I was always curious about buses from Kamakura Station destined for Tachiarai meaning “sword-washing.” The name had a creepy ring to it outside the main gate to the Kamakura Reien there is an entrance to the ancient road Kanazawa-kaidō which climbs uphill before reaching a narrow Farther through the grove is a watering hole named Tachiarai-mizu “Sword-washing water.” It is here that Kajiwara Kagetoki is reputed to have cleaned his sword after assassinating Kazusanosuke Hirotsune The clear stream at Tachiarai Following the stream brings you to a roughly cut pass through the rock face known as the Asaina Kiridōshi Seven such cuttings were made through the mountains surrounding the coastal town of Kamakura facilitating passage while enhancing its defense: Asaina is the easternmost of the seven samurai traveling to and from Kamakura passed through here The reference to sword-washing seems unfitting for such a tranquil spot A small waterfall at the entrance to Asaina Kiridōshi Asaina Kiridōshi shows obvious signs of where the rock was cut to carve out the pass Minamoto no Yoritomo ordered the assassination of Hirotsune over his dislike of the latter’s arrogance and a belief that Hirotsune was planning an insurrection​ Kagetoki killed Hirotsune while playing a game of sugoroku with him but there are further episodes that paint Kagetoki as a shady figure curator at the Kamakura Museum of History and Culture “There are more bloodstained tales of Kagetoki than just the Tachiarai legend Kagetoki has a reputation as an enemy of Yoshitsune but as much as Yoshitsune is seen as a “bright” character Kagetoki is considered a dark persona.” Kagetoki was originally a warrior for the Taira clan He was known as a compassionate man who excelled in both literary and military arts and had served in the imperial capital In the first clash between the Minamoto and Taira clans fought in 1180 near the present-day city of Odawara Kagetoki is said to have let the overwhelmed Yoritomo escape there may never have been a Kamakura shogunate The site of the Battle of Ishibashiyama The defeated Yoritomo fled from Cape Manazuru by boat across Sagami Bay to the Bōsō Peninsula he gained the support of Hirotsune and his 20,000 soldiers giving him the military clout he needed to secure Kamakura that year he ordered Hirotsune’s assassination which suggests that he was highly suspicious of him where he writes that he was the “subject of slander.” But Kagetoki’s actions went beyond simple reporting: it seems that he also urged Yoritomo to hunt and assassinate Yoshitsune The Naoki Prize–winning historical novel Enkan includes a scene where Kagetoki recognizes Yoritomo’s equivocal demeanor But why did Kagetoki take pains to second-guess Yoritomo and play the role of the bad guy Nagai implies that Yoritomo rarely showed his true colors and portrayed that his decisions were driven by others and therefore acted as Yoritomo’s mouthpiece He saw no reason to flinch if it enabled Yoritomo to strengthen his position as ruler of the eastern provinces but his conviction in building a military-led society made him increasingly arrogant He was shunned as a scandalmonger and denounced by 66 of the shōgun’s vassals Although Kagetoki enjoyed a key role under both Yoritomo and his successor Yoriie he lost his position as a member of the council of 13 officials But the resulting imbalance among the 13 officials helped the Hōjō clan to gain the upper hand The grave of Kajiwara Kagetoki at Manpukuji where Kajiwara Kagetoki is said to have washed the blood off his sword after killing Kazusanosuke Hirotsune Please upgrade to a more modern version to fully experience JapanToday site and for security reasons Tachiarai City in eastern Fukuoka Prefecture offers two very different museums focusing on the history of kamikaze pilots towards the end of World War II One of them is the Chikuzen Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum the other one the privately run Tachiarai Retro Station Museum Both are absolutely worth a visit for history buffs Both museums are situated on the grounds of the former Tachiarai Airfield The airfield quickly grew into the largest military airfield of East Asia Tachiarai Air Base became a central transfer point for deadly kamikaze attacks The Tokubetsu kogeki tai (Special Attack Units) known in Japanese shorthand as tokkotai or more commonly kamikaze were special forces deployed for suicide missions towards the end of World War II whose goal was to sink American battleships it’s a questionable description considering the substantial pressure the Japanese military put on their personnel and the traditional glorification of self-sacrifice rooted in samurai culture the kamikaze pilots are viewed as tragic figures in Japan their sacrifices serving no other purpose than prolonging the war Kamikaze pilots were chiefly deployed from airbases in the far south of Kyushu, such as Chiran, Kanoya, and Ibusuki in Kagoshima Prefecture Tachiarai Airfield played a central role in their deployment American bombing raids destroyed the Tachiarai airbase in March 1945 Click here to read more Join the leading Asian tourist attraction to assist our diverse range of customers "their sacrifices serving no other purpose than prolonging the war." ––Even the exhibit in Chiran expresses this sentiment 1) The Japanese main islands were NOT invaded 2) After the surrender Japan was NOT divided between the victorious powers unlike Germany Scholars have debated reasons for the above for decades and will probably never be resolved Certainly no one can deny strictly the poor military gains of Tokko forces deployment (just think the insanity of sending a 1937 fixed gear Nakajima 97 against massive warships protected by Hellcats) Yet no one can DISPROVE the enormous psychological impact upon those under attack by forces who do not care about their own lives as long as they can inflict damage to their end Them and Okinawan civilians driven to suicide by their own government Most Japanese air crews did not make it back alive from regular missions That's the context for the suicide attacks This is from The Nobility of Failure by Ivan Morris the Special Attack strategy may well have contributed to one of the