横倉 (廃村) 福井県勝山市 Yokokura, A Village Lost to Snow, in Katsuyama Fukui [4K Binaural]

2 Comments

1. 

   @WanderersArchive 3か月 ago

   1:50 English Translation:

   Note

   This is "Otoran Shimizu" (Temple Spring). It is a spiritual water source, where fresh water—unchanging in both volume and temperature (about 7 degrees even in summer)—springs from the midsection of the towering Ota Mountain (commonly known as Kabutoyama) behind this shrine. It is piped approximately two kilometers to this spot. It is unclear since when this water has been flowing, but according to a story passed down by the village elders, long, long ago, people did not live in this immediate area. They lived about two kilometers further in, at a place called "Motoyagura," which villagers still pronounce as "Mochashiki."

   In those days, steep mountains stood in succession, and from the high cliffs of Dainichi Mountain down to the area of this shrine, there was a large pond, like a lake, filled to the brim with water, making it utterly unsuitable for human habitation. At that time, a large female serpent is said to have lived in this big pond. One day, she raised her head and saw a large male serpent living in the distant Kuzuryu River. Smitten, she was determined to meet him. Driven by this single desire, she broke the pond, rode the resulting flood, and went to the male serpent in the Kuzuryu River.

   Remnants of this event remain in the village: a valley still called "Jidani" (Ground Valley), and the place name "Ryudani" (Dragon Valley) below, perhaps marking her path. What the great serpent left behind for the village as she departed were the spring that was the pond's water source, the hill where the shrine now stands, and the Maruyama hill below the village, transforming the once rock-strewn land, devoid of even a single tsubo of flat land, into what is now level ground. Through generations, villagers painstakingly turned this land, full of large and small stones, into rice paddies and fields—their efforts were immeasurable. It seems people began living here from around that time.

   Eventually, the villagers' hard work bore fruit. Furthermore, as the land faced south and was blessed with sunshine and water, their crop yields became more than double those of other villages. They built storehouses beside their homes for the autumn harvest, which seems to be why the former place name, "Nanayamake" (Seven Mountain Houses), changed to "Yokokuramura" (Side Storehouse Village). Delighted, the villagers built a temple beside the spring to pray to the spirit of the great serpent and protect the clear water. Thus, the name "Temple Spring" remains to this day, though the temple itself collapsed under snow and did not last long.

   The villagers, who built a shrine on the central hill, named the rice fields below the spring "Kamukida" (God-Facing Fields). They offered the crops harvested there to the gods every year from August 15th to 17th, giving thanks for the harvest and praying for the next year's bounty. The place name "Kamukida" is still used today.

   However, in the long history of the village witnessed by this spring, the period of apparent happiness was only very brief. The rest was a continuous succession of harsh and impoverished living. The reason for this was the severe exactions of the shogunate's rice tax, compounded by the visits of local magistrates for collection. According to old documents researched by Mr. Kitagawa Hirotaka (son of the dojo below), the villagers, who had a strong sense of unity, grew unable to endure misgovernment, and there were several calls, in alliance with other villages, to stage uprisings. However, the results only made things worse.

   Around the third year of Teitei (a period), it was shogunate-controlled land; after the fifth year of Genroku, it became part of Mino no Kuni's Gujo Domain. The Shoho land register records paddy field yields of over 62 koku and dry field yields of over 4 koku. Furthermore, the religious investigation register (Yamagishi Family Documents) records 23 households with assessed yields, 29 landless households, and a population of 243 people. Although the population later increased to 272, life was so hard that to survive, people broke strict national laws and went to work as charcoal burners deep in the mountains of present-day Gifu and Ishikawa prefectures. Many even went on foot to Osaka for work, lacking travel funds.

   Until about seventy or eighty years ago, the number of houses, which once stood at about seventy, continuously decreased, dwindling to just a few. Moreover, the village was struck by heavy snow and avalanches. In February of Showa 2 (1927), and particularly on January 24th of Showa 38 (1963), the few remaining seven houses were mercilessly crushed, taking fourteen precious lives. The village thereafter is, as you can see, devoid of its former traces.

   The elder, who had been speaking almost in a murmur, stood up and took a sip of the spring water. "But," he said, "the shrine still remains, and the water still flows. Anyone who drinks this 'Otoran Shimizu' will never age and will maintain their youth forever; their beauty and health are beyond doubt. If you take some home, boil it for tea or coffee, you'll find its taste unforgettable and will want to come back for more. It's the 'Taste of Yokokura' (Shrine Water). You are welcome to come back as many times as you like." With that, his story ended.

   1. Wishing for my hometown's bustling days once more,
   I entrust it to the guardian god, and clap my hands.

   Construction: Hirose Komuten
   Dedicated by: Kitagawa Kiyoshi

   An Auspicious Day in April, Heisei 1 (1989)

2. 

   @puh81 3か月 ago

   Nice material. Like!