silk and the Amanohashidate (the "Bridge of Heaven") Also included: some references to local festivals and the local haunted bell.
Currently, my town is Yosano, Japan. It is situated on the western side of the main island and you can see the Amanohashidate (a natural land bridge considered one of Japan's most scenic locations) across the bay. I'm not entirely well-versed in our town's history or landmarks, but I used what I know. Here is a list of things featured in this design: -the Amanohashidate, as seen from Yosano. The name means "Bridge of Heaven" (though there are some variant, equally reliable translations). When viewing the bridge from atop the mountains surrounding the bay, it is traditional to look at the land bridge upside-down from between your legs. This is reported to make the bridge look like it is in the sky. You can read more about the Amanohashidate on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanohashidate) . -Sunflowers are Yosano's town flower because it symbolizes happiness, friendship and cooperation. The town keeps a field of sunflowers in honor of these virtues. -Camellias are Yosano's town tree. I am not entirely certain what they are supposed to symbolize, but we have a camellia museum and a camellia festival. -The hydrangeas refer to a time when Yosano used to be three separate villages. The hydrangea was the town flower for the village that was the part of town I live in. In 2006, the villages chose to merge together to form the larger town of Yosano. There are still street lamps and manhole covers which depict hydrangeas. -The antique spools of silk thread, women with old-fashioned hair styles and bolts of silk and couple dressed in kimono refer to the town's chirimen silk industry. The town holds a silk road festival every autumn. -The palanquin and retainers are a tribute to...a very influential family in the town's history. I don't really have a good resource on this, so I don't know if the family was nobility or silk merchants (there were both in my town's history and both have been "impersonated" in parades and festivals - these guys are common in our festivals, I just don't know who they're supposed to be.) -The Crying Bell at Nariai Temple is sealed inside a belltower, never to be struck again. Legend has it that when the bell was commissioned, the people living near the temple were asked to donate their bronze mirrors as material. One woman refused to donate her mirror, but still wanted to watch the bell being made. While she watched, she accidentally dropped her baby into the molten bronze. After the bell was cast, it was sounded for the first time and people living nearby complained that they heard a baby crying. This is why the bell sealed away. Other things that never made it into the design are: -Rice. Rreportedly, our region has the best rice in all of Japan. -a reference to Aberystwyth, Wales, our sister city due to reconciliation efforts of a former POW from Aberystwyth who was imprisoned in a nearby mining camp during the Second World War and the people of Yosano. -a reference to the prehistoric "Tango Kingdom". Archaeological evidence seems to suggest that there was once a kingdom which ruled our region. Historians have named it "Tango" after the former province of which the region was a part. Clay pottery and goods from ancient China have been found in nearby burial mounds.