greatest catastrophes that ever befell the disaster-prone Japanese people the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the first (and only) nuclear bombs ever used in warfare instead of overawing the Americans as had been confidently expected produced indignation and rage out of all proportion to their practical importance ...This probably helped remove such qualms as President Harry Truman and his close associates may have felt about dropping atomic bombs on huge population centers at a time when Japan was already on the verge of surrender and busy with peace feelers Furthermore the ferocity of kamikaze tactics seemed a logical culmination of Japan's wartime 'fanaticism' and no doubt served to warn the Americans of the immense casualties they could expect if they proceeded with their plans to invade the home islands in the autumn of 1945." They were forced to take meth to give them the courage to do what they did The real tragedy is that japan never acknowledges that The drugs were often given to them in the form of candy Next time you eat anything from the Glico factory you should know that they were the official manufacturers The use of methamphetamine by soldiers in WW II is not talked about enough The German soldiers took it when they invaded France in 1940 Most of the invading tank corp did not sleep for the first three days thus helping to lend a mystique to their actions at the time and even factory workers in Nazi Germany were given as much meth as they wanted I would like to mention something that is almost never talked about those pilots who chose not to sacrifice themselves about 10% of the pilots decided to surrender rather than die In the allied fleet at Okinawa there were sailors whose sole duty during attacks was to rescue Japanese pilots who landed their planes and sought rescue one can see kamikaze planes having their canopies welded shut - so that the pilots could not surrender At one company where I worked we had a Japanese pilot who had landed his plane and surrendered He was given asylum in the States after the war since to return to Japan would have meant certain death He claimed that he actually landed his plane on an American aircraft carrier If an invasion of Japan had been necessary the USA would have accepted Soviet troops in order to save American lives and Japan would have ended up divided like Korea At the end of the war Stalin asked for half of Japan for himself Since the USSR did not have the bomb at that time they were forced to accept Truman's decision they likely would have been denied possession of half of Japan Japan succeeded in winning the peace after losing the war believe that Japan's leaders in 1945 made a decision to intentionally deflect the growing the US-USSR power struggle from Japan to Korea Inflicting maximum bloodshed on the Allied powers outside of the Japanese mainland became the objective in order to prevent a Germany-like division of the 4 main islands Kamikaze attacks were a part of this strategy Below is a link to an article published last month on this Korean perspective The map of the planned multilateral occupation of Japan is extraordinary Shikoku would have been under Chinese occupation Tokyo would have been a divided city like Berlin The anger that Koreans feel about this is understandable the Japanese reacted in a logical sort of way given what they surely knew about the depredations that were committed by Red Army soldiers in eastern Germany beginning in the spring of 1945 Avoiding at all cost a similar outcome in eastern Japan became priority number one http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/958941.html  I would like to mention something that is almost never talked about I once met a former kamikaze pilot in Kyushu in the early 1980s (he was an English student of a friend of mine) The first question - why are you still alive He explained that he was never sent on a mission and he said the preference was to send the younger ones (aged about 16 or 17) as the older ones had a habit of ditching into the sea and getting rescued He also strongly suggested we visit a museum near Ibusiki in Kagoshima Many older women paying respects to lost brothers or lovers or whomever There is also a memorial to these sadly dedicated young men at the Naval Training Center at Etajima but did not seem to make propaganda points with their display I last visited in 1992 and the emotional effects are just as fresh now It is simply what seems an endless walk of glass cases in which the last photos and letters of these sacrificed children are displayed It will make one sad to see these young faces with the life and energy radiating from them will make you sob (as I am doing now recalling them) whose incompetence and corruption and psychopathy (Samurai Spirit!) sent off these most valuable young people to their deaths instead of manning the planes themselves in worthy Seppuku for their failures beginning in 1910 Some of those faces haunt me as I see what the WORLD lost in allowing old corrupt psychopaths to throw these precious young into the garbage to try to salvage themselves from their own shame Do not go there if you do not want a another lifetime painful memory of how shameful as Humans we can be.. But Truman was a tool and Teller and the other pure psychopaths who persuaded him even Oppenheimer however much he decried and denied it afterwards They convinced him they had to test it and that is what the original U.S documents posted in Heiwa Koen Museum in Hiroshima-shi will tell you in plain English if you read them carefully It was our new "Big Stick" and we needed to advertise who held it and our absolute lack of morality in choosing to deploy it I like to think that if he had understood the weapon he would have not approved its use as it was used But 'testing' meant 'Human trials' and the women and children of an 'inferior race' were just the subjects required.. And we can assuage our own consciences by fooling ourselves that it was THEM but we tolerate the same monsters today so there simply is NO EXCUSE for any of us in any of this.. I wonder if we will ever see an article in JT about the Kamikaze pilots who decided to live instead of dying I think I speak for almost all