Author: Fire in the cave
Akashi is located between Kobe and Osaka, across the Akashi Strait from Awaji Island, and is located on the Akashi Strait Bridge connecting Shikoku and Honshu.
The shores of Akashi are famous spots around Kobe, and in my opinion, although the scenery here is beautiful, it is not prominent compared to other famous coasts. However, if you are a fan of The Tale of Genji, like me, you will definitely go there and quietly overlook Awaji Mountain. If it is a storm and a huge wave lapping at the shore, you can better experience the heart of the light source clan, and the nature is better.
Here you may feel a little abrupt, let me briefly introduce "The Tale of Genji", this book is the world's first novel, written in the late 10th century and early 11th century, the theme is somewhat similar to China's "Dream of the Red Chamber", about the life of the Crown Prince Guangyuan clan. Because of the low status of his birth mother, he was demoted to a vassal early, and his only life was charming, which triggered a series of love stories that were either poignant or happy. A section related to Akashi tells the story of his adultery with his brother Emperor Suzaku's concubine, who after the incident was exiled to the Akashi Coast and met Akashihime. Akashihime is not of high status, but her character is elegant, humble and kind, and she is one of the few who interacts with the Hikari clan, but the ending is quite a complete woman, the specific content, if you are interested, you can read the "Tale of Genji", which may be more experienced.
In Akashi City, there is also Akashi Castle built by the Ogasawara clan, but unfortunately it was badly damaged by the earthquake in the 1990s and was not completely restored until 1999. However, due to the fact that the first of japan's four national treasures, the national treasure Himeji Castle among the national treasures, is close at hand, and it can only retreat to the second line.
If Akashi Castle is compared to a lowly vassal, it is himeji Castle is no different from the emperor of all the existing castle towers in Japan. It is said that the earliest Himeji Castle was built in the year of the year, but it is said that the earliest was built in 1333, namely The Temple Castle, and subsequently changed hands several times between the Yamana clan and the Akamatsu clan. Once abandoned, it was revived by the Omi-minomime Kyogoku clan, the future 520,000-stone Daimyo Kuroda clan of Tsukuzen Fukuoka. During this period, it also became the residence of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and eventually fell into the pocket of Tokugawa Ieyasu's son-in-law, 320,000 stones in Bizen and 320,000 stones in Tottori, the common ancestor of the two domains, Ikeda Huizheng.
Up to now, Himeji Castle is one of the four national treasures alongside Inuyama Castle, Matsumoto Castle, and Hikone Castle, and although it ranks behind Inuyama Castle in Aichi Prefecture in terms of the age of construction, Itji Castle is worthy of being the first of its time in terms of scale and charm. Unfortunately, the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 2010 caused it to be damaged, and until now, it has been covered by a large cover, and it will not be repaired until 2015. That's the only reason I haven't been going to Kansai lately and preparing to hold out until 2015.
Ako is the westernmost city in Hyogo Prefecture, bordering Okayama Prefecture. It may not be famous in Japan, and there is no special scenery, but the Ako Forty-Seven Langshi Incident is indeed the most colorful of the three hundred years of Edo history. The Ako Domain, a branch of the 490,000 Ishi Asano clan in Hiroshima, was passed down to the generation of Asano Uchiha and was appointed to receive a chincha sent by the emperor. In order to make the reception go smoothly, the shogunate sent Kira Yoshiyo, who was a noble and familiar with imperial court etiquette, as an advisor to assist Asano Uchiha in completing his task. Who knew that the greedy Yoshiyo, who did not receive enough filial piety fees, deliberately made Asano ugly during the ceremony, causing Asano to commit suicide due to improper behavior, and Ako Domain was subsequently sentenced to death by the shogunate. In order to avenge, the forty-seven ronin of Ako Domain endured humiliation and burden, and many years later, after Yoshiyoshi Kira lost his vigilance (Kira's wife was from the Uesugi clan, because his brother had no heirs, Kira's son had been adopted by his uncle, the Uesugi clan, the daimyō of Mutsu Yonezawa 150,000 stones, so Kira himself had been protected by the Uesugi clan), raided Kira Province, beheaded him, and took him to Asano's tomb to pay homage, and finally all of them committed suicide by caesarean section, becoming a beautiful talk. To this day, the Akashi area holds annual events to commemorate these 47 people.