The bones of the past still remain in Kamiyoshida. As one walks along the backstreets of the town, it becomes obvious how thoroughly planned out it was by the people who moved it here in 1572.
Kamiyoshida is also unique for being an oshi town. Now that you’ve listened to this guide, it should be easy to pick out all of the traces of that life. If you hadn’t listened to this guide, you would not have known anything, and you might have missed everything.
It’s possible that there are traces of history in your town, too. Especially because you’ve listened to this guide, we’d like to recommend that you walk around parts of town that you wouldn’t normally explore, or visit your local library and do some research about your town. We’d really recommend that you learn enough to tell stories about it.
What about looking for some old photos? In Japan, there are pictures from as far back as the end of the Edo period, in the 16th century. Using old pictures and photos from your town, you might be able to revive ancient, long-forgotten landscapes.
In this guide, we’ve introduced you to Kamiyoshida, the Oshi Town, but within the city of Fujiyoshida, there is also a town called Shimoyoshida, the textile town that specializes in weaving. It has quite a different personality from Kamiyoshida, but that’s to be expected, since it was a separate town until they merged in 1951.
ON THE TRIP. Our journey continues.
ON THE TRIP Editorial Team
Author: Akihito Shiga
Photos: Hiroshi Honma
English Translation: Dale Roll, Hilari Rhodabeck
Narration: Alwyn Hartman
Photography Contributors
Shimura Masabumi「Fujiyoshida Museum」、Fujisan Museum「Kami-yoshida」「Oshi-nakaganmaru Mae・Daimaru-Seikou's Send Off」「Oshi-kozaruya・Keibu Ryokan・The Weston's・Strength」「Oshi「Sengen-no」Fuji-ko」、Private Collection「Oshi-jomonji Tatsumichi・Oshi and Fuji-ko」「Oshi Kikuya-ma・Marusei-ko・Nichiren Saiten」「Daikoku-ya Shinden-dono」
*This guide was created based on documents and interviews and includes some interpretation done by us at ON THE TRIP. Theories differ between experts, so try to find out what really happened on your travels!