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THE LEGENDS OF

TONO

by KUNIO YANAGITA

translate� with an introduction, by Ronald A. Morse

THE JAPAN FOUNDATION

THE LEGENDS OF TONO

nns BOOK IS OFFERED TO PEOPLE RESIDING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 1

Kunio Yanagita (1910)

1 Yanagita elaborated on this statement in 1935 saying: "In 1910, when this book first appeared, an unusually large number of my friends were in Europe or were about to leave for Western countries. It was then, while thinking of sending them a copy, that I made this dedication."

PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL mmoN

All of the tales and stories recorded here were told to me by Mr. Kyoseki Sasaki who comes from Tono. l have been writing the stories down as they were told to me during his many evening visits since February 1909. Kyoseki is not a good storyteller but he is honest and sincere, and I have recorded the stories as they were related to me without adding a word or phrase. I imagine there are hw1dreds of other legends in Tono similar to the ones here and I ear- nestly hope they will be heard in the future. In the mountain villages of Japan, in areas yet deeper into the mow1tains than Tono, there must be countless other legends about mountain gods and yamabito. I wish these legends could also be heard for they would not only make us who live in the lowlands shudder, but would also pro- vide a fresh start like The Legends of Tono.

I visited Tono during the latter part of last August. For forty kilometers from the town of Hanamaki there are only three towns, and the rest of the area is green moun- tains and open fields. The houses are far less scattered than those on the Ishikari plain in Hokkaido. One reason might be that only a few people have settled down there since the road first opened. The old castle town of Tono is still flourishing. I rented a horse from an innkeeper and rode around to the nearby villages. The horse I rented had dark seaweed hanging over its sides and back to protect it from the numerous horseflies. The valley along the Saru-ga-ishi River was fertile and well cultivated. There were more tombstones along the roadside than I had seen in other areas. Looking out from a high point I could see that the early rice plants were just ripening and the late

rice plants were in full bloom. The water had now flowed off the rice fields and out into the river. The shades of the rice plants changed with the variety. In places where three, four or five fields had the same shade of rice plants it meant that they probably belonged to one family and probably had the same place name. The place name of any area smaller than a koaza was only known to the owner. It could only be found in the old documents concerning sales transactions. I went across the valley ofTsukumoushi and from there Mt. Hayachine, off in a thin mist, appeared as a grass hat or like the shape of the Japanese phonetic katakana letter "" read as he. Here in the valley the rice plants were late in ripening and were all still quite green. Walking along the narrow path between the rice fields a bird that I could not identify, crossed over in. front of me with her young. The young birds were black with white feathers mixed in. At first I thought they were young hens, but when they hid themselves among the grasses in the ditch I knew they had to be wild birds.

At the Tenjin Shrine on the hill there was a festival with a lion dance. A light cloud of dust rose from the hill and bits of red could be seen against the green of the whole village. The dance in process, which they called a lion dance, was actually a dance of the deer. Men wearing zµasks with deer horns attached to them danced along with five or six boys who were waving swords~ The pitch of the B.ute was so high and the tone of the song so low that I could not understand what they were singing even though I was just off to the side. The sun sank lower

. and the wind began to blow; the voices of the drunkards calling out to others were lonely to hear. Girls _were laugh- ing and children were running about. I could not help but . feel the loneliness of a traveler.

~ Mt. /IA YACH/NE

During the Bon Festival1 it is the custom for families in which someone has recently died to .hang out a red or white flag to welcome back the soul of the dead. Sitting on my horse in a mountain pass, I could point to some ten locations east and west where these flags were out. Villagers were . about to. leave their life-long homes, tr~velers drifted into the village, and a calm. settled on the mountains of the souls; the dusk of twilight hovered over them all and then covered them up. In Tono there arc eight locations with Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) Temples. Each Kann on image is made from one tree. On feast days numerous worship- ers come to pray; lighted torches can be seen on the hillside and the sound of gongs can be heard. In the brush at the fork in the road, there was a straw d~ll used in the "Rain and Wind Festival." It was on its back 1ike a tired man.2 These impressions remain from my visit to Tono.

I think a book like The Legends of Tono goes against present day literary fashions. No matter how easy the printing of this book may be, some people will maintain that it is harsh for me to publish it, and attempt to force my limited taste on others. Nevertheless, I would reply by asking the question: Is there anyone who after hearing these stories and seeing Tono would not want to tell about it? There are not many people that silent or prudent, and none of them can be found among my friends.

Quite contrary to the case of the 900-year-old Konjaku monogatari (Tales of Long Ago), whose tales existed in the past and are now old, the legends of Tono reveal facts which exist before our eyes. I cannot say that these legends of Tono are superior to the Konjaku monogatari in their

sense of piety or attitude of sincerity. But in the sense that they ha\7e neither been heard by many nor recited nor writ- ten d~wn to any degree, I believe the candid and innocent author of the Konjaku monogatari, Dainagon-dono, would surely come to hear them.3 The tales of the Otogi hyaku monogatari written during the Edo period (1603-1868) have now lost their original quality and the author could not vouch for their accuracy. 4 It would be a shame if these older tales and stories were compared to those existing today. The Legends of Tono are present day facts. This alone is their raison d' itre.

K yoseki is now 24 or 25 and I am only ten years <;>Ider than he is. During the present era with its many tasks, it is hard for us to appreciate the size of problems. What de- fense could I make if I failed to use my strength where possible? Some might reproach me· for having ears too strained and eyes too big, like the eared-owl of Mt. Myojin, but what can l say? I can say nothing, and I alone must accept the responsibility.

Knowledgeable, Yet pretending to be old, Motionless and quiet, Off in the forest, the owl Is probably laughing.

1 This festival, a mixture uf Buddhist and folk traditions, is observed from July 13th to 16th. During this time the souls of the dead are we},. comcd home. They remain at the family altar before being seen off agaiu.

2 Storms are especially severe in this area near harvest time. The straw figures mentioned here are to protect the village from the wind and the rain. There are usually two straw figures, one male and one female. The figures are either placed at the outer border of the village or burned. This custom js also mentioned in legend 109. 3 Minamoto-no-Takakuni (1004-1077) is considered to have written the Konjaku monogatari. He was usually referred to as Uji Dainagon because he lived in the town of Uji and had the court rank of Dai- nagon. 4 The Otogi hyaku monogatari (1626) is a collection of Buddhist, Chi- nese, and Japanese talcs.

THE LEGENDS OF TONO

THE GEOGRAPHY OF TONO

1. The Tono region, which comprises the western half of what is now called Kamihei in the old province of Rikuchii (now Iwate Prefecture), is a plain surrounded by mountains. Under the new administrative organization the area consists of one town, Tono, and the ten villages of Tsuchibuchi, Tsukumoushi, Matsuzaki, Aozasa, Kamigo, Otomo, Ayaori, M_asuzawa, Miyamori, and Tassobe. During the past era it was called the district of Nishihei and <luring medieval and ancient times it was called Tono-ho. The town of Tono is now the admirustrative center of the district, but earlier it was the castle town for the 10,000 rice-bale-rich domain of a Nambu branch-family. The castle was called Yokota Castle.

After leaving the train in the town of Hanamaki one must cross the Kitakami River and go east along the valley of the Saru-ga-ishi tributary for some fifty kilo- meters in order to reach Tono.

Tono is considerably active considering how remote it is. It is said. that in ancient times the whole region was a lake and only after the water drained off into the Saru-ga-ishi River did the villages develop. Because so many monntain streams feed into the Saru-ga-ishi River people -call it the

river of seven nai and eight cliffs. The word nai, meaning ravine or swamp, can be found in many of the place names in Oshii, the northeastern part of Japan. 1

1 The to of Tono is an Ainu word for lake. The word nai is also an Ainu term.

2. The town of Tonb is located at the spot where two rivers running north and south come together. Formerly commodities for sale were gathered from up to forty-five kilometers back into the seven valleys around Tono. On market days as many as a thousand people and a thousand horses crowded into Tono. The highest mountain in the region is called Mt. Hayachine and it is to the north of the Tsukumoushi valley. To the east of Tono stands Mt. Rokkoushi. Mt. Ishigami stands between the areas of Tsukumoushi and Tassobe and is lower than the two other mountains.

A long time ago there was a female kami who came to this plain with her three daughters and they put up for the night at the location of Izu Gongen 1 Shrine in present day Rainai2 village. Before going to sleep the moth.er kami told her daughters that she would give the best mountain to the one who had the finest dream. Deep into the night when a lotus Bower floated down from heaven and came to rest on the bosom of the eldest sister, the youngest sister, who would wake now and then, secretly took the flower and placed it on her bosom. Thus the youngest sister got the best mountain, Mt. Hayachine, and her sisters got Mt. Rokkoushi and Mt. Ishigami. Each of the three young female kami took up residence on her own mountain, and even now rule over the mountains. The females of Teno are told, even today, not to climb these

mountains lest they arouse the jealousy of these kami. 1 Gongen refers to the incarnation of a Buddha in the fonn of a kami.

· 2 The words Tassobe and Rainai arc Ainu terms. The rai of Rauw means "death .. and nal means "swamp." This might have meant that at one time the water in the area w:is still and quiet.

KAREi THE HUNTER

3. A yamabito lives deep in the mountains. A man named Kahei Sasaki, who is now over 70 years old, still lives at Wano in the village ofTochinai. When he was young he went back into the mountains to hunt, and came across a beautiful woman seated on a small rock combing her long black hair. Her face had a beautiful whiteness about it. Bold and fearless, he raised his gun, aimed, and brought her down with one shot. He ran up to where she was and found her to be rather tall; her untied black hair was longer than she was tall. Thinking of it as evidence for later, he cut a lock ofher hair, looped it up, and put it into his bosom . . Soon he headed home, but along the way he felt too sleepy to endure the long walk and so stepped into the shade and dozed off for a while. While still on the border between sleep and waking, a man, also quite tall, drew close, stuck his hand into Kahei' s bosom, took the loop of black hair and ran o:ff. At that moment Kahei woke up. The old man said: "It must have been a man who lived in the moun-

. ,, tams.

KICHIBEI's ILLNESS

4. In Yamaguchi village a household head named K.ichi- bei went to Mt. Nekkodachi to cut some bamboo grass. He wrapped the grass into bundles, put it on his back and was about to stand up when the wind came rustling across

the field of bamboo grass. He looked and saw a woman with a baby on her back come out of the woods in the distance and° then walk across the bamboo grass toward him. She was fascinating and, as in the previous section, had long black hair trailing behind her. The cords which fastened the baby to her were made from wisteria vines. Her kimono was of the common striped cloth and the lower part, which was worn out, was patched with a variety of leaves. Her feet did not seem to touch the grow1d. She approached unhesitatingly, passed indifferently before him and went off into the distance. His illness which began from the fright of that moment continued for a long time and he recently died.

FUEFUKI-TOGE

5. Since ancient times there has been a mountain road called Fuefuki-toge (flute-blowing pass) going from the Tono district over to Tanohama and Kirikiri on the coast. The pass is a shortcut from Yamaguchi village1 to Rok- koushi, but in recent years people going over the pass have always met a mountain man or a mountain woman on the way. Out of fear people have come to use the pass less and less. FinaIIy, a different road in the direction of Sakaigi-toge (boundary-tree pass) was opened. Now people use only this new road, which has a post for changing horses at W ayama, even though it is over seven kilometers longer.

1 Yamaguchi (mountain entrance) village got its iwne from the fact that it is the starting point to Mt. Rokkoushi.

THE CHOJA' S DAUGHTER

6. In the Tono district a wealthy farmer is still referred to as a choja. One day the daughter of a choja at Nukanomae 1

in the village of Aozasa was suddenly kidnapped and hidden by someone. A number of years later a hunter from the same village went into the mowitains and one day he came across a woman alone. Frightened, he was about to shoot her when she said:

"Aren't you my uncle? Don't shoot!" In surprise he looked more carefully and realized that she was the favorite daughter of the choja.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. She replied: "I was brought here by someone and I am

his wife now. I have had many children, but he eats them all and now I am all alone. I will spend the rest of my life here with him, but don't tell anyone about me. You are in danger now so please leave at once."

It is said that he ran off without finding out where she was living.

l Many stories mention heaps of rice-bran found near village boWld- :irics. Nukanomae refers to the village in front of nukanomori (rice-bran forest). Nultanomori is the same as the nukanotsuka (rice-bran mounds) found in various areas. There arc many nukanomori and nukanotsuka in the Tono region.

THB DREADFUL MAN

7. The daughter of a peasant from Kamigo village went into the mountains to gather chestnuts one day and never retumed. Her family, thinking she had died, conducted a funeral ceremony using the girl's pillow as a symbol for her. Two or three years passed. One day a man from the village went hunting on the lower part of Mt. Goya and unex- pectedly came across the girl in a cave which was concealed

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by large rocks. They were both surprised and when he asked why she was living there, she replied, "I came to the mountain to gather nuts and was carried off by a.dreadful man who brought me here. I have thought of escaping but haven't had a chance."

He asked, "What does he look like?" "To me he looks like any ordinary person but he is very

tall and the color of his eyes is somewhat threatening. I have had several children, but he says that the children don't resemble him and are not his. They are perhaps eaten or killed, but in any case they are all taken off somewhere.''

Again he asked, "Is he really human like us?" "His clothing and appearance are quite common. Only

the color of his eyes is a little strange. Once or twice between market days, 1 four or five people just like him get together, talk about something and then go off. Because he brings food and things from somewhere, he must go into town. He may even return while we are talking."

