Tales from the Dark Side

It's not unclear why sightseers go to Las Vegas for gambling and entertainment, or Paris for museums and world-class cuisine, or to Bali to relax beachside in temperate weather. But what do people go to Auschwitz for? Or New York's Ground Zero, or to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum? It's 'tourism,' yes, but what's in it for the tourist, exactly?

Professor John Lennon and Associate Professor Malcolm Foley, of Glasgow Caledonian University, named the visitation of such tragic places 'dark tourism' and helped to open a broad discussion about the lines separating tourism and titillation, education and exploitation: what, after all, separates a tragedy to educate others about from an event that is just, well, tragic?

"The difference between what is acceptable and unacceptable as a tourist attraction is often only a matter of chronological distance," Lennon, co-author of Dark Tourism – The Attraction of Death and Disaster, wrote in The Observer in 2005. "Dark tourism sites are important testaments to the consistent failure of humanity to temper our worst excesses and, managed well, they can help us to learn from the darkest elements of our past."

As expected, there are quite a number of infamous spots in Kansai where truly hairy historical events have gone down. If a definitive guide to Kansai-area Dark Tourism is ever written, don't be surprised to see the following sites included.

Hiei Mountain, Kyoto

Before popular culture reimagined him - defanged - as the steely-eyed protagonist of video-games and pachinko machines, warlord Oda Nobunaga's campaign to unite Japan resulted in actions modern society would politely describe as less than kind. One of the darker episodes of Nobunaga's "ambition" regards the leader's campaign against rebel monks atop Kyoto's Mount Hiei in 1571. Though historically, the monks proved problematic for leaders unsure how to counter the group's anti-government attacks without … well, killing a great many Buddhist monks, Nobunaga had no such compunction.

Taking one very large army and surrounding the monk's Hiei stronghold, Nobunaga ordered the lower levels of the mountain set ablaze and for his men to kill anything that tried to escape. Writers RHP Mason and JG Caiger write in their A History of Japan of the "tens of thousands of monks, women and children" who "died in the slaughter"; many, no doubt, surprised by the warlord's utter lack of restraint or fear of karmic payback.

Today, tourists can easily enjoy jaunty tours of Mt. Hiei, which boasts a number of lush, rebuilt temples. Though Nobunaga succeeded in crushing Hiei, it wouldn't be long before karma (or something like it) finally ended his ambitions for good …

Getting there: Take the cable car running from Keihan Sakamoto Station. The cable car runs every 30 minutes from 8am until, usually, 6:30pm. Round-trip tickets for adults and children are ¥1,570 and ¥790, respectively.
For information: www.hieizan.or.jp/enryakuji/econt/index.html

Honnoji Temple, Kyoto

Just as Hitler had his bunker and Napoleon his Longwood House, warlord Oda Nobunaga breathed his last in less-thanauspicious surroundings. Following a failed campaign to bring the western provinces of Japan under heel, trusted Nobunaga general Akechi Mitsuhide returned the forces under his command to Kyoto, surrounded the Honnoji Temple, where Nobunaga was residing, and forced the leader to commit suicide in a daring military coup. (Interestingly, Nobunaga's remains, perhaps lost in the blaze that consumed Honnoji during the incident, were never actually found.)

Today, the rebuilt temple is a quiet affair in stark contrast to the retail craziness that awaits mere paces away, providing tourists an easy way to mark the final point in the life of one of Japan's greatest historical figures before breaking for a lunch of Monterey Ranch Chicken sandwiches at the Wendy's just down the street.

Getting there: Honnoji Temple is a 10-minute walk from Keihan Sanjo Station, 10 meters away from the entrance to the Teramachi shopping area located directly across the street from Kyoto City Hall. Admission is free. Open 9am to 5pm.

Himeji Castle, Hyogo

Japan certainly does not lack for ghost stories and "haunted" areas; the "suicide woods" of the area under Mt. Fuji, for example, have been the subject of reams of blood-chilling tales over the years.

A local story, Banshu Sara-Yakishi ("Guarding the Plates of the State House") concerns Himeji Castle and Okiku, a servant woman said to haunt a well on the castle grounds. According to one of the most thorough accounts of the story, Okiku overheard a plot to kill the lord of the castle, warning him and saving his life, but enraging the renegade samurai plotting the overthrow. The samurai blamed the breaking of a valuable dish in the house on Okiku, who was killed and tossed into the castle well. According to legend, the samurai was driven insane by Okiku's ghost, who took to counting dishes aloud from the well, breaking into a mournful wail when she reached the number 10. The "ghost" itself, of course, is pretty hard to hear over the endless din of tourists, which doesn't stop throngs of sightseers from enjoying the sprawling, very well-preserved castle grounds.

Getting there: Exit Himeji Station on the JR Line. Basic admission is ¥600 for adults and ¥200 for children. Open 9am to 5pm.
For information: www.himeji-kanko.jp/english/main/castle.html

Osaka Castle, Osaka

Visitors new to Japan may wonder why other castles around the nation lack the elevators, lacquered floors and interactive video kiosks that Osaka Castle boasts. Truth be told, Osaka had as good a chance as Himeji Castle as being an authentic, esteemed World Heritage Site, were it for a few dramatic incidents that left the original construct literally in the dust. Construction originally began in 1583, with warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi envisioning an indestructible fortress of moats and sheer brick outer wall that would keep the wolves (as well as that pesky Ieyasu Tokugawa) at bay. For a time, it did - at least until 1615, when a Tokugawa attack reduced the edifice to smoking rubble and the Toyotomi clan extinguished. Reconstruction began on the castle in 1620, which would be gutted by fire once in 1665 (lightning), again in 1868 (civil unrest) and partially destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945. Despite these setbacks, the thick outer walls built in 1620 still stand, and restoration completed a decade ago restored the main castle tower, finalizing the landmark as Osaka's number one historic castle – video kiosks and all.

Getting there: Exit either Morinomiya Station or Osakajokoen Station from the JR Osaka Loop Line Admission inside the castle is ¥600 for adults, free for children. Open 9am to 5pm.
For information: www.tourism.city.osaka.jp/en/castle

Sanjo Bridge, Kyoto

The Sanjo Bridge, busy, benign, was once well-known for the grisly executions (and public displays of severed heads) of prisoners and enemies of the state. Perhaps the most infamous example is the very terrible ending of war chieftain Hidetsugu Toyotomi in 1595, found guilty of planning a coup and ordered to kill himself on Mt. Koya. Following that, Hidetsugu's head was carried down to the Sanjo Bridge, where his children and mistresses were executed in front of it.

The bridge today, of course, is best-known for the crowds of locals who picnic at riverside underneath it, and the Lawson store and Starbucks coffee shop that brace it on the north.

G etting there: Exit Sanjo Station on the Keihan Line.

Text: Jeff Lo
Photos: Erik Nauman, Jeff Lo