(K4) Kawasaki: Tsukui Highway and Masugata Castle 川崎歴史ガイド ⊗ 津久井道と忻形稢址

Title: 川崎歴史ガイド ⊗ 津久井道と忻形稢址 “Kawasaki History Guide: Tsukui Highway and Masugata Castle”

川崎歴史ガイド  = Kawasaki History Guide. 津久井道と忻形稢址 means:

津久井道 Tsukui Highway / Tsukui-michi 津久井みち

と and

枡形城 忻形稢址 Masugata Castle (Masugata-jo / ますがたじょう) (map)

Part I:  the map’s title

(1) 津久井道 Tsukui Highway

The Tsukui Highway was an Edo-era road used for commerce and everyday life. Japanese Wikipedia and an educational website for children (sponsored by McDonald’s) describe the products transported on this road, which included silk 絹, a special type of persimmon 「 禅寺丸柿 」, and Kurokawa charcoal 黒川炭 made in the forests of the Tama hills 多摩丘陵の森林. The silk was likely from nearby Sagamihara, a silk center  

For more about the charcoal, see this passage written in 1903 from Japan in the Beginning of the 20th Century.

(2)  Masugata Castle  枡形城

Masugata-jo (ますがたじょう) was a mountain castle 山城 in the hills of what is now Ikuta-Ryokuchi-Park 生田緑地 (map). There’s a an observation tower from which you can see central Tokyo and the Landmark Tower in Yokohama.

Part II: the map, annotated

Items on the map include:

• Ikuta-Ryokuchi-Park 生田緑地 (Ikuta Green Space)
• Several stone markers, e.g. here: (map)
• Noborito Station 登戸駅
• Mukogaokayuen Station 向ヶ丘遊園駅
• Nikaryousui Canal 二ヶ領用水 / 二ヶ領本川
• Gotanda River
• Tamagawa River

Part III: Google Maps

A fellow map-lover put together the following map of what I understand is the full 津久井道 Tsukui Highway / Tsukui-michi 津久井みち:

See also:

Nearby items of interest:

• (K2) Takatsu-ku ento-bunsui walking map (Kawasaki) 円筒分水と久地不動尊コース
• (C1) Nikaryousui Canal, Kawasaki 二ヶ領用水 / 二ヶ領本川
• Photo: picnic along the Tamagawa river near Noborito Station
• Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum / 川崎市立日本民家園 (Kawasaki Municipal Nihon Minka-en)

More about charcoal:

• Japan’s Charcoal Making Traditions Still Alive
• Kurokawa’s charcoal (Ikeda coal / Ikeda-zumi) 黒川の菊炭（池田炭）
• Drawing, 1878: 池田炭−摂津の国のクヌギの木炭 Ikeda charcoal – Charcoal of Kunugi in the country of Settsu

More about silk:

• Silk Road Museum 絹の道資料館 (Hachioji)
• From grubs to kimono: Canadian makes silk in the traditional way

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