Kurume History Walks
No.31 Cultural Properties in Jojima Town * 城島町の文化財*Jojima Town, which had been an independent municipality, merged with Kurume City in 2005.

HistoryJojima Town is located in the lower Chikugo River. This area was originally swampy lowland, which has
been formed by the alluvium of the Chikugo and the tide of the Ariake Sea. Then, there are the place-names that
include the word concerning the waterfront such as Egami (upstream), Ukishima (floating isle), and Naratsu(oak wharf).
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4th century BCE – 4th century CE (the Yayoi period): People came to live in the area around today’s Jojima
Town. Major Remains: Kubo remains (the remains of a village), Kitadaimon Remains, and some shellmounds.
4th century – 7th century: The remains of that time were discovered also at the above-mentioned Kubo
remains.
Late 7th century –10th century: The area of today’s Jojima Town had belonged to the Mizuma District.
There are not any remains today because of the repeated floods and the change of the flow. We presume
that the place-names "Ichi-no-Tsubo (first part)", "Hachi-no-Tsubo (eighth part)" came from the allotment
system of those days.
Late 12th century: The Mizuma Manor was established. It consisted of the southeast part of Kurume, thewhole Oki, and Okawa, the part of Yanagawa and Chikugo.
13th century – 17th century: Kamakura shogunate had
given the official approval of the ownership of the feudal
tenure to the samurais. Since around the 14th century, thelocal feudal lords expanded their power and caused
conflicts in each region. The Jojimajo castle and theShimodajo castle were established in that circumstance.
17th century – the late 19 century: Jojima and Okawa
became the battlefield of Yanagawa Domain andNabeshima Domain. There are some cenotaphs andmounds around Egami. After becoming the lord ofChikugo Province in 1601, Tanaka Yoshimasa started torenovate and to reinforce main castles, including theJojimajo Castle. Surrounding towns had developed.
There had been a market at regular intervals. But in 1615,
the Jojimajo was abolished with the implementation of
the law of “One Castle per Province”. The residents inJojima Town undertook hard labor for controlling andtaking the water of the Chikugo River. The creek had been
constructed since the medieval Japan (12th -16th Jojima roof tiles (Gargoyle tile)
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Kurume History Walks / No.31 Cultural Properties in Jojima Towncentury). It had been much improved during the Edo period (17th -19th century). Today that forms theunique scenery of the region.
The late 19th century – the early 20th century: Jojima Town became famous for the sake brewing industry
with the water of the Chikugo River and the water transport. And the Jojima roof tile and the Japaneseumbrella also became the characteristic products of the region.

Cultural Properties of Jojima Town
Habitat of Kasasagi, Eurasian magpies – A National
Nature Monument* designated on March 7th, 1923
* “Monument” is a collective term to refer to cultural properties, designated by
the government, of a high historic (castle towns, forts, old houses), scientific(animals, plants, minerals), or aesthetic (bridges, mountains, gardens) value.

The Eurasian magpies are part of the Corvidae family.
This bird is distributed in the southern part of Fukuoka,including Kurume, Saga, and Nagasaki. Originally itcame from Eurasia.
The reason why it came to Japan is said that when
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who is regarded as the second“Great Unifier of Japan”, went to Korea for the campaign
against that country, he found a bird which chittered“kachi, kachi”. He thought that its chittering should bringkachi (victory) and brought it back to Japan. So, it also
called kachi bird or kachi crow.
It is a black and white bird, smaller than a crow, andhas a longer tail. It hops with both legs and with its tailheld up when going forward. It also jumps laterally when
getting surprised.
In early spring, a pair builds together a nest out ofbranches and mud on a tall tree. In town, it also makes a nest on a utility pole. It lays five or six pale green eggs
which hatch in about twenty days and of which the youngsters leave the nest three or four weeks later.
Hokyointo pagoda of Horin-ji Temple – A Prefectural Tangible Cultural Property designated on April 9th, 1977
A hokyointo pagoda is a kind of Buddhist tomb and cenotaph. The one standing in the precinct of theHorin-ji temple was located at the Shimobayashi Tenman-gu Shrine. However, under the Shinto and Buddhism
Separation Order pursued by the Meiji government in 1868, it was moved to the current site. It is almost two
meters in height.
The creation year is not known, but we presume it to be erected during the Muromachi period (1336-1573)
because there is a pagoda of the Fuko-ji temple (Omuta city; erected in 1404) which is very similar to it.

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▲ The Torii gate of the Jojima Tenman-gu Shrine◀ The hokyointo pagoda of the Horin-ji Temple

Torii gate of Jojima Tenman-gu Shrine – A Municipal Tangible Cultural Property designated on October 1st,1997
It was donated by a village headman, his son and his grandson in 1697, according to the inscription written
by Ando Seian, a renowned Confucian scholar of Yanagawa Domain.
Guardian Dog Statues of Hama Tenman-gu Shrine – A Municipal Tangible Cultural Property designated onOctober 1st, 1997
This pair is located at both sides of the main gate of the Hama Tenman-gu Shrine. The manufacturer and thedonator are not known. We presume them to be created in the mid-Edo period (18th century) and to be made ofthe andesite in the Hizen style (Hizen is a province which is today’s Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture.) Then, it
could be a representative stone artifact of the cultural exchange between Chikugo and Hizen.

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Kurume History Walks / No.31 Cultural Properties in Jojima Town

Six jizos stone monument of Ushiki-jinja Shrine – A Municipal
Tangible Folk Cultural Property designated on October 1st, 1997
These six jizos (guardian deities of children) stone monument isbelieved to be created during the Tensho era (1573-1592) and to bemade of the andesite. The faces of jizos were abraded by the winds
and rains of many years, although it is a precious case that this keeps
its whole shape.
That kind of monument exists in various areas and measures about
two meters in height. However, in Chikugo Province, they removed
the base. It allowed them to stoop down to pray for the jizos.
Stone sitting statue of Amida Nyorai of Ashizuka– Municipal
Tangible Folk Cultural Property designated on August 9th, 2004
This statue measures 35 centimeters high and bears inscriptions
dating from 1558, naming of Amida Nyorai (Amidhaba), and praying
for the repose of the soul of the donator him/herself.
Its head is very large, and it is out of proportion with the rest ofthe body. Its face was abraded, while the trace of its clothes remains
clear.

1 Hokyointo pagoda of Horin-ji Temple
2 Torii gate of Jojima Tenman-gu Shrine
3 Guardian Dog Statues of Hama Tenman-gu Shrine
4 Six jizos stone monument of Ushiki-jinja Shrine
5 Stone sitting statue of Amida Nyorai of Ashizuka

Photo credit (Gargoyle tile and Eurasian magpies):
Mr. Ikeguchi Takashi

Cultural Properties Protection Department of Kurume
Address: 15-3 Jonan Kurume Fukuoka Japan 8308520 / Tel: 0942-30-9225
Date of publication: February 25th, 2009
Translated in September 2020
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