I wrote about some advantages of local museums in my previous post on May 16th. This post is also about local museums. There was a very interesting one-day event at a local small museum in West Tokyo recently although the event wasn't widely known.
At the event visitors could experience wearing a replica armor set which is shown in the upper left hand side photo. This replica armor was made of metal so that people can feel the real weight of Samurai armor. What's more, it wasn't only wearing an armor. There were also strings and pads for shoulders, arms and legs to attach under metal armor as you can see in the upper center and right hand side photos. So it was like a full set of Samurai soldiers' outfits.
There were more items such as a replica Samurai sword and a flag to show which Samurai lord to belong. Then after put everything on, becoming like a Samurai foot soldier as shown in the lower left hand side photo.
Moreover, after enjoyed trying Samurai armor replica, museum staff brought out one of their real Samurai armors and showed to people as in lower center and right hand side photos. It would be also a rare opportunity to see a real armor so closely although it was just a general armor and wasn't owned by any famous historical person or any lord class people. People could take a look all the parts from every angles and enjoyed seeing how elaborate the metalworking and the craftsmanship were.
Unfortunately this was a one-day special event, however if you are interested in trying this kind of Samurai armor replicas, please feel free to contact me.
Generally speaking, special exhibitions at major museums are always very popular since they show many famous pieces or extremely valuable items, far more than local museums can. Is it always better to choose famous big museums over local museums? I think local museums also have their advantages.
If you love historical artifacts or Japanese Samurai, there is an interesting exhibition at a local museum named Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. The museum is located in Hachioji city, Tokyo and now holding a special exhibition of Japanese swords "Katana-A Millennium of Swordsmith Mastery".
In the exhibition, visitors can enjoy a large number of various Japanese swords from ancient to modern times, and explanations on Japanese sword makings, swords accessories and Samurai armors. For those who love Japanese swords, there is even a space to look at a sword close up shown in the upper right hand side photo. People can sit on the Tatami-mat and look at every details of the sword.
The museum is about one hour away from the center of Tokyo, and is never crowded. This is the biggest advantage over the major museums in the center of Tokyo. You don't have to wait in a line nor feel tired from pushing your way through the crowd. What's more, you can take photos of most exhibits at this Japanese swords exhibition. this is completely different from most major museums in Japan where taking photos of exhibits are strictly prohibited.
In addition, there is a fun event space outside of the exhibition. As shown in lower right hand side photo, anybody can try on replicas of Samurai armors made of cardboard. Although they are made of paper, they are very well made with excellent craftsmanship.
The exhibition continues to July 3rd in 2016. The space of fitting replica armors are open between 10 am and 4 pm.
I kept writing about Japanese Samurai era history recently, and let's continue it since there are more historic sites relating to Samurai era in West Tokyo area. The photos above are showing a former manor house in Samurai era, specifically Tokugawa Shogunate era. Tokugawa Shogunate era started in 1603 and continued until Japan got the first modern government in 1868. The Shogunate government was established by a Samurai Lord "Ieyasu Tokugawa" and the Tokugawa family ruled Japan as Shogun for 265 years.
The refugee Samurai princess Matsu who I introduced in my previous posts died in 1616 after the Tokugawa Shogunate era started. Although she was a refugee princess and most of her family were killed, she was not alone in her later days. Actually former Takeda troopers were around her during her last years. How it was possible?
Even though Lord Takeda family and their troopers were defeated and Takeda family lost their land, some Samurai vassals and Samurai soldiers survived the disaster. Moreover some of the competent men among them were re-hired by other lords.
One of the re-hired survivor from Takeda troopers is Nagayasu Okubo. He must have been a very capable person because after he started working for Lord Ieyasu Tokugawa who became the first Shogun later, he rose by leaps and bound and at the and he became one of the senior councilor of Tokugawa Shogunate government. As a refugee Samurai survivor who lost his lord it was really a rare case.
After Tokugawa shogunate government was established, Nagayasu Okubo took up a administrative director position of the greater Tokyo area which was under Shogun's direct control. Thus Nagayasu Okubo was called "Great Chief Secretary of Shogun" later. By the way, in those days local areas were entrusted to local lords who were appointed by Shogun.
As one of his famous works, Nagayasu Okubo proposed to form a security squid for Shogun's direct control area. It was named "Thousand Troopers" and stationed in Hachioji. He hired many of survived Takeda troopers for the squid, then they were gathered in Hachioji where Princess Matsu was living. It is said that she became the source of emotional support for the survived Takeda troopers and because of her they were united to work as the "Thousand Troopers".
Today, only a small shrine and an old well were remaining on the ground of the former manor house of Nagayasu Okubo in Hachioji City. However there are lots of buried historical episodes there.
Today, I'd like to continue the story of the refugee Samurai princess "Matsu" whom I wrote about in my previous post on April 10th. She was born in 1561, during the Warring States Period of Japan, as the fourth daughter of a historical Samurai lord Shingen Takeda. He was a very powerful lord called "Tiger in Kai state" leading unstoppable mounted troopers. "Kai state" is the old place name of Yamanashi prefecture area.
