Kyoshi Takahama and His Essay Nakayama Dera

芸術家と文化人ゆかりの散歩道A walk on Artists

Kyoshi Takahama and His Essay Nakayama Dera

cherry blossoms along Nakayama Hokekyoji

In an essay 'Nakayama Dera' written by Kyoshi Takahama, a famous writer from Meiji to Showa, describes a lot about Nakayama, Yawata and Ichikawa in 1897. At that time he was 24 years old, and he was not interested in much about Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple. But he went to the temple since he might be urged by Shiki Masaoka who was his teacher and a great poet in his age, so Kyoshi wrote in the essay that Shiki had loved Nichiren.
Kyoshi Takahama got on Sobu Tetsudo Line (now called Sobu Line) had opened in 1893 at Honjo Station in Tokyo and got off at Nakayama Station (now Shimousa Nakayama Station), then he visited Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple.
At the temple, Kyoshi sat at Soshido Hall and he was lost in thought. He wrote that his ideal residence could be not in urban area but not far from it. He thought it at Nakayama, it supposed to be that Kyoshi would praise Nakayama could have a comfortable environment to live.
After that Kyoshi walked to Yawata and saw Yawata no Yabushirazu and Senbon Icho in Katsushika Hachimangu Shrine. It is very interesting that the trees lined along the approach road of the shrine had changed, he wrote they were pine trees, but now they are gingko trees. And he misunderstood that the symbolic tree in the shrine would be a huge hackberry, but it is the huge gingko tree in real. Moreover, young writer Kyoshi decided to walk to home in Tokyo instead of waiting for the next train for a half and an hour at Ichikawa Station, he called Edogawa River'Tonegawa River' while he was crossing it.
In this page, some of the noted landmarks in Nakayama, Yawata and Ichikawa described in Nakayama Dera written by Kyoshi Takahama, a famous writer in Meiji Period. After reading his essay, visitors could find them much attractive than usual. Why don't you visit them?

引用・抜粋および参考
市川市立図書館ホームページ
定本高浜虚子全集第８巻写生文集１「中山寺」　毎日新聞社
ウィッキペデディア

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