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Postscript
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| The school song of Fukuoka Municipal Fukuoka School begins with "Connecting
a dream to Mt. Jogane where the sky is bright ..." , followed by "Mt.Futatsumori
..." at No.2 and "Tsukechigawa River ..." at No.3. If you
ask what is the typical image of Fukuoka , many people will answer "Mt.
Futatsumori" or "Tsukechigawa River". How many people answer
"Mt.Jogane" ? At the foot of Mt.Jogane in Uenaegi , there were
Koeji Temple , the main building of Koeji Castle , and the samurai recidence
, which was the cenral area of Fukuoka in the Middle Ages. Kannon-do Hall
, masonry , cornerstones , old wells , garden pond , earthworks , moat
traces , Hokyointo Tower , and Gorinto Tower remain there. Indeed , Mt.Jogane
formed a dream castle town in Uenaegi. However , the abolition of Buddha of the Naegi clan in the early Meiji era almost compleatly eliminated
the valuable litelature and cultural heritage related to the Koeji Castle
that should have remained in and around the Koeji site and in places of
Uenaegi. The word "disappeared" in the title "Disappeared medieval castle toun Uenaegi" of this area introduction homepage has two meanings. One is that there was Koeji Castle in Uenaegi for about 200 years from 13th century, but at the beginning of 16th century , it moved to Mt.Takamori in Naegi. The other is that valuable materials related to Koeji Castle have compleatly disappeared due to the abolition of Buddha. While proceeding with the creation of the homepage for introducing the area , "The disappeared medieval castle town Uenaegi" , it was confirmed how Uenaegi is a region with historical value. In particular , it was confirmed that the root of the south side of Mt.Jogane , where the remains of Koeji Temple and Samurai Residence remain , is a valuable cultural heritage. In addition , as I researched various things , I found something new in my own way , and I would like to leave it as a postscript. |
| １、「The first castle owner of Koeji Castle may have been Kagemura Toyama」
Kagekado Kato is a senior vassal of Yoritomo Minanoto , who contributed to the overthrow of the Heike family and was given the Toyama teritory around the foot of Mt.Enasan in 1185. Kagetomo , the oldest son of Kagekado , became the first Iwamura Castle owner and gave himself the surname of Toyama. Kagetomo Toyama had three sons , the eldest son Kagemura , the second son Kageshige , and the third son Kageto. The second son , Kageshige became the first Akechi Castle owner , and third son , Kageto became the second Iwamura Castle owner. However , it is not clear about the eldest son Kagemura. Books describing the movement of Naegi Toyama clan , in which Koeji Castle appears , include "Naegidenki" , "Takamorikongenki" , "Naegiki" , which were made at the end of the Edo period. Only Naegidenki is described as having lived in Uenaegi for several generations from Kagemura. Due to the abolition of Buddha , there is almost no material about Koeji Castle , so the fact that Kagemura is not clear may be evidence that he was the owner of Koeji Castle. Inferring from the fact that Akechi Castle was built in 1247 by Kageshige , it seems that Koeji Castle was also built at around this time by Kagemura. |
| ２、「It's not a legend , but Prince Munenaga may have been really lurking
in Koeji Castle」
The Toyama clan dominated Uenaegi for generations and revered Tobitenno as its deity. Around the time of Genko and Kenmu (1331-1334) , when shaved head Ichiun Toyama was in the castle , the world was greatly disturbed. Prince Munenaga of Emperor Godaigo was hiding in Koeji Castle . Then , samurais from a nearby country uprised and attacked Koeji Castle. Since allies were small and demoralized , shaved head Ichiun mourned a lot and prayed to the shrine. Then , two white feather arrows came out from the shrine and entered the enamy's camp , and while looking at it , the heavens became cloudy as if ink had been washed away , and with thunder , heavy rain like flowing the axle. The enemy's soldiers seemed upset , so he ordered , "This is Tobitenno's blessing . Proceed." Allies suddenly appeared , and the enemy solidiers fled like spider cubs. For this reason , the prince deeply revered Tobitenno , wrote the eight characters of "総社祇園牛頭天王" in large letters , and presented a flat frame with it. At that time , the battle was divided into the samurai group and the emperor group . But Toki clan of the guardian of Mino was the samurai group , and of course , Toyama clan was also the samurai group. However , Fukuoka Toyama clan of Koeji Castle was the Emperor's group for some reason. The name of Koeji Castle lord Goro Toyama was written in "Taiheiki" among the lords who went down to Kanto with Yoshisada Nitta. Then why did Toyama clan of Koeji Castle need to belong to the Emperor's group ? There must have been a reason to belong to the Emperor's group even though the surroundings were the samurai group. In addition , many of the legends of the princes that remain in Hirugawa , Nakatsugawa City , and Takayama , Nakatsugawa City are related to King Munenag |
