Pass - Touge

Japanese: 峠 - とうげ

A pass is a low saddle between the peaks of a mountain ridge, and a place where a road crosses the ridge is called a pass. In archaic Japanese, low saddles are called "tawa," "taori," "taru," "tao," etc., and "touge" is said to be an evolution of "tamuke," but is more likely a combination of "tawagoe" or "togoe." In English, the word "pass" comes from "passable," and refers to a road that leads to a low point on a mountain ridge.

When a river system develops on both sides of a ridge and erosion progresses from both sides, it creates low areas on the ridge. Also, where hard and soft layers alternate, the soft layers are eroded quickly, forming saddles. Where a fault crosses a ridge, the rocks are fractured and are easily eroded, forming saddles. These are specifically called cols in English.

It is said that there are more than 10,000 mountain passes in Japan, and they have had important significance in the transportation system since ancient times. Today, with the development of transportation, the importance of passes in terms of transportation has diminished, but they are still used as bases for mountain climbing and as shortcuts for railways.

The Karakoram Pass (5,574 meters) in Kashmir, northwest India, is said to be the highest pass in the world, and serves as a link between India and China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. There are many famous passes in the European Alps, which have been used since the Roman Empire, and Napoleon's crossing of the Alps is well known. In recent years, railways and expressways have been built, and famous passes include the Simplon Pass (2,005 meters) and the San Gothard Pass (2,108 meters), under which railways currently run through tunnels. In North America, there are many passes through which transcontinental railways pass, including the Evans Pass (2,568 meters) in the Rocky Mountains. In the Andes of South America, there is the Tacora Pass (4,880 meters), which is the highest railway in the world and is passed by the Bolivian Railway.

In Japan, the highest mountain is Sanpuku Pass (2,600 meters) in the Akaishi Mountains of the Southern Alps, which was used in ancient times as a transportation route between the Oigawa region of Shizuoka Prefecture and the Ina Basin of Nagano Prefecture, but is now a base for climbing Mt. Shiomi. Other well-known high peaks include Harinoki Pass (2,541 meters) in the Hida Mountains and Karisaka Pass (2,082 meters) in the Kanto Mountains.

[Masami Ichikawa]

Folklore

Mountain ranges are natural boundaries between regions, but mountain passes are man-made creations that cross these barriers to connect to other countries and regions, and it was only natural that mountain saddles were chosen as shortcuts. The Japanese archipelago is divided into a front and back by numerous mountain ranges, and numerous large and small basins have formed in the inland area, so mountain passes played a major role in domestic transportation. Numerous mountain passes have been opened in various provinces since ancient times, including the 48 passes in Omi Province, and they served as points of contact with other countries and regions. Particularly in the olden days when people only traveled by foot or with oxen and horses, the length of the distance was more important than the steepness of the gradient, so shortcuts that crossed mountain passes served as important arteries for transportation. In the Edo period, when Japan was divided into many feudal domains of various sizes, most of the land beyond the mountain ranges was foreign land, so special consideration was given to the guard posts and post stations below the passes, and there were many different customs related to the travels, such as teahouses and assistant huts, and these scenery of the passes became popular subjects for literature. Passes are borders and village boundaries, so there are shrines for boundary gods and mountain gods, and there are customs of "Tamuke" (prayer for safe travels), such as "Shibatate" (firewood stand) and "Shibaori" (firewood break), and many of them are accompanied by legends of "boundary arrangements" of gods, such as Yatate Pass and Yukiai Pass. With the opening of the railway, the transportation system in the country changed dramatically, and many old mountain pass roads became abandoned, and many settlements at the foot of the passes were also suddenly abandoned. Although the construction of new highways over the mountains in recent years has seen the revival of many old mountain passes, many of the new roads are tunnels or long detours, and most of the old mountain passes remain abandoned.

