Aizuwakamatsu Local Quiz Practice: Questions and Explanations

Correct answerGamo Ujisato

Entering Aizu, Gamo Ujisato rebuilt the old Kurokawa castle from 1592 into eastern Japan's first full-fledged early modern fortress with stone walls and moats, naming the keep completed the next year Tsurugajo. He also renamed the town from Kurokawa to Wakamatsu, the city's founding moment.

Source:鶴ヶ城のご案内

Correct answerOne of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots

Tsuruga Castle Park is named one of "Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots," with many cherry trees making it a celebrated flower-viewing destination. The blossoms typically peak in mid-to-late April, and during that season the park hosts the Tsuruga Castle Cherry Blossom Festival.

Source:【さくら名所100選】福島・鶴ヶ城公園鶴ヶ城公園のおすすめ桜スポット

Correct answerMount Iimori

Retreating from the battle of Tonokuchihara, the teenage Byakkotai reached Iimoriyama and, seeing Tsurugajo wreathed in black smoke, believed the castle had fallen; they took their own lives on the hillside. In fact the castle had not yet fallen. The graves of the nineteen stand quietly on the hill.

Source:【飯盛山】白虎隊十九士の墓白虎隊にまつわる歴史｜鶴ヶ城

Correct answerSazaedo Hall

Sazaedo, formally Entsu Sansodo, is a hexagonal three-story hall built in the Edo period. Inside, a spiral ramp creates a one-way pilgrimage route so visitors never pass one another. The structure, with few parallels anywhere in the world, is an Important Cultural Property.

Source:さざえ堂(国指定重要文化財)

Correct answerAizu Domain School Nisshinkan

Nisshinkan was the Aizu domain school, opened in 1803. Before entering, boys learned the Ju no Okite code in neighborhood groups, every clause closing with "what must not be, must not be." This teaching lives on today as the "Aizukko Declaration," recited by children in Aizuwakamatsu schools.

Source:会津藩校日新館 / 什の掟・日新館の教え会津藩松平容頌が作った什の掟を紹介しています「あいづっこ宣言」各種ダウンロードはこちらから

Correct answerHoozuki-ichi (Ground Cherry Market)

Hoozuki-ichi is a summer tradition in Aizuwakamatsu held every July 10. The shopping street becomes a pedestrian zone for selling ground-cherry plants, free sake, and a children's portable shrine, drawing crowds dressed in yukata.

Source:ほおずき市

Correct answerAkabeko

Akabeko is a papier-mache red cow whose head bobs gently on its neck. The red was believed to ward off epidemics; families kept the charm to pray for children's health, a beloved guardian of Aizu households.

Source:アカベコランド

Correct answerAizu lacquerware

Aizu-nuri, the lacquerware of Aizu-Wakamatsu, was designated a national Traditional Craft in 1975. Its origins trace to the Sengoku era, when a new lord brought woodturners and lacquerers from his former lands and promoted the craft as an industry; techniques like hananuri and maki-e continue today.

Source:福島県・会津塗

Correct answerLion Dor

Lion Dor Corporation is a food supermarket chain headquartered in Aizuwakamatsu City, known for its community-rooted stores woven into daily local life. Its shelves stock fresh produce from local farms alongside regional specialties such as horse sashimi and local sake, making the chain popular with visiting tourists as well as residents.

Source:リオン・ドール｜お土産｜会津若松の公式観光情報サイト

Correct answerNanukamachi-dori

Nanukamachi-dori preserves Western-style buildings and earthen storehouses from around the 1910s and 20s, breathing Taisho-era romance. In domain days it thrived as a crossroads of major highways, lined with wholesalers and inns; today lacquer and candle shops reward a slow stroll.

Source:「レトロな七日町通りをまち歩き」七日町通り｜ふくしまの旅

Correct answerSen no Rikyu's son, Shoan

After Sen no Rikyu was ordered to take his own life by Hideyoshi, Gamo Ujisato, grieved that the master's tea tradition might die out, is said to have sheltered Rikyu's son Shoan in Aizu. Rinkaku, the teahouse built then, stands in Tsurugajo park, still used for tea gatherings.

Source:茶室麟閣

Correct answerHigan-jishi (equinox lion dance)

Higan-jishi is a traditional Aizu event in which three lion figures, led by the sound of flute and drum, parade through the castle town at the start of the spring equinox. The dance expresses prayers for a good harvest and household safety and joy at the arrival of spring, and is performed at Tsuruga Castle, Amidaji Temple, and other spots around the city.

Source:会津彼岸獅子

Correct answerHoshina Masayuki

Hoshina Masayuki, son of the second shogun Hidetada and half brother of Iemitsu, entered Aizu from Yamagata in 1643 with a fief of 230,000 koku, founding the domain's ruling house. Under Masakata, the third lord, the family took the Matsudaira name and hollyhock crest in 1696, ruling until the Meiji era.

Source:鶴ヶ城のご案内

Correct answerHigashiyama Onsen Bon Odori

Higashiyama Onsen Bon Odori is said to have begun in 1944 to comfort children evacuated to inns in Higashiyama near the end of the war. Around a yagura platform built over the Yukawa river, locals and inn guests dance together to the folk song "Aizu Bandaisan" and its accompanying music, with the inns' proprietresses and geisha joining in to lead the dance.

