Where is AMIDA, Koriyama city, Fukushima?

[george trotter]

Just wondering if Moriyama san or Morita san can help me find a place in Japan?

I have a good WWII sword by Tsukamoto Masakazu (older brother of the famous Tsukamoto Okimasa) but am not sure if I have found the right place it was made.

(photo 1)  is his March 1942 address "Koriyama-shi, Amida-cho 1". As my sword was made in April 1942 it must be made in this  Amida forge .

Looking up Amida on google-maps, I can only find an Amida  out in the countryside (photo 3 shows Amida - red dot in lower l/h corner which is 8 km from Koriyama Station - upper r/h corner) about 8 km SW of the centre train station of Koriyama, .

Maybe Moriyama/Morita san can check for me and see if this IS the correct Amida? Maybe there have been some name-changes since WWII and a Amida inside the city has now changed its name?

A close look at the country Amida shows that the 5-4 buildings here look "re-built" atrer WWII (photo 2).

I just want to know if this is the correct/only AMIDA in Koriyama?

It would be nice to know exactly where my sword was forged.

Hope you can help? Onegai-itashimasu.

Regards

[Nobody]

There is little information about Amida-cho in Koriyama-shi.

Only one youtube video shows that the current name is 本町 (Motomachi) in Koriyama.

Motomachi is near the Koriyama station.

 

[george trotter]

Moriyama sama...thank you very much. I would not have found that information.

What you have found makes good sense.

In Mar. 1942, Tsukamoto Masakazu is listed at Amida-cho 1....his brother Kiyokazu is listed at Yatsuhashi-cho (or machi) 6.

Yatsuhashi is IN Amida-cho (now called Motomachi)...it is a railway workshops area that still stands. I think both brothers may have been in the same workshops area because Masakazu is also listed at Yatsuhash-cho 10 in Mar. 1944. So, both working in town, ON the railway line where they can receive supplies easily and can ship out their finished swords....The shed seems to have had at least 24 workshops...Kiyokazu in #6 and Masakazu in #10.

Only the name of the area has changed from AMIDA to MOTOMACHI.

Here is a pic of Yatsuhashi yard and also of the portion of the workshops that still stands (in very poor coindition), more than half has been demolished. I think it should be kept as a RJT forge that people can visit..

 

Great find Moriyama san...I will do some more work and let you know if I find any more INFO.

I did suspect that this sort of answer was likely correct, especially as I knew that both brothers were in the same workshop by 1944 , but It is great that I now know where my sword was made.

Regards,

[george trotter]

Hi Moriyama san,

I did some more checking and found a little bit more info (if I got it right).

Tsukamoto Masakazu's address in the advert is AMIDAMACHI (or cho?) 1 ... that is Amida town 1 chome. I think this is his house address, because at the same time he is listed in the workshop area Yatsuhashimachi 6 ...so, being a workshop area, I think this is his workshop.  Correct?

Also:

1. I said Yatsuhashi is IN Amida/Moyomachi....this is incorrect. They are adjoining, but are separated by the Tohoku railway line.

2. As I said, the Yatsuhashi workshops still stand, but more than half of them are now demolished. The surviving portion I showed in the photo holds about 12 workshops....I think it was originally long enough to hold about 36 workshops.

Just a question....the sword history books list the Tsukamoto brothers Masakazu and Kiyokazu in "Yatsuhashimachi 6" and "Yatsuhashimachi 10" and ALSO list them in "Yatsuhashi 6" and "Yatsuhashi 10". I think these faddresses do NOT mean Yatsuhashimachi 6 Chome or 10 Chome but  just Yatsuhashi workshop number 6 or number 10....am I correct?

 

I hope I am not asking too many questions Moriyama san....

Regards,

PS...I am very pleased to now be sure where my Masakazu sword was made.

Also, I found Kumano Jinja in Motomachi 1 Chome 18. Masakazu lived in Amidamachi 1 chome so I feel sure he would have visited that shrine in his neighbourhood...here is photo:

[Nobody]

I found an old map at Koriyama City Library. The date of the map is unknow, but I guess that is around 1946-1952.

The map shows detailed addresses of Amidacho (阿弥陀町) and Yatsuhashi (八ツ橋).

I can identify Amidacho 1, Yatsuhashi 6 and 10 on the map.

Now is there another possibility that their house addresses were Yatsuhashi 6 and 10, and shop address was Amidacho 1?

 

[george trotter]

That map  is a great find! I checked your old map against a modern one and and can see the places match up well, even the area names  are thye same looks like the main street called Motomachi is how the suburb name got changed).

Just a couple of things:

I can find Yatsuhashi 6 and 10, but for Amidachio I can see several 1s....which one is it (can you mark the map)?

Also, can I ask you to post a copy of that old map but without the blue circles please? I would love that map for my Masakazu file.

 

As for your question about living at Yatsuya 6 and 10 and working at Amidacho 1...you could be right...it does not make it clear in the 3 books I have...I just thought that because Masakazu had #6 and then #10 (and his brother Kiyokazu moved into #6 when Masakazu moved into #10), that 6 and 10 were workshops in that Yatshashi railway workshop building. I suppose I am just thinking this...no proof really.

Now that you have found "old" evidence...I will have to re-think My facts.

 

Thank you for your help here Moriyama san, I really am pleased.

[Nobody]

Link to the original map at Koriyama City Library

Ref. ADEAC（アデアック）：デジタルアーカイブシステム (trc.co.jp)

 

 

 

[george trotter]

Great, thank you. I promise that if I find any new info, I will post it here.

You are a great help to us in the Gendaito world.

 

Regards,

[george trotter]

Update on Koriyama.

Hi Moriyama san,

Using your 1946-1952 Koriyama-shi map I did some searching with google maps and have found the Amidacho 1 and Yatsuhashi 6 and 10 sites. The trouble is that towards the end of the wat there were 3 major air-raids against Koriyama and much damage was done by fire,

Searching at street level using google I have to say that none of these buildings survived, they are all modern...bad luck.

 

Also, about your question of which was the house and which was the workshop, I can say this...reading my 1942 book on the Tsukamoto RJT brothers Masakazu and Kiyokazu of Koriyama, the book of 1942 shows both brothers at both addresses, both at Amidacho 1 and both at Yatsuhashi 6.

My Fukushima RJT study book of 1994 shows that in March 1944 Masakazu is in Yatsuhashi 10 and Kiyoakazu is still in Yatsuhashi 6.

 

From this, it is hard to say which is a house and which is the workshop...maybe all were workshops?, but I "think" Yatsuhashi was the workshop/railway/industrial zone then, not houses.  As we can no longer see the original buildings, we just cannot know.

I did discover that Masakazu, when he died in 1969 had his memorial service at the Shinto Shrine Shimizudai cho (or machi?) Zendotera (or dera?), and he was "buried" there (Shimizudai is a few miles SW from Yatsuhashi, in the countryside).

 

Regards,