Kobe Japan by Wally Barker

Ako Japan - (of 47 Samurai Fame)

Ako is a wonderful castle town 80 kilometer east of Kobe and a must go destination if you live in Kobe. Ako was home to Asano Takumi no Kami, the famous 47 samurai and Annual 47 Ronin Festival.

#1 Ako Castle:

Number one must thing to do in a "castle town". Of course, See the Castle! This is truly fun. As an historical note, in the early 1600's, there were approximately 25,000 castles in Japan governed by each feudal lord. However in 1603, when Ieyasu Tokugawa became the first of the Tokugowa Shoguns, he started to centralize these lords and destroyed their castles. By 1868, when the Meiji Government took control of Japan, the number of the castles had been reduced to 170. Today there are over more than 10,000 reconstructed castles and the ruins throughout Japan.

Ako Castle is well known as a residence of Lord Takuminokami Asano and his loyal retainers. It is an excellent castle of the Edo period which was completed in 1661 after spending 13 years on its construction from 1648. It was a deformed contour-type castle, a rare style in castle history of the era, built on seaside flat land, The castle is located on the seashore and it used to be possible to set sail directly from the castle. The Castle was a nationally valuable castle designed by Masasumi Kondo, who mastered Koshu-style military science; however, it was demolished with only the stone walls remaining at the beginning of the Meiji period (circa 1868). Restored between 1955 and April 1996, it is now representative of the original appearance. Open everyday 9:00 – 17:00. A 15 minute walk from JR Banshu Ako Station. See 47 Samurai

#2 Museum & Shrines Near the Castle:

I put these all in the same category.

One minute by foot, Oishi Shrine & the Ako Loyal Samurai Museum. Oishi Shrine was constructed in 1912 in dedication to the 47 loyal samurai of Ako. To the right and below the shrine gate is a hall in which wooden statues of the faithful warriors rest peacefully. 49 wood sculptors carved each of these statues to express the individual personality of the warriors. Also, to the left of the main shrine building is the Ako Loyal Samurai Museum which exhibits interesting articles left by the deceased, such as the command baton and bird call whistle used by Kuranosuke Oishi during the raid and the short sword given to Chikara Oishi by Takuminokami Asano. 1 minute walk from the Ako Castle. Open everyday 8:00 – 17:00 Free Admission (¥400 for Adult Ako Loyal Samurai Museum).

3 minutes by foot, Ako City Museum of History features a collection of local history. Has a beautiful appearance with walls like those of a castle. There is a theater in the museum and you can learn the history of Ako castle and town through various films. Open: 9:30-17:00 Closed: Tuesday (If national holidays fall on Tuesday, the following day is closed)

#3 Kagaku-ji Temple

Constructed in 1645, as a family temple of the Asano clan, the lord of Ako Castle. Here one can find tombstones of the 47 loyal samurai including Oishi father and son, the Mori family and Takuminokami Asano who came to his untimely death; there is also the Loyal Samurai Statue Hall and Museum. Memorial services are conducted on a) December 14 during the Ako Loyal Samurai Festival, b) February 4 for the Loyal Samurai Seppuku, and c) March 14 for the death of Lord Asano, attracting many visitors to the services. Open everyday 8:30 – 17:00; ¥300 for Adult (including Museum admission); A 10 minute walk from JR Banshu Ako Station. 5 Minute from the castle.

#4 Either of Museums


Museum of Folk Culture	Tabuchi Museum of Art

Ako Maritime Museum & Ako Seaside (Amusement) Park

Ako city is famous for salt making. The Maritime Museum displays the culture of salt making and the relationship between salt making and the sea. Here, you can try your hand at making salt. Ako Seaside Park is located in the Seto Inland Sea National Park. In this amusement park, there are about 20 kinds of fairground ride such as a Ferris wheel, karts, and so on. There is also a pond where you can enjoy rowing a boat.

This family park, primarily based on nature, was built on the remains of a vast salt farm of olden days in the west of Ako Misaki. The park has an exciting amusement facility called "Waku-waku Land" with a 50m tall ferris wheel commanding a view of the Seto Inland Sea, and fun rides, a 16-court tennis garden, a miniature golf course, a man-made lake for yachting, boating and canoeing.

You can also experience salt production through the process of filtering and boiling sea water at "Saltland," in which the former salt farm is reproduced, enjoy 4 exhibitions entitled "Introduction," "Welcome to Ako," "About the Sea" and "Salt Gallery" in the Marime Museum, using the theme of the Seto Inland Sea and salt, while taking a walk on the promenade with wildly blooming flowers in each season. The Ako Marine Park auto camp site, with outstanding facilities and location, was opened in the spring of 1997. The park has 100 sites including family sites, free sites and camping car sites. The center house provides showers, laundromats, restrooms, kiosk and kitchens (cooking with fires not allowed). There are 10 cottages fully equipped with a patio, kitchen, bathrooms and air conditioning.

30 minute walk or 8 minutes by car from JR Banshu Ako Station

Historical parks in the Une district, the northern part of the city, are sites of the remains of pit dwellings from the middle to late Yayoi and late Kofun periods. Photo of the Remains in the Une district

Sakoshi, which was once one of the most prosperous harbours along the Seto Inland Sea, retains the harbour atmosphere in modern times. Photo of Sakoshi Street.

In the Kariya district, there are rows of historical and traditional houses along the Bizen Highway and Onarimichi Street, through which the lords passed to visit their family temple, Kagakuji Temple.

The 47 Samurai of Ako
　Ako is celebrated as the home of the 47 Loyal Samurai. The stories of their vengeance for their lord have been told and printed as a national epic of Japan for 300 years. Even now they are retold in movies and TV dramas.
　The Ako story started on March 14, 1701, in the Edo (Tokyo) Castle. The feudal lord of the Ako clan, Asano Naganori, injured Kira Yoshinaka, with a sword in a corridor of the Edo Castle. This was strictly forbidden, according to the law of the time. Both parties to arguments were considered to be at fault and usually punished. Lord Kira was declared not guilty and Lord Asano was sentenced to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) that day. Because of this his band of 269 warriors became masterless, or in Japanese ronin. One year later, on December 14, 47 of the ronin led by Oishi Kuranosuke stormed Kira's mansion and avenged their master. This action was praised and admired by people as a paragon of the samurai spirit. However, they too were sentenced to commit suicide by seppuku by order of the shogunate. Their willingness to sacrifice their own lives out of loyalty to their lord impressed people. The Gishi Festival dedicated to the 47 Loyal Samurai, takes place on December 14 every year and attracts around 100,000 tourists.

Note: Ako City has a long history and rich tradition. Below is a list of places and activities that were taken from the Ako City Website and is my effort to help promote the tourism for the City of Ako. The list is by no mean complete. Please excuse.

Prints

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-36%2CGGLG%3Aen&sa=3&q=Chushingura&btnG=Search+images

.http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/castle_town/sample_itinerary/ako.html

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/w_harima/index.html

http://www.city.ako.hyogo.jp/english/history/index.html

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/column/tid.html

http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/column/2006_03/index.html

SALT

http://web.ako-kasei.co.jp/english/profile.html
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~chushingura/englishu/eigosiseki07.htm

History

http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~chushingura/englishu/spotindex.htm

Inland Sea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Sea