[Toshimi Takeuchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

山地の尾根の峰と峰との間の低い鞍部(あんぶ)をいい、尾根越えの道路が通じている所を峠という。低い鞍部は古語で「タワ」「タオリ」「タル」「タオ」などとよばれ、トウゲはタムケ（手向）の転化ともいわれるが、むしろ「タワゴエ」や「トウゴエ」が詰まったものと考えられている。英語でパスpassというのは、通過できるpassableことからきており、山稜(さんりょう)の低所に道が通じているものをいう。

　尾根の両側に水系が発達して、両側から侵食が進むと、尾根の部分に低所をつくる。また、硬層と軟層とが互層している所では、軟層の部分が早く侵食されて鞍部をつくる。断層が尾根を横断する所では、岩石が破砕されているので侵食を受けやすく、鞍部をつくる。これをとくに英語でコルcolとよぶ。

　日本には1万を超える峠があるといわれ、古来交通体系にとっては重要な意義をもっていた。現在は、交通機関の発達によって峠のもつ交通上の意義は小さくなったが、登山の根拠地として、また鉄道の捷路(しょうろ)として利用されている。

　インド北西部カシミールのカラコルム峠（5574メートル）は世界最高の峠と称され、インドと中国新疆(しんきょう)ウイグル自治区との連絡路となっている。ヨーロッパのアルプス山脈中には多数の有名な峠があり、ローマ帝国時代から利用され、ナポレオンのアルプス越えは有名である。最近では鉄道や高速自動車道も通じ、シンプロン峠（2005メートル）、サン・ゴタルド峠（2108メートル）などが有名で、現在はその下をトンネルによって鉄道を通している。北アメリカ大陸では、ロッキー山脈中のエバンス峠（2568メートル）をはじめとして、大陸横断鉄道が通じている峠が多い。南アメリカのアンデス山脈には、タコラ峠（4880メートル）があり、ボリビア鉄道が通じて、世界最高所の鉄道となっている。

　日本では、南アルプスの赤石山脈中の三伏峠(さんぷくとうげ)（2600メートル）が最高で、古い時代には静岡県の大井川地方と長野県の伊那(いな)盆地との交通路に利用されたが、現在は、塩見岳への登山基地となっている。そのほか飛騨(ひだ)山脈中の針ノ木峠（2541メートル）、関東山地の雁坂(かりさか)峠（2082メートル）などが高く、よく知られている。

［市川正巳］

民俗

山脈は自然のつくる地域の境界であるが、峠はこれを破って他国他郷に通じる人為の所産で、山脈の鞍部がおのずからその近道に選ばれた。日本列島は幾筋もの脊梁(せきりょう)山脈で表裏に分かたれ、内陸部には大小の盆地が幾多生成していたので、国内交通に占める峠の役割も大きかった。近江(おうみ)国の48峠はじめ諸国には古くから数多くの峠路が開かれ、他国他郷との接点となってもいた。とくに徒歩と牛馬だけによる旧時代の状況では、勾配(こうばい)の緩急より距離の長短が重くみられたので、山脈を横切る形の峠越しの近道は重要な交通運輸の動脈をなしてきた。また大小多数の藩領に分割されていた江戸時代では、山脈のかなたはほとんど異藩他郷であったから、峠下の番所、宿駅には特異な配慮が加えられ、また峠茶屋、助小屋など、その往還をめぐる習俗も多彩であり、こうした峠の風物は文芸の好題材にもなった。峠は国境、村境ゆえ、そこには境神(さかいがみ)、山の神の類が祀(まつ)られ、「柴立(しばたて)、柴折」など行旅の安全を祈る「手向(たむけ)」の習俗を伴い、また矢立峠、行逢(ゆきあい)峠など神々の「境さだめ」の伝説を伴うものも多い。鉄道開通に伴う国内の交通体系の一変で旧峠路の多くは廃道と化し、峠の麓(ふもと)集落も一挙に廃(すた)れ果てた所が少なくない。近年山越えの自動車道の整備で、古い峠筋の復活がかなりみられても、新道は多くはトンネルか遠い迂回(うかい)路で、古い峠路はほとんど廃道と化したままである。

［竹内利美］

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