= = =Traditional Industries and Places of Interest Around Fushimi = = =

You can see traditional industries and places of interest in Fushimi.



Fushimi Sake

　You can see many sake vaults around our kindergarten, elementary school and junior high school.
　Sake is one of the main industry in Fushimi even now.
　Fushimi used to be called a town of sake vaults or town of sake.
　Fushimi used to have a rich underwater supply, as the word Fushimi as originally written,in part mean water.
　Thanks to this water we have this sake industry.
　If you take a look at its history,they started to make sake in Fushimi from the early Edo period.
　In 1625 Kobori Enshu, the administrator of Fushimi, developed sake rice.
In 1657, the first sake licence was allowed,so about 80 shops started the group of sake makers.
　At that time around 2800kl of sake was made. After that the amount of sake depended on the Edo Administration.
In the Toba-Fushimi War during the Meiji Revolution most of the town was burnt down, and the amount of sake was down to 330kl.
However it became higher later, and more than 5769kl of sake was made around 1887.
In 1889 the National Tokaido Railway started to operate. It affected Fushimi's sake industry because this sake went to Tokyo and became known all over Japan.
People making sake made their best efforts to improve their ability and the quality of sake.
　In 1911 23 types of sake were exhibited from Fushimi at the National Sake Exhibition,and thus Fushimi Sake became nationally famous.
Now there are more than fifty kinds of sake in Fushimi.

Fushimi Doll

 　This is a clay doll which started to be made in Fushimi at the end of the Momoyama Era to the beginning of the Edo Era. It is also called Fukakusa Doll or Inari Doll.
　There are some theories about who started to make it. Some say it was Sachiemon, the doll maker in Fukakusa, who started doll-making after the Sekigahara War. Others say it was Fusajiro Tujii and Gonbei, the burningsalt.
　This doll became nationally famous as a souvenir of the town around Fushimi Castle and Fushimi Inari Shrine, and had an influnce on other doll industries in many places.
　The dolls are formed with clay. After it is fired in the kiln, they are painted.
　Now they have 800 kinds of shapes such as the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. Twelve Horary Sings, Decorated Horse, Momotaro and Samurai.
　There used to be some twenty kilns, but now there is only one.

Fushimi Momoyama Castle

 　It used to be called Fushimi Castle and was built by Hideyoshi Toyotomi.
　It was burnt down during the pre-Sekigahara War. Ieyasu Tokugawa and Hidetada Tokugawa rebuilt it, but dismantled it in 1623 and its facilities were moved to Nijyojyo Castle, Osakajyo Castle and Fukuyamajyo Castle.
　The place name Momoyama came from peach threes planted on where the castle used to be built and in 1969 the Tenshukaku and amusement park were made at the north part of the original site, and started to be called "Fushimi Momoyama Castle".
　It is said that there is the Emperor Meiji's tomb at the south of the original site, so the castle was moved to be rebuilt to the south.


Terada-ya

 　Teradaya was a riverside hotel at the end of the Edo Era, and samurai of the Satsuma feudal clan often stayed there.
　On April 23,1862, there is a famous story about this house. Shinichi Arima and others got together there to attack the chief adviser of the emperor and deputy governor, but they had to battle with eight samurai from the same clan who tried to stop these assassins.
　On the second floor there is a "plum room" where Ryoma Sakamoto often stayed.
　You can stay in this room even now to see the marks of swords and pistols of when he was attacked.
You can also see the stairs next to the the plum room where Oryo, Ryoma's girlfriend, used in order to let him know of assassins. She was with no costumes because she was taking a bath then.
　There is a statue of Ryoma and monument of the other nine Satsuma samurai in the garden.

Gokougu Shrine

 　 This shrine is famous for Gokousui(water from the wall) chosen as the first "one of the best waters in Japan". There are always people in a line on the left on its Honden(main building) dipping the water.
　There are some theories of how the water started. Some say in 862 water first sprung, and all sick people recovered.
　They worshiped this holy water and called this place Gokougu.
During the Bunroku Era, Hideyoshi Toyotomi moved this shrine to Okamedani as a guardian spirit of the demon's gate(the unlucky gate). In 1605 Ieyasu Tokugawa moved the shrine back. It is said that later the three Tokugawas started to worship this shrine because its first ancestor was born in Fushimi.
　 Some facilities are named as important cultural assets such the front gate which was originally the Ote gate of Fushimi Castle and Honden decorated with splendid carvings.
　There are some festivals such as the Reitai Festival(April 8th), Chinowa no shinji(July 31th), the Fushimi Festival(October 10th), which are full of worshipers.
　

　

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