It is said the hrmter was frightened and returned home. More than twenty years have passed since then.

1 If the Tono market was held six times a month this would DlC3D that there would be five days between markets.

THE OLD WOMAN OP SAMUTO

8. In Japan, as in other countries, women and children playing outside at dusk often disappear in mysterious ways. In a peasant household at Samuto in Matsuzaki village, a young girl disappeared leaving her straw sandals under a pear tree. One day, thirty years later, when relatives and neighbors gathered at the house, she reappeared very old and haggard. When asked why she returned, she replied:

"I just wanted to see everyone and came back. Now, I

am off again. Farewell." Again she disappeared without leaving a trace. On that

day the wind blew very hard. The people of Tono even now, on days when the wind roars, say that it is a day when the old woman of Samuto is likely to return. 1

1 The term ltamikakushi, which refers to this phenomenon of women and children disappc:uing, means "hidden by a kami." This divine kid- napping is said to be done by ttngu, foxes, demons and kami. When someone is abducted the villagers conduct a search while beating drums and calling oat the person's name.

YANOSUKE THE FLUTE PLAYER

9. An old man named Y anosuke Kikuchi led packhorses when he was young. He was a good flute player and would play during the night while leading the horses. One slightly cloudy moonlit night, when he was going with a group of friends over Sakaigi-togc (bormdary-tree pass) on the way to the seashore, he took out his flute and played just as they were passing above a place called Oyachi. 1 Oyachi is in a deep valley, thick with white birch trees, and below it there is a swamp with reeds growing. Just then someone at the bottom of the valley cried out in a loud voice, "Hey, you' re good!" It is said that everyone turned pale and ran off.

1 Yadri is :m Ainu term for swamp.

10. Y anosuke went back into the mountains to gather mushrooms and built a small hut in which to stay. Late at night he heard a woman scream out in the distance and his heart began to pound. Upon returning to his village he found that on that same night, at that very same moment, his younger sister had been killed by her son. ·

11. The yoru1ger sister lived with her only son. When relations between the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law got bad, the daughter-in-law would sometimes return to her parents' village ·and not come back. One day around noon the daughter-in-law was in the house sleeping when all of a sudden the son said: "I can't let my mother live any longer, I have to kill her today." He picked up a hand sickle used for cutting grass and began sharpening it. Seeing that he was serious, the mother began to reason and apologize, but he would not listen at all. The daughter- in-law now awakened and pleaded with him tearfully, but he would not yield. Then, seeing that his mother was about to try and flee, he locked all the exits in front and back. When she said she had to go to the bathroom he went and brought a portable commode from outside and said, "Do it in this." As evening approached she realized the end was near and crouched by the side of the open hearth and just cried. The son took the well sharpened sickle and ap- proached her. First he took aim at cutting the left shoulder but the tip of the sickle hit the fire shdf above the hearth and did not cut deep. It was at that moment that Yanosuke, who was off deep in the mow1tains, heard the scream of the mother. The second blow struck the right shoulder and as she held out against death the village people ran up in surprise. They grabbed the son, immediately, called the police and handed him over. (It was still the period when the police carried sticks.) When the mother saw her son captured and being taken away, she, in the midst of a cascade of flowing blood, said: "I want to die without harboring any hatred. Please forgive my son Magoshiro." Everyone who heard this was deeply moved. When being taken away, Magoshiro started swinging the sickle again and chased the policeman. Because he was considered

insane, he was released and went home. He is still alive in the village.

OLD OTO OPEN HEA_RTH

12. There is an old man named Otozo Nitta at Yama- guchi in Tsuchibuchi village. The villagers call him Oto-jii or "old Oto." He is about ninety, sick and near death. Being old, he knows the old talcs of the Tono district well. He always says he wants to tell the stories to someone so they will not be lost, but no one wants to go near him to listen to them because he smells so bad. He is especially knowledgeable about the biographies of lords of various minor fortresses, 1 about the rise and fall of households, a variety of traditional songs from the district, legends from deep in the mountains, and tales of people living back in the mowuains. UnfortWlately, old Oto died early in the sum- mer of 1909.

1 These fortresses were small and very often no larger than the com- pound of a well-to-do local lord.

13. This same old man lived alone in the mountains for several decades. He had come from a good family but squandered his inheritance away du.ring his youth. He gave up al) hopes for a worldly life, built himself a hut above a mountain pass, and made a living selling a sweet fermented rice drink to travelers. Packhorse drivers treated the old man like their father and were close to him. Whenever the old man had a little extra money he would go down into town and drink. He wore a short coat made from red blanket material. He also put on a red hood. When drunk, on his way home, he would dance in the middle of the

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town but the police~ would not say anything. Having grown old and infirm, he returned to his native village and led a pitiful existence. Al] of his children had gone to Hokkaido and he was alone.

nm DEITY OKUNAI-SAMA 14. In every village there is always one old household which worships the kami 9kunai-sama. 1 This household is referred to as daido. The image of this kami is carved from mulberry wood and has a face drawn on it. A hole is punched in the middle of a square piece of cloth and it is pulled down over the image to make the garment. On the 15th day of the New Year the immediate neighbors gather in this house to worship the kami.

There is also the kami Oshira-sama.2 The image of this kami is made in the same way and it is also worshiped when the villagers get together on the 15th day of the New Year. At this ceremony they sometimes put white powder on the face of the kami image.

There is always a tiny room about one by two meters in the house of the daido. Those who sleep in this room at night always experience something strange. It's quite common for the pillow to get turned over somehow. Sometimes the sleeping person is grabbed and awakened or is shoved out of the room. No on·e is permitted to sleep quietly there.

1 Okunai-sama is the howehold deity that looks after the fate of the family. Other howehold deities watch over the hearth, the sleeping area and the toilet.

3 Oshira-sama, an agricultural deity, is worshiped throughout north- ern Japan.

OKUNAl·SAMA OSHIRA·SAMA

15. Good fortune comes to those who worship Okunai- sama. At K.ashiwazaki in Tsuchibuchi village there is a choja named Abe and the villagers refer to his house as "the house of rice fields." One year this household was short of hands for the rice planting. The sky warned of rain the next day and just as they were considering leaving some fidds unplanted, all of a sudden a short boy came up from somewhere. He offered to help work, so they let him work as he pleased. At lunch time they called to him to come and eat but they could not find him. Later he reappeared and he worked busily the whole day in the fields. Thus, they finished the planting on that day. They did not know where the boy had come from, but in the evening when they invited him to come and eat, he disappeared with the setting sw1. When they returned home they found the verandah covered with muddy little footprints that led into the parlor and up to the altar for the Okunai-sama. Thinking, "Well, what next!" they opened the door of the altar and found the image of the kami covered from the waist down with mud from the fields.

16. Many households worship Konse-sama. The object worshiped for this kami is similar to that of Okoma-sama. There are also many Okoma-sama shrines in the villages. A phallus made of stone or wood is worshiped. At present this custom is being practiced less and less.

ZASmKIW ARASm

17. Among the older households there are quite a few houses that have the spirit, Zashikiwarashi (parlor child). At the oldest this kami is 12 or 13 years o1d. From time to time it reveals itself to pcop1e. At Iide in Tsuchibuchi village Kanjiiro Imabuchi's daughter, who goes to a girls' high school, recently returned home for vacation. One day in the dark corridor all of a sudden she bumped into Zashikiwarashi and was badly shocked. Zashikiwarashi was definitely a male child.

At Yamaguchi in the same village the mother of Mr. Sasaki was sewing alone one day when she heard the sound of paper rustling in the next room. That room was only for the master of the house, but he was in Tokyo. Thinking it strange, she opened the wooden door and looked in, but no one was there. After having been seated a short time, again there was the sound of someone sniffing. She con- cluded that it must be Zashikiwarashi. It had been rumored for sometime that Zashikiwarashi resided in this house. The house that this kami lives in is said to become rich and prestigious.

18. Zashikiwarashi can also be a girJ child. It has been traditionally said that there are two girl kami in the house of Magozaemon Yamaguchi, also an old house in Yama-

KONSE·SAMA

guchi. One year a certain man from the village was on his way back from town and near Tomeba bridge he met two lovely girls whom he had never seen before. They were

walking pensively toward him. "Where did you come from?" he asked. "We have come from Magozaemon's in Yamaguchi,"

they replied. "Where are you headed now?" he inquired. "To a certain house in another village," was the reply.

That certain household in a somewhat distant village is now wealthy and the people live well. Hearing this the man conjectured that Magozaemon . was headed for ruin, and it was not too long after that twenty or so people in the family died in one day from mushroom poisoning. Only one seven-year-old girl did not die. She merely grew old without having any children, and recently died

of an illness.

MAGOZABMON 19. Magozaemon was at home one day when he heard

the servants discussing whether or no.t they should .cat some W1usual mushrooms that had grown around a pear tree. Magozaemon, the final master of his household, suggested that it would be best not to eat them, but one manservant said that, "No matter what kind of mushrooms they are, if you put them into a water bucket and mix in hemp reeds there is no chance of poisoning." Everyone agreed with this, and the whole family ate them. The seven-year-old girl was outside on this day absorbed in playing. The fact that she forgot to come home for lunch saved her.

After the sudden death of the master, and while people were stiII at a loss over what to do, relatives from far and near came and took all the household goods, even the soy- bean paste. They ~d that they had loaned money to the family earlier or had some. kind of agreement. This was a choja family, one of the first to establish the village, but in a single morning no trace of it was left.

20. Before this calamity there were various omens. One day when the men were taking out the hay with their pitchforks they found a large snake. The master said not to kill it, but they did not listen and beat it to death. After this there were numerous snakes under the hay and when they wiggled out, the men, partially for amusement, killed them all. Finally, needing a place to throw them they dug a hole, buried them and then made a mound. These snakes are said to have filled any number of straw baskets.

21. Magozaemon, the man mentioned above, was quite a scholar. He had Japanese and Chinese books sent from

Kyoto and was usually absorbed in reading. He was some- what eccentric. One day, he decided to find out how to get on good terms with the "fox" in order to make his house wealthy. First, he built an Inari (fox deity) shrine in his garden and then went himself to Kyoto to obtain the high- est order of the fox deity. After that, everyday without fail, he offered, with his own hands, a piece of the fox's favorite fried bean curd at the shrine and worshiped. Gradually the fox got used to him and did not rW1 away when he approached. It is said he could · reach out and touch the fox on the head. The keeper of the village's Yakushi (Buddha of Healing) Temple would joke and say; "Nothing is offered to our Buddha but it gives more bene- fits than Magozaemon' s kami."

THE WAKE

22. When the great .grandmother of Mr. Sasaki died of old age the relatives assembled to put her into her coffin. Everyone slept together in the parlor that night. The daughter of the dead woman, who was insane and had been cut off from the family, was also in the group. Since it was the custom of the area to consider it taboo to let the fire die out during the period of.mourning, the grand- mother and the mother sat up alone on both sides of the large hearth. The mother put the charcoal basket beside her and from time to time added charcoal to the fire. Suddenly, hearing the sound of footsteps in the direction of the back door, she looked up and saw it was the old woman who had died. She recognized how the bottom of the old woman's kimono, -which dragged because she bent down a lot, was pulled up as usual into a triangle and sewed in front. Other things were also the same, and she

even recognized the striped kimono cloth.Just as she cried, "Oh!" the old woman passed by the hearth where the two women sat and brushed the charcoal basket with the bottom of her kimono. The round basket wobbled as it went round and round. The mother who was a strong- nerved person, turned and watched where she went. Just as the old woman drew close to the parlor where the relatives were asleep, the shrill voice of the mad woman screamed out, "Here comes granny !" The others were awakened by the voice and it is said they were all shocked. 1

1 Y anagit:i himself suggested that this episode was like the play The Intruder (1890) by the Belgian dramatist 3lld critic, Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949). The play is set in a gloomy old chateau and• centers around a blind man· with unusual spiritual power.

23. On the eve of the fourteenth day after the death of the woman mentioned above, the close re1atives assembled and recited sutras until late at night. Just as they were about to return home, they noticed an old woman sitting on the rock at the entrance and facing in the opposite direction. From the appearance of her back, they knew it was the woman who had died. Because so many people saw her, no one doubted it. No one really knew what she had such a deep attachment to.

DAIDO HOUSEHOLDS

24. The old households in various villages are called daido because they moved to the area from the province of Kai in the first year of Daido (A.D. 806). The fact that Saka-no-Uc-no-Tamura-Maro (758-811) made his expedition into · tli,e northern areas during the Daido era,and that the province of Kai · was the main territory of the Nambu

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family, seem to have gotten mixed up in the usage of the term daido. 2

1 It is also possible that daido could be written with different Chinese characters and refer to a family or household.

25. When the ancestors of the daido first arrived in this region it was on the last day of the year. They hastened to prepare the pine branches for the New Year, s decora- tions for the entrance, but they no sooner got one side :finished than it was already the first day of the New Year. Even today these families, as an auspicious act, leave one side of the entrance decorations lying on the ground. Then they arrange the sacred rope made from rice straw.

THE ABES

26. The Abes, who-are called "the house of rice fields of Kashiwazaki," are an especially well-known old family. There was a very talented wood carver in one of the earlier generations, and a lot of the Shinto and Buddhist images in the Tono district were made by him.

