きたわだ・Kitawada
This hamlet is located on the east side of the river across from Kashiwagi and is very rich in culture and history. There is a small tofu shop in Kitawada that is worth stopping at if you are in the area. A local favorite is their tofu burger patties.
If you’re into kendo, every year at the gym on top of the hill an international Kendo competition is held that draws hundreds from across the world. The local kendo teacher, Uegaki-sensei, holds the highest possible title attainable in kendo, hachidan danshi. He has students in France that make it out to this competition every year.
This is a former elementary school that is used for emergency evacuation and kendo. Throughout most of the year it is unused. If you have ideas or creative projects for how it can be put to use, it might be worth pitching these to the local town hall to see if they’re open to it.
Below this and visible from Rt. 169 is Kawakami Life, 川上村立ふれあいセンター、which functions as a hub for the 移動スーパー food truck and various other administrative functions. There is free public wife here and a cafe with tables inside.
Kitawada’s Kongoji Temple（金剛寺）is the home of one of Kawakami’s most important ceremonies, the Chohaishiki (朝拝式). A little-known history even by most Japanese, there was a time in Japan where there were two emperors. The throne was split into a Northern Court and a Southern Court. There had been an agreement to alternate back and forth, but the Northern court reneged on this deal and the Southern Court was forced into exile into the Yoshino region of Nara, where Kawakami is located. Still to this day, there are claims that the commonly recognized imperial lineage taught in textbooks and the emperor who was enthroned last year is illegitimate. For 563 years from the time of writing, representatives from various hamlets in Kawakami village have met together in secrecy once a year on a cold bitter day in February to pay respects to the Southern Court and to mourn the loss of those who tried to uphold it. In recent years, this ceremony has been opened to the public. It’s been centuries, yet the emotions are still powerful.
