it was the 27th (last) post town from Edo. Some of the tombs for the victims of Boshin Civil War in 1868 were placed at this location. One of them as shown above was for 150 soldiers from Sendai domain who lost their lives at the battleground of Shirakawa.
会津街道（または白河街道）の終点は女石という場所で、白河城下町の入口でもあり江戸への奥州街道の起点（終点）でもあります。１６００年代の江戸時代の白河城下町は１万５千人ほどの人口で、また江戸からは２７番目の宿場町でもありました。女石には、戊辰戦争の犠牲者のお墓がいくつかあります。写真は、１５０人がこの白河の地で犠牲になった仙台藩士の墓です。

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Another one as shown above was for a woman called Shige who was tragically killed during the war.
また、戦争のために悲惨な死を遂げた、しげと言う女性のお墓もあります。

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Finally I came to the central part of Shirakawa castle town and found a historic building called Taiko-yagura. This was the only original building left today which was located within Kominejo Castle in Edo Period. It was moved later to this place and preserved.
白河の城下町に入ると、写真の太鼓櫓を見付けました。この建物は、白河小峰城の敷地内にあった当時のものが現存する唯一の建物で、その後この地に移動され保存されています。

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Photo above shows the only remain of the main road between Tamachi Gate in the east and Kitakoji Gate closer to the center of the Kominejo Castle.
また、写真は、江戸時代に東の田町御門と城に近い北小路御門を結ぶ道の名残です。

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。