Changes

*''Japanese'': 御手洗 ''(Mitarai)''

*''Japanese'': 御手洗 ''(Mitarai)''

Mitarai was a port town in [[Hiroshima han]], located on an island in the [[Inland Sea]], located roughly halfway between the cities of [[Kure]] (in [[Hiroshima han]]) and [[Imabari]] (in [[Iyo province]], on [[Shikoku]]). Today, Mitarai has been absorbed into Kure City.

Mitarai was a port town in [[Hiroshima han]], located on Ôsaki-Shimojima, one of the Geiyo Islands in the [[Inland Sea]], located roughly halfway between the cities of [[Kure]] (in [[Hiroshima han]]) and [[Imabari]] (in [[Iyo province]], on [[Shikoku]]). Today, Mitarai has been absorbed into Kure City.

The town's name literally means "hand washing," and depending on the source one refers to, the placename derives from either [[Izanagi]], [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]], or [[Sugawara no Michizane]] having washed their hands there at one time. Numerous rivers, ponds, and other sites across Japan share the same name (sometimes pronounced Mitarashi or Mitarase, but written with the same [[kanji]]).<ref>''Mitarai tsûshi'' 御手洗通志 16 (July 2005), 5, 8.</ref>

The town's name literally means "hand washing," and depending on the source one refers to, the placename derives from either [[Izanagi]], [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]], or [[Sugawara no Michizane]] having washed their hands there at one time. Numerous rivers, ponds, and other sites across Japan share the same name (sometimes pronounced Mitarashi or Mitarase, but written with the same [[kanji]]).<ref>''Mitarai tsûshi'' 御手洗通志 16 (July 2005), 5, 8.</ref>

A major regional port town, Mitarai got its start around [[1666]], when the domain granted permission for the construction of divided homes; the town quickly grew into a major port over the course of the 18th century, and especially in the early 19th century as the Japan-wide "travel boom" burgeoned. Like many other prominent Inland Sea ports, Mitarai was chiefly home to warehousers, affiliated with wealthy, powerful warehousing guilds in [[Osaka]]; essentially they served as middlemen, buying, storing, and selling a variety of goods which sea captains transported across the Inland Sea and beyond. By the [[Bakumatsu period]], however, many sea captains bypassed the warehousers and simply bought and sold directly with producers in cities like [[Onomichi]] and consumers in places like Osaka. By that time, too, fears of foreign ships led to Mitarai being equipped with shore batteries.

Mitarai got its start around [[1666]], when the domain granted permission for the construction of divided homes; the town quickly grew into a significant port over the course of the 18th century, and especially in the early 19th century as the Japan-wide "travel boom" burgeoned. Though a significant port in terms of its location, Mitarai never grew very large; as of [[1748]], there were only some 83 homes in the town.<ref>Kimura Yoshisato 木村吉聡 (ed.), ''Ryukyu shisetsu no Edo nobori to Mitarai'' 琉球使節の江戸上りと御手洗, Shiomachi kankô kôryû Center 潮待ち館観光交流センター (2001), 1.</ref> Like many other prominent Inland Sea ports, Mitarai was chiefly home to warehousers, affiliated with wealthy, powerful warehousing guilds in [[Osaka]]; essentially they served as middlemen, buying, storing, and selling a variety of goods which sea captains transported across the Inland Sea and beyond. By the [[Bakumatsu period]], however, many sea captains bypassed the warehousers and simply bought and sold directly with producers in cities like [[Onomichi]] and consumers in places like Osaka. By that time, too, fears of foreign ships led to Mitarai being equipped with shore batteries.

During the [[Edo period]], Mitarai was among the more typical stops for ''daimyô'' and their entourages to stop during their ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys to and from [[Edo]]; [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] also stopped here, and a ''hengaku'' plaque featuring calligraphy by Ryukyuan envoy [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]] can be found in the temple of [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]] in the town.<ref>Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.</ref> Numerous other notable figures visited Mitarai, including [[Ino Tadataka|Inô Tadataka]] in [[1806]], [[Philipp Franz von Siebold]] in [[1826]], [[Yoshida Shoin|Yoshida Shôin]] in [[1853]], [[Sanjo Sanetomi|Sanjô Sanetomi]] and [[Fall of Seven Nobles Incident|several other court nobles]] in [[1864]].

During the [[Edo period]], Mitarai was among the more typical stops for ''daimyô'' and their entourages to stop during their ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys to and from [[Edo]]; [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean]] and [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] also stopped here, and a ''hengaku'' plaque featuring calligraphy by Ryukyuan envoy [[Ryo Kochi|Ryô Kôchi]] can be found in the temple of [[Manshu-ji|Manshû-ji]] in the town.<ref>Shirarezaru Ryûkyû shisetsu 知られざる琉球使節, Fukuyama-shi Tomonoura rekishi minzoku shiryôkan (2006), 37.</ref> Numerous other notable figures visited Mitarai, including [[Ino Tadataka|Inô Tadataka]] in [[1806]], [[Philipp Franz von Siebold]] in [[1826]], [[Yoshida Shoin|Yoshida Shôin]] in [[1853]], [[Sanjo Sanetomi|Sanjô Sanetomi]] and [[Fall of Seven Nobles Incident|several other court nobles]] in [[1864]].