'小江户' 川越

choi

Melynie Yoneda, 外国游客罕至的 '小江户' 川越. 纽约时报中文网, Nov 26, 2015
http://cn.nytstyle.com/travel/20151126/t26japan3-monthly/

, which is translated from

Melynie Yoneda, Saitama’s ‘Little Edo’ Is Big on Japan’s Colorful History. Japan Times, Oct 10, 2015
www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2015/1 ... s-colorful-history/

Note:
(1) Melynie Yoneda
(a) The first name is obviously an idiosyncratic way to spell "Melanie."
(b) The Japanese surname Yoneda is 米田.

(2) At high noon or "12 pm, I watch the visitors to Kawagoe, in Saitama Prefecture wipe the sweat from their foreheads and direct their attention toward a more primitive form of time keeping — the Toki no Kane (Bell of Time) tower in the middle of the town square.
(a) Kawagoe, Saitama  埼玉県 川越市
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawagoe,_Saitama
("The city is known locally as 'Little Edo' 小江戸 [Japanese pronunciation: ko-edo] after the old name for Tokyo, 'Edo 江戸.' Kawagoe castle 川越城 was the headquarters of the Kawagoe Domain 川越藩"/ in 1893 the Great Fire of Kawagoe)
(b) Kawagoe castle 河越城 came into existence in 1457. (There was, around this area, a big clan of aristocrats surnamed Kawagoe 河越氏, whose perish was recorded in 1413.)
(c) Kawagoe Domain 川越藩 was established in 1590. Soon 河越城 came to know as 川越城, though pronounced the same: Kawagoe.
(d) Saitama Prefecture is northern neighbor of City of Tokyo.
(e) "Toki no Kane"  時の鐘 (川越市)

川越まつり-1 時の鐘・川越八幡宮・大正浪漫の街並み. Oct 19, 2013.
4travel.jp/travelogue/10824806
("時の鐘は、寛永４年から11年（1627～1634）の間に川越城主酒井忠勝が、城下多賀町 （いまの幸町）に建てたものが最初といわれています。 現在の鐘楼は、明治26年（1893）に起きた川越大火の翌年に再建されたもの。 3層構造で、高さ約16メートル")

translation: The hanging bell was constructed 1627～1634, by then lord 酒井忠勝 of Kawagoe castle at 多賀町 in the vicinity of the castle. The current belfry was built a year after the 1893 Great Fire of Kawagoe: three stories or 16 meters high.

* The ja.wikipedia.org says in ancient times, humans stuck the bell.  Currently the bell is struck mechanically four times a day: 6 am, noontime, 3 and 6 pm.


(3) Japanese English dictionary:
* kome (P[rincipal]/ yone (ok)  米 【こめ(P); よね(ok)】 (n): "(husked grains of) rice"
* toki 時 【とき】 (n): "time"
* kane  鐘 【かね】 (n): "bell (often a large hanging bell)"
* kura 蔵(P); 倉(P); 庫 【くら】 (n): "warehouse; storehouse"
* honmaru 本丸御殿 【ほんまる】 (n) (1): "inner citadel; (2) core; center; centre; focus; crux"
* go-ten 御殿(P); ご殿 【ごてん】 (n): "palace; court"
* kura-zukuri 蔵造り; 蔵づくり; 倉造り; 倉づくり 【くらづくり】 (n): "(1) (See 土蔵造り) warehouse style; house built like a kura, with the walls covered in mud; (n,vs) (2) building a kura storehouse; someone who builds kura storehouses"
* kashiya 菓子屋 【かしや】 (n): "confectionery shop"
* yokochō 横丁; 横町 【よこちょう】 (n): "bystreet; side street; back street; alley; lane"
* kasumi かすみ 《霞(P)》 (n): "(See 霧・1) haze (esp in spring); mist"

choi

(4) In 川越市: "Standing in one of those avenues lined with traditional Japanese kura warehouse buildings"
(a) kura (storehouse)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kura_(storehouse)
(section 2 Types of kura, section 2.4 Earthen kura: "Earthen dozō (土蔵) kura are a common sight in Japan and the basic form is normally seen with only minor variations. The basic wood-framed, plaster-walled, tiled-roof design maintains a stable temperature and humidity throughout the year")
(b) View photos only in 土蔵
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/土蔵

(5) "the chime [bell] of the Toki no Kane clock tower has been designated by the Environment Ministry as one of the symbolic 100 Soundscapes of Japan."

100 Soundscapes of Japan  日本の音風景100選
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Soundscapes_of_Japan

hiragana: にほんのおとふうけいひゃくせん (nihon-no-otofūkei-hyaku-sen)

(6) "Theodore, a French exchange student at Rikkyo University on his third visit to Kawagoe this year, tells me that he returned to take pictures of the wind chimes evening illuminations at Hikawa Shrine."
(a) Rikkyo University  立教大学
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikkyo_University
(1842- ; private; associated with Anglican Church)
(b) Hikawa Shrine  氷川神社
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikawa_Shrine_(Saitama)

is located in Saitama, Saitama Prefecture (埼玉市, capital of 埼玉県) -- not in 川越市. However, 埼玉市 is eastern neighbor of 川越市.
(c) The pronunciation “hi” for 氷; 冰 is archaic in Japanese, "which has pretty much been replaced by kōri 氷."

