△Otokuni Stroll△②: Visiting Oyamazaki Town [Part 1] Walking through the Enmyoji District
This is a continuation of the record of my walk through Otokuni, near my hometown, when I returned to Kyoto during the three-day weekend in July. Last time, I walked from Nagaoka-Tenjin Station through Nagaokakyo City, reached the area around Nishiyama-Tennozan Station, crossed the Koizumi River, entered Oyamazaki Town, and arrived at the entrance to the Enmyoji residential area.
(Click here for the previous article)
From here, I would like to explore Oyamazaki Town.
Actually, this is the second time recently that I have introduced Oyamazaki Town. The last time was when I returned home for the New Year holidays this year and walked around for a short time. This small town is passed through by many, but visited by few, and even those who do visit tend to focus only on Tennozan or the sake brewery's barrel warehouse. However, I felt that there are many other very minor but actually very interesting places here. This time, starting from Nishiyama-Tennozan Station, I will visit Ogura Shrine and walk as the mood takes me toward Yamazaki Station.
■ Aiming for Ogura Shrine from Enmyoji Housing Complex
Since many people might not know where the Enmyoji Housing Complex is, I will introduce the area I am walking through while showing it on the 'Then and Now' map.
aim for Ogura Shrine. It seems that bamboo groves spread out here before the development.
The Enmyoji Housing Complex was a major development for Oyamazaki Town. It seems they cleared the bamboo forest to build houses. Looking at this map, in the other parts of Oyamazaki Town, the Shinkansen, the Tokaido Line, the Hankyu Railway, the Meishin Expressway, the Kyoto Jukan Expressway, and National Route 171 pass through the narrow flat land, and factories are located on the lowlands. On the mountain side, the Tennozan, the site of the decisive battle, stands in the way. It is a small town with many such constraints, but it is interesting that quite a few old things still remain (laughs).
promotes the 'Tennozan Trailhead' (laughs).
which makes you want to ask, 'Where on earth is it?'
From here, I will walk toward Ogura Shrine.
It is an area that looks like an ordinary housing complex.
Ogura Shrine was a mysterious place that felt like a power spot after climbing the slope of the Enmyoji Housing Complex. From there, you can climb even further up to Tennozan.
Let's go down the slope along the Kubo River from Ogura Shrine.
It is a narrow, thin road. It seems standard in this district for roads to be paired with waterways (lol).
it looks like they made an effort to keep the girder height low.
For some reason, many of the road bridges in this area are thin, narrow, and paired with waterways. It makes me imagine that the philosophy of the people in the past was that as long as people and water could pass through, it was fine (lol).
There was a road along the tracks, and since there was a railroad crossing toward Kyoto, I decided to take a detour.
It is very narrow and cars cannot pass through.
It is a bridge with a very simple structure.
And here is the ultimate "road bridge" in this Enmyoji district. It is a road bridge that crosses the JR line cutting through the Enmyoji village. Surprisingly, the entrance looks like this.
Moreover, it passes through a location lower than the current road level.
It seems this narrow road is also paired with a waterway.
and it seems this underpass also serves the purpose of carrying this waterway.
Moreover, it has a "neji-ri manpo" (skew arch) structure.
Including the surrounding stone masonry, it is quite an impressive structure.
A "neji-ri manpo" is a technique used when a brick arch structure intersects at an angle; since bricks are usually laid vertically when intersecting at a right angle, they cannot be laid vertically when intersecting at an angle, so they are laid in a twisted shape. I think a small-section "neji-ri manpo" with such an intense twist is very rare.
By the way, while one might wonder, "Is this road a sidewalk?", as you can see in the photo, it is well-lit inside and serves perfectly as a sidewalk.
It seems the locals also consider this structure important and have provided an explanation for it.
To walk through it, you have to crouch down.
It intersects at an angle. If it were a brick arch, it might have been a "neji-ri manpo",
but this one seems to be a relatively new structure.
perhaps for road improvement.
That is all for now. The exploration of Oyamazaki Town will continue, so stay tuned.
■ Conclusion
I walked through the Enmyoji district of Oyamazaki Town. Ogura Shrine is a very magnificent shrine, and although it ended up inside a housing complex due to residential development, I was struck by its somewhat mysterious atmosphere that still retains the feel of an approach path. The Enmyoji district is surrounded by Hankyu and JR railway tracks, but it is connected by very narrow and low underpasses, making it a very memorable exploration for someone who enjoys walking to see civil engineering structures.
The JR Enmyoji underpass is such an amazing structure that I thought, as a civil engineer, it would be good to promote it more so that it gains wider recognition.
The walking tour of Oyamazaki Town will continue next time, and I felt it was an amazing place where the keywords 'crossing the tracks' and 'how to channel water' really apply. Look forward to the next installment!
(Click here for the continuation)
いいなと思ったら応援しよう！
よろしければ応援をお願いします！新たな街歩きをしていきたいです。