棒庵坂

Visited on April 28, 2015. There are three slopes named after people, one of which is Boan slope. It is said that it was named after the location of the mansion of ``Shimotsu Boan''.

When I was in junior high school, I called it Jigokuzaka. During track and field club practice, we had to run up this hill at full speed. At the time, it was fashionable to pursue unreasonable training methods, and although it was painful, I quite enjoyed doing it. This is where a murder incident called the Boanzaka Incident took place, so it was also called Ghost Hill. Nowadays, it is a well-maintained and well-lit promenade, but when I was in junior high school, it was a place with dense trees that kept it cool even in the middle of summer. At that time, there was a rumor that the side of the hill was a place for beheadings, but the truth is unknown. When I ran up the mountain for the first time in 50 years, I couldn't move for a while. I don't want to get old, but it's been a long time since I've had a good sweat.

There are three slopes named after people within Kumamoto Castle, one of which is Bo-an Saka. It was named because the mansion of Shimotsu Boan was located at the bottom of this slope. Boan, also known as Soa, originally came from a court noble in Kyoto, but he became a vassal of Kato Kiyomasa and was given 2,000 koku of stipend. Since Boan-zaka was a key point for entering Kita-Ote, a guardhouse was placed halfway up the slope, and a stone railing was installed on the south side of the slope. After the Meiji era, the slope had fallen into disrepair due to lack of proper maintenance, and was a lonely slope covered with large trees and dark even during the day, but today it has been well maintained and serves as a pedestrian passageway into the castle grounds. (From the information board)...It's a steep slope going west from in front of the KKR Hotel on the northeast side of Kumamoto Castle.

It's a slope with a fair slope and some climbing.

The slope was quite steep, so I went slowly. On the side of the slope, the stones from the stone wall that had collapsed in the earthquake were lined up neatly.