humans when I say that I hope they are never used again Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts A mix of what's trending on our other sites the two craft beers are made with locally harvested strawberries and corn and have been launched to support farmers struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic TOKYO — Residents and businesses in Tachiarai have launched a project to produce craft beer made with locally harvested strawberries and corn to support farmers struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic were unveiled at a restaurant adjacent to the Kirin Brewery Fukuoka factory in Asakura The ale was produced in partnership with the brewing company a 32-year-old member of the town’s community revitalization team planned the project to support farmers and others amid the pandemic by utilizing nonstandard agricultural produce that would have been discarded After discussions with other women who are local farmers Kato decided to create two types of beer: one using Amao strawberries and one using local corn About ¥850,000 was raised for the project from all over Japan through a crowdfunding campaign After being offered from the Kirin factory the malt produced in the town the project members asked a craft beer brewery in Anan The Amao beer has the color and aroma of strawberries with a slight bitter taste while the beer made with corn is characterized by its deep richness and sharp flavor The products are priced at ¥700 for a 330-milliliter bottle About 500 bottles of each beer were scheduled to be produced and sold at Miyazaki Saketen Tachiarai Mayor Tetsushi Nakayama and Nobuo Takahashi attended the unveiling event and celebrated the launch of Tachirai Ale with a toast Nakayama expressed his hopes of the craft beer “Many people will become aware of the town’s quality agricultural products and this will also convey the pride we have of our region.” “I want to let everyone know about the charm of our town through these beers brimming with the hearts of so many people,” Kato said Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report Fukuoka Prefecture--A full-size replica of the rarest of Japan’s World War II fighter planes has gone on display at the Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum here Developed in the prefectural capital of Fukuoka during the waning days of the conflict the Shinden was built at Fukuoka-based Kyushu Hikoki which had close ties with the Imperial Japanese Navy The fighter featured a large propeller mounted at the rear of the fuselage to enable the pilot to go into a steep climb to intercept U.S B-29 bombers flying at altitudes of 10,000 meters or higher A prototype completed in June 1945 made its first test flight at Mushiroda Airfield occupation forces confiscated the prototype and had it disassembled and shipped to the Smithsonian Museum Officials of the town government of Chikuzen conscious of the city’s ties with the Shinden had hoped since the museum opened 13 years ago that the aircraft would go on display one day The museum made do with a 1/18 scale model and explanatory panels It jumped at the chance to purchase a full-size model after learning that a Tokyo-based video production company had created the replica It is 9.76 meters long and has an 11.11-meter wingspan The town office spent around 22 million yen ($159,000) “Our aim is to promote the importance of peace and convey the evolution of aviation technology,” said Chikuzen Mayor Kikumi Tagashira IT worker combines music instruments with prosthetic arms Sea turtles found stabbed on beach in Okinawa; link to fishers cited Stargazers say traces of June 29 fireball likely fell across Tokyo Three long-lost paintings by Taro Okamoto found in Paris Edison’s letter of thanks to Shiga inventor found after a century Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version China's April premiere of The First Slam Dunk generated a great deal of buzz About 4,000 fans attended an advance screening at a university in Beijing The original anime was enormously popular when it was first broadcast in China in the 1990s Many of the fans are now in their 30s and 40s Slam Dunk follows the story of a high school basketball team in Japan as it grows from a gang of dysfunctional misfits to a national powerhouse One of the members of the team is number 14 His name and number are linked to the sake brewery Mii no Kotobuki was founded in the town of Tachiarai in 1922 The abundant waters of the Chikugo river system allow it to brew sake using locally harvested rice Fourth-generation sake brewer ― and the chief brewer at Mii no Kotobuki ― Inoue Tadatsugu is a Slam Dunk fan himself Inoue was thrilled to learn the manga's author had suggested the character's name was derived from Mii no Kotobuki sake "The number 14 reflects our sake's +14 on the Sake Meter Value which is a measure of how dry or sweet a sake is And the alcohol content is 14%," notes Inoue "I'm not saying that this is 'Slam Dunk Sake' or anything like that what we produce is 'Mii no Kotobuki +14 Very Dry Sake.'" Inoue says sales inquiries ― domestic and foreign ― have risen by four to five times since the film's release the brewery can only produce a fixed amount the price of Inoue's sake has reached 498 yuan roughly three times the retail price in Japan The brewery receives many groups of visitors from China and South Korea but because it does not offer direct sales or tours Inoue is delighted by the attention: "In the spirit of 'one cup is better than none,' I've been thinking for a long time about how to encourage people who don't really drink sake to start Anything that gets people drinking sake is a real cause for celebration." Officials in Tachiarai are using the brewery as part of an international tourism drive a campaign in Hong Kong promoted the town and local produce It coincided with Slam Dunk-branded streetcars running through the city as a sense of excitement built around the film "Given that our town boasts a sake brewery that has been explosively popular throughout Asia I think that's an incredibly strong draw," says local official Murata Mami "We would love to use this sake as a jumping-off point to tell the world about what Tachiarai has to offer."