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INTRODUCING CHICHIBU

Note: Macrons are used in the text to indicate the long vowel in Japanese words, except in those words familiar to Westerners (Tokyo, etc.). Names of Japanese active before the Meiji Restoration (1868), and Kabuki performing names follow the traditional order, surname first; others follow the Western order.

TREASURE HOUSE OF JAPANESE TRADITION

If one stands on a high spot in Tokyo on a clear day and looks to the northwest, a mountain range is visible in the distance, between the cluster of skyscrapers in West Shinjuku and the soaring tower of Sunshine City. Often during winter sunsets, the undulating mountains are silhouetted against a bright glow in the western sky. In about the middle of that range is Chichibu. Before tall buildings and smog obscured the view, the mountains were much more easily visible from Tokyo, and the citizens of Edo, as Tokyo was then called, were attracted by the wonders of nature they found there. Among those who cherished the region was the athletic brother of the Emperor Showa, who in 1922 took the title of Prince Chichibu, for the first time using a place name of northern Japan in a royal title.

Chichibu is actually a basin encircled by mountains. Now part of Saitama Prefecture, it comprises the city (shi) of Chichibu, the five towns (machi) of Ogano, Yoshida, Minano, Nagatoro, and Yokoze, and the four villages (mura) of Arakawa, Ōtaki, Ryōkami, and Higashi Chichibu. The surrounding mountains are not very high, the tallest peaks at the western and southern borders of the basin rising from 1,000 to 2,500 meters above sea level. They are, however, quite steep, and the fast-running rivers have cut deep valleys into them. Most of the small mountain streams flow into the main channel of the Arakawa, a river that flows diagonally across the basin and gushes out through the spectacular gorge of Nagatoro in the northeast. The Sumida river, which bisects Tokyo’s old downtown district, is a tributary of the Arakawa.

The mountains have always protected Chichibu, from military invasion in feudal times and from large-scale industrialization over the past several decades. Its relative isolation has helped preserve a rich legacy of folklore and traditions. Although little known to the general public, Japanese or foreigners, Chichibu is recognized as a treasure house by folklorists and anthropologists. There one can still see, for example, an old woodcutter who, before cutting a tree, prays to the god of the mountain for permission to take something from the deity’s domain. Shrines and temples dedicated to deities of Buddhism, Shinto, and folk belief dot the landscape, and traditional festivals are numerous.

No one really knows how many large and small annual events take place in the basin. Although the great majority are simple affairs, they nonetheless impress onlookers with the obvious sincerity and zeal with which they are celebrated. Many ritual acts and performances are employed to gain the favor of, and show respect to, various deities, among them shishimai (lion dances), kagura (shinto dances), folk Kabuki, and old-fashioned puppet shows. These may be performed in wooded temple precincts, on stages at Shinto shrines, or on festival floats. Though urbanization is eroding local traditions to some extent, almost everyone in Chichibu is able to dance, sing, act, or play a drum or flute. Traditional Japanese celebrations are often difficult to find and observe, particularly for non-Japanese tourists; thus, some time spent in Chichibu, only ninety minutes from downtown Tokyo, is a convenient way to touch the heart of old Japan. For those wishing to observe or participate, Part Two, Festivals, describes one important festival or event for each month of the year, while the Schedule of Festivals lists over 125 others.

Chichibu is also the setting of an important religious pilgrimage. The course comprises thirty-four temples dedicated to Kannon, who, together with Jizō, is one of the most popular Buddhist deities in Japan. Worship of Kannon, regarded as infinitely merciful and concerned with the welfare of all sentient beings, was popular in eleventh-century Kyoto and became widespread throughout Japan by the eighteenth century. Three important courses of pilgrimage to Kannon temples survive, one centered around Kyoto, another around Kamakura, and the most manageable of the three, in the Chichibu basin. Owing much to the voluntary efforts of citizens to keep it alive, the Chichibu course continues to attract dedicated pilgrims, as well as avid hikers. For those wishing to follow all or part of the course, Part One, Pilgrimage, outlines six itineraries encompassing all thirty-four temples.