THE STONE GRAIN MILL

27. The Hei River which has its source in Mt. Hayachine flows northeast and empties into the sea at Miyako. The river basin is called the district of the Lower Hei. The previous master of the Ike-no-hata (beside the pond) household in Tona was on his way back from Miyako

. one day. Just as he was passing by the deep spot ofHaradai in the Hei River a young woman appeared and handed him a letter. She told him that if he went to a swamp mid-

t ' , I

way up Mt. Monomi which is behind Tono and clapped his hands, the person for whom the letter was intended :would appear. He consented, but on the way he began to feel uneasy about the whole thing. Then he met a pilgrim who opened the Jetter, read it, and said; "If you deliver this letter a great disaster will befall you. You should take a rewritten letter." And the pilgrim gave him a different letter.

When the man took the letter to the swamp and clapped his hands as he had been told to do" sure enough, a woman appeared · and took the letter. As a token of her gratitµde she gave him a very small grain miJI made of stone. She told him that ifhe put a grain of rice into it, and turned it arowid, then gold would collie out of the bottom. With the power of this precious object his household became very wealthy.

But his wife, a greedy person, tried to put a lot of rice into the mill all at once. The mill went arowid of its own accord and then it slipped off into the pool from which the master of the house offered up water to the mill every morning. The mill disappeared. This small pool of water later became a pond and it is still beside the house. They say that this is why the household is referred to as Ike-no- hata.1

1 Tales with a similar motif can be found in Western countries.

TOASTED RICE CAKES

28. It was after the Nambu household had entered Tono that a certain hunter from Tsukumoushi village opened the first path up Mt. Hayachine. Up until this time, no one from the area had ever been up the mountain. The hunter, having deared only half of the path, was staying in a 28

temporary hut he had built half-way up the mountain. One day while eating some rice cakes he had toasted over the fire, someone passing by the hut stopped, and peeked in. Upon careful inspection the hunter saw it was a large stranger with his head shaved. Finally the priest-like man entered the hut and gazed in wonder at the toasting rice cakes. Then, unable to resist, he reached out, took some cakes and ate them. The hunter, quite frightenecL picked up some cakes himself and gave them to the man. The man was pleased and ate them, and when all the cakes were eaten, he left.

Thinking the man would come back again the next day, the hunter placed some white stones that resembled the rice cakes along with the cakes over the fire. They became quite hot.

The man came as expected and ate the rice cakes as he had done the previous day. After he had eaten the rice cakes, he took a hot stone and put it into his mouth in the same way. He rushed out of the hut shocked, and dis- appeared. It is said that later the hunter found the man dead at the bottom of the valley. 1

1 This legend is similar to the talc about the great flood of the Kitak:imi River during the Middle Ages. The Aood was called the "white hair water., became it was considered as the curse of a white haired old woman who had been tricked into eating hot rocks that looked like rice cakes.

LONG-NOSED GOBLINS

29. Mt. Keito is a steep peak in front of Mt. Hayachine. The people in the village at the base of the peak refer to it as Mae- Y akushi. In fear of the tengu, or "long-nosed goblins," that live there, even those who climb Mt. Hayachine do not climb Mt. Keito. The master of the

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Haneto household in Yamaguchi was an intimate friend of Mr. Sasaki's grandfather. He was an eccentric fellow, who in his youth would do such things as cut grass with an axe or tum up the ground with his sickle. He was known· also for his rowdy behavior.

One day he· made a bet and climbed Mae-Y akushi all alone. Upon returning he told the story of how there was a huge rock on the top of the mountain and three giant men were on it. In front of them there were piles of gold and silver. Seeing him approaching they glared frightfully at him. When he said that he had lost his way while climb- ing Mt. Hayachine, one huge man replied, "If so, we should see you off," and they led him down to a spot near the foot of the mountain. They told him to shut his eyes and after a bit, the ijin1_ suddenly disappeared.

1 Iji11 cm have several meanings. It can mean something inhuman, such :is goblins or mow1tain men, but can also refer to foreigners or strangers.

30. A man from Oguni village went to gather some bamboo on Mt. Hayachine one day. Amidst the thick, short bamboo plants he found a large man sleeping all alone. The man had taken off his meter-long bamboo sandals and was lying on his back snoring loudly.

31. Every year in the Tono district many children, es- pecially girls, arc kidnapped by ijin.

THE WHITE DEER

32. There is a sw.amp. back in the mountainous area of

Senba-ga-take (peak of a thousand nights). The valley there is dismal and smells of death, and few who enter these mountains ever come out. Once there was a hunter named Hayato. His children

TENGU

and grandchildren are still alive. He saw a white deer,1 followed it, and spent a thousand nights in the valley. From this came the name of the mountain. The white deer was shot, but ran away to the next mountain where it broke a leg. This mountain is called Mt. Katawa (lame mountain). The deer returned to the former mountain where it finally died. This spot is called Shisuke (dead person), and the Shisuke Gongen worships the white deer.2

1 White animals can be ghosts or messengers for deities. See legend 61

below. 2 Yanagira himself suggested that this tale was reminiscent of the materials in the F11doki. In 713 an imperial edict ordered the various regions to compile descriptions of local history and customs. These reports c:une to be known as the Fudoki. The Hitachi, Harima, Izumo, Bungo and Hizcn Fudoki remain today.

FORBIDDEN MOUNTAINS

33. Should you go and spend a night in the mountains of Shiromi, you would see that late at night it becomes somewhat light. People who have gone to gather mush- rooms in the autumn and stay overnight in the mountains have seen this strange phenomenon. The crash of a big tree falling or the voice of SO!lleone singing can sometimes also be heard in the valley.

These mountains are very high and in May when people go to collect grass reeds, seen from afar, the mountains appear as heaps of blooming paulownia flowers; it is as if they were draped with purple clouds. No one is allowed near this area.

Once a man went mushroom gathering and found a

gold water pipe and a gold dipper deep in the Shiromi mountains. When he tried to carry them he found that they were too heavy, so he tried to chip off the ends with his sickle. This too failed. Planning to come back he cut a notch in a tree. The next day when he came back with others looking for the tree he could not find it and gave up the hunt.

34. Along the mountainous area of Shiromi there is a spot called Hanare-mori (detached woods). One small area called the "choja' s grounds" has no one living there. There is a man who sometimes goes there to make charcoal. One night someone raised the straw mat that hu..11g over the entrance to his hut and peeped in. It was a woman with long trailing hair. In this area it is not unusual to hear the screams of women late at night.

35 .. Mr. Sasaki's grandfather's younger brother went to the Shiromi mountains to gather mushrooms and spent the night there. He saw a woman run across in front of a large wooded area on the other side of the valley. It seemed as though she were racing through the air. He heard her call out "just wait" two times.

THE WOLVES

36. A vicious overaged monkey or wolf is something dreadful to meet. The mountain, Futatsu-isru {two rocks), near Yamaguchi village -is very rocky. One rainy day some children on their way home from primary school looked up a.t the mountain and saw wolves crouched here

and there on top of the rocks. The wolves, one by one, raised up their heads and howled. Seen from the front, they appeared as large as new-born ponies. Seen from behind, it is said, they appeared unusually small. Nothing is more dreadful than the howling of a wol£

37. It used to be that those who led packhorses between Sakaigi and W ayama passes would often come across wolves. At night the drivers usually formed into groups of ten. Since each man could lead from 5 to 7 horses by rope, there were often about 40 or 50 horses altogether at any one time. Once 200 to 300 wolves came after a group and the mountain shook just from the sound of their running. Terribly frightened, the men and the horses gathered together, and the men built fires for protection. Nevertheless, the wolves got into the circle by leaping across the fires. Finally, the drivers removed the ropes from the horses and stretched them arow1d the group. The wolves, seeming to take the ropes for a trap, did not try to jump into the circle any more. The wolves then surrounded the group at a distance and howled until daybreak.

38. A master of an old household, who is still living in Otomo village, heard the howling of vicious old wolves on his way back from town one day, and being drunk he tried to imitate their call. The wolves seemed to come howling after him. He became frightened and hurried home. He went inside, secured the front door and hid. The wolves continued to howl around the house through- out the night. At daybreak he found that the wolves had dug a tunnel under the stable and had devoured seven

of his horses. This family fell into ill fortune from that time on.

39. When still a child, Mr. Sasaki was returning home from the mountains one day with his grandfather, when they saw a large deer dead on the bank of a stream near the village. Its side had been ripped open, and it could not have been dead very long since vapors still streamed from the wound. His grandfather said, "This is for the wolves to eat. I'd like to have the hide, but a vicious wolf is un- doubtedly hiding somewhere nearby, watching. We can't take it."

40. It is said that if the grass is nine cenrimenters long, a wolf can hide himself in it. Along with the changing colors of plants and trees, the wolf's fur changes color with each season.

41. One year Kahei Sasaki from Wano went hunting in Oyachi, near Sakaigi pass. Oyachi is a plain extending out from the area of Shisuke. It was late autumn and the leaves of the trees had already fallen, leaving the mountains bare. Suddenly, Kahei saw countless hundreds of wolves running in a pack in his direction from the opposite peak. He was filled with fear and climbed to the top of a tree under which he could hear the rumbling of the pack of wolves as they ran off to the north. Ever since then, there has been a tremendous decline in the number of wolves in the Tono district.

42. At the foot of Mt. Rokkoushi there are places named Obaya and ltagoya. These hills are covered with the grass reeds used for thatched roofs. People from various villages go to cut the reeds. One autumn when the people from Iide village were cutting reeds, .they found three young wolves in a cave. They killed two and took one back with them. It was from that day on that the wolves constantly attacked the horses belonging to the people of Iide. How- ever, the wolves did not harm the people or horses of any other villages. The people of Iide met and decided to

begin a wolf hunt. One villager sometimes wrest1ed and was quite proud

ofhis strength. He went out onto the field to challenge the wolves, but the male wolves remained in the distance and would not come to fight. When a female wolf came charging out at the man named Tetsu (iron), he took off his jacket, wrapped it around his arm and then, all at once, thrust his arm into the wolf's mouth. The wolf bit down on his arm. And while thrusting his arm further into the wolf, he called to the people, but out of fear no one, no one at all, would go near the fight. By now Tetsu's arm had penetrated to the wolf's stomach, and the wolf, in great pain, gnawed down into Tetsu's arm bone. The wolf died on the spot and Tetsu died shortly after being carried

away.

THE BEAR

43. There was also the following article in the Teno newspaper the year before last. A man named Kuma (bear) from Kamigo village went hunting with his friend one snowy day on Mt. Rokkoushi. Deep into the valley they found bear tracks, and split up to search for the bear.

i' I I , I I I

Kwna went off towards the peak and soon saw a large bear in the shadow of a rock, looking in his direction. It was too close to fire his rule, so he threw it away and grappled with the bear. They rolled over and over in the snow down into the valley. His companion wanted to help, but didn't have the strength. Finally the two of them fell into the mountain stream and Kuma sank down into the water beneath the bear. At that instant the com- panion killed the bear.

Kuma did not drown. He had been slashed by the bear' s claws in several places, but managed to survive.

MISCHIEVOUS MONKEYS

44. Next to Mt. Rokkoushi there is a gold mine on the mountain above the village of Hashino. The man who makes his living producing charcoal for this mine is also a good flute player. One day he was in his hut, lying on his back playing the flute, when someone raised up the straw mat hanging over the entrance to the hut. Surprised, he looked up and saw a vicious, old monkey. He got up frightened and the monkey sauntered away.

45. When old and vicious, monkeys resemble people. They become desirous of females and often steal off the village women. They coat their fur with pine-resin and then sprinkle sand on it. This makes their fur and skin like armor and even bullets cannot penetrate it.

46. A man who lives at Hayashizaki in Tochinai village is about fifty years old now. This happened about ten

years ago. He went to shoot deer on Mt. Rokkoushi. When he played a deer-call flute, there was a vicious, old morikey who thought it was a real deer, and it came down from the summit, feeling its way through the bamboo grass with its big mouth wide open. Frightened out ofhis wits, the hunter stopped playing the flute, and the monkey soon ran off in the direction of the valley.

47. In this region children are usually threatened with the words, "The vicious old monkey from Mt. Rokkoushi is going to come!" There are many monkeys on this mountain. If you go to see the Ogase Falls, they are all over the trees on the cliffs. When they see someone, they run away, throwing nuts and things at him.

HERMIT PASS

48. There are many monkeys at Sennin-toge (hermit pass), and they make fun of passersby by, among other things, thro:wing stones at them.

49. It is about nine kilometers up and nine kilometers down Sennin-toge. Midway up the pass there is a shrine in which the statue of a hermit is worshiped. There is the custom from old times for travelers to write on the shrine walls the kinds of strange events they have expcrienc~d on the mountain. For example, there was, "I am from Echigo province and on a certain night of a certain month I met a young girl with trailing hair on this mountain road. She looked at me and smiled." Or there were diings such as, "I was made fun of by monkeys

37 ! i

here," and "I met with three robbers."

THE BIRDS OF TONO

50. The kakko flower blooms on the Shisuke mountains. This flower is rare in the Teno district. In May when the kanko-dori bird calls, girls and children go to the mountains to gather these flowers. When it is pickled in vinegar, it turns purple. As with the ground-cherry, one can play with the kakko by blowing it to make sounds. The gather- ing of these flowers is the greatest source of pleasure for

· yowig people.

