Visiting historical sections and locales of the historic Yamaguchi prefecture town of Hagi (Photo-essay)

I don't live in Japan and the majority of people I "follow" on Twitter are not Japanese but my Twitter timeline -- and much of the news cycle -- has been dominated by the news of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe being shot this morning while out stumping for a local candidate in Nara and pronounced dead this afternoon.  I think part of the great shock at learning of this news is that contemporary Japan is a place where one just doesn't expect to hear about anyone being shot, let alone a senior politician and, also, Japan being a place that many people I know (in Hong Kong, etc.) think very well of.  

 

In all honesty, Japan is the country I miss visiting the most these past two and half year or so (as a result of travelling been made difficult, if not well nigh impossible, as a result of the pandemic that has last far longer than most people expected).  Japan also happens to be the last country I visited before the pandemic struck.  And, ironically, I happened to spend a significant portion of my most recent visit to the Land of the Rising Sun in Abe's home prefecture of Yamaguchi, from which another prime minister of Japan who was assassinated, Ito Hirobumi, also hails.   

I hope people don't think it too macabre but since the next installment in my coverage of that October 2019 Japan trip was actually going to include mention of Ito Hirobumi, I'm going to go ahead and share that photo-essay today.  And I hope that, in so doing, it'll show the deep affection I have for Japan, a country with quite the turbulent past but, hopefully, a much more peaceful and happier future...

 

On the same day that I visited Hagi's old castle grounds,

I also walked through its old samurai district and

the historical section bordered by the Aiba Waterway...

 

...over to the Hagi Meirin Gakusya, a former clan school 

which now is home to a visitor centre cum history museum.

outside which can be found two stone installations that brought to

mind ones I had seen at Hanoi's Temple of Literature! 

In the building of that which is also known as the Meirinkan can be 

found displays of various artefacts include weapons and helmets 

 

...and information about the Choshu Five (young samurai who 

went to study abroad and returned to become leaders of politics 

and industry in Meiji Japan), who include Ito Hirobumi

 

Before they left to study abroad, two of the Choshu Five 

had also studied under Yoshida Shoin, a noted educator

condemned to death at the age of just 29

 

This modest building where Yoshida Shoin lived and taught

in his final years is now part of the Shoin Shrine (Shoin Jinja)

that's Hagi's largest (Shinto) shrine

 

The more conventionally shrine-like section of Shoin Jinja

 

Within walking distance is another place of pilgrimage

for many Japanese: the former villa of Ito Hirobumi,

the first prime minister of Japan