Topography has clearly influenced the pattern of life in the Chichibu basin. Archaeological remains at approximately 160 sites indicate that the natural protection provided by the basin encouraged settlements in the upstream areas as early as Japan’s neolithic Jōmon period (ca. 10,000 B.C. to ca. 300 B.C.). By contrast, the far fewer (approximately twenty) relic sites from the Yayoi period (ca. 300 B.C to ca. A.D. 300) indicate that the soil was not suitable for rice cultivation and could not support such a thriving population.

Indigenous inhabitants of Chichibu basin were presumably bound together by the worship of a prominent mountain, now called Mt. Bukō, which stands out at the southern border of the basin. The very first record of the name Chichibu appears in the Kujiki, a late eighth-century historical text. It describes the legendary appointment of 137 governors to provinces ruled by Emperor Sujin from Yamato, near present-day Nara, including a special commission given to the governor of Chichibu. The unique order, brusquely written in four characters, states: “Worship the Great God.” Though scholars debate the historicity of material in the Kujiki, the fact remains that only Chichibu is mentioned in this highly religious context, suggesting that more than a thousand years ago the area already had some mystical significance. The “Great God” is generally interpreted as the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu, mythological founder of the Japanese imperial line.

In 708, copper was discovered in the Chichibu basin and was presented as an offering to Emperor Genmei in Nara. The emperor commemorated this tribute by changing the name of the year to Wado, meaning “Japanese copper,” and having coins minted.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, Chichibu and its neighboring areas were close to the northern limit of political control exercised by the central government at Kyoto. Used as grazing land for horses of the imperial guard, they were administered by court officials. Concurrent with a gradual decline of the power of the aristocracy in Kyoto, the descendants of these administrative officials became powerfully armed and organized mounted warriors. In Chichibu, there were two major military clans, the Tans and the Chichibus. As were other clans in and outside Chichibu, they were actively engaged in the development of farmland, adding the newly developed estates to their private domains. Thus provided with both military and economic resources, they became independent from Kyoto.

While the Tans continued to live in the area, the Chichibus expanded to the east and south. In the waves of ambitious expeditions in the early twelfth century, one member of the clan reached Kawagoe, and another reached Edo. The latter, based at the site of the present Imperial Palace, called himself Edo Shiro and established the Edo branch of the family. Other branches of the Chichibu family spread throughout the area that is present-day Tokyo, taking the names of the places in which they settled: Toshima, Iikura, Shibuya, Nakano, Asagaya, Kasai, Kawasaki. When Minamoto Yoritomo decided in 1180 to raise an army against the Heikes in Kyoto, he asked for the support of the Edo family in the uprising.

Buddhism had spread from western Japan by this time. Ascetic monks, first becoming active in Kumano, south of Nara, came to the mountains of Chichibu to practice an austere regime and to promote their half-shamanistic, half-Buddhist religion. Their influence grew strong in the medieval age and continued until the nineteenth century, when the Meiji government officially banned mountain asceticism.

The middle ages were a period of chaos, caused by infighting among the country’s military leaders. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, new warlords emerged, who grew more powerful through the conquest of neighboring clans. All of present-day Saitama belonged to the Hōjōs, who ruled from their base at Odawara. The castle of Yorii on the Arakawa river, just outside the Chichibu basin, was an important military base of the Hōjōs. Occasionally, troops of the Takedas, another warlord clan based in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture, stole into Chichibu to attack Yorii, causing great loss of life and property. For the most part, however, the basin was more of a refuge for fugitives of war than a battlefield.

After the Tokugawas unified Japan and made Edo the capital in 1603, the western half of Chichibu was ruled directly by the shogunate, because of its strategic position guarding Edo from invasion via the mountains. The eastern half was the fiefdom of a lord who controlled northern Saitama. During the Edo period (1603-1868), the whole basin of Chichibu rose to fame as a silk-producing region. The steep mountain slopes with their well-drained soil were ideally suited for raising mulberry trees, the leaves of which are fed to silkworms before they begin spinning. The silk was so highly prized that the name Chichibu soon came to be used as a term for high-quality plain silk.

