Chapter 58: Impressions of Kyoto (Seeking Collections)

  In the distant Kinai, Kira Uemonosuke was unaware of what had happened inside Odawara Castle. After obtaining a permit to build a castle from Ashikaga Yoshifuyu, Kira Uemonosuke immediately rushed back to Sakamoto and spread the news in Shiga County in the form of a public notice. He then appointed Yamamoto Kanbee as the chief designer of the new castle at Sakamoto.

  According to the design concept of Yamamoto Kanetsuke, Sakamoto Shinjō will become a new castle built on water, which can greatly enhance its influence on Sakamoto Port. At the same time, it echoes with Nakao Castle being newly built in the southwest, equivalent to the bakufu's rear stronghold. Due to its proximity to Mt. Hiei and the core area of the Rokkaku family, the Miyo family is wary and does not dare to easily enter, ensuring the safety of this new castle to the greatest extent.

  The project of building a new city is enormous, with an initial estimate of the funds needed for construction reaching as high as 8,000 yuan, and the expected construction period will exceed six months, depending on the actual situation.

  Kira Yoshinaka recommended the Hida carpenters to Yamamoto Kansuke and sent Yamaoka Genzaburou to invite the famous Hatakeyama from Omi, who were known for their high-level skills in building palaces and temples for the imperial family, nobles, and temples since ancient times. Their unique stone wall construction method was both sturdy and beautiful. Kira Yoshinaka was fed up with the earthen walls of Nishi-jō Castle being plastered with lime mortar, so as soon as he heard about Hatakeyama's reputation, he immediately invited them to come.

  "Ina Tadaiye will serve as the deputy of the castle construction, and also Bonten Yahirō. The knowledge learned from books must be put into practice, so they were entrusted to their master." Kirishima Manzaburou didn't care about Yamamoto Kan no Sukē's head-shaking bitter smile, and pushed the matter onto him, doing nothing himself.

  "Oni-chan! Oni-chan!" As soon as he returned to Sakamoto Gosho, Katsuragi was caught by Shoukichi and could only bitterly smile as she clung to his neck like a koala.

  "Oh, Onii-chan! The leaves here are so beautiful! Are the leaves in Kyoto also very pretty? Shouko wants to go to Kyoto to see the leaves! Onii-chan......" Little Lori always mischievously asked Kiriyama Mantaroumaru this and that, why Lake Biwa was also called Omi Sea, why this place was also called Kinki, what Kinai was, and why Sanukitei-yaki was also called Mikasayaki.

  Children always have a million whys, why the stars in the sky twinkle, why the rabbit on the moon is making rice cakes, who's stronger between Kintaro and Momotaro. With her strong curiosity, Katsuragi can always find something interesting to do, even an anthill under a tree can keep her squatting there for a whole day.

  "Your Highness, can we go to Kyoto now?" Akane looked at him with a hopeful face. Since arriving at Sakamoto Gosho, Akane had been in high spirits for the past few days, probably because she was almost home.

  "Pack up your luggage, we're going to Kyoto. Don't forget the gifts from Omi." He had bought a lot of local specialties in Omi, mainly eel and tea leaves, as well as Mikawa's specialty, Mikawa Akamiso, which was made with soybeans from Yahagi River and seaweed salt from Kira family, and was also called Hacchōmiso because the first creator lived in a village eight cho west of Okazaki Castle.

  The famous specialty of Owari Province is the daikon radish, and the exceptionally delicious "guard mouth big root" variety can grow up to one meter long. It is also well-known in the Tokaido and Tosando regions, and even the nobles of Kyoto are fond of it.

  Tora, carrying a large bag of trees, walked to her temporary residence. Kira Yoshinaka gathered some of the guards from Edo Castle and had them placed around the construction site of Sakamoto Castle, both to protect the wood and stone materials and to intimidate the wealthy merchants in Sakamoto Harbor, who had always been opposed to the new castle of the Kira family and were a bit of a nuisance.

  Arrangements were made for the various offices, and Yoshimasa brought his relatives and dozens of horsemen to Kyoto to visit his uncle, the Konoe family. Although the Miyoshi family successfully entered the capital this summer, the opposing forces in Kinai were not completely eliminated, and the Battle of Kiyosu did not fully resolve the anti-Miyoshi sentiments among the kokujin of Settsu Province. Therefore, after a brief entry into the capital, Yoshimasa returned to Settsu Province with his main force to consolidate their newly acquired territory. The current safety situation in Kyoto was also far from being as critical as imagined.

  Kyoto, also known as Heian-kyo, was completely modeled after Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty in terms of its name and city planning. The grid-like streets were neat and uniform, with relatively simple drainage facilities. Compared to the dirty and smelly Shimo-machi, this place is simply a paradise on earth for Japan.

  Kyoto's Daidairi is like the imperial castle of the Nara period, facing south and sitting north, located in the center of the northern part of the city. The main road to the south is called Suzaku-ōji Avenue, which is exactly the same as the Suzaku-dori street of the Tang Dynasty. Divided by Suzaku-ōji Avenue, the east side is called Sakyō or Luoyang, and the west side is called Ukyō or Chang'an. The western part of Chang'an was gradually abandoned due to the influence of wetlands, leaving only the most prosperous area on the left bank of Kyoto.

  The so-called "grid system" refers to the fact that most of Kyoto's grid-like streets are roughly equal in distance from each other, regardless of whether they run east-west or north-south. For example, the distance between major roads such as Karasuma-dori and Teramachi-dori, Konoe-dori and Nakamise-dori, Omiya-dori and Nijo-dori is roughly the same, with a distance of approximately 40 jo (about 120 meters) between them.

  Regardless of east, west, south, or north, the distance of each major road is divided into equal parts, and each small road divides the entire city into independent towns. Every sixteen towns form a unit, with four rows of towns in the east-west direction called "jō" and four rows of towns in the south-north direction called "bō". This resulted in each town between jō and bō having its own unique name, which gradually became the main source of surnames for the aristocratic families living in Heian-kyō.

  Some alleys are enlarged several times due to different planning, but most alleys still have planned construction. Walking on the streets of Kyoto is easy to associate with the style of prosperous Tang Dynasty, unfortunately, there is no chance to see the authentic Tang Chang'an City, and Yoshirō Manzanmaru can only shake his head regretfully.

  The Japanese capital was not built with city walls from a historical time, as early as the construction of Heijokyo in Nara period, the imperial court said that the capital is where the nobles live and there is no need to set up defenses, so when Emperor Kanmu moved the capital to Heiankyo, he also did not build city walls.

  The most developed area in Kyoto is still the area north of Nijo Street, while the area south of Nijo Street has only a small number of aristocratic settlements. The area south of Nijo Street belongs to a mixed commercial and residential area, while the area north of Nijo Street gradually becomes a gathering place for samurai families, making the development of the entire city present an east-heavy and west-light situation, with Kamigyo being developed and Shimogyo being relatively backward, especially in the southwestern region forming a blank area.

  For this once glorious city, Kirishima Manshōmaru brought a few curious and exploratory thoughts. Unfortunately, Japan's largest city suffered a devastating war less than a hundred years ago during the ōnin War, although many buildings were rebuilt and renovated, but with the continuous devastation of the Kinai region, more streets and alleys were gradually abandoned, leaving this once glorious city in its current state of ruin.

  Note: By the way, Ume looked up old maps of Kyoto from the Muromachi and Edo periods and found some interesting things. For example, Honno-ji Temple was in Sakyo, within the castle walls of Kyoto, and Nijo Castle was also in Ukyo, within the castle walls of Kyoto. On the night of Honno-ji, the Demon King father and son died inside Kyoto.