One of Kyoto's ancient roads is now a popular walking destination among hikers who enjoy walking along ancient paths.Anything,If you walk that way and visit the shrine at the end of the road, you will receive the blessing of "Great Wish Fulfillment".The company is a member of the "Japan Association for the Promotion of Science" (JACS).

That old road is calledSliding Stone PassageIt was. It is an old Daigo Kaido that crosses the Higashiyama mountain pass between Higashiyama and Yamashina wards of Kyoto City. It is an old Daigo Kaido that goes up a slope from Sanjusangendo or Imakumano Hozoin-cho, south of Chishakuin Temple, to the east, crosses Higashiyama, and enters Yamashina Ward to Kanshuji and Daigoji Temples, and is about 3.5 km long. It is said to have played an important role in the old days as a road for worshipping at Kanshuji and Daigoji temples and as an intermediary road that served as the eastern entrance to Kyoto.

Suberi-Ishigoe depicted in an old painting of the Edo period (in the author's collection)

However, I am quite concerned about it,Slip," which does not sound very auspicious.The name of the old road isWhy do we receive the blessing of great wish fulfillment?　Poorly worded,I'm afraid the "good luck" will slip off my body.It is.

The answer to this question can be found just beyond the Higashiyama Pass on this ancient road, which was built in 1935.Oishi Shrinewas.

Torii of Oishi Shrine

The god of worship is a national hero, the chief retainer of the Asano Naishokuto family of the Banshu-Ako clan, famous for the Chushingura story.Oishi SukusukeThe shrine is a The shrine isAko Yoshinaga, the Ako warriors who made a successful raid, is honored with the blessing of a great wish fulfillment.and believed to be the most important.

Ema (votive tablet) for the fulfillment of a great wish at Oishi Shrine

If so,Why not use convenient transportation instead of going to the trouble of walking up steep hills and over mountains to visit the shrine with a stick in one's leg?But this is not the case. However, the following famous scene from the Ako Yoshishi Biography has a lot to do with it.

Before the raid, Kuranosuke was living in seclusion in Yamashina, Kyoto. During this time, he spent every night in and out of Kyoto's amusement quarters (Shimabara, Gion, and Fushimi-no-Kimachi) in order to deceive the Shogunate and Kira Uenosuke's counterintelligence and secret police, who were wary of the invasion, while planning the invasion, and indulged in a luxurious life.

Even though he was called a "cowardly samurai who had forgotten the true spirit of the samurai," he was willing to deceive even his own allies in order to fulfill his true desire. At that timeThe road that Kuranosuke used to take every night from the closed house in Yamashina to the playground in Kyoto and back is this NameshikkoshiThe site of the closed residence still remains to the south of the Oishi Shrine. The site of the closed residence still remains to the south of the Oishi Shrine.

Stone monument at the site of Yoshio Oishi's closed residence in Yamashina

Nowadays, this old road is a prefectural road with constant vehicle traffic, so it is not so difficult to walk along. However, in the Genroku era (about 300 years ago) when Kuranosuke came and went, it was a lonely road with a steep grade over the mountains, passing through a corner of Toribeno, one of the three major funeral sites in Kyoto, and through a thick bamboo grove.

On the way to Nameshi Koshi

One of the origins of the name of this road is that when Kuranosuke and his friends were coming and going along this roadBecause I got my foot caught on a floating rock on the mountain road, slipped and fell.It is interesting to note that the

Oishi Kuranosuke Yoshio Issuri no Ishi on the way to Nameshikkoshi

like thatKuranosuke, with the true intention of avenging his lord, played the role of a fool samurai and successfully deceived his enemies to achieve his great desire. Behind this famous scene, there was the Nameshi Koshi Road.This is why. Walking along this ancient roadIf you sympathize with Kuranosuke's hardships and worship at Oishi Shrine, you will double your blessings for the fulfillment of your great desire.This is the reason why hikers began to pay attention to this ancient road.

December 14 was the day the Ako Ronin made their revenge attack. On that day, in Yamashina, where Oishi Kuranosuke lived in hiding, there was an event calledceremony honouring the spirits of ancestors (esp. the Bon festival)This year, the festival will be held on the same day. This year, we would like to make a full-course trip to the festival, walking along the old road over the Sliding Stone Pass, visiting the Oishi Shrine, and seeing the Yoshishi Festival, and thereby fulfill a great desire.