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Nagano Shiojiri City Tourist Association.
Jun. 27, 2024
Did you know Shiojiri is one of Japan’s top wine regions? Japan has about 400 to 500 wineries, and roughly 80 of them are in Nagano Prefecture. Shiojiri City has the most wineries in the prefecture, with 15 operating producers. Some of these wineries have operated for more than a century since the Meiji era, while others are brand new, founded in the Reiwa era; each of the 15 crafts wines with its own distinct character. There is even a high school in Shiojiri that makes wine, giving students the chance to learn winemaking while still in school. What makes the wine industry so vibrant here is the ideal growing environment: at about 700 meters elevation the large day–night temperature swings and long hours of sunlight, combined with gravelly and volcanic-ash soils, create perfect conditions for growing grapes. High-quality grapes from this land produce high-quality wines. Among the wines made in Shiojiri, merlot earns especially high praise. In 1989 a merlot from the area won a major gold award at a prestigious international competition. The annual Shiojiri Winery Festa draws visitors from across Japan who sample wines from all over Shiojiri, often drinking to their heart’s content. Please try Shiojiri wine.
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  • wine
  • Shiojiri
  • Nagano Prefecture
  • Alcoholic beverage
  • Gourmet
  • Specialty
  • Japan
  • Sightseeing
  • Travel
  • Instagrammable
  • ...and 3 others
Fukui Wakasa-Mihama Tourism Association
Jun. 27, 2024
Sagaki Kuniyoshi Castle 1. A formidable fortress that held back the seemingly impregnable Asakura forces 2. A “stone-walled castle” revealed by archaeological excavation 3. Seasonal colors of the castle ruins and the stunning views of Wakasa visible from the site Kuniyoshi Castle was a mountain fortress located in Sagaki in the eastern part of Mihama Town. During the Sengoku period it served as a border castle protecting Wakasa Province and Tsuruga Province. It is said that Awaya Ecchu‑no‑Kami Katsuhisa, a senior retainer of the Takeda family who governed Wakasa, rebuilt the old castle in Koji 2 (1556). The castle’s fame was made by the “Siege of Kuniyoshi,” which began in Eiroku 6 (1563) when the Asakura clan from Echizen attacked and were repelled. From that year until the fall of the Asakura in Tensho 1 (1573), Asakura forces launched attacks almost annually, but the Awaya-led defenders held inside Kuniyoshi Castle and never lost it. An old tale by the local samurai Tanabe Handaifu Yasutsugu, who took part in the defense, spread as the war chronicle Kuniyoshi Siege Record. Incidentally, the castle had been called Sakaki Castle at the time, but the popularity of the Kuniyoshi Siege Record fixed the name Kuniyoshi Castle. In Genki 1 (1570), the castle welcomed Oda Nobunaga and his 30,000-strong army on the march to attack the Asakura. According to the Kuniyoshi Siege Record, Nobunaga entered Kuniyoshi Castle with Kinoshita Tokichiro Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Akechi Mitsuhide—the subject of this year’s historical drama—and met with Katsuhisa and the local samurai who had endured the siege, praising their efforts. Later, in Tensho 11 (1583), Kimura Hitachi no suke, a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, became castellan and developed a castle town. This marked the origin of the current Sakaki Settlement, which prospered in the Edo period as a post station on the Tango Highway. The townscape still preserves strong traces of that era. The castle was abolished in Kan’ei 11 (1635) early in the Edo period when Sakai Tadakatsu replaced the Kyogoku clan as lord of Obama Domain, and the Sakaki Town Magistrate Office was built on the south side of the ruins. On that site the Wakasa Kuniyoshi Castle History Museum opened in Heisei 21 (2009). Designated a town historic site in Showa 58 (1983), Kuniyoshi Castle’s ruins are a local historical asset. Excavations that began in fiscal 2000 aimed to preserve and utilize the Sengoku‑period mountain fortress that had seemingly survived the fierce Asakura assaults. The investigations, however, overturned the existing image of the castle when they uncovered large groups of foundation stones for buildings, stone walls showing traces of deliberate collapse in which the upper halves had been systematically removed and the lower halves buried, giant foundation and facing stones at the northwest gate of the hilltop main bailey, and building remains on the southern corner mound of the main bailey that may have been a keep. These features appear to reflect major renovations by Kimura Hitachi no suke to assert the new lord’s power, although no documentary records described them. The excavations thus revealed the “truth” for the first time. In Heisei 29 (2017) the castle was selected as one of the Continued Top 100 Castles of Japan by the Japan Castle Foundation. In spring the castle town of Sagaki and the ruins are brightened by cherry blossoms and blooming shaga irises; in summer by masses of hangesho (plants whose leaves turn pale); in autumn by the maple leaves at Shourenji and Tokusho‑ji Temple; and in winter by a blanket of white, welcoming many visitors through the seasons. A promenade leads to the main bailey, but the winding switchback slope seems endless, giving a real sense of the castle’s former impregnability. Yet once you finally reach the main bailey, the majestic nature of Wakasa and the beautiful scenery greet you and make you forget the effort it took to get there. Sagaki Kuniyoshi Castle Sagaki, Mihama Town, Mikata‑gun, Fukui Prefecture Contact Wakasa Kuniyoshi Castle History Museum (Tel. 0770-32-0050)
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  • Mihama, Fukui Prefecture
  • Fukui Prefecture
  • Castles
  • History
  • Bucketlist
  • Great view
Toyooka Village Tourism Association
Jun. 26, 2024
◆Origin of the Otegata Suwa Shrine and the Otegata Stone◆ The origin of the Otegata Stone lies in the large handprint found on a huge rock enshrined at Suwa Shrine. Long ago, a messenger came from Takamagahara, the heavenly plain where the eight million gods gather, to Izumo to urge Okuninushi to submit. Okuninushi immediately agreed and surrendered, but his young son, Takeminakata, refused, breaking off negotiations and eventually fighting with Takemikazuchi from Takamagahara. Takeminakata was defeated and fled, but Takemikazuchi pursued him relentlessly and finally caught up with him in the area of Sahara. Takeminakata surrendered, pressed his hand onto a nearby stone as a pledge of submission, and peace was made between the two deities. This place came to be called "Ooinokubo" (the Chase Hollow). The stone is said to have been formed because Takemikazuchi chased Takeminakata here.
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  • Nagano Prefecture
  • Toyooka, Nagano Prefecture
  • Shinshu
  • Toyooka travel time
  • Toyooka Village Tourism Association
  • Minami-Shinshu, Minami-Shinshu area
  • Sightseeing
  • Travel
  • Traditional culture
  • History
  • ...and 2 others

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