Kozekigoe Road

It is a bypass going through the mountains to the north side of the Osakagoe Road from Miidera-cho to Fujiookumachi. This 4-kilometer long bypass is rather short, but it was used frequently as a road linking Kyoto and Omi from ancient times. Its name “Kozeki”-goe derives from the Osakagoe Road also called “Ozeki” [a pass with a very famous and important checkpoint of the major road, whereas, “Kozeki” means a pass on the side road with a checkpoint]. The Kaidoki [the Record of the Sea Road] from the Kamakura Period [between the 12th and early 14th centuries] says: “We crossed the River Shinomiya at dawn, passed the Kozeki and headed to the sea of Otsu.” It is famous that in the Edo Period [between the 17th and mid-19th centuries], when Matsuo Basho, a haiku poet, headed to Ostu from Kyoto, he passed this road and made a haiku: “Passing by a mountain path, somehow affectionate little violets”. The Kozekigoe Road is also a route for the Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, and a stone sign post indicating that stands near the Nagara Shrine at the junction between the Kozekigoe Road and Miidera Temple. The shape of the road sign shows that it was built before the mid-Edo Period [approx. before the 18th century]. It is also engraved: “Miidera Temple to the left, approximately 55 meters from here; Kozekigoe Road to Imakuma and Kyomichi to the right”, and those indicate the 14th stop and the 15th stop on Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, respectively.