51. A variety of birds live in the mountains, but the one with the loneliest voice is the otto (husband) bird. It sings on summer nights. It is said that pack drivers and others coming over the pass from the seashore at Ozuchi hear this bird off in the bottom of the valley.

Once there was the daughter of a choja, who was intimate with the son of another choja. While they were off wander- ing in the mountains one day, the young man disappeared. Into the evening and until late at night, the girl walked around looking for him, but to no avail. It is said she eventually became the otto bird. The bird's song, "otto-n," " " " h b d " " h b d." I . otto-n, means my us an , my us an ts voice gradually grows hoarse and sounds quite pathetic.

52. The umaoi-dori (horse-driving . bird) resembles the cuckoo, but it is a little larger. Its feathers are red tinged with brown, and its shoulders are striped like the rope ~cd for horses. Its breast is marked like the rope used over

the horse's mouth.

This bird was once . a servant in . the home of a choja. Once the servant took the horses to the mountain, and when he started to return home, he found he was missing one horse. He walked around the mountain throughout the night looking for the horse, and he finally turned into this particular kind of bird. In this region the cry "iiho !" "iiho !" is the sound of someone driving horses in the fields.

On certain years the umaoi-dori comes to the village and sings; and when this happens, it is a sign that there wi11 be a famine. This bird can be heard deep in the mountains where it usually resides.

53. The kakko (a sma11 dove-like bird) and the cuckoo were once sisters. One day the kakko, the elder of the two, dug up some potatoes and baked them. She ate the hard outer part hersdf and gave the soft inside part to her younger sister. The younger sister thought the part her elder sister had eaten must have been the better part, and so she killed her sister with a kitchen knife. The elder sister instantly changed into a bird and flew off singing, " k " " k " Th d " k " "th h d gan o, gan o. e soun , gan o means c ar part" in the local dialect.

The younger sister, realizing she had actually been given the good part, was filled with remorse. She too turned into a bird which, it is said, sang "hocho-kaketa," which means "I cut with a kitchen knife." In Tono the cuckoo is called "hocho-kake." In the area of Morioka City, the cuckoo is said to sing, "docha-e-tondcta," which means, "Where did she fly to?"

THE WEAVING SOUND IN THE WATER

54. There are many dreadful legends about the numerous deep pools of water in the Hei River. Kawai (rivers meeting) village is near the location where the Hci and Oguni Rivers meet. The servant of a choja in this village was cutting trees on a hill above one of these pools of water one day, when his axe fel) off into the water. It was his master's axe so he went into the water to search for it. Near the bottom of the pool he heard a sound, and follow- ing it, found a house in the shadows of the rocks. Inside, a beautiful girl was weaving at a loom, and the axe was leaning against the loom. He asked if she would return it, and as she turned toward him, he realized that she was his master's daughter who had died two or three years earlier. She spoke to him saying, "I will return the axe, but don't tell anyone that I am here. In return I will make you wealthy so that you can live without being a servant."

No one knew the reason, but he had an unusual streak of wins at various forms of gambling. The money piled up and before long he quit being a servant, stayed home, and became a fairly well-off peasant. But he was quite forgetful,.and did not heed what the girl had said. One day when he passed the same pool of water on his way to town, he recalled the earlier incident and told those with him about what he had experienced earlier. The rumor soon spread throughout the district. From that time on his household fdl into misfortune and he spent the rest of his life as a servant to his previous master.

No one knew what the master of the household was thinking when he, among other things, kept pouring boiling water into the deep pool. Nevertheless, it was all to no avail.

THE KAPPA

55. Many kappa ( ugly water creatures) live in rivers. There are especially large numbers in the Saru-ga-ishi Riv~. In a household beside. the river in Matsuzaki village women have become pregnant with kappas' children for up to two generations. When they are born, these children are hacked to pieces, put into small wine casks, and buried in the ground. They are grotesque.

The home of a certain woman's husband was in Niibari village. This house was beside a river. The head of the household told people the following details. "One day the whole family went into the fields. In the evening when they were about to return home they found a woman crouching beside the river smiling. The next day during the noon break the same thing happened again. This happened day after day, and gradually the rumor spread that someone from the village was visiting the woman at night. At . first the visits were only when her husband was away driving packhorses to the seaside, but later the visits came even when she was sleeping beside her husband. Gradually, the idea that it must be a kappa became stronger and stronger, and all the relatives gathered together to protect the woman. However, this too failed •. The husband's mother also went and slept at the wife's side. Late at night when she heard the wife's laughing voice, and knew that the visitor had come~ she found it impossible to move. There was nothing anyone could do.

"There was great difficulty in her giving birth, and some- one suggested that if they filled a horsefeed tub witli water and put her in it, it would ease the delivery. They tried this and it worked. The .child had webbed hands. It is said that the mother of this woman had also given birth to the child of a kappa."

Some say such an occurrence is fate, and is not limited to two or three generations. This household was wealthy and had a warrior class surname. They had even sometimes served in the village assembly.

56. A child something like a kappa was also born into a certain household in Kamigo village. There was 110 definite proof it was a kappa's child, but it had bright red skin and a large mouth. It was indeed a disgusting child. Loathing the child and wanting to get rid of it, someone took it to a fork in the road and left it. But after having walked only a few meters away, the person realized that it was valuable and that money could be made by showing it. When he returned for it he found it had already been hidden some- how and was nowhere to be seen.

57. It's not unusual to find the footprints of kappa in the sarid along the bank of a river. This is especially true on a day after it rains. A kappa's foot, just like that of the monkey, has the large toe separated off. The footprint is like a human hand print. It is less than eight centimeters in length. It is said that the tip of the toe doesn't leave a distinct mark, as does a person's.

58. Near the Obako pool of the Kogarase River, there is a house ca1led the New House. One day a child took a horse to cool off in the pool and. then went off to play. While he was away playing, a kappa appeared and tried to pull the horse deeper into the water; but, instead, the kappa was pulled out of the water by the horse and taken off to

the stable. The kappa hid under the horse's feed bucket. The people of the house, thought it strange that the

bucket was upside down. They tilted it back a little, and when they did, a kappa's hand came out. All of the villagers gathered to discuss whether to kill it or release it. Finally, they let it go with a firm promise from the kappa that thereafter it would not make mischief with the village ;horses. This kappa has now left the village, and is said to be Jiving in a pool at Aizawa Falls.1

1 Variations of this legend can be found throughout in Japan.

'59. In other regions the kappa's face is said to be green, .but in Tono the kappa's face is_ red. When she was young, Mr. Sasaki' s great-grandmother was playing with friends -in the garden when she saw a boy with a dark red face .among the three walnut trees. It was a kappa. Those big walnut trees are still $ere. The area around the property :is now also filled with walnut trees.

,l{AHBI nm HUNTER •60. An old man named Kahei from Wano village was in a pheasant-hunting blind waiting for pheasant to appear. .A fox kept coming out and chasing off the pheasant. He :got angry and decided to shoot the fox, but when he took .aim, the fox turned toward him and looked at him in- .differently. He pulled the trigger but the gun did not fire. Upset, he examined the rifle to find that, without his zealizing it, the barrel had been filled, from one end to. the .other, with dirt.

61. The same man went to Mt. Rokkoushi and came across a white deer. There is the legend that the white deer is a kami. He figured that if he only wounded the deer,. and did not kill it, he would surely be cursed. Being a funous hunter and disliking criticism from society, he resolved to shoot the deer. He shot and was sure he had hit it, but the deer did not move. Again, he got very upset. He took out a gold bullet he usually carried either to ward off evil or to use in a crisis. He wrapped mugwort around it and fired, but the deer, as before, did not move.

Thinking the situation strange, he went closer to look. He found that what he had shot at was a white rock that closely resembled the shape of a deer. He had lived in the mountains for decades and thought he could surely tell the difference between a rock and a deer! He felt that he must have been bewildered by some evil spirit. It is said that this was the one time he considered giving up hunting.

62. Again, the same man was in the mountains one night,. and since he did not have time to construct a hut he took shelterunderalarge tree. He wrapped a rope, used to ward off evil, around himself and the tree three times. He dozed off with his arm around his gun. Late at night he was stirred by a noise and saw something shaped like a huge priest hovering over the top of the tree. It was flapping its red robe-like wings. He shouted, "Heavens!" and fired the gun. Soon it again flapped its wings and flew off. The man's fright at the moment was something unusual. He experienced this same wonder three times. Each time he vowed to give up hunting and offered up prayers to his tutelary deity. However, later he thought it over again and told people he would find it impossible to give up

bunting until he grew old.

THB MYSTERIOUS MA YOI-GA

-63. Mr. Miura of Oguni is the richest man in the village. 'Two or three generations earlier, the household was poor :and the master's wife rather stupid. One day the wife went gathering butterbur along the small stream that -flowed in front of the gate. Because there were not many ·good plants there, she gradually went back deeper into the valley. All of a sudden she looked up, and there was a house with a fine black gate. She entered the gate hesi- tantly. She saw a large garden with red and white flowers blooming and many hens rwming about. In the back of the garden there was a shed with many cows and a stable with many horses. There were no people anywhere. :Finally she entered the house through the main entrance. In the adjoining room she found many red and black -serving trays and bowls. A charcoal brazier and a tea kettle, with the water boiling briskly, could be seen in the inner room. Nevertheless, there was not a trace of anyone. Suddenly she became! frightened. Thinking that this might be the home of a mountain man she ran off and returned home. She told people about what. she had seen, but no -one would believe it.

Again, another day while she was washing things at the "hank of the stream in front of the gate, a red bowl came floating down from up-stream. Because it was so beautiful ·she lifted it out of the water. Since she thought she would ·be scolded if she used this unclean bowl as tableware she put it into the grain box and used it to measure rice. As -soon as she began to measure grain with this bowl, the _grain never decrease in volume. The family thought this

phenomenon strange, and when they asked her the reason,. she told them for the first time how she had picked the bowl out of the stream. From then on the household had good fortune and it became the Miura household of today.

In Tona a strange house in the mountains is called a mayoi-ga (a house found when one loses his way). Anyone who finds a mayoi-ga is to take anything he likes from among the household objects and domestic animals. The house is shown to the person only in order to give him fortune. It is believed that because the woman was not greedy and did not steal anything from the house, the bowl came floating to her of its own accord.

64. Kanesawa village, which is at the foot of the Shiromi mountains, is especially deep in the mountains for the Kam.ihei region, and hence few people travel through the village. Six or seven years ago a man from this village was adopted into a house at Yamazaki in Tochinai village to be the husband of the daughter. The husband got lost on a mountain path one day on his way back to his own family. He also came across a mayoi-ga. The appearance of the house, the numerous cows, horses and hens, the bloom- ing of the red and white flowers-everything was just like the house in the previous story. In the same way he entered through the main entrance, and there was the room with the red and black serving trays and bowls set out. The inner room had a tea kettle with the water boiling briskly and it appeared as if someone was about to make tea. He thought there must be someone in the privy or somewhere around. At first he was dazed, but then he grew more and more terrified. He left the house and finally went back to· Oguni village. In Oguni no one believed the story when

they heard it, but in Yamaz~i the people-thought it had to be a mayoi-ga. They thought that if they went and brought back the serving trays or bowls, they would become choja. The husband took the lead and they all went back into the mountains in search of the house. They came to the spot where he said the gate had been. but there was nothing to be seen and thus they returned home empty-handed. Nothing was ever heard of the husband becoming rich.

THE WARRIOR ABE-NO-SADATO

65. Mt. Hayachine is a granite mountain. On the side of the mountain that faces Oguni there is a rock called, "The Castle of Abe." It is halfway up a steep cliff and it is not -an easily accessible place. It is said that even now the mother of Abe-no-Sadato 1 lives there. On nights when it rains it is said that one can hear the sound of the door on the cave being shut. The people in Oguni and Tsukumoushi say that when tlie lock of The Castle of Abe sounds, it will rain the next day.

t Abc-no-S:ulat6 (1019-1062). the son of Abc-no-Yoritoki (d. 1057), received a district in the Iwate region from his father and was engaged in a number of battles for the area. He fought with Minamoto-no- Yoshiie (1039-1106), later mentioned here by his other name, Hlchmwl Taro.

66. The starting point for the ascent of Mt. Hayachine, on the Tsukun1oushi side, also has a rocky cave called the "Abe Residence." It is known that Abe-no-Sadato was closely associated with Mt. Hayachine. At the starting point for the ascent on the Oguni side there arc three earth mounds. They are said to be the graves ofHachiman

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Taro's vassals who died in battle.

67. There are many other legends about Abe-no-Sadato. There is a vast plain about ten kilometers back in the moun- tain_s from Yamaguchi on the border between Tsuchibuchi village and Kurihashi village (once called Hashino). In that area there is a place named Sadato.

There is a marsh and it is said Sadato brought his horses there to cool off. Some also say that this is where Sadato made his camp. The scenery of the area is beautiful and the eastern coastline can be seen quite wel1 from there.

68. The Abe household in Tsuchibuchi vi11age is said to have descended from Sadato. At one time the household was very prosperous. Even now there is a moat with water surrounding the grounds, and there are numerous swords and elaborate horse harnesses in the house. The present household head, Y oemon Abe is now the second or third wealthiest man in the village and a member of the village assembly.

