Famous scenic spots
This is the database of famous scenic spots in INBE, AWA.
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Shougetsu Stone Monument
This monument is located at the trailhead for Kotsuji Temple, by the wall on the east side of the Myooin temple grounds. Shougetsu Ou was a monk born in the Iwakuni Domain in Suo no Kuni (present-day Yamaguchi prefecture). He spent 19 years travelling until he arrived in Awa no Kuni (present-day Tokushima prefecture) in 1781 and decided to live there. He was well-versed in waka poetry, and taught the art to local people, including Kagoshima Masaaki, a poet from Okugawata.
The monument is made of green schist. On the western side it says “Shougetsu Ou” and on the eastern side it has a waka poem written in hiragana in a circle around three kanji characters that say, “Snow on the Path.” The poem, written in hiragana, consists of pairs of matching letters, and it is very difficult to make sense of it. When converted into kanji, it can be read: “The garden is still wet, I pass through the fields and here already, the snowstorms do not leave the mountains and valleys.” On the front of the base of the stone it says, “Main Fundraiser Kagoshima Masaaki, Kagoshima Masaaki (but with different kanji for Masaaki), Bunka 2 (1805), Year of the Ox” and on the back it has the names of the donors. Kagoshima Masaaki and his son are thought to have talked with his students and erected the monument after Shougatsu’s death or departure from the area.