The proximity of Chichibu to Edo and the absence of a major checkpoint between the two encouraged travel and trade, and regularly scheduled fairs for silk trading became eagerly awaited, festive events. The pilgrimage course of thirty-four Kannon temples also attracted a great number of pilgrims, who in turn stimulated local interest in the thriving culture of Edo. Edo influences are clearly visible in the architectural styles of temples and shrines, folk puppetry, and Kabuki, which have been carefully preserved in Chichibu.

In 1868, the shogun system was eliminated and imperial rule was reestablished. The new Meiji government abolished in 1871 the feudal fiefdoms that had been granted by the shogunate, replacing them with a new administrative system of prefectures. In the economic upheaval accompanying the rapid industrialization that followed, the silk farmers of Chichibu rebelled against the government’s despotic enforcement of modernization. Inspired by Western ideas of democracy, thousands of farmers armed themselves and seized the administrative center at Chichibu City. For a few days they controlled the entire basin, but after the government army laid seige to it, the rebels were isolated and crushed. Although short-lived, this war of resistance (told of in greater detail beginning on p. 186) is an enduring watershed in Japanese history. A gradually changing emphasis in products— from the plain, high-quality Edo fabric, to raw silk for export in the Meiji era, and later meisen, a striped textile used for women’s kimonos—allowed the region’s silk-based prosperity to continue until the early twentieth century. But Chichibu never fully recaptured the glory of the Edo silk fairs.

Nor, of course, has Chichibu been able to escape completely the rapid industrialization and economic upheaval that has created modern Japan. Excavation of limestone and cement production also started in the early twentieth century and became a major industry of the basin. In more recent years, manufacturers of precision machinery and electronic components have begun small-scale operations here. However, the magic of Chichibu remains. The folds of its many mountains enclose places and people imbued with the spirit of old Japan. There still can be seen verdant valleys, clear-flowing streams, and villages snuggled in the woods. Pilgrims still hike from temple to temple, greeted by weathered stone statues that have stood for hundreds of years. Robust men may leave off toiling in the fields and in no time become characters in a Kabuki play. Schoolchildren, drumsticks in hand, will rap out a fast beat. A lively festival, with hearty drinking and sincere merriment, may get under way at any time.

Why not, then, see and explore this land of folklore and tradition so close to and yet so different from ultramodern Tokyo? Visitors crossing the mountains into the Chichibu basin will discover sights and sounds to ease the strain of modern urban life. And they are sure to find a hearty welcome; unassuming hospitality is also a Chichibu tradition. As a refrain of the old folk song Chichibu Ondo puts it:

Nice to have you come through the morning mists!

Come, warm yourself by the fire pit.

GETTING TO AND AROUND CHICHIBU

Seibu Chichibu Station, the Chichibu terminus of the Seibu Railroad, can be reached in ninety minutes from Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo, via the comfortable Red Arrow Express. All seats on this train are reserved, and seats in nonsmoking carriages are available. Tickets may be purchased within a week of your departure date at Ikebukuro and Takadanobaba stations, or at the counter of the Seibu Kankō travel service in Seibu’s LOFT building in Shibuya. Your car number and three-digit seat number are printed on your tickets. The train leaves from an unnumbered platform next to track seven (look for the attendant collecting tickets).

For your convenience, and to avoid disappointment, you should purchase round-trip tickets to Chichibu several days before your departure. However, on weekdays seats are often available without advance reservation. The ticket window for the day’s trains is located to your right after you enter the Seibu Railroad terminus at Ikebukuro Station at the track level (it may also be entered from underground). To enter the Seibu terminus you will need a ticket. You should purchase the most expensive one available from one of the ticket-vending machines outside. This is your basic fare; the ticket that you purchase at the window inside represents a surcharge for the reserved-seat express service. If you strongly desire to return from Chichibu via the Red Arrow and have not purchased a return ticket in advance, you should buy it as soon as you arrive at Seibu Chichibu Station.