There are many other descendants of Abe. There are descendants in the vicinity of the Abe fortress in Morioka; one household is near a bamboo water-retaining wall on the Kuriya River. There are the remains of a fortress at a bend in the Kogarase River, some four hundred meters north of the Abe house in Tsuchibuchi village. The fortress was called Hachimanzawa and it is said that this is where Hachiman Taro once had his camp. From here, on the way to the town ofTono, there is a mountain called Mt. Hachi- man. On its summit, facing the Hachimanzawa fortress, there are the remains of another fortress. This is said to be 48

where Sadato made his camp. These two fortresses are about three kilometers apart and there are tales of bow and arrow battles between them. Lots of arrowheads have been dug up in the area. Between these two fortresses there is the community of Nitakai. In the days of these battles, the area was full of reeds and the earth, being soft and watery, would give way and shake. One time when Hachiman Taro was going through this area, he saw how the troops of both friend and enemy had plenty of rice grud (kayu), and he said, "So this is nita-kayu (hot rice grud) is it?" This is how the community got its name.

The small river flowing just beyond Nitakai village is called the Naru River. On the other side of the river there is the village of Ashiraga (Foot Washing River). It is said that the name of the village comes from the fact that Hachiman Taro washed his feet in the Naru River.

WITCHCRAPT AND RITUAL

69. In present day Tsuchibuchi village, there are two households called daido. Mannojo Ohora is the master of the daido in Yamaguchi now. His mother-in-law, named Chide, is over 80 and still healthy. She is Mr. Sasaki's grandmother's elder sister. Skille4 at witchcraft, she has shown Mr. Sasaki how she can cast a spclJ and kill a snake or drop a bird that is perched in a tree. Last year, on January 15th by the old calendar, the old woman told this story: "Once upon a time there was a poor farmer. He had no wife but did have a beautiful daughter. He also had one horse. The daughter loved the horse, and at night she would go to the stable and sleep. Finally, she and the horse became husband and wife. One night the father learned of this, and the next day without saying

anything to the daughter, he took the horse out and killed it by hanging it from a mulberry tree. That night the daughter asked her father-why the horse was not anywhere ·around, and she learned of the act. Shocked, and filled with grief, she went to the spot beneath the mulberry tree and cried while clinging to the horse's head. The father abhorring the sight, took an axe and chopped off the horse's head from behind. Then all at once, the daugh- ter, still clinging to the horse's head, flew off to the heavens. It was from this time on that Oshira-sama became a kami. The image of this kami was made from the mulberry branch on which the horse was hanged. There are three of these images. The one made from the thick end of the branch is in the daido household ofYamaguchi. This is the elder sister kami. The image made from the center of the branch was in the house of a commoner called Gonjiiro in Yamazaki. Mr. Sasaki's aunt married into the family, but now the household has died out and the whereabouts of the kami isn't known. The younger sister kami image is made from the small end of the branch and is said to be in Tsukumoushi village now."

70. The same old woman tells that the kami, Okunai-sama, is always present in households that have Oshira-sama. Nevertheless, there are some households where there is no Oshira-sama and only an Okunai-sama. Depending upon the household, the images of the kami differ. The Okunai- sama in the daido family of Yamaguchi is a wooden image. The Okunai-sama in Tanie Haneishi' s house in Yamaguchi is a scroll. The one in "the house of rice fields" is also a wooden image. In the daido household of Iide they have no Oshira-sama, but do have an Okunai-sama.

71. ·The old ·woman who rdated this story is an avid devotee of the Amida Buddha, but she is different from the usual Amida Buddhist. Her belief is a kind of heretical one. She informs believers in the ways of the faith and they maintain a strict secrecy about it and do not even inform parents or children about these rules and techniques. This belief has no relation to Buddhist temples or priests, and is only a gathering of

OSHIRA-SAMA

ordinary peasants. There are not many of them. Tanie Haneishi herself is a member of the group. On special days of observance for the Amida Buddha the believers wait until everyone is asleep, and late at night, they meet and . offer up prayers in a hidden room. They are skilled at sorcery and incantations, and hold some power over the village.

KAKURA-SAMA

72. The area called Kotobata in Tochinai village is in a swamp deep in the mountains. There are only five houses in this area which is on the upper reaches of a tributary of the Kogarase River. It is about seven kilometers from here to the dwellings in Tochinai. There is a mound at the entrance to Kotobata, and on it there is a seated image made of wood. This image is about the size of a person. It used to be inside a shrine but now it is exposed to the rain. The · people call it Kakura-sama. The children make a plaything of it by pulling it down, throwing it into the river, and dragging it along the road. Now the nose and mouth are no longer distinguishable. If someone scolds

the children and res'trains them from playing with the image, it is said a curse will be cast on him and he will become sick.1

1 Symbols of kami and Buddhist images like to play with children and get angry if someone tries to interfere.

73. There are many wooden images of Kakura-sama in the Tono district. There are also some in the area ofNishi- nai in Tochinai. Some people also remember seeing images at a place called Ohora in Yamaguchi. Kakura-sama is not worshiped by anyone. It is crudely carved and its robes and head decorations are not clear.

74. The Kakura-sama of Tochinai, mentioned above, can be either 1arge or small~ One village in Tsuchibuchi has three or four of these images. No matter whose Kakura- sama it is, it is a wooden image in a sitting position roughly hewn and formless. Still, it is possible to discern that it has a face like a person. Kakura-sama used to be the name of the "place" where numerous /eami would rest while on a journey. However, now the "kami" there is called by th.at name.

THE MATCHSTICK FACTORY

75. Up until a few years ago there was a matchstick factory on a choja's property in Hanaremori. After dark a woman would come to the doorway of the shed, look at the people, and laugh in a scary, vulgar way. The workers could not endure the loneliness, and the factory was finally moved to Yamaguchi. Later, again in the same

mountain area, someone set up a hut for cutting wood for railroad ties. One night a laborer strayed off, and after having returned, remained in ?- dazed state for some time. After this incident four or five other workers kept going off somewhere. Later, they said that a woman came and led them off somewhere. It is reported that after returning they did not remember anything for two or three days.

THE GOLD MINE

76. The tenn choja-yashiki refers to what remains of where a choja once lived. There is also a mound there called nukamori (rice-bran forest). It is said that this mound was formed from the rice husks thrown away by the choja household. There is a five-leafed utsugi bush on this mound and it is said there is gold buried under it. Even now there are rare cases of people searching for the location of the utsugi. The choja was perhaps one time connected with a gold mine, and there is still iron slag in the area. Not too far off on a nearby mountain there is the Ondoku Gold Mine.

CHOZABURO OF YAMAGUCm

77. Chozaburo Tajiri of Yamaguchi is the wealthiest . man in Tsuchibuchi village. According to the aged head of this family, when he was a little over 40 the son of old Ohide died. On the night of the funeral, after everyone had finished their prayers to Amida Buddha, Chozaburo, being a talkative type, lingered behind. When he got up to go out there was a man sleeping under the eaves, using the stone at the base of the drain pipe as a pillow.

Chozaburo looked closely but did not know the man, who seemed to be dead. It was a moonlit night, and the man seemed to be on his back with his knees pulled up and his mouth open. Being a bold fellow, Chozabur6 nudged him.with his foot, but the man didn't move at all. The man was blocking the path, and since there was no other way to go, he stepped over him and went home.

Chozabtiro went back to the spot the next morning, but naturally, there was not a trace of the man and no one else had seen anything. The shape and location of the rock used as a pillow was just as Chozaburo remembered it from the night before. He said that he should have touched the man with his hand, but because he was somewhat afraid, he only nudged him with his foot. He could not imagine who it could have been.

CHOZO THE SERVANT

78. According to the same person, a servant in the house, Chozo from Yamaguchi, is now over 70 years of age and still alive. One night he went out for some fun and was coming back late when in front of his master's gate, which stood facing the Ozuchi highway, he met a person coming from the coast. The person was wearing a straw snow cape. As the man drew near and then stopped, Chozo, somewhat suspicious, watched him. The man crossed over the road and shot off in the direction of the fields. Chozo thought there was a hedge there, and looking carefully, sure enough there it was ! All of a sudden he became terri- fied, ran into the house, and told his master of the incident. Later he heard that at the same moment he had seen the stranger, a certain person from Niihari village had fallen off his horse on the way back from the coast and died.

L-SHAPED HOUSE

79. Chozo's father was also called Chozo. They had been servants in the Tajiri household for generations. Now Chozo and his wife served together. When he was young, Chozo went out to enjoy himself one evening and came back just after sundown. Just as he entered the gate he saw the shadow of a man near the everyday entrance. The man stood with his arms folded inside his bosom. His empty sleeves hung down. His face was indistinct and could not be seen.

Chozo' s wife was named Otsune. Thinking that this fellow had come to court her, Chozo went straight toward him. The man did not run around to the back, but went to the main front entrance just off to the right. Chozo thought, ''Y ' . ak: r 1 f " ou re not gomg to m e a 100 o anyone, got angry, and went after him. The man stepped back with his arms still folded and gently slipped inside through the entrance doors which were open a mere nine centimeters. Choz6, still not thinking anything strange, stuck his hand into the opening in the doors and felt around inside. The sliding, paper-covered doors inside were, to be sure, closed.

With this he became frightened for the first time. He arew back a little and then looked up. The man was flat ag~t the wall above the entrance. As if looking down

I ~

at Chozo, the man's head hung down and almost touched his. The man's eyeballs, about 30 centimeters in size, seemed to pop out.

!his· was a terrible moment, but it did not prove to portend anything.

THB TAJIRI HOUSE

80~ It is necessary to diagram the layout of the T~jiri house (on the next page) so that the previous story can be appreciated. The way houses are built in the Tono area is more or I ess the same as in this diagram.

The gate usually faces east, but the Tajiri house has it facing north. This means that in the diagram above, the gate would usually be where the stable is. The gate is referred to as jomae (castle front). There are fields all around the housing compotmd and there is no fence or wall. Between the master's bedroom and the family room, there is a small dark room called the zato-beya (blind-man's room). Years ago when there was a party in the house, the family always had blind entertainers (zato). This room was where the entertainers were made to wait. 1

1 If one travels in this region he is sure to notice the way the houses, as shown in the diagram. are constructed in an .. L,. shape.

81. At Nozaki in Tochinai there was a man named Mankichi Maekawa. He died two or three years ago at about the age of thirty. Two or three years before he died, he also was out enjoying himself one evening. When he returned home he entered the gate and walked along by the verandah to the comer of the house. It was a June, moonlit night and he just happened to glance up at ·the

PRIVY STABLE SERVANT'S KITCHEN

ROOM / WELL

[!] STABLE

STORE HOUSE

I -FIELDS-

THE TAJIRI HOUSE

EARTH FLOOR

PARLOR

I FIELDS-

wall above the front entrance. There was a man flat against it sleeping. The man's face was pallid. Mankichi was quite shocked and got sick. Nevertheless, this time also, the incident was no portent of misfortune. Mr. Tajiri' s son, Marukichi, heard this story from Mankichi, who is his good friend.

82. This story is about something Marukichi Tajiri experienced him.self. One night when he was young, he had left the family room and entered the tea room on the way to the privy, when he saw someone standing at the edge of the parlor. The shape was indistinct, but even in the darkness, the stripes of the clothing and the man's eyes and nose were visible. His hair hung down.

Marukichi was frightened, but reached out with his hand to feel the way and bumped into the door. He couldn't see his own hand. Above it there was something like a

shadow in the form of a person. When he put his hand on the spot where the face was, again the face could be seen above his hand.

He went back to the family room and told of the incident. When he took the paper-covered lamp to look again, there was no one there. Marukichi is a very modem and intelligent person and is not the sort of person to tell lies.

83. The house of Mannojo Ohora, a daido of Yama- guchi, is built a little different from other houses. It is laid out as in the diagram on the next page. The main entrance faces toward the southeast. It is a very old house. In it there is a wicker trunk full of old documents. This trunk must not be opened because, it is said, if anyone takes the documents out and looks at them he will be cursed.

FOREIGNERS

84. Mr. Sasaki's grandfather was just about 70 when he died 3 or 4 years ago. He was probably in his teens during the 1850' s when there were many W estemers coming to live at places on the coast. There were even western-style buildings at Kamaishi and Yamada. A Westerner even once lived on a promontory on Funakoshi Peninsula. Christi- anity was practiced secretly, and in the Tono district there were believers who were crucified. According to those who go to the port, there are stiH old people who talk of the ijin embracing and kissing. It is said there are quite a few children of mixed parenthood in the coastal areas.

fKITCHEN

MASTER'S SEAT

OUTER TORM

DOORS

TEA ROOM EATING AREA AND

FAMILY ROOM

PARLOR VERANDAH SHINTO OR BUDDHIST ALTAR

MANNOJO OHORA' S HOUSE•

SLEEPING ROOM

I VERANDAH

85. At Kashiwazaki in Tsuchibuchi village there is a household in which both parents arc definitely Japanese, and yet there are two albino children. The children's hair, skin, and eyes are just like Westerners. They are about 26 or 27 years old now and are engaged in agriculture. Their pronunciation and accent are also different from the people of the area. Their voices are thin and piercing.

SPmITS

86. In the center of Tsuchibuchi village there is a place called Motojuku where the administrative office, the primary school, and other buildings are located. In this area a man named Masa, now about 36 or 37 years old, runs a soybean-curd shop. When this man's father was seriously ill and near death, a house was under construc- tion at Shimo-Tochinai just across the Kogarase River. Toward evening Masa' s father came alone to the spot where they were pounding the earth to harden up the

'·

foundation. He greeted everyone, said that he ought to help pound the earth, and joined in and worked. After a while it got dark and he returned home with everyone. Later, people thought the incident a little strange since he was supposed to be very sick. Later they heard that he had died on that very day.

