Hakusan

Current Address: Bunkyo-ku, Hakusan / Koishikawa
Description: Hakusan-jinya Shrine, which is also the origin of the area name, was an enshrinement of Kaga Hakusan's Hakusan-jinja Shrine and the village shrine for Koishikawa. The shrine flourished as the major shrine for worship of Hakusan in Edo. The Hakusan-jinja Shrine was relocated to its present position when the 5th Shogun Tsunayoshi was the head of the Tatebayashi Clan, and the Koishikawa Goten (a stately mansion at Koishikawa, also known as Hakusan Goten) was constructed at the site of the ruins. The mansion drew water from the Sen-kawa River and was surrounded by a moat and was said to have been a very picturesque site. After the death of Tsunayoshi, the residence was abandoned, and in the Jokyo Era (1684-88), the Koishikawa Yakuen (a garden for medicinal herbs) was established on the site. At present the site is The University of Tokyo affiliated Koishikawa Botanical Gardens. The Nakasendo Highway branch off of the Nikko Highway at Komagomeoiwake passed through Hakusan, and the area was commonly called Kaiseigakubo. It is said this is because the sound of a bird crying was heard every morning in the Shimousa Koga Clan villa, and when the location the bird cry was heard from was dug up, a golden rooster was found.