Panoramic Sekigahara

While selecting photos for my blog post about Sekigahara six months ago, I overlooked some nice panoramic shots my beautiful wife took there. She said that I could post them today if I remembered to describe her with the right adjective. Although I don't require any added motivation to compliment her, it saved me from having to come up with a more creative opening.

Here's a look at some of the mountains surrounding the small plain. We didn't take detailed notes at the time, so if you find any inaccuracies in the following description, please let me know. Based on a similar photo I found at the Photoguide Sekigahara site this appears to show where the battle started. The hill on the left is where the Shimazu forces were camped, a position that was briefly reached by Ii Naomasa's forces during their initial charge on the Western lines (p. 58 Sekigahara 1600, by Anthony Bryant). The mountain on the right is Mt. Sasao, behind which nominal Western leader Ishida Mistunari was camped along with some Toyotomi loyalists. The central mountain in the background is Mount Ibuki.

Unbelievably, she even found a way to make a battle scene at Sekigahara War Land look realistic and dynamic.

According to the stone marker, this is the site where Tokugawa Ieyasu set up his last base camp of the day. This is also where he conducted the head-viewing ceremony.

Higashi Kubizuka, the shrine where the heads taken from fallen Western samurai were buried.