People went to pay their respects and told about what had happened on the day Masa' s father died. It was exactly at that time that the sick person had breathed his last breath.

87. I have forgotten the person's name, but he was the master of a wealthy family in the town of Tono. He was seriously ill and on the brink of death, when one day he suddenly visited his family temple. The priest entertained him courteously and served tea. They chatted about things and then the priest, somewhat suspicious when the man was about to leave, sent his younger disciple to follow him. The man went out the gate and headed in the direction of home. Then he went around a corner in the town and disappeared. There were also other people who met him on that street and he greeted everyone as politely as ever.

He died that night and, of course, was in no condition to be going out at that time. Later at the temple, the priest checked the spot where the tea cup was, to see if the tea had been drunk or not. He found that the tea had all been poured into the crack between the straw mats.

88. This story is similar to the one before. The temple Jokenji in Tsuchibuchi of Tsuchibuchi village belongs to the Soto sect of Buddhism and ranks first among the 12 60

temples in the Tono district. One evening a villager met an old man on the road coming from Motojuku. This old man ·had been seriously ill for some time, and when the villager asked when he had gotten better, he replied that he had felt good for two or three days. Today he was on his way to hear a sermon at the temple. In front of the temple gate they spoke again and parted. At Jokenji too, the priest came to welcome the old man who had come to visit. Tea was served, they chatted for a while, and the old man left. Again a young disciple was sent after the man to watch him and the old man disappeared out- side the temple gate. Surprised, the disciple told the priest about this. Again the tea had been poured between the straw mats. The old man died on that day.

MOUNTAIN KAMI

89. To go to Kashiwazaki from Yamaguchi one has to go around the base of Mt. Atago. Along the way there are rice fields and then pine trees. From the spot where one can see the houses of the people of Kashiwazaki, there are thickets of bushes and small trees.

There is a small shrine on the top of Mt. Atago, and a path for worshipers which goes through the woods. There is a sacred Shinto gate and about 20 or 30 old cedar trees at the entrance to the mountain. Next to this there is a vacant shrine. In front of the shrine there is a stone monument with the words "mountain kami" carved into it. It has been said since olden times that this is the spot where the "mountain kami" first appeared.

A youth from Wano had some business in Kashiwazaki, and in the evening, when passing by ·the shrine, he saw a tall man coming down from the top of Mt. Atago.

Wondering who it could be, the youth approached and looked at the person's face which appeared above a cluster of trees. At the bend in the road the two met unexpectedly. The tall man, unsuspecting, was quite surprised. The face looking at the youth was bright red, had radiant eyes, and indeed contained an expression of surprise. The youth knew it was the "mountain kami" and he ran off to Kashiwazaki without ever looking back. 1

l There arc many stone monuments to the mountain kami in the Tono district. These arc found at Jocations where someone met or was cursed by a mountain kami. The monuments are set up to pacify the kami.

90. There is a hill called Tengu-mori (forest of the long- nosed goblin) in Matsuzaki village. A young man of the village was working in the mulberry fields at the foot of the hil1 when he became very sleepy. He sat down on the narrow footpath between the fields for a while, and when he started to doze off, a very large man with a bright red face came up. The youth, rather easy going and usually fond of sports like wrestling, didn't like the look of this large stranger standing astride the path looking down at him. He jumped up and asked, "Where did you come from?" There was no reply. He thought he would push the large man away, and confident of his strength, the youth was just about to spring at and grapple with the large man when he was thrown and lost consciousness. In the evening when he recovered and looked around, of course, the large man was not there. The young man returned home and told people about his experience.

That autumn this same youth went to Mt. Hayachine leading horses with many other villagers to cut bush clover. When they were about to return only the youth

was missing. Everyone was surprised and they searched for him. It is said he died, deep in the valley, ripped limb from limb. This was about 20 or 30 years ago and some old people are stil1 around who remember the events of the time. People have believed, since olden times, that many tengu reside in . Tengu-mori.

91. There is a man in the town of Tono who is knowl- edgeable about the mountains. At one time he was in charge of the falcons of Baron Nambu. The people in the town call this man by the nickname, Torigozen, which means "Bird Keeper." He knows the shape and location of every tree and rock on Mt. Hayachinc and Mt. Rokkoushi. When he was old he went gathering mushrooms with a companion, who was an excellent swimmer. The com- panion had the reputation of being able to go into the water with some straw and a mallet, and to come out with straw sandals made.

These two men went to the hill, Mukaiyama, which is

·r:

across the Saru-ga-ishi River from the town of Tono. From there they went into the mo~tains just a little higher up than the spot with the unusual rocks. This spot is known as Tsuz~-ishi, in Ayaori village. The two men separated and Torigozen went still a little higher up the mountain. The light of the autumn sky lingered just above

. the western hills, as it· does aronnd 4 o'clock in the after- noon. Suddenly in the shadow of a huge rock, he came across a red-faced man and woman standing and talking. They watched Torigozen approac~ and then streched out their hands as if ·to press him back or restain him. But he went on regardless, and the woman seemed to cling to the man's chest. From the way they looked, Torigozcn did not think they were humans. Being a playful type, for fun, he drew out the long knife at his side and struck at them. The red complexioned man raised his leg as if he were going to kick, and that is the last thing Torigozen re- membered.

The companion looked around for Torigozen, and he was found at the bottom of the valley, unconscious. He received care and was taken home. Torigozen told all of the details of the day and how he had never before ex- perienced such a thing. He said, "I might have died then. Don't tell anyone else about this." He was sick for about three days and died. Family members thought his manner of death somewhat strange and went to consult with the itinerant priest named Kenko-in. He told them that be- cause Torigozen had disturbed the place where the "moun- tain kami" were playing, he had been cursed and died. This man was an acquaintance of Mr. Ino and others. 1

The incident took place over 10 years ago.

1 Yanagita visited Kanori Ino (1867-1925) during his trip to Tono in 1909. Yanagita was familiar with Ino's writings on Tono and consulted

with about local history and cwtums.

92. This episode happened last year. About 14 or 15 children from a place in Tsuchibuchi village went to play on Mt. Hayachine. Before they knew it, evening had approached and as they hurried down toward the foot of the mountain, they met a tall man rushing up the moun- tain. He was dark, had bright glittering eyes, and had a small bundle wrapped in old, light blue cloth, probably linen, on his back. Frightened as they were, one of the children spoke up and said, "Where are you headed?" to which came the reply, "I'm going toward Oguni."

This was not the right path for going to Oguni and the children paused, somewhat puzzled. No sooner had the man passed than he immediately disappeared. It. is said they all ran home screaming, "A mountain man ! A mow1- tain man l''

KIKUZO FROM WANO

93. The wife of Kikuzo Kikuchi of Wano comes from Hashino, which is on the other side ofFuefuki-toge (flute- blowing pass). While she was back in her native village her boy, Itozo, who was five or six years old, took sick. It was past noon when K.ikuzo got over Fuefuki-toge, and arrived at the village to bring his wife home.

This was a well-known ridge of Mt. Rokkoushi, and the mountain path was thick with trees. Especially in the area going down to Kurihashi from Tono, there were steep cliffs on both sides of the path. The sunlight was hidden by the cliff' and it was getting dark when someone called out, "Kikuzo !" from behind. He turned around and saw

I ·i l l l l

I ! ~

. someone looking down from the top of the cliff. His face was red and his eyes were bright and radiant-just as in the previous tale. The man said, ''Your child is already dead!" When Kikuzo heard these words, before he could be afraid, he thought, "Oh! It must be so!" The form on top of the cliff disappeared quickly. Kikuzo and his wife hurried home throughout the night but the child was, as he had feared, already dead. This happened four or five years ago.

94. This same Kikuzo had reason to visit his ~ister' s house in K.ashiwazaki. When he left her house he put some rice cakes that had been left over into his bosom. Just as he passed the woods at the base of Mt. Atago, he met his" good friend Toshichi of Zotsubo, who was quite a drinker. They were still in the woods, but there were some grassy areas. Toshichi smi)ed and pointing to a grassy spot said, "How about wrestling here a bit?" Kikuzo thought it a good idea and they spent some time wrestling on the grass. But Toshichi seemed weak, and so light as to be easily grappled with and thrown. It was such fun that they did it three times. Then Toshichi said, "I'm no match for you today. I'd better be going." They parted. After Kikuzo had gone only several meters, he noticed that his rice cakes were gone. He went back to the spo~ where they had wrestled and Jookcd around, but they were not there.

For the first time, he thought, "I wonder if that was a fox." Since he was ashamed of what others would say, he didn't mention it to anyone. Four or five days later he went to a wine dealers and met Toshichi. Kikuzo told him of his experience and Toshichi said, "I wrestled with you? I was at the coast that day." At last it was clear that Kikuzo

had wrestled witl~ a fox. Kikuzo kept it a secret but last year during the New Year's holiday, when everyone was drinking, the topic of foxes came up. He revealed the tale of how he had, in fact, experienced this and was really laughed at.

THE MYSTERIOUS ROCK

95. A man named Kikuchi from Matsuzaki, who is about 43 or 44 now, is very good at designing gardens. He would go into the mountains, dig up plants and flowers, and then plant them · in his own garden. Whenever he found an unusually shaped rock he would carry it to his house irrespective of its weight.

One day feeling a little out of sorts he went out to relax in the hills. He found a beautiful large rock unlike any- thing he had ever seen before. ~ince it was his hobby, he thought he woul_d take it home with him, but upon trying to lift it he found it very heavy. Its form was like that of a person standing, and it was about as tall as a person.

· Nevertheless, really wanting it, he lifted it onto his back and walked several meters with difficulty. It was so heavy that he began to feel faint. He set the rock by the side of the road, and just as he leaned against it slightly, he felt as if he were being swept away into · the sky along with the rock. It seemed as though he was above the clouds in a very bright and pure place with many kinds of flowers blooming. He could hear, off somewhere, the voices of a large number of people.

But the rock rose higher and higher, and just when he thought it had finished rising, he lost all memory of things. After some time had elapsed, he noticed that he was still leaning up against this unusual rock just as before. Not

sure about what might happen if he took this rock into his house, he got frightened and ran home. The rock is now still in the same spot. He says that whenever he sees it he wants to take it all over again.

YOSHIKO THE POOL

96. There was a retarded man, aged about 35 or 36 named "Yoshiko the Foor' in the town of Tono. He was alive until the year before Jast. He had the habit of picking up pieces of wood from the road, and then twisting, staring at, and smelling them. When he went to someone's house he would rub the supporting pillars and then smell his hands. No matter what it was, he would bring it up right before his eyes, and whi1e smiling, would smell it from time to time.

When walking around he would sometimes suddenly stop, pick up a rock or something, and then throw it at a nearby house screaming loudly, "Fire! Fire!" Whenever he did this, that night or on the next day, the house that had been hit by the object would catch fire. When this same thing happened a number of times the various houses were cautious and took preventive measures. In the end, all the houses caught fire.

THE TEMPLE GATE

97. Matsunojo Kikuchi oflidc was i11 with an acute· fever from exposure to the cold and would often lose his breath. He went out into the rice fields, and hurried off to the family temple of Kisci-in. When he would put a little effort into his legs he could, without attempting to, fly into the air about as high as a person's head and then 68

gradually come down. With a little effort he could again rise as before. There is no way of expressing how much fun it was.

As he approached the temple gate he saw a crowd of people. Wondering what could be going on, he entered the gate, and there were red poppies in full bloom as far as one could see. He felt better than ever before. His dead father was standing amidst the flowers and · asked, "Have you come too?" While somehow answering this, he went on. The boy he had lost earlier was there and also asked, "Papa, have you come too?" Matsunojo drew closer say- ing, "Is this wh~re you have been?" The child said, "You can't come now !0 At that moment someone by the gate called out his name loudly. As troublesome as it was, he paused reluctantly, and with a heavy heart, decided to tum back. Then he regained his senses. His relatives had gathered around, and were throwing water on him, to call him back to life.

98. It is quite common to find ]arge rocks by the side of the road with the names, "mountain kami," "kami of the fields," and "kami of the vil1age entrance" engraved in them. There are also rocks in the Tono district with the names, Mt. Hayachine and Mt. Rokkoushi engraved in them. Such rocks are more numerous along the coast.

FUKUJI' S WIFE

99. K.iyoshi Kitagawa, an assistant headman in Tsuchi- buchi village, lived in Hiishi. His family had been itinerant priests for generations. His grandfather, named Seifuku- in, was a scholar who had written many books,· and had

.j l i

also done a lot for the vil1age. K.iyoshi' s younger brother, Fukuji, who had been taken into a family as a son-in-law at Tanohama on the coast, lost his wife and one of his children in the tidal wave that struck the area last ycar. 1

For about a year now, he had been with the two children who survived, in a shelter set up on the site of the original house.

