(A) Funaki (Ship Wood)

There is a place called Funaki* in Nagato Province. It is said that long ago, Empress Jingu** ordered lumber to be cut off to prepare ships on this coast during the invasion of Silla, so she changed the name from Yamada to Funaki. How interesting it is that forty or so ships were made of only one big tree.

invasion（名）侵攻、侵略

Silla（名）新羅

Once upon a time, this region was a swamp all over, with a large camphor tree in the center. Its height pierced the clouds, its branches two miles in all directions, below which it was dark even in the day, and its northern villages were called Asakage because they could not see the morning sun all year round. Today's Magura is a complete reversal of darkness. Two camphor trees believed to have sprouted from the big tree still remain, one in the Yawata Shrine dedicated to Empress Jingu and the other in the Sumiyoshi Shrine*** enshrined in Takenouchi no Sukune****. To the south of Funaki is a place called Ariho, which is said to be the remains of a warship's sail.

camphor tree......クスノキ

pierce（動）貫通する

reversal（名）逆転

sail（名）帆

The camphor trees at Sumiyoshi Shrine are infested with a lot of kawanina*****, which rise and fall up and down the trunk due to the tide, so you can tell when the tide is coming and going. This snail keeps them from getting seasick. Also, only people in this village have never drowned since ancient times.

infest（動）群がる

trunk（名）幹

snail（名）巻貝

seasick（形）船酔いした

Funaki Village is now more than two miles from the coast. (An'en Imahashi in Nishikubo, Tokyo)

(B) The Big Tree

In Takamori Town, Aso County, Higo Province, there used to be a big tree whose shadow obscured Mt. Tawara* when the morning sun rose and its shadow obscured Mt. Sobo** when the setting sun rose, but it is said that its branches were later broken by the wind and buried in the ground, and the branches seem to be unearthed even now. (Shiro Akamine in Nango, Aso County, Higo Province)

obscure（動）暗くする、見えなくする、覆い隠す

unearth（動）掘り出す、発掘する

There used to be a tree called the Drop Pine in Shikago Village, Ikaruga District, Tamba Province. It is a slightly unusual pine tree that doesn't drop when it rains but drops only on sunny days, and thanks to this tree, the rice paddies in the neighborhood didn't have trouble with water.

slightly（副）わずかに

When Akechi Mitsuhide* built the castle, he sent many laborers and samurai with the intention of felling this pine tree to make it a ridgepole, but because it was so large, he could not cut it down in a day. Strangely enough, however, when they went the next day, they found that every single piece of wood that they had cut the day before and that was scattered everywhere had been replaced before they knew it, and the pine had been restored. In this situation, no matter how many days it takes, there is no progress at all. It is said that Mitsuhide then increased the number of laborers, forced them to work so hard that they had no time to catch their breath, and finally cut down trees within a day to make them the ridgepole of the castle. (Toru Takagi)

ridgepole（名）棟木

(A)

*Funaki: A place name Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

**Empress Jingu: She was the empress of Emperor Chuai, the 14th emperor of Japan. She became regent for 70 years after Chuai died until Emperor Ojin ascended the throne. She conquered the Kumaso people of Kyushu, who rebelled against the Imperial Court, and invaded Silla during her pregnancy. She is enshrined in the Hachiman Shrine as a warrior god.

***Sumiyoshi Shrine: A shrine in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where Empress Jingu and Takenouchi no Sukune are enshrined. A shrine in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, where Empress Jingu and Takenouchi no Sukune are enshrined. It was built after Empress Jingu heard an oracle from Sumiyoshi Gods during the invasion of Silla.

****Takenouchi no Sukune: He served the emperors from 12 to 16. He accompanied Empress Jingu's invasion of Silla.

*****kawanina: Semisulcospira libertina. A species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Semisulcospiridae. It is also known as food for firefly larvae.

(B)

*Mt. Tawara: A 1095 meter mountain on the border between Nishihara Village and Minami Aso Village in Aso County, Kumamoto Prefecture.

**Mt. Sobo: A 1756 meter mountain on the border between Oita and Miyazaki prefectures.

(C)

*Akechi Mitsuhide: (1515? - 1582） A military commander. He was born in Mino Province and became a vassal of Oda Nobunaga after serving the general of the Muromachi period, Ashikaga Yoshiaki. In 1582, he raised a rebellion at Honno-ji Temple in Kyoto and drove Nobunaga to suicide, but shortly after that, he fought against Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Yamazaki and died in defeat.