Nasu no Yoichi
I'm leaving this country in about a month and *now* I decide to write a bit about the town I've lived in for the past two years. Go figure.
If you walk around Ibara, you'll notice a certain theme. Street signs, sewer lids, even the shape of Ibara station itself projects images of something related to archery, a man about to let the arrow fly, or fans. Very curious. During my first year in Ibara I was taken to an old kyudo dojo and there was a display of a battle scene which I then learned was the history of my little town.
The time: Genpei Wars. Who? Nasu no Yoichi, a BAMF from the Minamoto clan with a bow. There's a legend that while on his horse in the waves he struck the center of a fan that was placed on the mast of a boat at sea. Pretty awesome, no? And for showing said awesomeness, one of Nasu no Yoichi's victory spoils was land that will later on be the Ibara I know today. Nasuno's grave is in Nogami-cho, a town that was joined to Ibara and his family members' graves are throughout the Ibara region. Although when my teacher looked it up (on wikipedia) she said there's also a grave marker/site in Kyoto.
Ibara's own Hawkeye
Just a little blurb really, but I think it's awesome that my little town has such an awesome history behind it.
Side note: This info was taken mostly from word of mouth and Wikipedia so if anything is wrong I blame my lack of Japanese skills. ┗(-_-?)┓
