In the old days, the Kanji (漢字) characters for Fushimi (伏見) district were 伏水 which mean underflow water. Literally, as its name expresses, there are sufficient source of fresh water under the ground of Fushimi.

In the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate (徳川幕府), Ryoma Sakamoto (坂本龍馬) had this land as the center of his activities, and later he was attacked by enemies and servery injured when he was staying at an inn called Teradaya (寺田屋, still exist). He was the frontier of modern Japan and brave enough to risk his life for the restoration of Japan. If it hadn’t been for his frontier mind, Japan today would have been very different.

In Fushimi, there is a statue of Ryoma proudly standing, and a countless number of Ryoma fans visit there everyday to worship his great achievement.

#kimono #Japaneseculture #kyotoculture