A Historical Relic

Ogo Honjin Ruin

Honjin refers to an officially approved large inn along the main road for the use of daimyos and aristocrats on Sankin-kotai trips during the Edo period.

Along Yuyama Main Road, which connects Harima region and Arima Hot Spring, Hideyoshi Toyotomi established Ogo Inn.

The great Shoya (village headman) Murakami residence, once appointed as Honjin, came back to life after 60 years of vacancy with collective efforts of many.

Under management of the General Foundation of Ogo Honjin Ruin Preservation Alliance, which consists of interested local people, Honjin serves as the communication hub for various parties, through events and cafe operation appealing local charms.

Attractions of Ogo Village

History of Ogo dates back as old as the Jomon period, and during the Asuka period, it is said that there was a grand lake called Awa-go-ko.

After Jokyu War in the Kamakura period, Asamori Hojo, a local headmaster from the Hojo family, switched the name of the town to Ogo, a name associated with Ogo manor. Subsequently, the family made a base in Ogo castle, and ruled the town until the end of the Warring States period.

Continuous change of castle owners due to the disturbance of the warring nations, finally settled into peace after Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s invasion of the west.

The town shifted its form from castle town to a posting station town, and flourished throughout the Edo period as a commercial center where many shopkeepers line up along the street.

Today, Ogo holds a peaceful countryside scenery, with producers of white trumpet lilies, tulips, Sake rice Yamada Nishiki.

Despite the declining birthrate and aging society, the Association for a Study of Ogo Tomorrow (Ogo Wasshoi) was organized in 2011, and local development activities are brisk.

People who want immigration are on increase, and the location of Satoyama settlements near to city centers is attracting people.

Head of Murakami Family and Honjin

In Tensho 7 (1579), Hideyoshi allowed Ogo town to hold 6 regular markets per month as a merchandize center, and put up a policy signboard declaring “Raku-ichi”, tax-free markets.

Simultaneously, he ordered Noriyori Arima, the lord of Ogo castle, to prepare Ogo as a posting town.

Noriyori put Kihei Murakami as a manager of the town, who made imprisoned people and town residents to work for construction, and Ogo prospered as a posting town.

Murakami’s achievements were rewarded by an amount of 10 koku stipends and Murakami Family started to serve as a village headman of Ogo-gumi. Ogo kept thriving as posting town hereafter, and the headman Murakami Family played the central role.

From the Kaei period to Meiji 6 (1873), Murakami Family ran a terakoya for two generations until the first primary school was built.

After the establishment of the primary school, Honjin was utilized as an educational facility for teachers and apprentices, and later, Motoharu Murakami, the head of the Family worked as a teacher there through Meiji and Taisho period.

Honjin and the headman Murakami Family contributed greatly to the development of Ogo education for a long time.