TID Travel Journal "Spiritual Home: Tamba City"    By TID, Summer 2008 update

In this issue I would like to introduce Tamba City. It is located in the mid-eastern part of Hyogo Prefecture, and is surrounded by mountains. Tamba is also a diverging point of water which flows into the Japan Sea and the Seto Inland Sea. Its population is 68,948 and main industries are agriculture and forestry. Fruit and vegetables are grown such as beans, red beans, chestnuts, leeks, burdock, strawberries and blueberries. The manufacturing industry produces pulp, beds, car cables, mobile phones and confectionery. Local agricultural products include sake, shochu, wine, yogurt and udon noodles. The Tamba area has abundant fresh greenery and stars can be seen at night.

On a fine day during the rainy season in the middle of June I visited Tamba City. Getting off the train at JR Ichijima Station on the Fukuchiyama Line I took a walk for about 20 minutes to the Mitsuzuka Kinen Koen (the memorial park for the remains of Mitsuzuka temple). Mitsuzuka Temple was constructed near the end of the Hakuho Era, about 1300 years ago. The temple became desolate at the end of Nara Era (710 – 794) and its buildings were burned down. Three basic platforms remained in spite of fire but the memory of temple has diminished among the local people. As the ruins of platforms were seen as a tumulus, the site was called Mitsuzuka (three tumuli) in the following ages.

In the park there are summer houses, a plaza, Japanese iris gardens (50,000 pieces), a citizens' forest, an ancient time's botanical garden, ethnological museum and more. Purple and white irises were in full bloom at the time and many people visited to see them. Materials excavated from the ruins of Mitsuzuka Temple, the remains of Tenjin Kiln, and so on are displayed in the Ichijima Ethnological Museum:

[Ichijima Minzoku Shiryokan] (Ichijima Ethnological Museum)

Open:	9:00 – 17:00 (Last entry: 16:30)
Closed:	Monday, December 29 – January 3
Admission:	Free
Address:	1134 Ueda, Ichijima-cho, Tamba City

To those who have an interest in ancient times, the exhibits of this museum are very informative and interesting.

Next I moved on to Miwakare Koen (Miwakare Park), which is in the vicinity of the lowest watershed on Honshu. It has an artificial waterfall, a pond of branching off to symbolize, the watershed, an outdoor stage, children's plaza and hydrangea garden. The central watershed is a line running through the Japan Archipelago and forming the boundary between the Japan Sea and the Seto Inland Sea. When rain falls the water divides into two to the north (Japan Sea) or to the south (Seto Inland Sea). There is a museum to learn about these facts.

[Miwakare Koen Museum]

Open:	9:00 – 17:00
Closed:	Tuesday (Wednesday when Tuesday falls on a public holiday) ,December 29 – January 3)
Admission:	Miwakare Koen: Free Miwakare Museum: Adult ¥200, Elementary and Jr. High School Students: ¥50
Access:	10 minute walk from JR Isou Station on Fukuchiyama Liney Parking: 4 buses and 40 cars
Address:	Isou Hikami-cho, Tamba City

The area was quiet and the atmosphere was excellent. Sometimes I heard the singing song of bush warblers and the murmur of the stream.

Afterwards I visited the Tamba Nuno Denshokan (Tamba Cloth Museum) by bus.

It is located in the Michi-no-Eki Aogaki. Tamba cloth was actively woven and used regularly by farmers in Saji, Tamba until the end of Meiji Era (1868 – 1912). The cloth was sold in the Kyoto area as Saji Momen (Saji cotton cloth) and was well known among many people with its beautiful striped woven pattern. A defining feature of Tamba cloth is that it is spun from cotton grown in the farm, dyed with plants and trees from the field such as chestnut skins and beech plants and finally hand woven.
Rooms are set up for weaving, spinning, dying and educating trainees in order to orally hand down the technique of producing Tamba cloth. The building includes an exhibition corner on Tamba cloth, a hands-on learning corner and a video explanation corner. Some finished goods are on sale too. This is a good place to learn about how to make Tamba cloth and related products.

[Tamba Nuno Denshokan] (Tamba Cloth Museum)

Open:	10:00 – 17:00
Closed:	Tuesday (Wednesday when Tuesday falls on national holiday)
Admission:	Free
Access:	Car: R428 – Prefectural Road 15 from Minotani – Rokko Kita Toll Road from Karato IC – Chugoku Hwy from Kobe-Sanda IC – Maizuru Wakasa Hwy from Yokawa Junction – Toyooka Hwy from Kasuga IC – turn to left from Aogaki IC – Michi-no-Eki Aogaki Train and Bus: About 30 minutes from JR Isou Station to Kami-Ashida by Shinki Bus
Address:	541-1 Nishi-Ashida, Aogaki-cho, Tamba City

Next I returned to JR Kaibara by Shinki Bus and took a walk for about 10 minutes to the foot of the mountain. On the way I was kindly greeted by school students who said "Konnichiwa". This was a rare and pleasant surprise and I felt the warmth of country people. I walked up about 200 stairs to Hachiman Jinja (Hachiman Shrine). It was constructed as a branch temple of Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine in Kyoto in 1024 and has been designated as an Important Cultural Property by the national government. There is a three storied pagoda (Sanju-no-to) within its grounds. It is a rare case that a pagoda is constructed in the shrine site; there are in fact only 18 such shrines throughout Japan.

It is generally inconvenient traveling to the countryside without a car but this can be offset with an efficient itinerary. I was able to visit four scattered tourism spots in the Tamba district within a day from Kobe and learnt much about the area.