Official
From Tsukishima to Ogasawara Islands
Speaking of the Ogasawara Islands, "Ogasawara Maru" is famous for anything, but I learned that there are ships operating from Chuo-ku to Ogasawara.
The name is Kyosho Maru. The photo above shows the Kyoshomaru anchored at Tsukishima Wharf just the other day, but it is a shiny new ship that started operation in January this year. The name of the operating company (owner and operator) is also called Kyosho Maru Co., Ltd.
Actually, last month, Mr. Yuichi Morita, who provided photos when I wrote an article about Tokyo Bay Kisen, was the director of the company, and I was late and interviewed him for a thank-you interview at that time.
Morita grew up in Ogasawara. After working for the Ogasawara Village Office for many years, I got my current job. He is also a director of the Ogasawara Association, and is very familiar with the history of water transportation in Tokyo and Osaka. I was (^^)
Introduction of Kyosho Maru / Kyosho Maru Co., Ltd.
(This section is mainly based on wikipedia and Nikkei Shimbun.)
Kyosho Maru Co., Ltd. is a company located in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. Miyagi doesn't seem to be a very well-known company or ship, but Ogasawara people are so famous that "everyone knows."
After all, since the return of Ogasawara in 1968, ships have been replaced many times, but have been able to connect Ogasawara with the mainland for more than 50 years. It is not a passenger ship but a cargo ship, but a little room capacity is also available. We deliver daily necessities to Ogasawara, carry out industrial waste on the way home, and carry people using guest rooms in case of emergency. Ogasawara Maru carries mail when the Ogasawara Maru is closed due to periodic inspections, and it is exactly an "important" existence for Ogasawara.
It is said that during the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, many of the crew members were from Ishinomaki, but they headed for Chichijima without returning. So, when the old retirement of the 28th Kyosho Maru, who was active for 25 years, he himself, the mayor of Ogasawara Village, who felt privileged, offered a loan for a new shipbuilding to the 77 Bank. (Nikkei Shimbun, January 30, 2019)
Koshi Ogasawara
Now Ogasawara has the image of a resort rich in nature, which is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage (Natural Heritage), but the history of hardship continued until very recently.
In 1944 (Showa 19), nearly 7,000 people, excluding military personnel, were forced to evacuate due to the intensification of the Pacific War. After the war, it was under the administration of the United States, and the history was "divided" for 24 years until the return in 1968.
It is not easy to encourage the former islanders to return home after a quarter of a century. Until March 1972, there were no regular cruise ships. Meanwhile, it is said that the Ogasawara Association also played a great power in the return island movement. （Click here for the Ogasawara Association website）
About the history of water transport in Tokyo
Mr. Morita, who has been involved in shipping for many years from the standpoint of both users and operators, has been very interested in the history of water transportation in Tokyo.
From Edo to Meiji, the center of Tokyo's water transportation was in Chuo-ku (now). However, it is difficult to follow the record of water transport more than a hundred years ago in Tokyo Port, which is undergoing a transformation at the same rate as a year ago, rather than ten years ago.
Osaka is also a city called the City of Water, but there is a fairly detailed record of the history of modern water transport in Osaka, whereas in Tokyo, records and images of Tokyo Bay water transport in the early Meiji era are scarce. It seems that
Certainly, when I looked up on Tokyo Bay Kisen before, even in the "Ship History Report", which seems to be probably the most detailed in the history of water transport by company, "... In this way, the opening of the route was immersed in the wave of history ... (Vol. 17 Tokyo Bay Kisen Koshi p.17) ", "(^)
Meanwhile, Mr. Morita vigorously went to used bookstores and continued to check out the books on the Internet. As a result, he succeeded in collecting many Meiji-era ship photographs (picture postcards).
Since it is a postcard, there are many things that do not have a description of the shooting year, etc., but the layout of the building that can be seen in the background of the image is compared with the old map, and the shooting time is also estimated from the format of the postcard itself (it seems to vary depending on the times). Was. It's amazing. And we received warm words such as "Please use those materials for Chuo-ku"!
In the future
Transportation other than conventional shipping, such as the regular air route connecting Ogasawara and Tokyo, and the Techno Super Liner (high-speed ship), which has become a hot topic, has not yet been realized due to pros and cons and twists.
Therefore, it can be said that the role of Kyoshomaru will not change for the time being. I would like to sincerely pray for the safety of the future voyage.
※Rooms are provided but are not cruise ships, so general boarding reservations are not accepted. Just in case.