James hill road is a hill which starts from the point of one yard in the east of Oimachi station and goes down to Route 1, that is , the former Tokaido road before Meiji restoration. This hill was named after John Mathews James, a British man who lived near this hill and donated his own money to improve this hill 150 years ago.
James was a captain of the UK navy. When Japan bought a warship during Meiji restoration, he sailed the ship to Japan, and after that, he was hired by new-born Imperial Japan government as a teacher of the navy. He contributed to Japan so much that he received a medal from the Emperor, but what was probably wonderful more for him was that he was loved by Japanese people living around him. When the improvement of this hill was completed , people started to call this hill “James hill road (Zeemus-Zaka in Japanese)” , and refused to change this name even during WWII.
コメント