Iijima Jin'ya

History

Whilst the Bakufu (Shogunate) was based in Edo, territories directly administered by the Bakufu and not various Daimyō were known as Tenryō. Iijima-juku, a transit town, and surrounding land became such a territory in 1677 and was administered from Iijima-jin'ya. Iijima-jin'ya was very basically protected with a boundary wall and gate, and fitted-in with the Shukuba ("inn town") along with such facilities as the Honjin ("main inn for travelling samurai"). It was not especially fortified then, and did not have ramparts or a moat. The term jin'ya designated its position in the administrative hierarchy of the Bakufu rather than as a fortified position.

Iijima-jin'ya was a complex of structures which included offices for government officials, residences of officials, nagaya (row houses), stores, stables and so on. When the feifdom became its own prefecture, Ina Prefecture (伊那縣), in the Meiji Period, the structures were preserved as prefectural offices. However, shortly thereafter Ina Prefecture was merged into Chikuma Prefecture, which itself would be later merged into Nagano Prefecture, and the old jin'ya structures were demolished. The jin'ya was rebuilt in 1994.

Visit Notes

Iijima-jin'ya, reconstructed in 1994, gives us a rare opportunity to appreciate what jin'ya were like. The style of architecture is vernacular, built in the honmune-źukuri style. The distinctive roof crest on the main building is known as suzume-odori, or "dancing sparrow". Tours are guided and in order to enter the premises one must telephone ahead and make an appointment. Then someone will come down from the Board of Education offices for one's sake and open the place up. My tour guide happened to be a nice young lady who charmed me into doing the various "activities" on offer, such as being forced to kneel on a wooden grate as a criminal, making calculations on a soroban, reading a scroll in kanbun kundoku ("Chinese writing, Japanese reading"), lighting the hearth with a flint and tinder, and posing as a hatamoto.

Gallery

Castle Profile
English Name	Iijima Jin'ya
Japanese Name	飯島陣屋
Founder	Bakufu / Hatamoto
Year Founded	1677
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Prefectural Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Artifacts	Go'ten (reconstructed), Kabukimon (reconstructed)
Features	palace, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Iijima Station on the Iida Line; 8 minute walk
Visitor Information	9am - 5pm; phone ahead
Time Required	120 minutes
Location	Iijima, Nagano Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 40' 48.79" N, 137° 55' 30.97" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2020
Contributor	ART
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed

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