The Tales of Tohno

第1話 Geography of Tohno

Tohno is a flat land surrounded by mountains on the western half of what is now Kamihei County in Iwate Prefecture. The new towns and villages are divided into one town and ten villages - Tohno, Tsuchibuchi, Tsukumoushi, Matsuzaki, Aozasa, Kamigo, Otomo, Ayaori, Masuzawa, Miyamori and Tassobe. In early modern times, there was also called Nishihei County, and in medieval and ancient times, it was also called Tohnoho. Tohno, where the government office is now located, was an urban area in this region and a castle town of Nambu clan. This castle is also called Yokota Castle. To get to this area, get off the train at Hanamaki Station, cross the Kitakami River*, follow the valley of the Sarugaishi River, a tributary of that river, and go thirteen miles east to reach the town of Tohno. The place is unusually prosperous in the mountains. It is said that the entire area of Tohno used to be a lake and that the Sarugaishi River flowed out into the settlement and naturally formed this type of village. That's why there are so many streams flowing into this Sarugaishi River in the valley, colloquially known as the Seven Nais and the Eight Points. The word "nai" means "river" or "valley" and is found in many place names in Oshu.

○The word "to" in Tohno originally comes from the Ainu word for "lake". Nai" is also an Ainu word.

*Kitakami River: The river flows from north to south in the central part of Iwate Prefecture. It is the fourth longest in Japan.

county......（名）郡

clan......（名）藩

tributary......（名）支流

prosperous......（形）繁栄している

colloquially......（形）口語で