However Shingen Takeda collapsed by a sickness in 1573. It might be the start of disasters for princess Matsu's life because although a son of Shingen Takeda took over his position and the powerful troopers, but the son was defeated by another powerful lord Nobunaga Oda in 1582. Then all Takeda troopers were routed and princess Matsu also had to run away. The 450-year history of Takeda family as a Samurai lord ended in the year 1582.
As I mentioned in my previous post, princess Matsu went over mountains and finally reached Hachioji. Then she became a Buddhist nun and established a temple there. Her temple still exists in Hachioji City. The building was rebuilt and it looks splendid now as you can see in the upper left hand side photo. In front of the entrance of the temple there is a statue of princess Matsu with travel clothes as she arrived in Hachioji as in the upper center photo.
Apparently, even though she barely escaped with her life and arrived in Hachioji, she was with her little nieces. She raised her nieces by spunning silk yarns and weavibg silk fabrics by herself, and taught her knowledge and techniques to the locals. Thus she made a great contribution to the development of Hachioji city which became famous as a textile town later.
Therefore she was respected by the local people and survivors of Takeda troopers until she died in 1616. Today, we can find her grave inside the temple ground which has been well taken care of as shown in the lower left hand side photo and the lower center photo. Her grave is standing quietly under a big pine tree. The grave stone has a wooden roof with her family crest decorated by flowers. Now it became a registered historical site by Hachioji City.
Recently there was a local festival commemorating Princess Matsu. The festival was held on April 16th and called "Princess Matsu 400th Anniversary Festival". The young woman in the upper left hand side photo who played the role of princess Matsu, is wearing an old-fashioned Kimono just like her statue and taking girls who played roles of her nieces in the festival parade. Also a local sweets shop is selling sweets which are associated with her. The traditional sweet buns shown in the lower right hand side photo have her family crest on top. Hachioji people still love princess Matsu.
In addition, if you are interested in taking a tour to this historic site, please feel free to contact me!
I introduced previously on my post of April 1st, during the later of the Warring States Period of Japan a daughter of a famous historical Samurai lord, Shingen Takeda, who ruled Yamanashi prefecture area, settled in Hachioji city, Tokyo after her family was defeated by Nobunaga Oda, who was also a powerful Samurai lord back then. Her name is Princess Matsu, and she reached Hachioji as the consequence of her run away trip and became a Buddhist nun.
Even now the temple established by her in Hachioji is kept well as you can see the photos above. Since she taught silk fabric making skills in Hachioji and dedicated her life to the development of the town, she has been loved by the locals. The seed she planted had grown big and Hachioji became prosperous by the textile manufacture for many years after that. This year 2016 is the 400th year of her death and a festival "Princess Matsu 400th anniversary" will be held at the temple.
Actually the princess is also known by a tragic love story. She was born in 1561, and when she was 7 years old, her father, lord Shingen Takeda, arranged an engagement for her to get married to the oldest son of lord Nobunaga Oda, whom I mentioned in the beginning of this post. Since both of the lords were very powerful it was clearly a marriage of convenience. However, it was Nobunaga Oda who attacked and conquered her family later. Thus the engagement was vanished and she had to run away.
However, according to old records even after her family was conquered she said that she'd like to remain faithful for the son of Nobunaga Oda since they were once formally engaged. Therefore she became a Buddhist nun after she arrived in Hachioji and established a temple shown in the photos, and spent her later days praying for her family and vassals who died in the battle against the Oda family. Apparently she was still 22 years old at that time.
There are cherry blossom trees in her temple so it is a nice place to visit in spring season and visitors would be able to turn their thoughts to her tragic story as they see her statue at the entrance and her family crest which is displayed on the gate.
In addition, if you are interested in taking a tour to this historic site, please feel free to contact me!
I introduced two historical sites in Hachioji Tokyo in my previous post on April 5th. As I wrote in the post the history of Hachioji city is long, and the place was already developed in 16th century. So there are many historical sites of varied era.
Besides, Hachioji is not only a historical city, but is also known as a major farming area of Tokyo. Moreover, even rice paddies can be seen there and you can buy good rice grown in Hachioji as shown in the photos above. There are several rivers going through the city, and people have been growing rice using the abundant water supply since old times.
Therefore, rice paddies in Hachioji have been established for a long time. Apparently some of them have been handed down for more than 10 generations, and it would mean the history of the rice paddies goes back to around 1600. Perhaps the historical Samurai lords and Samurai soldiers who were in the historical castles introduced in the previous post were also eating the rice grown in these rice paddies shown in the photos?
The paddies may look like dried up fields now, but farmers will start planting rice seedlings in May. It will be beautiful rice paddies again soon!
On April 1st I introduced a story of Princess Matsu who is a daughter of a famous Samurai Lord "Shingen Takeda" during the Warring States Period of Japan.
