Sanin Road

Japanese: 山陰道 - さんいんどう

<br /> A mountain pass road in Iwami Town, Iwami County, Tottori Prefecture and Tsuwano Town, Kanoashi County, Shimane Prefecture. The designated name is "Sanin Road: Crossing Gamo Pass, Tokujo Pass, Nosaka Pass ." " Sanin Road" was the name of an ancient administrative division, and the name came to mean the official road connecting the provinces within this administrative division. The road started from Kyoto and passed through Tanba, Tango , Tajima , Inaba, Izumo , Hoki , and Iwami . In the early modern period, the Tottori Domain developed the Sanin Road as the main highway leading to Kyoto, and built mileposts and post stations starting from Tottori. At Uratomi, Iwami Town, the San'in Road splits into a route that runs along the coast and a route that heads towards Gamo Pass, but the route over Gamo Pass was considered the main road. The San'in Road over Gamo Pass leaves National Route 9 at Shioya, Iwami Town, and enters a mountain road, joining the Chida- Kabushima Prefectural Road at Gamo Pass. Even today, the pedestal of the Enmei Jizo statue remains near the pass, telling us what it was like to travel there at the time. In 1892 (Meiji 25), the route was changed to the current prefectural road route, but local residents use this road, and the stone paving, waterways, and other remains are in relatively good condition. Between 1998 (Heisei 10) and 2000 (Heisei 12), the stone paving and road were restored by the Iwami Town Board of Education. In 2005, the San'in Road, about 2 km of old road with a confirmed boundary and the site of the pass's guardian Buddha, Enmei Jizo, were designated as a national historic site as the "Sanin Road Gamo Togegoe." The entrance to Gamo Toge is about 20 minutes by car from Iwami Station on the JR San'in Main Line. In addition, San'in Dotokujo Togegoe and Nosaka Togegoe are both located in Tsuwano Town, Shimane Prefecture, and Tokujo Togegoe's approximately 3 km extension from Tsuwano Castle to the middle of the road to Hamada Domain, and Nosaka Togegoe's approximately 1.4 km extension from the Choshu Domain territory to the entrance to the castle town were additionally designated in 2009. In the Middle Ages, the San'in Road was a route from present-day Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture, through Tsuwano Castle to Nosaka Pass, and in the early modern period, it is thought to have become a route that crossed steep and difficult places such as Tokujo Toge to avoid the Tenryo. Most of the road surface of Tokujo Togegoe, about 3 to 4 m wide, is made of cut earth and has a side gutter. Nosaka Pass is a major pass heading from Iwami to Yamaguchi, and remains of a guard post that watched over travelers and goods passing through, as well as stone walls and stone paving remain. This road, built by the Tsuwano Domain, is on the border with the Choshu Domain, and is said to have been used by Choshu patriots during the Meiji Restoration, and the old road conditions are well preserved. Tokujo Pass is about a 50-minute walk from Oze Cave Gate on National Route 9. To Nosaka Pass is about a 20-minute walk from Nosaka Pass on National Route 9.

Source: Kodansha National Historic Site Guide Information

Japanese:

鳥取県岩美郡岩美町と島根県鹿足(かのあし)郡津和野町にある峠道。指定名称は「山陰道蒲生峠越(がもうとうげごえ) 徳城峠越(とくじょうとうげごえ) 野坂峠越(のさかとうげごえ)」。「山陰道」とは古代の行政区分の名称で、この行政区分中の国々をつなぐ官道のことを山陰道と呼ぶようになった。京を出発し、丹波、丹後、但馬(たじま)、因幡(いなば)、出雲(いずも)、伯耆(ほうき)、石見(いわみ)を貫く道であった。近世において、鳥取藩は山陰道を京へ通じる主要街道として整備し、鳥取を起点に一里塚を築き、宿駅を置いた。山陰道は岩美町浦富で海沿いに進むルートと蒲生峠へ向かうルートに分岐するが、蒲生峠越が本道とされていた。山陰道蒲生峠越は、岩美町塩谷で国道9号線から分かれて山道に入り、蒲生峠で県道千谷蕪島(ちだにかぶしま)線に合流する。現在でも峠付近には延命地蔵像の台座が残り、当時の往来の様子を今に伝えている。1892年（明治25）に現在の県道ルートに変更されたが、地域住民がこの道を利用し、石畳や水路などの遺存状態は比較的良好である。1998（平成10）～2000年（平成12）年にかけて岩美町教育委員会によって、石畳や道の修復などがなされた。2005年（平成17）に、山陰道のうち、境界の確定できた約2kmの古道と峠の守り仏の延命地蔵の敷地が、「山陰道蒲生峠越」として国史跡に指定された。蒲生峠入口へは、JR山陰本線岩美駅から車で約20分。また、山陰道徳城峠越と野坂峠越はいずれも島根県津和野町にあり、徳城峠越は津和野城下から浜田藩に行く途中までの延長約3kmが、野坂峠越は長州藩領から城下の入り口までの延長約1.4kmが、2009年（平成21）に追加指定された。中世の山陰道は現在の島根県益田市から津和野城下を経て野坂峠にいたるルートになり、近世には天領を避けるために徳城峠などの険しい難所を越えるルートになったと考えられている。徳城峠越は幅約3～4mの路面のほとんどを切り土で造成し、側溝が設けられている。野坂峠越は石見から山口に向かう主要な峠であり、旅人や通過する物資を見張った番所跡や石垣、石敷きなどが残っている。津和野藩が整備したこの道は長州藩との境にあり、幕末維新には長州の志士たちが往来に使ったといわれ、旧状がよく残っている。徳城峠越へは、国道9号小瀬洞門から徒歩約50分。野坂峠越へは、国道9号野坂峠から徒歩約20分。

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