Tomonoura

Tomonoura sits at the point in the Inland Sea where the tides flowing in from both ends meet, so sailing ships had to wait here for the turn - which is why a small place has a harbour of this quality. It is the only port in Japan that retains all five of the Edo-period harbour elements together: the joyato stone lantern of 1859 that served as a lighthouse, the stone jetty, the ship ramp, the ship watch house and the lock. From 1983 a plan to build a bridge across the harbour mouth was pushed by the prefecture and opposed by residents; the case went to court and in 2009 the Hiroshima District Court blocked it, in a judgment that treated the townscape itself as a legally protected interest. Hayao Miyazaki stayed here and the town is credited as an influence on Ponyo. Homeishu, a medicinal herb liquor, has been made here since 1659.

History

Eight poems about Tomonoura appear in the Man'yōshū, Japan's oldest poetry collection, and in the Heian period Saichō founded the Jyoganji temple here and Kūkai the Ioji temple. After the battle of Tatarahama in 1336 Emperor Kōgon came to Tomonoura, and the five-storey pagoda of Jyoganji was lost in a battle fought here between the Northern and Southern Courts. The Mōri clan built Tomo Castle in the Sengoku period, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki, driven from Kyoto by Oda Nobunaga, set up his Tomo shogunate here with Mōri support; in the Edo period Fukushima Masanori began rebuilding the castle until Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the work stopped. The Iroha Maru, a ship of Sakamoto Ryōma, sank off Tomonoura, a railway linked Tomo with Fukuyama from 1913 to 1954, and the town has been part of the Setonaikai National Park since its creation on 16 March 1934 (Wikipedia, Tomonoura).

The main sights

• Five Edo harbour works - lantern, jetty, ramp, watch house and lock, all surviving together.
• The 1859 joyato - a stone lantern that worked as the harbour light.
• A bridge defeated in court - a 2009 judgment protecting the townscape itself.
• Homeishu - a herb liquor made in the town since 1659.

When to go

March to November. Half a day. Ferries to Sensuijima run through the day.

What to expect

Buses from Fukuyama take about half an hour and are the only practical access. The town is small and quiet. Parking is very limited - the lanes were not built for cars. Some houses and museums close on Tuesdays.

Nearby

Fukuyama and its castle are north; Onomichi is west.

Key facts