In this article, I’ll just introduce some historical spots among several spots we visited. One of the highlights of the course was Hamamatsu Castle that is located about 20-minute walk from the station. You can go inside the castle, however, I visited there in September. So, I just took a picture of a comic foreground of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ii Naotora, and Ii Naomasa. Tokugawa Ieyasu is a person who lived in the castle for 17 years and established Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603. Ii Naotora was a female landlord in Iinoya in the north of Lake Hamana, whose adopted son Ii Naomasa became one of the four great generals of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
When Tokugawa Ieyasu lived in Hamamatsu, he had the Battle of Mikatagahara (a plateau stretching North of Hamamatsu) with Taketa Shingen, the lord of Kai (Yamanashi Prefecture) in 1573. Ieyasu was defeated and barely escaped with his life. During that night, however, he returned a blow by attacking Takeda Shingen’s camping site, which was about 1 km from Hamamatsu Castle. The battle site called Saigagake and looks like this now.
It is a scarp with a height of 13 m. According to a legend, the Ieyasu’s army spread cloth over it to deceive the enemies. As it was night, soldiers of Shingen’s army mistook the cloth for a bridge and fell beneath the scarp. Even now, there is an area called “Nunohahi (cloth bridge)” near Saigagake.
Near the scarp, there is Saigagake Museum where you can see historical scenes with diorama.
This is the Battle of Mikatagahara. According to a volunteer guide in the museum, it was snowing on that day.
Ieyasu was defeated and escaped to the castle, with his soldiers protecting him from the enemy.
During the night, they attacked Shingen’s army. Many of Shingen’s soldiers fell beneath the scarp in darkness and died.
After that, people in this area heard groans of ghosts and suffered from a plague. Ieyasu thought that it was a curse of the deceased and held a memorial service with a prayer to Buddha. It became an annual event called “Enshu-Dainenbutsu” that has been practiced in Hamamatsu and surrounding areas. This museum was once a hall dedicated to the deceased in the battle.
During Bon Festival in July or August, groups of Enshu-Dainenbutsu in the traditional costume visit families that have the first bon festival following the death of a family member. They play musical instruments such as the drum, flute, and gong, dance, and sing. It is very interesting to see. Every year, Saigagake Museum holds Enshu-Dainenbutsu in front of the building on July 15.
Since this museum is located along a major road called Himekaido (Princess Highway), you can take bus #40 or some other buses from the bus terminal to get off at Saigagake. But it doesn’t take much time to walk from Hamamatsu Castle. If you go westward along the road between the castle and Hotel Concord, you will come to this tunnel.
It is Kameyama Tunnel made originally for a railway Okuyama Line (1914-1964). You can how it was from the pictures displayed near the tunnel.
When you go through the mysterious tunnel, you will see greenery along the road.
This comfortable pathway continues up to Hamamatsu Kita High School, and Saigagake Museum is just a few minutes walk from there.
Saigagake Museum
Address: 25-10 Shikatani-cho, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka
Open hours: 9:00 – 17:00
Closed: Monday (if a national holiday falls on Monday, it is closed the next day instead), December 29 - January 3
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