As I wrote previously, Princess Matsu settled in Hachioji city in her later days and established a temple named "Shinshoin" that is still remaining. However in addition to the temple you can see more historical sites of the Warring States Period of Japan in Hachioji city.
Especially the two castle remains called Hachioji Castle Ruins and Takiyama Castle Ruins, shown in the upper row and the middle row of the photos are major historical sites in Hachioji.
Both of them are fort castles from 16th century, and the lord of the castles was Ujiteru Hojo. He is a member of Hojo Family, a powerful Samurai lord house in that era. The head family of Hojo was living in Odawara castle in Kanagawa prefecture.
Although Odawara castle shown in the bottom row of the photos is a much more famous tourist spot and people can enjoy Samurai style castle there, the building was actually reconstructed in 1960. The current building is the later style of the Samurai era in 18-19th century.
During the Warring States Period of Japan in 16th century buildings and castles were a lot more simpler. Unfortunately there is no actual buildings remaining at these two castle ruins in Hachioji since the castles existed too long ago, but If you'd like to enjoy imagining how the castles in those days might have been, the two spots in Hachioji would be nice places!
If you are interested in taking a tour to Hachioji Castle Ruins or Takiyama Castle Ruins, please take a look at my "Tour and Fees" page or feel free to contact me!
This is a display of a famous historical Samurai Lord from the 16th century. His name is Shingen Takeda who ruled Koushu State which is now Yamanashi Prefecture. He is one of the most popular Samurai Lords during the Warring States Period of Japan because he was a great commander, and his troopers were known as the strongest troopers at the time.
His battles motto, which his troopers always carried on their flags, is also famous written in four Kanji characters (Chinese characters) as "風林火山 (Fu Rin Ka Zan)". It means "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" and it is an abbreviation of "As quick as a wind, as quiet as a forest, as aggressive as a fire, and as stable as a mountain".
However, unfortunately he collapsed by a sickness on the road to unite Japan under his sway, and although his son took over, they were conquered by a Samurai Lord named Nobunaga Oda who later united Japan.
This display was temporarily at Hachioji station located in west edge of Tokyo. It may seem there is no connection between the Samurai Lord in Yamanashi prefecture and Hachioji in West Tokyo, but actually there is a big connection.
One of the oldest national roads, "Koshu-Kaido (Koshu Rd.)" connects Hachioji and Yamanashi prefecture. After the Takeda troopers were defeated, one of Takeda Shingen's daughters named Princess Matsu reached Hachioji as the consequence of her runaway trip. She settled in Hachioji and became a Buddhist nun. Historical records indicate that she established a temple and dedicated her time to the development of Hachioji by teaching techniques of producing silk fabrics. She was loved by the locals and had a peaceful life until she died.
This year 2016 is the 400th anniversary of her death. In this month there will be events held at her temple "Shinsho-in Temple" located in Hachioji.
The most common type of Sakura (cherry blossoms), Someiyoshino, is not yet in full bloom, but some other types are blooming earlier as I mentioned previously. The photos are of Entsu-ji Temple located in Hachioji City, Tokyo.
This weeping form Sakura which is shown in the photos is one of the early blooming types. Last Sunday, 80% has already blooming. However it wouldn't be too late to go to see them. This old Buddhist temple is chosen as one of 88 best views in Hachioji because of the beautiful Sakura flowers. According to a legend this temple was originally established in 903, it is a very old historical temple although the original buildings and old artifacts were burned down during the World War Ⅱ.
There are more Sakura viewing spots than famous places introduced in guide books. Please enjoy exploring beautiful Sakura and find your own Hanami (cherry blossoms viewing) spot!
I'd like to continue the subject of "Gacha-Gacha" vending machines which I talked in my previous post on March 25th. Today, I'm showing time-lapse photos of a shopping at "Gacha-Gacha" above. When people buy Gacha-Gacha goods, the purchased product comes out in a ball-shaped plastic container as shown in the last photo on the top row.
In my post on the 25th, I wrote that "Gacha-Gacha" goods are not only kids' toys these days. They have a wide variety of items and even grown-ups are enjoying them. Then let's see some examples of what people can buy from "Gacha-Gacha".
The items in the round container with a red lid is a miniature tea pot and a cup as shown in the first photo of the bottom row. It is like a doll house goods and the lid of the pot can be opened. Inside of the pot, there is a hamster hiding.
Gacha-Gacha items are not just cute miniature stuff to decorate doll house. Look at the photo beside the hamster photo. They are extinct species from the Cambrian period called Anomalocaris (left) and Dunkleosteus (right).
These scientific miniature models are sold at museums' Gacha-Gacha vending machines. Therefore they are made based on actual fossils and reconstructions. Moreover the jaw of Dunkleosteus is movable as shown in the two final photos on the bottom row. Possibly they have enough quality to satisfy those who love fossils or paleontology.
Now are you interested in trying Gacha-Gacha?
