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Words-and-Pictures:
The Arai Barrier
(as seen on September 26th, 2001,
on the Old Tokaido stage of the Aki
Meguri)
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| Note:
Arai
is on the shores of Lake Hamanako in Aichi Prefecture. It is
Station #31 (from Tokyo) on the Old Tokaido Highway. You can read
about my visit to Arai in my Logbook.
You may also choose to start reading about my Tokaido
journey at the beginning, or start at the top of my Aki
Meguri pages. |
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| Arai was a natural place for a checkpoint.
Travelers were coming across Lake Hamanako by boat, and could easily be
channeled directly to the barrier. This was another filter for
"guns coming in and women going out" (see more on Sept.
6th). One interesting aside: since some women dressed as men
to avoid detection, there were old woman paid to do body checks.
The museum has a funny old print of an old woman squatting down and
looking under someone's clothes! |
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The long veranda
and heavy tiled roof of the checkpoint's office reminded me of
some missions I've visited in California. Actually, after
an earthquake, this building was built in 1855--just 14 years
before the new Meiji Emperor rescinded the Tokugawa's edict and
closed the Barrier down.
(This is, by the way, the third location for Arai. The
first two were destroyed by tidal waves.)
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| Although the Barrier is now well away
from the lake, originally the approach to the Maisaka gate was
by boat. This area is now undergoing excavation and
restoration. |
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Those arriving from Maisaka exited by
this gate, which fronts on the old Tokaido. Those coming
from Shirasuka arrived by this gate, and left by boat toward
Maisaka. |
| The officials still wait to check
your papers. |
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(Write your own funny caption for this
one.) |
| The checkpoint building displays
armor... |
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..and weapons. More can be
seen--including vintage guns--in the Barrier's museum. |
| These remind me of something I saw at
the Maisaka Waki Honjin. What could they be? |
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A final note: Tokuriki's guidebook
says that "severe penalties were meted out" for anyone whose
paperwork deviated even slightly from the norm. "Flashing
swords effected swift justice on the lower levels of society, and
voluntary suicide (seppuku or harakiri) was the only honorable means of
accepting punishment on the upper levels."
Now get this: the youth hostel where I'm staying is on a
hill less than a kilometer from the barrier. The lovely Chie, my
hostess, told me tonight that a little clearing on the path down the
hill from here used to be the execution ground! I'll try to get a
photo of it soon.
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HISTORY