Source:東山温泉盆踊り

Correct answerRevaty Aizu

Tobu Railway's limited express "Revaty Aizu" runs through from Asakusa via the Tobu lines, Yagan Railway, and Aizu Railway to Aizu-Tajima Station. From there, a connecting "Relay-go" service links onward to Aizuwakamatsu.

Source:【浅草から会津へ！】東武特急リバティ会津とは？予約方法、料金、停車駅を解説

Correct answerLotus flowers

Oyakuen is a feudal-lord garden once loved by generations of Aizu domain lords and a nationally designated scenic spot. In summer, the lotus flowers on its pond reach full bloom, and the garden even hosts a free viewing event for local residents during the blooming season, making it a beloved local attraction.

Source:御薬園 ハスの花鑑賞・市民無料招待

Correct answerChief retainer (karo)

The Aizu Bukeyashiki centers on a reconstruction of the residence of Saigo Tanomo, the domain's chief retainer -- a vast compound said to have held 38 rooms on grounds of some 2,400 tsubo. Burned in the Boshin War, it was rebuilt in 1975 from a rediscovered aerial plan and careful period research.

Source:会津武家屋敷

Correct answerNight-time illumination lighting up the whole historic site

The Tsurugajo Cherry Blossom Festival lights up the entire historic site to coincide with peak bloom, known for offering one of eastern Japan's largest illuminated night-cherry-blossom viewings.

Source:鶴ヶ城公園のおすすめ桜スポット

Correct answerSauce katsudon

Aizuwakamatsu's sauce katsudon typically features a fried pork cutlet dipped in sweet-savory sauce, served over rice topped with shredded cabbage. The city has numerous specialty and long-established restaurants, each with its own signature take, making it a beloved local specialty.

Source:群馬県だけじゃない。会津のソースカツ丼も、はい！有名です。

Correct answerTelecommunications engineer

Of the twenty Byakkotai youths who fell at Iimoriyama, Iinuma Sadakichi alone survived. Renamed Sadao, he devoted his working life to telegraph engineering through the Meiji and Taisho eras -- and it was his testimony that carried the story of his comrades to later generations.

Source:【飯盛山】白虎隊十九士の墓

Correct answerIyo (Matsuyama)

Aizu cotton's many-colored stripes are traced to a lord who arrived from Iyo-Matsuyama and invited weavers, rooting Shikoku striping techniques in Aizu. Its thick, sturdy hand comes, it is said, from cotton grown at the crop's northern limit, whose short fibers spin into thick yarn.

Source:会津木綿とは

Correct answerHokkaido

In landlocked Aizu, dried migaki herring carried from Hokkaido was a precious source of protein through the Edo period. Nishin no sansho-zuke layers the herring with sansho leaves in vinegar and soy sauce, a preserved dish so rooted here that special ceramic herring basins exist for it.

Source:にしんの山椒漬け 福島県

Correct answerBuy one more than the number of family members

Okiagari-koboshi, the little self-righting doll, embodies rising each time you fall. Its making is said to go back some 400 years, to dolls first crafted and sold at New Year. At the Tokaichi market each January, families buy one more than their number, praying the household grows.

Source:起き上がり小法師とは。昔も今も立ち上がる元気をくれる縁起物の歴史と現在

Correct answerDried scallops

Kozuyu is Aizu's celebration soup: a stock drawn from dried scallop adductors with taro, cloud-ear mushroom, wheat-gluten pearls and other finely cut ingredients. Served on ceremonial days in red-lacquered Aizu bowls, custom says guests may refill their bowl as many times as they please.

Source:こづゆ 福島県

Correct answer2022

The JR Tadami Line links Aizu-Wakamatsu with Koide in Niigata. The floods of July 2011 severed the Aizu-Kawaguchi to Tadami section, but on October 1, 2022 the whole line ran again, about eleven years on. Famed for gorge scenery, it now draws riders from well beyond Japan.

Source:只見線管理事務所2022年10月1日 只見線全線再開通！

Correct answerChildhood name "Tsuruchiyo" (crane), crest "standing crane"

One tradition holds the castle's name honors Gamo Ujisato, its christener: his childhood name was Tsuruchiyo and the Gamo crest a standing crane, tsuru -- though theories vary. The official historic-site name is Wakamatsu Castle ruins, but locals have always called it Tsurugajo.

Source:鶴ヶ城の不思議 発見ガイドマップ

Correct answerNozura-zumi (unworked natural stones) / Uchikomi-hagi (roughly shaped stones with fitted gap-stones) / Kirikomi-hagi (precisely cut, tightly fitted stones)

Three wall-building techniques can be compared in Tsurugajo park: nozura-zumi, rough natural stones stacked some 400 years ago, supports the keep's base; uchikomi-hagi appears near the Taiko-mon gate; and kirikomi-hagi, stones squared to fit flush, west of the Kurogane-mon. Karazumi and tanizumi are not found here.