If the Red Arrow is full, you may take one of the other trains, but you must change at Hannō Station and it will take you an additional ten to fifteen minutes to reach your destination. Trains to Hannō usually leave from track five. Although the seats are not reserved, these trains are a convenient and less-expensive alternative to the Red Arrow (no additional ticket need be purchased). At Hannō, change to track four to continue to Chichibu. Of course, you should try to confirm the train’s destination before boarding. When returning from Seibu Chichibu Station, use the pedestrian overpass to cross over to the track for local trains, and walk across the platform when you get to Hannō to transfer to your Ikebukuro-bound train.

To transfer to the Chichibu Railroad, a local line serving the Chichibu area, you must go to Ohanabatake Station, about a five-minute walk from Seibu Chichibu Station (see map C). Turn left after handing in your ticket, walk past the station shops and turn left again at the end of the corridor. Follow the path until you come to a street, then turn left and cross the tracks. Turn right again immediately and you will see Ohanabatake Station ahead of you. Trains arrive at this small station only once or twice an hour; however, the station is located in the middle of town, so you can spend your waiting time seeing some sights. Train times may be checked on the schedule above the ticket gate, for weekdays and Saturdays (in black) and Sundays and holidays (in red). Trains heading toward Mitsumine-guchi are listed to the left, while trains for Kumagaya, including Nagatoro, are listed on the right (see foldout map). Tickets must be purchased at the window. Again, you should try to confirm the time of your train’s arrival and the destination of the train you board.

In a direct service begun in 1989, some Seibu trains (not the Red Arrow) from Ikebukuro split at Yokoze Station, with the front cars heading toward Mitsumine-guchi on the Chichibu line, and the rear cars heading toward Nagatoro. For the return trip, they join at Yokoze before departing for Ikebukuro. This service is quite infrequent, however.

For access to Higashi Chichibu-mura in the eastern part of Chichibu county, the Tōbu Tōjō line is recommended. Tōbu trains leave from the opposite end of Ikebukuro Station as Seibu trains do and go to Yorii via Kawagoe and Ogawa-machi. Take the express leaving from track one, get off at Ogawa-machi and take a bus to Higashi Chichibu-mura (see p. 116). There is no super-express service or reserved seating on this line. Nor is there any surcharge.

Buses run along several main routes in and around Chichibu, departing from major train stations. Though somewhat infrequent, they are useful for reaching, inexpensively, destinations beyond railway lines. They can also save much time spent walking on rural roads. Bus schedules, posted at each stop, usually list times for weekdays and Saturdays on the left, Sundays and holidays on the right. Bus fares in rural areas, unlike city buses, vary with distance. When you board, take a ticket from the machine just inside the door. The number on this ticket indicates where you boarded; your fare can be read under the appropriate number on the chart above the driver. If you boarded the bus at the terminus, you will not get a ticket; simply pay the highest fare indicated when you get off. It is a good idea to tell the driver your destination when you board; also, listen for the announcement of your stop.

Taxis are available from major train stations and may be called if you wished to be picked up at other destinations. Knowing the name or number of the temple you are at in Japanese or the name of a prominent landmark nearby is the best way to make your location known. The dispatcher may ask for your name; you should state it in as brief a manner as possible, or, if there are no other foreigners about, say gaijin desu (I’m a foreigner). There is usually a small surcharge for pickup service. Taxi companies also operate temple tours for flat rates. These are convenient for those who do not relish the long walks, and are reasonably economical for small groups.

Complete three-day, two-night tours covering the entire pilgrimage are also offered by Toei Kankō Bus Tours four times a year: in April, June, October, and November. For further information, visit their office in the Kōtsū Kaikan building east of Yurakuchō Station in Tokyo, or call (in Japanese) 216-2068 or 216-2091.

Bicycles, convenient for the temples and sights in town, may also be rented. One shop is located ahead and to the right of Chichibu Station as you exit, just past a handicrafts shop. Another shop is located in Nagatoro (see p. 143).

For those who speak no Japanese, a Finding List is provided listing all temples, shrines, shops, restaurants, museums, and bus and railroad stops mentioned in the text, in romanized Japanese and Japanese characters. Use this list to confirm destinations or request assistance if lost.