| ３、「Is my ancestor Eikyu Arata ?」
There is a house named "Arata" that looks straight down at the Henkoji Temple. Currently , it is Mr.Taguchi's house , but before , there lived a person who had "Niwa" as his surname. There are tombs for generations nearby , and it is true that the surname "Niwa" is engraved on them. I've heard the legend that my house is also out of this "Arata". During the year of Yoro of Empress Gensho (680-748) , shaved head Eikyu Arrata lived in Uenaegi and was always devoted Buddha and Deity. One morning , seven cedar seedlings lined up in the garden of his house. When the family members wondered and talked , the family child said like a shit , "I'm a deity tree of Gozutenno , if you make me a guardian deity , you will prosper for a long time. "Therefore , he chose a clean land nearby , planted cedar seedlings , founded the shrine , called it "Tobitenno" , and revered it as a deity, and the villagers also revered it. The place name "Uenaegi" also arises from this. And shaved head Eikyu Arata is a pioneer in the development of Uenaegi. When the shaman becomes obsessed with something , the witness who is on the side of the shaman , interprets the word of deity , and conveys his will is called "Saniwa" in Yamato's words. In this way , there may be something to do with the fact that "the person who serves deity" is called "niwa" and the surname "Niwa" of Arata. Tobitenno (Uenaegi Shrine) was in contact with my house and was also the land of my family. Also , the land from my house through Tobitenno , which is almost continuous to the ruins of Koeji Temple is also owned by my family. In addition , the place where the Kannon-do Hall of the ruins of Koeji Temple is built , the place where Hokyointo Tower and Gorinto Tower are located around it , and the ruins of the samurai residence where masonry remains are also owned by my family. Also , I heard that my grandfather sold Mt.Jogane , but my family also owned it, where Koeji Castle was built. judging from the fact that they owned the central land of Uenaegi in the Middle Ages , it is certain that those who lived in Uenaegi early and were related to Tobitenno Shrine and Koeji Temple were my ancesters. However , due to the abolition of Buddha , there are no moryuary tablets left in my house before that , and I am the 6th generation after the abolition of Buddha. It is a pity that I should be able to explore the roots of my family if there were no abolition of Buddaha and the mortuary tabletts of my family and the literature of the remains of koeji Temple remained. (November 1998) |
| ４、「The revival of the foot of Mt.Jogane will lead to the development of
Fukuoka」
In Mizunami City ,Gifu Prefecture , the Mino Genji Forum has been hold every year since 1994. On November 3 , 1999 , I participated in the 6th Mino Genji Forum and had the opportunity to listen to the lecture by Mr.Morihiro Hosokawa , who was the former Prime Minister. His words , "In order to revitalize the region , valuing culture should be the highest priority , and attracting industry is the second" he said , which left a strong impression on me. Due to the abolition of Buddha of the Naegi klan in the early Meiji era , the temples were destroyed and the mortuary tables were buried , and the stone Buddhas were destroyed and buried in the ground except for the Shimono district , which was the teritory of theTokugawa shogunate. Fukuoka was forcibly filled with Shinto. All funerale and memorial services after that became a Shinto ceremory. However , considering that all the people before the abolition of Buddha were buried in the Buddhist style , is it okay to memorialize those people in the Shinto style ? People before the abolition of Buddha and those after that should have diferent ways of offering memorial services. A person living in Uenaegi said this to me , "Fukuoka doesn't develop becase there is no temple in Fukuoka." The problem is that the temple was forcibly destroyed and left as it was. I am convinced that the maintenance of the remains of Koeji Temple will protect Fukuoka's precious cultural heritage and lead to the revitalization of the region. When the bell of Koeji Temple rings again , how much the people buried before the abolition of Buddha may be rewarded. |
| January 2000 |
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