Japanese Legend Collection

(III) The Saddling Swamp Legend

(A) Kurakake Swamp

In a mountainous village surrounded by mountains called Numakura, Krikoma Village, Kurihara County, Rikuzen Province, there is a swamp called Kurakake Swamp, which has a circumference of about one mile. Trees flourish on one side of the marsh and grassland on the other. And along the shore is a narrow road leading to Akita Prefecture.

marsh（名）沼地

Once upon a time, Numakura Hida-no-kami lived in a castle in this village. The castle ruins are about a mile south of the swamp. When this Numakura was attacked by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro and on his way to Akita, he went deep into the mountains with his three retainers, and when they reached a certain wetland, the mud was so deep that the horses' legs couldn't move. The pursuers gradually came after them, so they abandoned their horses and fled. Later, this marsh became the present-day Kurakake (saddling) Swamp, and the saddle always floats on the surface of the water on lunar July 7. It is said that anyone who sees it will surely die within three years.

wetland（名）湿地帯

saddle（名）鞍

The aforementioned castle ruins are high mountains with a cliff like a folding screen. On one side it was open, but on the three sides, it led to a dark grove even by day. It is said that Hidanokami left gold in the ground when he escaped from the castle, and there is a song titled

"There are 1000 cups of lacquer and 10,000 cups of gold under the Taratara Falls where the morning sun shines."

It is said that 50 to 60 years ago, a local person tried digging under the rock likely to be the waterfall in the east. (Yamashita X)

aforementioned（形）上述した

grove（名）林

(B) The Saddle Pond

There is a pond named Kura Pond in Mt. Togakushi in Shinano Province. It resembles a human footprint in shape. It is said to be a footprint made by Ame no Tajikarao* when he first stepped on the human world when he tried to remove Heaven's Rock Cave, but there is another legend about the origin of the name.

Once upon a time, when a farmer pulled his horse past this pond, the horse, not knowing what surprised it, ran violently into the water and disappeared. Locals believe it was taken by the pond's chief. It was just the day of Tanabata. The following year, on Tanabata Day, locals went there and found a golden saddle floating from the bottom of the water. Since then, the saddle has always appeared on Tanabata Day every year. It is said to be the chief of the pond. (Umekichi Tanaka)

(C) The Saddle in the Pond

The site of the castle in Kuragatake Village, Ishikawa County, Kaga Province, is where Togashi, an administrator, lived after his retirement, and there are two swamps on the mountain. On June 8, 1488, Ikko sect monks attacked the castle and destroyed Togashi Masachika, but according to the locals, he fought on horseback with the enemy general Mizumaki Tadaie and fell into the swamp with his horse and sank. You can still see the saddle at the bottom of the pond on a clear day. It is also said that the saddle floats over the water only on June 8. This is apparently the origin of the mountain's name, Kuradake (Mt. saddle), and when viewed from a distance, the shape of the mountain looks just like a saddle.

horseback（名）馬の背

There is also a castle site of the Togashi clan on Mt. Takao in the same county. It also fell in June 1488, but since then a fire pillar called the Bouzubi has built up over the mountain in the middle of the night. It is said that the locals are scared because they are told that anyone who sees it will surely get sick. (Kanazawa in Shimogamo, Kyoto)

(A)

(B)

*Ame no Tajikarao: The god of Japanese mythology. When Amaterasu holed up in Heven's Rock Cave and the world went dark, he dragged her out.

(C)