June 10, 2006 Day 03: Kitakata & Aizu Wakamatsu
Kitakata is a short train ride from the nearby town of Aizu-wakamatsu, and has branded itself as kuramachi, in no small part because the town (machi) is comprised of over 2,000 kura. Japanese for “storehouse,” kura is typically associated with the production and storage of Japanese sake. Like other towns in the area, Kitakata has access to the same high-quality ingredients that go into the production of sake, which was an important part of the city’s history. The men of Kitakata had a saying: “You can’t call yourself a man if you haven’t built your own kura by the time you’re 40.”
Aizu-Wakamatsu is a historic city in Fukushima Prefecture. Once a symbol of power, Tsuruga Castle was constructed by Lord Naomori Ashina in 1384. When the Shogunate government fell in 1868, the Boshin War ensued, and the castle was encircled by the Emperor’s forces. Loyalists to the Shogun entrenched themselves in the castle and for over a month, withstood heavy fire from the forces of the new Meiji government. The battle at Tsuruga Castle is thought to have been one of the last major battles before the end of the Tokugawa era. The castle was destroyed after the war, along with the end of Japan’s feudal era. In 1965, a new castle with white walls and five stories was reconstructed as a memorial to the bravery of the Aizu Samurai.