On a moonlit night in early swnmer he got up to go to the privy. It was off at some distance on the path along the beach where the waves broke. This night the fog hovered low and he saw two people, a man and a woman, approaching him out of the fog. The woman was definitely his wife who had died. Without thinking, he trailed after them to a cavern on the promontory in the direction of Funakoshi village. When he called her name, she looked back and smiled. The man he saw was from the same village. and he too ha.d died in the tidal wave disaster. It had been rumored, that this man and Fukuji's wife had been deeply in love before Fukuji had been chosen to

marry her. She said, "I am now married to this man." When Fukuji

said, "Don't you love your children?" the woman's ex- pression changed a little, and she cried. Fukuji didn't realize he was talking with the dead. While he was looking down at his feet, sadly and miserably, the man and the woman started on quickly and disappeared around the mountain on the way to Oura. He tried to run after them but sud- denly realized they were the dead. He stood on the road thinking until daybreak, and then went home in the mor- ning. It is said that he was sick for a long time after this.

t The northe:istcrn coast of Japan was struck by tidal waves seven times between 1600 and 1850. The reference here is to a tidal wave that struck the coast in 1896, in which about 9,000 homes were de- stroyed and 20,000 people died.

THE FOX

100. A certain fisherman at Funakoshi was on his way back from Kirikiri with his companions one day. Late at night, as they were passing by the area of the Forty-Eight Hills, they came across a woman alone by a stream. The fisherman realized that it was his wife. He figured that there could not be any reason for her coming to this area alone in the middle of the night and it had to be a transformed creature of some kind. At once he took out the knife he used to cut fish and stabbed her from behind. She gave a sorrowful cry and died. Since the creature didn't reveal its true form then, he began to feel uneasy. He asked his companions to look after everything, and said he was going to hurry home. His wife was safe at home waiting. She said, "I just had a terrible dream. In my dream I went out part way to meet you since you were rather late in return- ing. On a mountain path I was threatened by someone I didn't know and thought he was going to kill me. Then I woke up."

At last he understood. When he went back again to the previous place he found that the woman he had killed in the mountains had changed into a fox right before his companions. It is thought that in dreams, people some- times take on the form of this animal in order to go into the fields or mountains.

101. A traveler was passing thr::>ugh Toyomane village late one night. Being tired, it was fortunate that he saw a light in a friend's house. When he stopped in and asked if he could rest there, the friend replied, "You have come at just the right moment. Someone died this · evening and I was just wondering what to do, for there is no one

to watch things while I go out. Would you mind watch- ing the house for a bit?" The master of the house went off

to call some people. To be sure it was burdensome, but since he had no choice,

the traveler went over by the hearth and smoked tobacco. The dead person was an old woman and she was laid out in an adjoining room. Suddenly, he saw her slowly rise up to a sitting position in bed. He was panic-stricken, but controlled himself, and looked quietly around. He saw something like a fox at the water drain hole in the kitchen wall. The fox, head stuck into the hole, was gazing fixedly at the dead person. Thinking he would take care of that, the man crept quietly out of the house and went around to the back entrance. It actually was a fox up on its hind legs with his head stuck in the hole in the wall. The traveler picked up a stick and beat the fox to death.

EVENTS OF nm LITTLE NEW YEAR 102. The evening of the 15th day of the New Year is called koshogatsu Qittle New Year). Early in the evening, the children form into groups of four or five called "The kami of Fortune," and go off visiting various houses with a bag in hand. Then, as is the custom, they chant ''The kami of Fortune are visiting from the Land of the Dawn." They receive rice cakes. Once early evening is past, people never go outside of their doors on this night. Tradition has it, that after midnight on koshogatsu, the "mountain kami" come out and play.

There is a woman called Omasa in Marukodachi in Yamaguchi. She is now about 35 or 36 years old. Once when she was 12 or 13 years old, no one is quite sure of the reason why, she went out as "The kami of Fortune,"

and walked around until late at night. When she was com- ing home on a lonely road, she passed a tall man who came from the opposite direction. His face was bright red and his eyes glared. She threw away her bag and ran home. It is said she became seriously ill.

103. It is said that on the night of koshogatsu or any winter night with a full moon, the "snow woman" comes out to play. It is said she comes bringing some children.

In winter the village children go off to the neighboring hills, and have so much fun sleighing, that it gets dark be- fore they realize it. They are always warned that on the night of the 15th day the "snow woman" comes out and they should come home early.

Still, there are few peopJe who say they have ever seen a " ,, snow woman.

104. There are many rites and ceremonies on the night of koshogatsu. Tsuki-mi, or the viewing of the months, in- volves breaking the meat of 6 walnuts into 12 pieces and then placing them into the fire in the hearth at the same time. Then they are removed at th~ ·same time. The pieces are lined up and counted from the right, as January, Feb- ruary, and so on. If the night of the full moon for a certain month is to be clear the piece remains burning red. If this night for some month is going to be cloudy the piece im- mediately becomes black. If a month is going to be windy the walnut piece makes a noise and starts to bum. No matter how many times this is repeated it always turns out the same. What's uncanny is that, the results arc· the same for any house in the village. The next day the villagers meet

and discuss the results. If for example, it is said that it will be windy on the night of the full .moon of August, they will hurry to harvest the rice that year.1

1 In the various regions there are a vuiety of forms of divination surroWld.ing kinds of grain and the months. There are probably related to the Chinese concepts of yin (dark, female ••• ) and yang (light, male ... ), which are a form of divination.

105. There is also the practice of yonaka-mi, or viewing the year, which is carried out on the nio-ht of kosho-i:, gatsu. Rice cakes are made, each using a different variety of rice grain. The rice cakes arc shaped into fairly large round cakes. Then the rice grains for each variety are sprinkled on a serving tray, and the round cakes made from the cor- responding varieties are placed on top of the grains. These are then covered with a pan until the next morning, when they arc looked at. It is said that the rice cake which has the most grain stuck to it will yield a good crop for the year. The rice varieties to be planted early, in midseason, or late are also decided in this way.

THE MIRAGE

106. In Yamada on the coast a mirage can be seen every year. It is said that it is usually the scenery of a foreign country. It is like some unknown capital with many car- riages in the streets and people coming and going. It's quite amazing. It is said that, from year to year, the shapes of the houses and other things do not change in the least.

THE ART OF DIVINATION

107. In Kamigo viJlage there is a house called~ ''the house

by the river," which is on the bank of the Hayase River. One day a young daughter from this house went to the edge of the river and picked up some pebbles. A man she had never seen before came up, and gave her some tree leaves and things. He, too, was tall and had a red com- plexion. The daughter, from this day on, had the power of divination. .

This ijin was a "mountain kami," and it is said, she thus became a child of the mountain kami.

108. In various places there are people, who it is said, are possessed by "mountain kami" and can perform divination. There is someone like this in Tsukumoushi village and his occupation is sawing wood. Magotar5 in Kashiwazaki is also like this. At first, he became mad and seemed in a trance. One day, he went into the mountains, and learned these arts and skills from a mountain kami. After that it was fantastic how he could read people's innermost thoughts. His methods of divination were completely different from those of the average person. He did not consult any books. He just spoke of daily things with the person who had come to make a request. Then suddenly, in the middle of the discussion, he would stand up, and walk to and fro in the famay room. Without looking at the person's face at all, he just repeated the words which came to mind.

He never failed to be correct. For example, if he were to say, "Pull up the planks in your wooden-floored room and then dig up the earth. There should be an old mirror or a piece of a sword there. If you don't remove them, in the near future, _someone in your family will die .or your house will burn down." The person would return home, dig, and sure enough the object.would be there. There are more

examples of this than can be counted on both hands.

THE RAIN _\ND WIND FESTIVAL

109. Around the time of the Bon Festival the villagers make a straw doll, larger than a person, for the "Rain and Wind Festival." They carry it in a procession to the fork in the road, where it is stood up. They draw the face on paper and use melons to make the male and female forms to accompany it. A straw doll used in the "Festival for Ward- ing Off Harmful Insects" does not have these things and is smaller.

On the occasion of the "Rain and Wind Festival" the toya, the household in charge of kami festivities, is chosen from within the village. After the villagers gather and drink rice wine there, they take the straw doll to the cross- roads while playing flutes and beating drwns. One kind of flute, made from paulownia wood, is shaped like a large shell. This is blown loudly.

On this occasion they recite, "We are worshiping the rain and wind of the 210th day (the stormiest day of the year). Which direction shall we worship? Worship toward the north !"1

1 According to the Tong-kuk-yo-ji-sung-ram (Records of the Land of the Eastern Country), a 55 volume work on Kore:in cultural history, in Korea also, the altar for evil spirits is always built in the northern part of a castle. This probably comes from a belief in the "kami of the nonh."

GONGE-SAMA

110. Gonge-sama 1 is a carved wooden figure resembling a lion's head. Each group that performs kagura, the sacred Shinto dance, has one of these. Having one brings divine favor. The Gonge-sama belonging to the troupe from

the Hachiman Shrine in Niibari once met, and fought, the Gonge-sama of the troupe from Itsukaichi in Tsuchi- buchi village. The Gongc-sa~ from Niibari was defeated, and lost one of its ears. Even now it does not have one car. Each year, when the troupe goes around dancing at the various villages, everyone notices this. The special power of the Gonge-sama is in preventing and extinguishing fires.

The troupe mentioned above, from Hachiman Shrine, once went to Tsukumoushi village. It was getting dark and they could not find any lodging. They were finally invited to stay at the home of a very poor person. They turned a 9-liter grain measure over, . and set the Gonge-sama on top of it. Everyone went to sleep. During the night they were awakened by the noise of something being chewed. They looked, and saw the edge of the caves had caught fire. Gonge-sama, atop the grain measure, was leaping up . time after time chewing up the flames.

If a child's head aches, a request can be made of Gonge- sama to gnaw away the sickness.

1 In T6no Gongcn-sama is pronounced Gonge-sama.

DAN-NO-HANA

111. In Yamaguchi, Iide, Tozenji Temple of Arakawa and Hiwatari in Tsukumoushi, Nakasawa in Aozasa, and Tsuchibuchi in Tsuchibuchi village-in each of these places there is the place-name of Dan-no-hana. 1 Just off to the side somewhere near this place there is always a loca- tion called Rendai-no Qotus-platform field). In olden times, there was the custom of sending all old people over 60 years of age to Rendai-no. But the old people did not want to .die usc!ess, so during the daytime they would

come down to the village to work in the :fields, thus manag- ing to stay alive. This may be the reason that even now, in the area of Yamaguchi in Tsuchibuchi, they say haka- dachi (leaving the graves) for going into the fields in the morning, and haka-agari (going to the graves) for return- ing from the fields in the evening.

1 Dan-no-hana indicates the spot where a mound is constructed on a hi:1. It is believed that the mound is for the worship of the "kami ~fthe border." Rendai-no is of a similar nature.

112. Dan-no-hana was at one time a fortress and crimi- . nals were executed there. The lay of the land is, for the most part, the same as it is in Yamaguchi and Iide of Tsuchibuchi. Dan-no-hana is also on a hill at the edge of the village. They also have the same place-name in Sendai City. Dan-no-hana in Yamaguchi is on the way to Ohora, on a hill just past the fortress remains.

Rendai-no is separated off from Dan-no-hana and the houses of Yamaguchi. Marshes surrowid Rendai-no on all sides. To the east there is a low spot between Rendai-no and Dan-no-hana and to the south there is a place called Hoshi-ya (star valley).1 In this area there are many four- sided sunken spots called Ezo-yashiki (Ainu fortresses). These remains are quite distinct and lots of stone tools have been fowid there. There are two locations in Yamaguchi where stone tools and fired, earthen vessels have been found. One other location is called Horyo, and the forms of pottery found there are, quite naturaliy, different from the pottery fowid in Rcndai-no. The objects from Rendai-no do not reflect a superior technique, but the patterns on the ob- jects from Horyo reflect skill in production. Haniwa (unglazed earthenware figurines) and varieties of stone axes and stone blades have also been found. A number of pieces

DAN-NO-HANA

of money ca11ed Ezo-sen (Ainu coins), which are shaped from clay and about six centimeters in size, have been found in Rendai-no. These coins have · simple swirl-like patterns. In Horyo . small bead-shaped and cylindrical objects with holes in their centers have also been found. The stone tools found are well made. They are all of the same quality of stone, even though there are a variety of natural resources in Rendai-no. At Horyo, there are no fortress remains and the area is small, only 10,000 meters square. The low spot in Hoshi-ya is now rice fields. The Ainu fortresses are said to have been ~n both sides ofHoshi- ya. There are two locations in this area about which it is said, if anyone digs there he will be cursed.

1 The place name, Hoshi-ya, is found in various uc:as, and mc:2ns the location where the stars are wor,hiped.

113. In Wano there is a place called Jozuka Woods. 1 An elephant is said to be buried there. It is said, this is the only place where there are no earthquakes. Since olden

times there has been a saying in the area, "When there is an earthquake, run to Jozuka Woods." This spot must surdy be the grave of someone. There is a ditch around the moW1d. A rock is on top the mound. They say, if someone digs in this area he will be cursed.

