四国山地のおもしろいバスシステムが、つるぎ町のフィーダーバス。
The peculiar bus system in the Shikoku mountains is the feeder bus in Tsurugi town.
A feeder bus system in which two buses run together on the main road.
つるぎ町の幹線道を数台のバスが一緒に走り、ある地点で行き先別に客を振り分けると、枝分かれして山奥へ入って行きます。どんなところを走るのかバスを追い掛けました。運転が得意なつもりの自分でも恐怖を覚える細い山道は切り返ししなければ上れないほどですが、バスは結構速く走り、写真を撮るために止まったら、消えてしまいました。カーナビには道なき山の表示。ネットも入らず途方に暮れて、役場に電話して、見えるものを説明しても、担当者は「どこだか分かりません」。仕方なく走り続けて30分、小さな集落で、やっと見掛けた老婦人に、道案内がてら話を聞きました。
山奥の人の気配のない集落、大藤は、煙草栽培が盛んな頃は、煙草の集荷地として、大藤銀座と呼ばれるほど賑わった地。専売公社の買取の取り止めで繁栄は消えましたが、阿波池田のたばこ資料館に行けば、その頃、煙草が、いかに阿波の経済を支え、豊かな富を生み出したかに驚き、そして、簡単に僻地経済を切り捨てる国の産業政策の非情を実感します。
フィーダーバスが思い掛けない場所へ運んでくれました。
Several buses run together on the main road in Tsurugi town, and after customers are sorted by destination at a certain point, those buses branch off and go deep into the mountains. I chased one of the buses to see what kind of place it would run. The bus ran quite fast on a narrow mountain road. I, who was good at driving, felt scared that I had to turn back a steering wheel many times to drive up. While stopping to take a picture, I lost sight of the bus. The car navigation system indicated a mountain without a road, and the internet didn't enter. So, I called the town office and explained what I could see, but the staff said, "I don't know where you are." I had no choice but to keep driving. After having run for about 30 minutes, I finally found an old lady in a small village. After having asked the way, I talked with her.
Oto, a village with no sign of people in the mountains, had been so bustling that they called Oto Ginza (Ginza is the most upper-class commercial area in Tokyo, Japan) to collect the harvested tobacco when tobacco cultivation was thriving. Prosperity disappeared due to the cancellation of the purchase by the Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation. The Tobacco Museum in Awa Ikeda tells us about how tobacco supported the remote region's economy and produced abundant wealth. And we realize the ruthlessness of the industrial policy by the country that abandons the remote region easily.
The feeder bus took me to an unexpected place.
At the hospital stop, two buses sort out customers according to their destination and depart in different directions.
A feeder bus goes up a mountain road that needs to be turned a steering wheel back at an amazing speed.
Oto village, which once prospered through tobacco cultivation, is located in the depths of the mountains.
Oto village is located on a steep slope.
Once in Awa Ikeda town as the center of the Shikoku Mountains in Tokushima were a huge tobacco production factory of the Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation. The photos of the factory are exhibited in the Tobacco Museum in Awa Ikeda.
ご感想はこちらへ / Click here for your impressions
写真の無断使用、転用はご遠慮下さい。/ Please do not use or upload our photos without permission.