Source:鶴ヶ城の不思議 発見ガイドマップ

Correct answerIt was covered entirely in iron and reserved only for the lord, his family, and guests to pass through

The Kurogane-mon, or iron gate, was clad in iron plate on doors and pillars to proclaim rank and strength. Only the lord, his family and their guests could pass through it; retainers used a separate wooden gate. Architecture that sorted people by status at the very threshold.

Source:鶴ヶ城の不思議 発見ガイドマップ

Correct answerThe Ashina clan → The Gamo clan (first entry) → The Date clan → The Uesugi clan

The Ashina built their hall here in 1384 and held Aizu for two centuries. Date Masamune broke them at Suriagehara in 1589, only for Hideyoshi to hand the land to Gamo Ujisato in 1590; Uesugi Kagekatsu followed in 1598. Lords came and went at the pleasure of the realm's unifiers.

Source:鶴ヶ城のご案内

Correct answerThey saw Tsurugajo Castle amid black smoke and assumed it had fallen, but the smoke was actually from fires in the castle town, and the castle had not yet fallen

What the boys saw from Iimoriyama was smoke from fires in the town below, not the castle itself. Believing Tsurugajo lost, they chose death on the spot. The castle had not fallen; it held out roughly another month. A grievous decision made with no way to verify the news.

Source:白虎隊

Correct answerThe Battle of Toba-Fushimi began → Government forces broke through Bonari Pass and advanced into Aizu territory → Tsurugajo endured roughly a month-long siege → Tsurugajo Castle surrendered and was handed over

The Boshin War opened with Toba-Fushimi in January 1868; by August the new government's army had broken through the Bonari Pass defenses into Aizu territory. Tsurugajo then withstood a siege of about a month before opening its gates in surrender -- the campaign in which the Byakkotai tragedy occurred.

Source:白虎隊

Correct answerMt. Oda

Odayama is a 335-meter hill east of Tsurugajo. In the Aizu War the new government's gunners placed cannon there and shelled the keep; stray shells and duds fell even into the pond of Oyakuen, the lords' garden below. Under that bombardment the castle endured for about a month.

Source:御薬園の始まりと歴史

Correct answerNakano Takeko

Nakano Takeko, a retainer's daughter and master of the naginata, led the women's Joshitai unit in the Aizu War. She is said to have gone into battle with her death poem tied to her blade, and fell in the fighting. With Yae, she is remembered among the Aizu women who chose to fight.

Source:中野竹子殉節碑

Correct answerAn astronomical observatory / A swimming pool / A library

Nisshinkan counted an astronomy platform, a swimming pond and a library among its facilities, equipment few domain schools in Japan could match. Grounded in Zhu Xi learning and the martial arts alike, it trained the boys who would later form the Byakkotai. A hot spring it did not have.

Source:白虎隊

Correct answerIt sat where several of Aizu's five highways met - the Echigo, Yonezawa, and Shimotsuke roads - and was lined with wholesalers and inns

In domain days Nanukamachi-dori stood where the Echigo, Yonezawa and Shimotsuke highways, main routes of Aizu's five, converged; wholesalers, inns and eateries bustled at the castle town's gateway. Old shops and storehouses still line the street, keeping the highway town's memory alive.

Source:七日町通り

Correct answer1850

Suehiro Shuzo was founded in 1850, late in the Edo period, and its Kaei-gura on Nanukamachi-dori preserves earthen-walled buildings from the founding era, now a sightseeing stop offering brewery tours. Aizu, blessed with fine water and rice, is celebrated sake country.

Source:末廣酒造 嘉永蔵

Correct answerThe "Oou Sanraku-kyo" (Three Pleasure Resorts of Oou)

Higashiyama Onsen has long been grouped with Kaminoyama and Yunohama in Yamagata as the Three Pleasure Spas of Ou, storied hot springs of the northeast. Barely ten minutes from central Aizu-Wakamatsu, the town's inner parlor still welcomes bathers and banquets today.

Source:東山温泉

Correct answerThe surface is not polished further after the final coat, giving a soft finish that showcases the texture of the lacquer itself

Hananuri, or nuritate, finishes Aizu lacquerware with the final coat left unpolished, letting the brushed surface itself become the finish. Applying it evenly demands great skill and yields a soft, warm luster. In decoration, the keshikinji gold-ground technique is called Aizu's own domain.

Source:福島県・会津塗

Correct answer"Koju no tsuyu" ("the broth of a small feast")

The name kozuyu is said to be a slurred form of 'koju no tsuyu.' A soup of finely cut ingredients in a delicate stock, it belongs to the Aizu region excluding Okuaizu and has graced weddings, funerals and festivals -- the indispensable bowl of an Aizu celebration, passed down to this day.

Source:こづゆ 福島県

Correct answerShinshu Takato

Hoshina Masayuki was originally lord of Takato in Shinshu before moving, via Yamagata, to Aizu. Soba artisans he brought from that noodle-loving land are credited as one reason buckwheat took root here, a bond preserved in the dish name takato soba. Aizu remains famed as soba country.

Source:【食物語・会津のそば】－高遠－ 会津藩祖・正之が広めた「信州流」