Nishimawari Shipping - Nishimawari Shipping

Also known as the Nishimawari route, this refers to the route that runs from the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions through the Sea of ​​Japan, around Shimonoseki, and through the Seto Inland Sea to Osaka. During the Edo period, it played an important role as an economic artery that supported the Shogunate and feudal domain economies. It was originally opened to transport rice for the Shogunate's castles and rice stored in the feudal domains, and during the Kan'ei era (1624-1644), the Kaga domain attempted to transport rice around Osaka. Until then, goods from Kaga (Ishikawa Prefecture) northward were first transported by sea to Tsuruga or Obama (Fukui Prefecture), then overland to Shiotsu, Kaizu, or Imazu (Shiga Prefecture) on the north shore of Lake Biwa, from where they were transported over the lake to Otsu, and then overland to Kyoto or Osaka. However, this route required a lot of work to transfer cargo, the freight charges were high, and there was a lot of cargo loss, so there was a consistent desire to develop a sea route. In 1672 (Kanbun 12), the shogunate appointed Kawamura Zuiken to transport rice for the castle of the Dewa Direct Territory, and succeeded in transporting it to Edo via the Nishimawari Shipping Line. From then on, this route developed greatly because it was safer and had more ports of call where ships could wait out the winds than the Eastward route, and coupled with the prosperity of Osaka, it grew rapidly.

[Yuzuki Manabu]

"Research on the History of Shipping in the Early Modern Period" by Manabu Yuzuki (1979, Hosei University Press)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

西廻航路ともいい、東北・北陸地方から日本海を通って下関(しものせき)を廻り、瀬戸内を経て大坂に達する航路をさす。江戸時代に、幕藩経済を支える重要な経済動脈としての役割を担った。当初は幕府の御城米、諸藩の蔵米(くらまい)を廻送(かいそう)するために開かれ、寛永(かんえい)年間（1624～44）に加賀藩による大坂廻(かい)米が試みられた。それまで加賀（石川県）以北の物資を上方(かみがた)へ運送するには、まず海路敦賀(つるが)・小浜(おばま)（福井県）に運び、それから陸路を琵琶(びわ)湖北岸の塩津(しおつ)、海津(かいづ)、今津(いまづ)（滋賀県）に駄送し、そこから湖上運送で大津に達し、さらに陸路京都ないし大坂まで運ばれた。しかしこのコースでは、積み換えに手数がかかり、運賃も高く、荷物の損失も多いため、一貫して海路による海運航路の開発が望まれた。1672年（寛文12）、出羽(でわ)直轄領の御城米の廻送にあたり、幕府は河村瑞賢(ずいけん)を起用して、西廻海運による江戸廻送に成功した。以後この航路は、東廻航路に比べて風待ちの寄港地に恵まれて航海安全であり、かつ大坂の繁栄とも相まって、大いに発展していったのである。

［柚木　学］

『柚木学著『近世海運史の研究』（1979・法政大学出版局）』

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