A Day in Iwamura: Where the Samurai Spirit Still Lives

When people think of Gifu, they usually picture Shirakawa-go or Takayama, and most travelers in this area are heading for the Nakasendo. Today I want to introduce a place that is special to me: the old streets and mountain castle of Iwamura.

Iwamura is a castle town in the southern part of Ena City. For almost 700 years, a castle stood on a mountain 717 meters high, and below it lay the residences of samurai and the townhouses of merchants. Today the old town is a nationally protected historic district, stretching for 1.3 kilometers.

What surprises visitors is that this street is not lined with souvenir shops. People still live in these townhouses, and most of the shops are there to serve the people who live here.

A little over ten years ago, I lived in this town for three years, in one of those preserved townhouses.

A Rural Train from Ena

You reach Iwamura on a small country railway. The Akechi Railway leaves from a short platform at the edge of Ena Station. A few minutes after the little diesel car pulls out, the town is gone. The line climbs slowly past rice fields, bamboo groves, and scattered farmhouses, and at times runs through a tunnel of trees, like a scene from a film. Nobody on board is in a hurry. Thirty minutes later, you step off at Iwamura.

A Castle Town Still Lived In

A short walk from the station, the old town begins. The main street rises in one long, gentle slope toward the mountain, lined with dark wooden townhouses from the Edo period. Outside of weekends, it is a quiet place.

The word many visitors reach for is quaint. These townhouses are homes, where families have lived for generations. There are flowers by the front doors. A grandmother sweeping her entrance looks up and says good morning.

Another family lives in my old townhouse now. Some of these houses have been renovated inside and are quite modern, and I rented one of those. Step into the back lanes and the town opens straight onto vegetable fields. Many families keep a small plot behind their house. From the street it looks a little like Kyoto, and you would never guess that people are growing vegetables just behind it.

In front of many doors hang short curtains, each dyed with a woman's name. Iwamura calls itself the town of the woman castle lord. In the 1500s, at the height of the civil wars, a woman ruled the castle above this street. Her story is remembered as a tragedy, and it is best heard on a guided tour.

Climbing to the Castle Ruins

I have lost count of how many times I have climbed to Iwamura Castle. I have lost count of how many times I have climbed to Iwamura Castle. Something about it keeps drawing me back.

After 1.3 kilometers the houses end and the mountain begins. An old stone path climbs steeply through the forest. This was a fortress built from the mountain and its streams. It also stood on the line between the great powers of west and east, and its lords had to keep a careful balance to survive.

Then the trees open, and stone walls rise in six great tiers. The castle is counted among the three great mountain castles of Japan. Its buildings were taken down by the new government in 1873, after the age of the samurai ended. Only the mossy stonework remains.

The ruins are beautifully kept, thanks to the local people. Every year, junior high school students and townspeople climb up together to cut the grass around the walls. The castle is gone, and they still care for it, because it is the pride of the town.

At the top there is no trace of war. Grass and trees have taken over, and the wide view is almost pastoral. It reminds me of Basho's famous haiku, in which summer grass is all that remains of warriors' dreams.

夏草や　つはものどもが　夢の跡

The summer grass
— It is all that's left
Of ancient warriors dreams.

ーBasho Matsuo (1644-1694）

Tasting the Main Street

The town below flourished about 400 years ago, in the Edo period. Peace had come, and Iwamura became a town of merchants.

At the sake brewery, a ball of cedar hangs over the entrance, and the air inside is cool and sweet. There is a small smokehouse. A few doors up, a mochi shop sells the same taste it always has, and local people line up to buy boxes for family gatherings.

Several old merchant houses are open to visitors. In one, a narrow channel of clear water runs right through the house, and a beautiful garden is hidden behind the storefront.

You will also notice wooden boards above the doorways, with handwritten sayings. They are the words of a Confucian scholar born into a samurai family here, who taught that learning never ends. His writings were read by samurai who went on to shape modern Japan.

When I lived here, I read these boards one by one on my walks. Each seemed to hold a truth, the way a line of scripture does, and I read them hungrily. I miss those walks.

Meeting the Locals

Because I lived here, I cannot walk this street without meeting people I know. On my last visit I ran into a resident who has worked for years to keep the town alive. I asked how Iwamura was doing these days, and he told me about how the town now runs its own affairs.

Japan worries about its shrinking population. In Iwamura, residents have built their own community organizations to look after the town themselves.

The samurai left Iwamura long ago. Their spirit did not leave with them. It turned into something quieter: the will of ordinary people to protect their town, one shop, one house, one stone wall at a time. You can read about that. It is better to come and feel it.

AUTUMN DAY TRIP TO SAMURAI CASTLE RUINS WITH CHARMS OF SMALL CASTLE TOWN

We now run a one-day walking tour of Iwamura, and it follows the same day I have described here.

We meet at your hotel in Ena or Nakatsugawa and take the small train together. We walk up the main street, stopping at the sake brewery, the smokehouse, and the mochi shop. We climb to the castle ruins, where I tell the story of the woman castle lord in the place where it happened. On the way back down, you can stop by shops or the old merchant houses.

Along the way, you will meet the people I know here, and you can ask them yourself what it is like to live in a castle town.