Princess Unohana Legend

30 minutes by car, 22km
End of April to mid-November

It is a mysterious power spot

Mifuchi Valley consisting of precipitous cliffs
1 hour boat tour

In 2011, the Nagai Dam was completed, water was stored, and this spot suddenly appeared.

You can see yamame trout, kingfishers, forest green tree frogs, Japanese serows, and Asian black bears swimming in search of nuts.

The water depth is usually 94m at the deepest point.
There is transparency of 5m or more

Princess Unohana Legend
11th century

The local shogun, Sadato Abe ruled Yamagata and Tohoku.
He decided to fight with the Imperial Court in Kyoto.

Taro Yoshiie Hachiman, a shogun sent from Kyoto
In order to learn about Abe’s military strategy, he wrote a love letter to Abe Sadato’s daughter, Princess Unohanahime.

He sent a letter to the gods and buddha stating it was not a lie, but if it was a lie, he would be punished by the gods and buddha.
The same letter was sent to the princess.

“Because of imperial orders, I am reluctant to lead the army and come from Kyoto. I don’t want to fight.

I will present it to the emperor. “Abe Sadato, if the Abe clan surrenders, I guarantee your safety.
In the capital, he takes Princess Unohana as his wife. Let’s live in Kyoto together.”

Unohanahime accidentally leaks Abe’s military strategy.
As a result, Abe’s army was defeated and Abe Sadato was killed.

After that, Unohanahime and her close associates were cornered, driven from the village to Mifuchi Valley, and surrounded by an army of 10,000 men.

Princess Unohana felt sad and filled with regret.
At the end, she jumped from the ravine, followed by 30 to 40 associates around her.

Mifuchi Valley has a sad history.

Please put your hands together and pray before entering.

It is said that Ennin (Jikaku Daishi) opened the mountain in 860 under the order of Emperor Seiwa.

In its heyday, the early Edo period, it is said to have had a territory of 2,800 koku, 100 monasteries, and over 300 monks.

In 1689, Matsuo Basho visited this place during his travels, and that time is written in “Oku no Hosomichi”.

He composed the most famous haiku in Japan, “The silence and the voice of a cicada that penetrates the rocks.”

There is an inscription on the path.

Climb the 1,000 steps. Each step is not so high.

The altitude difference is 159m, and it is a light training of 1.4km round trip.

It’s a crater lake.

Most recently, in 1918, it is an active volcano that erupted over 100 years ago.

The crater lake has a diameter of 325m and a shoreline length of 1080m.

It is also called “Goshikinuma”, “Five colors lake” because its color changes depending on the presence or absence of volcanic activity.

When there is no volcanic activity, the water is a clear, azure color, but when there is volcanic activity, the sediment on the bottom of the lake rises up and stirs, making the water whitish and muddy.

The maximum water depth is 27.6 m in 1968, and there is a record of 63 m in 1939 in the past. Due to volcanic activity.

The water quality is strongly acidic with a pH of 3.5, and no organisms can live there.

The Mt. Gassan, Mt. Haguro and Mt. Yudono, a “reborn journey”, became popular among the common people during the Edo period as the “Dewa Sanzan Pilgrimage”.

Yudono, one of the three mountains of Dewa, has been worshiped as a mountain of the future to pray for rebirth.

Yudonosan Shrine on the middle of the mountain is said to be “Don’t talk” and “Don’t listen”, and photography is prohibited in the main shrine.

At Yudonoyama Hongu, you are not allowed to visit the shrine unless you take off your shoes, go barefoot and undergo a rebirth.

It is a sacred area separated from the secular world.

Eboshiyama park is famous for its 1,000 cherry blossom trees in mid April.

Several kinds of cherry blossoms, for instance, Yamazakura Edohigan, Shidarezakura, and Someiyoshino cherry blossoms bloom in order.

When the flowers are in full bloom, the entire mountain turns pink. It is truly breathtaking.