(7) "Kyoto’s Kinkakuji (Shrine)"
(a) Kikaku-ji  金閣寺
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji
(a Zen Buddhist temple; HAYASHI Yōken 林 養賢 set fire in 1950)
(b) The ja.wikipedia.org says: "鹿苑寺, popularly known as 金閣寺, got its name from 法号 ('鹿苑院') of the third shōgun 3代将軍 ASHIKAGA Yoshimitsu 足利義満 (在職 1368 - 1394) of Muromachi Shōgunate 室町幕府.

(8) "Visitors can still see the Honmaru Goten keep of Kawagoe Castle, which was reconstructed on top of the remains of its original site."
(a)
(i) Honmaru Goten  本丸御殿 is the core citadel within a walled castle. See 本丸
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/本丸
(a 1933 photo of Osaka castle)

This wiki page explains that the honmaru is where the 城主 lied during peacetime and barricaded himself in in war.
(ii) In this sense, the honmaru is similar to
a keep in the motte-and-bailey castle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep
(b) Honmaru Goten 本丸御殿 in Kawagoe Castle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawagoe_Castle
(Today only a mound on which a yagura [(n): ‘turret; watchtower’], or tower, and the primary hall (本丸御殿 Honmaru Goten) still remain on the original site)
(i) The photo in the English Wikipedia page carries no caption, but The Japanese Wikipedia page for the same topic explicitly states: "本丸御殿."
(ii) HOWEVER, the 本丸御殿 in Kawagoe Castle is not the true, entire core citadel. At its peak, Kawagoe Castle has 16 buildings. After Emperor Meiji came to power, many castles were ordered to dismantle, to reduce power of feudal lords. This was what happened to Kawagoe Castle, which today retains only what were 大広間 (banquet or reception hall) and 玄関 (vestibule, foyer) as well as the hallways around them.
(c) keep (n): "2:  one that keeps or protects: as
a :  FORTRESS, CASTLE; specifically :  the strongest and securest part of a medieval castle"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keep

choi

(9) "To take a couple steps even further back in this town’s history, I wander to the Kitain Temple. Originally built in 830 by the monk Ennin 円仁, the temple later developed ties to the Tokugawa shogunate through the priest Tenkai 天海, who became the head monk in 1599. Here, there’s also an enclosure housing 540 stone rakan statues, 18th-19th century Buddhist saint-like figures said to represent all the human emotions with their unique poses and expressions."
(a) Kita-in  星野山無量寿寺喜多院
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kita-in
(The Tendai 天台宗 temple was then divided in three parts called Kita-in (北院 northern temple), 中院 and 南院)

The "kita" can be Japanese pronunciation for 北 -- or Chinese pronunciations for 喜 and 多 (or numerous combinations of other Chinese characters).
(b) rakan  阿羅漢, 羅漢
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakan
(may refer to "In Japanese, the word for an Arhat, in Buddhism, a saint or person who has attained nirvana")

(10) "But it is Kawagoe’s Kurazukuri [see (3) above for definition] warehouse district, where Toki no Kane stands, that interests most visitors. The Edo Period kura warehouses, constructed in timber, stone and clay, were made to last."
(11) "Osawa House is the oldest of the kura buildings" in Kawagoe.

File: Osawa-ke House 2010.jpg  大沢家住宅 (1792- )
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osawa-ke_House_2010.jpg

(12) "Over time, another business took root in Kawagoe, one that still endures today: Kashiya Yokocho, or Penny Candy Lane. This narrow stone-paved alley is lined with shops selling sweets harking back to the Meiji Era (1867-1912), such as fugashi 麩菓子 (wheat-gluten snacks), senbei rice crackers, dango dumplings and hard candy."
(a) See (3) for definitions of kashiya, yokochō
(b) The kashi 菓子 in Japanese means pastry/ confectionery -- rather than fruit.)
(c) senbei  煎餅
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senbei
(d) dango  団子
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dango

(13) "Those old times include the Taishō Era 大正時代 (1912-1926), which brought with it unusual Western-style architecture, such as the Saitama Resona Bank building, a 1918 turreted construction known for its white exterior and green copper dome."

For Saitama Resona Bank (In 2003 Resona Bank loaned Saitama bank to stabilize, and became a shareholder of, the latter), see 埼玉りそな銀行（川越支店）の写真. October 2008.
www.tabi2ikitai.com/japan/j1123a/a01024.html

(14) "Kamigaseki Country Club, which claims a piece of Kawagoe’s modern history as being the first golf course in Saitama, having opened on Oct. 6, 1929. Renovated by British golf-course architect Charles H Alison in December 1930, the club now faces new changes as its East Course has been chosen to serve as the golf venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But even though the golf course will become a new piece of history, Hiroshi IMAIZUMI 今泉 博, its general manager"
(a) Kamigaseki (sic; should be Kasumigaseki) Country Club  霞ヶ関カンツリー倶楽部
www.kasumigasekicc.or.jp/
(b) Kasumigaseki  霞が関, 霞ヶ関
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasumigaseki
(in Tokyo)
(c) For definition of 霞, see (3). In Japanese 霞 means something different from that in Chinese.