佐原の町並みと伊能忠敬―Sawara Townscape and Tadataka Ino (December 28, 2021-No.37）

佐原の町並みと伊能忠敬―Sawara Townscape and Tadataka Ino (December 28, 2021-No.37）

Sawara is called Little Edo（小江戸） in Hokuso (northern part of Chiba prefecture) because of its old town appearance. You can get there in about 2 hours by train, connecting from Tokyo to the JR Narita Line. This town prospered as a relay station for the Tone River water transport during the Edo period.

In particular, on both banks of the Ono River, which flows into the Tone River, there used to be many commerce and industry companies such as riverbank wholesalers and brewers, and the atmosphere still remains strong today. Some spots are designated as tangible cultural properties of the national and prefectural governments. It was selected as the "Important Traditional Buildings Preservation District" (judenken「重要伝統的建造物群保存地区」（重伝建）) for the first time in the Kanto region, and many of them have taken over the old family business and are still in business.

A sightseeing boat operates on the Ono River, which reflects the beautiful cityscape on the surface of the river, and you can enjoy the scenery from the boat for about 30 minutes. On both sides of the 700-meter cobblestone road where the historic townscape continues, you can see the former residence of Tadataka Ino, known for making the first map of Japan, and the Tadataka Ino Memorial Hall（伊能忠敬記念館）.

Tadataka Ino（伊能忠敬） was born on January 11, 1745 in Kozeki, Kujukuri-cho, Sambu-gun, Chiba Prefecture. He was adopted on December 8, 1762 and succeeded the Ino family. The Ino family was involved in sake, soy sauce brewing, and money lending, as well as the Tone River water transport, but the Ino family was about to fall. He revived the Ino family and left a considerable fortune. He was also the leader of the village.

In 1794, Tadataka made a request for retreat, handed over the family to his eldest son, Kagetaka（景敬）, and set about preparing to study calendar studies（暦学） in Edo.

On April 19, 1800, he left his home for Ezo (now Hokkaido) to survey and map the whole of Japan. He is said to have spent a large amount of personal property on his trips and surveys.

After completing surveys all over Japan, including many islands, he was in the process of making a map of Japan, and on April 13, 1818, he died at the age of 74 while being watched by his disciples.

In 2010, 2,345 items such as maps created by him, surveying instruments used, and related documents were designated as national treasures under the name of "Materials Related to Ino Tadataka". These were introduced to the Ino family and are stored at the Ino Tadataka Memorial Hall in Katori City（香取市）.

Despite his promise of a rich and gentle old age, he continued to carry out difficult surveys for 17 years. And it is surprising that he created a map of Japan that was extremely accurate at that time. What has driven him so much?

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