J-Subculture News

Ami's Japan Travel Guides! Vol.2: Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi-ken

Hello again~*^_^* I hope you learned a lot from everyone's first articles. I certainly learned a lot, which is why Mami is grounded for watching violent movies and Nami is grounded for vandalizing the Ramen Walker office...*hem*. So, I guess it's my turn again~ ;-_- Today, I'd like to talk about another Japanse city I'm very fond of! It's not so famous with tourists, but I think it's a very incredible place. It's called Shimonoseki. It's right where the island of Kyushu, where Fukuoka is, meets the island of Honshu, so, it's about an hour from where we live by train~

Shimonoseki is famous for two things: history, and fugu blowfish. You've probably heard that fugu are very poisonous, but don't worry! Chefs have to train for years to prepare them, so, it's safe...probably (・_・;) Anyway fugu is delicious raw as sashimi, or fried in a curry! There are different kinds of blowfish from all over the world on display at Shimonoseki's very nice aquarium. Also, a rare sunfish!

Of course, what I really love about Shimonoseki is the history. Two famous things happened in the waters of the Kanmon Strait that separates Shimonoseki from Kyushu. First was the Battle of Dan-no-Ura. That's when the Heiki clan fought the Genji for control of Japan in 1185. It was one of the bloodiest battles in Japanese history, and its story is told in many pictures, scrolls, songs and books. The red shrine in the picture at the top, Akama-jinja, is dedicated to the memory of the infant Heiki Emperor, who drowned with his mother in the sea. All that should be scary to imagine, but actually, it's kind of exciting...#>_># I wonder if I would have made a good samurai...

Speaking of samurai, the other famous thing was the fatal duel between Miyamoto Musashi, maybe the greatest Japanese swordsman of all time, and his arch-rival Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryu Island off Shimonoseki. They say Musashi showed up an hour late, and carved his sword out of an oar on the boatride over. Either it was all part of his clever strategy, or he was just being a huge jerk...either way, there are two statues marking the place where they fought today!

Shimonoseki is also home to the longest underwater, pedestrian tunnel in the world. It goes from one side of the Kanmon Strait to the other. If you make it this far, maybe you can cross the strait and come visit us on Kyushu :-) Ja, mata ne~ あみ