View source for Yamakawa

*''Japanese'': 山川 ''(Yamakawa)''

Yamakawa was an important port near the southern tip of [[Satsuma province]], particularly for ships traveling between Satsuma and the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]]. Yamakawa guarded the entrance to Kagoshima Bay, and ships destined for [[Kagoshima]] generally were made to make port first at Yamakawa, for cargo inspections and taxation. Today, Yamakawa has been incorporated into the city of [[Ibusuki]].

Yamakawa was the first port on mainland [[Kyushu]] where [[Francis Xavier]] made landfall in [[1549]]; it is also said to have been the place where the [[Satsuma sweet potato]] (''Satsuma imo'') was first introduced. Markers commemorating these two events can still be found at the harbor today.

Yamakawa was also the port from which [[Satsuma han]] forces departed in [[1609]] for their [[invasion of Ryukyu|invasion of Ryûkyû]]. Following this invasion, as was also the case previously, ships from the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]] regularly stopped at Yamakawa on their way to and from [[Kagoshima]]. Port offices known as ''bansho'' performed cargo inspections and collected taxes. Over the course of time, a number of Ryukyuans who passed through the port happened to die there, and while gravestones from that time remain, a new monument was erected in 2009 in their memory; another monument nearby commemorates those who died in the [[Satsuma Rebellion]] of [[1877]]. Various Yamakawa-[[Okinawa prefecture|Okinawa]] partnership or friendship events have been held regularly in the modern era. The connection between Yamakawa and Ryûkyû is also seen in the 62 ''[[ishiganto|ishigantô]]'' located throughout the town; though also found elsewhere throughout Kyushu, these are originally a Ryukyuan talisman against evil spirits.

Yamakawa remained a major port into the [[Bakumatsu]] era, if not later, and was one of a number of key ports throughout the archipelago to be equipped with coastal defenses. The American ship ''[[Morrison]]'', for example, was driven away from Yamakawa with cannon fire in [[1837]].

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==References==
*"Ibusuki shi Yamakawa o aruku" 指宿市山川を歩く, ''Momoto'' モモト 14 (April 2013), n.p.

[[Category:Cities and Towns]]