1 The term Jlizuka, which indicates the location for worshiping the kami of the border, is probably connected with certain legends of India. One story is about the demon in hell who is responsible for removing the clothes of the souls of the dead as they cross over a cerwn river. Other talcs concerning elephants, and beliefs rclated to the elephant- headed deity, are probably related. •

114. Dan-no-hana in Yamaguchi is now a community graveyard. Utsugi bushes are planted around the top of the hill, and the entrance facing to the east looks like a gate. In the center there is a large moss-covered stone. One time, someone dug under the stone, but did not find anything. Later, someone dse gave it another try, and found a large um. But having been severely scolded by the elders in the village he put it back as it was before. It is said it was pro- bably the grave of the master of a fortress. There is a nearby fortress called, "Bonshiyasa." Water for the three or four moats was obtained by digging canals to the surrouding mountains. There are place-names like Tera-yashiki (tem- ple fortress) and Toishi-mori (whetstone woods). A stone wall still standing is said to be the remains of a well. It is also said the ancestors of Magozaemon Yamaguchi lived here. The details of this are written_ in the work, The Tono Kojiki (The Old Records ofTono, 1763)1•

1 This is a three volume work on Tono history, cwtumcs, and religion.

THE SHE-DEMON, YAMA-HAHA

115. Fairy _tales (otogibanashi) are referred to as mukashi,

mukashi or "long ago stories." Yama-haha (mountain moth- er) tales are the most numerous. Yama-haha probably refers to yama-uha (women living in the mowitains who are thought of as she-demons). The following two tales are of this variety.

116. Once upon a time there were a man and his wife. They had one daughter. One day they had to leave the daughter to go to town, and they warned her, that -no matter who came, she should not open the door. They locked the door and left. The daughter, quite afraid, crouched by the hearth all alone. At about midday, some- one knocked at the door and called, "Open up!" The person yelled, "If you don't open the door I'll kick it down." The girl had no choice but to open the door. In came yama-haha (mowitain mother). Yama-haha stood astride the master's scat by the hearth and warmed herself by the fire. She said, "Cook some food, so I can eat!" The girl obeyed and put out a serving tray with some things on it. While yama-haha was eating the girl ran away from the house. After she finished eating, yama-haha started chasing the girl. Little by little the distance between them lessened, and just as yama-haha was ready to grab the daugh- ter by the back, they came upon an old man cutting fire- wood in the hills.

"I'm being chased by yama-haha. Please hide me!" the girl pleaded. Then she hid in the piled up firewood. Yama- haha came up and said, "Where is she hiding?" Yama-haha started removing the bundles of wood, but slipped down the hill holding the wood. The girl took this chance to escape, and this time she came across an old man cutting reeds. "I'm being chased by yama-haha. Please hice me,"

she pleaded, and hid among the cut reeds. Yama-haha came again saying, "Where is she hiding?" She began to remove the bundles of reeds and slipped down the hill holding on to the reeds. The girl took this chance and ran off again, and came to the edge of a large pond. There was nowhere to go from here, so the girl climbed to the top of a large tree on the bank of the pond. Yama-haha said, "No matter where you go I will follow you." Then she saw the figure of the girl reflected in the water and jumped right into the pond.

The girl ran off again at that time, and came upon a bam- boo-leaf hut. She rushed inside and found a young girl there. She repeated her story again, and then hid in a stone chest. Yama-haha came charging in and asked if the girl was there. The young girl said she didn't know anything about it. "No, she must be here," said yama-haha. "I can smell something human." The young gid said, "It may be because I have jmt roasted a sparrow and eaten it." Yama- haha was convinced, and said she would sleep for a while. She said, "Shall I sleep in the stone chest or would the wooden chest be better? The stone one seems cold, so I'll sleep in the wooden one." Then she got into the wooden chest and went to sleep.

The girl of the hut locked the chest, got the other girl out of the stone chest and said, "I, too, was brought here by yama-haha. Let's kill her and go back to our villages." The girls got an awl, heated it red hot, and stuck it into the wooden chest to make holes. Yama-haha dido' t know and merely said, "Must be field mice." Then the girls boiled some water and poured it into the holes they had made. They killed yama-haha, and returned to their respective homes.

These folktales always close with the formula, "kore de

dondo hare," ·meaning, "That's alJ there is."

117. Once upon a time there were a man and his wife. They were starting for town to buy some things for their daughter's wedding. They locked the door and told their daughter, "Don't open the door even if someone comes." She said, "Yes" and they left. Around noon yama-haha came, grabbed the girl, and ate her. She put on the girl's skin and became the girl. In the evening when the parents returned, they called out from the gate, "Oriko-himeko, are you there?" "Yes, I am. That was quick," came the reply.

The parents showed her all of the things they had pur- chased, and watched their daughter's happy face. The next day at dawn their rooster fluttered its wings. and crowed, "Look in the comer _ of the store-room! Cock-a-do--." The parents thought it a rather unusual way for the rooster to crow.

Then the time came to send the bride off; they put the yama-haha Oriko-himeko on the horse, and just as they were about to lead her off, the rooster crowed again. They heard it say, "You didn't put Oriko:--himeko on the horse. You put yama-haha on it. Cock-a-do-." The rooster repeated this, and for the first time, the parents noticed it. They pulled yama-haha down from the horse and killed her. Then they went to look in the corner of the store- room. There they found many of the girl's bones.

THE STEPSISTERS

118. In the Tono district there is also the tale of "Benizara and Kakezara," two stepsisters. Kakezara was called,

Nukabo {tube reed), suggesting something with a hollow center. She was hated by her stepmother, but had the blessings of the kami. It is a tale of how, eventually, she becomes the wife of a choja. There are many beautiful scenes in the episode. If I have time some day, I will record all the details.

119. In the Tono district there has been a song, since olden times, that accompanies the "dance of the deer." 1

There are slight ~ations to the song, depending upon the village or who sings it, but I heard it as written below. This version is from a document over a hundred years old.

1 The dance of die deer is not all that old in this area. It is well known that the dance was introduced between the 10th and 15th centuries.

JN PRAISE OF THE BRIDGE

Come see this bridge. What important person first crossed it?

Cross that way and this ! Look at the horse riding grounds.

We can see to the great gate of Sugihara.

IN PRAISE OF THE GATE

Come see this gate. The gate is made of hinoki and sawara wood.

This is an auspicious silver gate. Push open the gate doors and look.

Oh, What a wonderful era!

Come see the Main Hall of the Temple. What carpenter built it?

Long ago a skilled carpenter built it, Built it with his own hands.

THB SONG OP KOJIMA

The gate in Kojima is made of hinoki and sawara wood.

It is an auspicious silver gate. Push open the doors of the silver gate an:l look.

Oh, What a wonderful era! Yatsumune-style roofs are made of hinoki bark.

Karamals1:l ·pines are growing above them. Springs flow to the left and to the right of the pines,

Scooped and drunk, the water never diminishes. Morning and evening sunshine on the great temple,

A hundred -rosy-cheeked children are there. Auspicious water from heaven for the inkstone

Standing waiting for it.

IN PRAISE OF THE STABLE

Come see the kitchen. Small and large, sixteen iron pots.

When we cook with sixteen iron pots, We cut the morning grass with forty-eight horses.

We cut kaya thatch and kikyo flowers with the morning grass.

The stable is bright with flowers. The bay horse, amidst the brightness,

Paws the ground with its hoof hoping for a won- derful era.

When I hear a good singer in this garden, I'm ashamed to dance and sing.

We learned yesterday what we perform today.

Excuse our nustakes. To say we are good is impossible.

Friends, let us bow and be going.

IN PRAISE OF TilE SQUARE

Come see this grain measure. This garden with four corners and f~ur sides like a grain measure.

Come see this house. . It's the home of a kind-hearted person.

IN PRAISE OF THE TOWN

Come sec this town. It's sixty kilometers by twenty-eight kilometers.

It is really bustling, friends.

IN PRAISE OF THE SQUIRE

Come see this squire's life. He flies his flag in the town.

His house is in Tachi-m.achi, Abura-machi. The squire rests in the afternoon on the second floor,

With coins in his pillow and money in his hands. Come see this talisman,

Which we can't obtain or even touch. A high place is called "a castle,, ;

A low place is called "beneath tl1e castle."

IN PRAISE OF THE BRIDGE

Come and look at this bridge, A silver bridge over a golden crossroad.

IN PRAISE OF GOING UP TO A SACRBD·PLACB ·

Come sec this temple-

Four directions, four sides, and secured with one wedge.

With fan and prayer beads. Going up to the temple, something good might happen ..

IN PRAISE OF THE HOUSE

Water on a gold rafter on a fine column, And the roof is so fine as to support waves.

WHERE THE WAVES MEET

Hearing a good singer in this garden, I'm ashamed to sing.

The fine designs on the borders of the numerous flowered straw mats laid out in the garden; A splendid wine cup on a gold and silver lacquered base.

Let's move it to the garden. The seventeen-year-old girl pours wine with her own hands from the wine jug.

The garden brightens with joy. Drink a cup of this wine,

And you will live long and prosperously. With the wine goes sea-bream and sea-bass,

And the famous karu-ume of China. To say we are good is impossible. . Friends, let us bow and be going.

SING IN FRONT OF THE P~LLAR

Between the songs, someone fill in! Or the gard.en will lose its gaiety.

As soon as it is born, the fawn runs about the hills. We too go around, run about the garden.

If we place another piJJar in the garden, The old stag will rub his antlers and become young.

Try to raise the pines of Matsushima, And the stupid ivy clings to it.

The leaves of the ivy, clinging to the Matsushima pmes,

Without good fate, will separate away. The painted Chinese screens, costing nine kan in the capital

Are placed around three and four deep.

SELECTING THE STAG'S WIFE

Between the songs, someone fill in ! Or the garden will Jose its gaiety.

As soon as it is born, the fawn runs about the hills. We too go around, run about the garden.

Try and go to visit a doc, But mist hangs over Mt. Hakusan.

How happy! The wind removed the mist! Off in search of the doe.

No matter how the doe hides, I'll search through all the village pampas grass.

Like the leaves of bamboo grass, the pretty doe, No matter how she hides, wi11 be found.

Look at the forms of the doc and stag, Their hearts filled with joy and tenderness.

Deep in the mountains the stag dances For the first time chis year.

Burning with passion for a doe. The stupid deer can't settle down.

Try to raise the pines of Matsushima, And the stupid ivy dings to it.

�he leaves of the ivy clinging to the Matsushima pmes,

Without good fate, will separate away, Out at sea, the plover bird sways with the waves

And gently flies off.

SING AT EASE

Who will come to hear this easygoing song? Anyone is welcome!

What carpenter made this stand? It's square and a treasure plays inside.

What kind of wine do you think this is? It's Kiku-no-sake from the famous Kaga.

What kind of money do you think this is? It's auspicious money left from a pilgrimage to lse·Shrine or Kumano Shrine.

Where does th.is paper come from? From Harima? From Kashima?

It folds well and is good paper. Where is the important spot in a fan?

It's the uchi-no-miya, the pivot point. It folds well and stacks up.

INDEX

SUBJECT LEGENDS'

Ainu Remains ..•...••.•••••••..••.••. 112 Apparitions .......•.••.•.••.•.••••... 23, Tl, 79, 81, 82 Bears ••.•••••••.•••..•.••.•.••.••.••• 43 Birds .•••........••.•.••.•...•.•..•.. 51, 52, 53 F�le kami •••••••••••••••••••••••••• 27, 54 flowers ...•.•..••... : ...••..•...•••.. 33, 50 Fortress Remains ••••••••••••..••.••.•• 67, 68, 76 Foxes ••••..•..•.••••••••••••••••••••. 60, 94, 101 ·Geography .....••...•••••...••.•.••••• 1, 5, 67, 111 Hermit Shrine .••.•••.•....•..••.•.••.. 49 Howchold kami ••••••••••••••••••••••.. 16

Okun:u-s:una •.•••••••••••••••••.•••. 14, 15, 70 Oshira-s:una •••••••••.••••••••••••• · .14, 69, 70 Zashikiwarashi ••.•••.••••••••••••••• 17, 18-

Howes ............•..•.••••••••••••... 80, 83 .Kappa ................................ 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 little New Year ..•.••••••••••••••.••. 14, 102, 103, 104,105 Monkeys ..........•.•...•.••....•.... 47, 48 Mow1ds and forests ...•••••••••••••••.• 66, 111, 113, 114 Mountain kami ........................ 89, 91, 93, 102, 107, 108 Mountain Men ........................ 5, 6, 7, 9, 28, 30, 31, 92 Mountain Women ..•••....•••.••..... 3, 4, 34, 35, 75 Nasty Old Monkeys ••.••..•..•...••.• 45, 46 -Old Women kami ........•••••••••••••• 65, 71 -Omens ..••••.•..••••••••..•.•.•••..••• 20, 52, 78, 96 "Once Upon a Time:" Talcs •.••••••...• 115, 116, 117, 118 -Origins of kmni .......... , , ............ 2, 69, 74 People of Earlier Times • , • , •••••••• , • , .8, 10, 11, 12, 21, 26, 84 Rain and Wind Festival ••••••••.•.••••• 109, Preface to the Original Eilition Snow Woman ..••••••..•.•.•......... 103 Song ••••••.••••••••.••.•..••.•••••.. 119 Souls •.•••.••..••.•••••.••.•..••.•.•. 22, 86, 87,88, 95, 'Tl, 99, 100 Smnge Events in the Mountains .•....•... 32, 33, 61, 95 Tcngu ...•...••..•••....••.••••••• , ••• 29, 62, 90 Ups and Downs ofHoweholds ••.•..•..• 13, 18, 19, 24, 25, 38, 63

Mayoi-ga ..•.•••••••••...••••••.••. 63, 64 "Village kami •••••••••••••••••••••••••. 98

Kakura-sama •••••••••••••••••••••••• 72, 73, 74 Googcn-sanu. ••••..•.••••••••••••••.• 2, 32, 110

Wolves .•....•...••••.••••.••.••.•••. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42