Where once a cannon was set up facing Tokyo Bay, now tourists sit facing Tokyo Bay

You may never catch up to road mirage (nige-mizu in Japanese), but you can catch up to Hashirimizu in Yokosuka. On the contrary, it has a beach, a fishing port, a restaurant that serves seafood, and a modern heritage site that can be visited. At first glance, Hashirimizu may seem like a variant of road mirage, but it is not. It is a place name in Yokosuka that is said to derive from the tidal currents that flow as fast as a river.

The Hashirimizu area is the narrowest part of Tokyo Bay. Therefore, before World War II, the area was fortified to repel enemy vessels attempting to enter Tokyo Bay and to defend Tokyo and Yokosuka Military Port, and the remains of these fortifications remain. It is the Hashirimizu Lower Gun Battery Site. It was built by the Army on the site of Hatayamazaki Daiba, which was constructed at the end of the Edo period. It is the remains of a military facility that was used as a training battery for the Army Heavy Artillery School until the end of the war, even after it was removed from the defensive facilities in 1934 due to damage from the Great Kanto Earthquake and the evolution of firearms.

The view from where the battery stood is good, as from here one can try to bombard naval vessels attempting to enter Tokyo Bay. Ships coming and going in Tokyo Bay can be seen clearly. The cannon that was once installed has long since been removed, but benches have been placed in its place, and the heads of people sitting on it point toward Tokyo Bay as if it were a cannon.

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