潮待ちの港・鞆の浦 / Tomonoura – Shiomachi No Minato (a Port for Awaiting a Favorable Tide)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Tomonoura , formerly known as Tomonotsu , is a port in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
It is located on the southern point of the Numakuma Peninsula, and has been a prosperous port and bay area since ancient times.
Because of the Its unique circular harbor shape,Tomonoura became known as Shiomachi no minato (a port for awaiting a favorable tide) from ancient times onward, as chanted in some poems composed by Tabito OTOMO and others, in Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves).
However, as navigation technique developed, the mainstream navigation shifted from ‘Jinori’ to ‘Okinori’ (the offshore navigation), which resulted in less necessity for awaiting a favorable tide to come at Tomonoura.
Tomonoura, Fukuyama-City, Hiroshima-Prefecture, Japan
鞆の浦は，かつては鞆の津と呼ばれていましたが，広島県福山市にある天然の良港です。
沼隈半島の南部に位置し，古代より繁栄し港湾でした。
独特な円形地形により，大伴旅人などによる万葉集に詠まれるように、古代より潮待ちのして知られていました。
しかし、航海技術が発達し「地乗り」から「沖乗り」が主流になった事により鞆の浦で潮待ちをする必要性は薄れていきました。