Every year on April 18th, regardless of the day of the week, a ceremony to exchange the ropes at the large torii gate in front of Eboshiyama Hachimangu Shrine is held as part of a Shinto ritual.

It is a big event in the town, and local elementary school students sit on the stairs to observe.

The 300kg rope is skillfully exchanged.

Akayu Eboshiyama Hachiman Shrine is
Guardian deity of Akayu hot spring town.

The Hachiman Komainu, guardian dogs were donated in 1924 by the founders of Takinami, Takizo and Nami Suto.

The pedestal was engraved with the words “Takinami no Yu, Hot spring of Takinami”.

The cute faces of the guardian dogs are the pride of our Takinami staff.

The guardian dog on the right has its mouth slightly open, but another on the left has its mouth tightly closed.

Looking at the history, it seems that the founder, Takizo Suto, dug many wells and contributed to increasing the amount of hot water in Akayu Onsen as a whole, and pushed forward the privatization, so to speak.

The founder of Takinami, Takizo Suto was allowed to put “ Takinami no Yu” on the guardian dogs with everyone’s agreement,

We Takinami staff honor the founder.

Edohigan, one of the basic wild species of sakura known as the longest life sakura bleed.

Eboshiyama Park, chosen as the Japan’s top 100 sakura spot in 1990 welcomes you with approx 1,000 sakura trees including 225 edohigan making this park the biggest edohigan colony in Japan.

Known also as 2^nd generation nationally famous classic sakura tree planted park, such as

Okitama classic sakura trees – approx 1,200 years old.

‘Kubo’ sakura tree – Isazawa/Yamagata

‘Yakushi’ sakura tree – Shirataka/Yamagata

‘Daimyojin’ sakura tree – Kusaoka/Yamagata

Approx 1,000 years old, are nationally famous trees of ’Miharu-no-taki’ sakuratree/Fukushima, a magnificent weeping sakura tree and also the Ishiwarizakura sakura tree/Iwate has also been planted.
Other remarkable 2^nd generation families may be the planted stocks of Washington cherry trees donated by Tokyo to Potomac Park in Washington D.C. in 1912.

Built in 1903, the monolithic, seamless Otorii (Grand Gate) is a symbol of the prosperity of Akayu Onsen and Nanyo City.

Akayu Onsen, has been a red-light district since the Edo period.

In addition, the raw silk industry flourished greatly during the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods ( starting from late 19^th) , particularly in the neighbouring town of Nashigo-cho.

As evidence of this, in 1900 (Meiji 33), the Ou Main Line between Fukushima and Akayu was opened, which was very early for a local line.

Raw silk was a strategic export product at that time. It was a necessary to transport it from Nanyo City to the export port of Yokohama. The Ou Main train  Line between Fukushima and Akayu was opened for exporting.

Uesugi Shrine worships Kenshin Uesugi as enshrined deity.
It is also known as a place with a connection to the second generation of Uesugi, Kagekatsu and Kanetsugu Naoe who supported him.
And there is a statue of Yozan Uesugi the who rejuvenated Uesugi domain while overcoming many hardships, and achieved the reform of the government and realized the well-being of the people left behind the well-known saying of ‘If you try to do, it can be achieved, if you don’t, it will never be achieved. Achieving nothing is due to one’s own intention to not try.’
Next to the shrine is the ‘Denkoku Yonezawa Uesugi Museum’ which tells the history of Uesugi.

Mt. Hagurosan, one of the Dewa sanzan, It has been known as the center of mountain worship enough to be said ‘ Ise shrine visit of west, far inside visit of east Many historic buildings and historical sites are scattered about including the Five-story pagoda, national treasure also the symbol of Mt. Hagurosan.

Spring.
Beautiful scenery appears on Lake Shirakawa in Iide Machi.

It can be seen only for about one month from the time of the thawing to the start of water to discharge.

A mystical view where fresh green tress float in the lake is a view of the world that forgets words.

If you canoe to the surface of a lake, you will experience an amazing sensation.