(A) Kotoshiro-nushi no Mikoto

At Miho Shrine* in Yatsuka County, Izumo Province, Kotoshiro-nushi no Mikoto and Mihotsu-hime are enshrined, and visitors are not allowed to eat chicken eggs at the site of this shrine. If they eat it, they are always cursed. In the old days, Kotoshiro-nushi rode a small boat every night to visit the goddess in Iya Village on the other side of Lake Nakaumi, and rode home at the sound of chickens the next morning. But one time, a chicken crows at the wrong time at midnight. He started the boat in a hurry but was in such a hurry that he forgot his oar and was obliged to sail with his hands when a shark appeared and bit him in the arm. He hated chickens very much since then. Pilgrims also refrain from eating chickens and eggs because they think that eating them is punishing. Also, there are no chickens in this area. (Hyozo Shimizu)

oar（名）オール

(B) Domyoji

Domyoji, Minami-Kawachi County, Kawachi Province is the place where Sugawara no Michizane was born. When Michizane was exiled to Tsukushi, he was carving his own sculpture, and before he had finished carving, a chicken chirped, so he stopped and went out, therefore people don't keep chickens here since long ago. Tenjin hates chickens, so nobody keeps them. (X in Minami-Kawachi)

sculpture（名）彫刻

The god enshrined in the building at the back of Sada Shrine in Izumo Province is Hahagi no Futomoto. Once, when this god went to battle, a local gave him a pair of sandals worn by people who worked in the mountains, but he was defeated because of these sandals. Therefore, even now, if someone goes to the shrine wearing these sandals, they are punished.

(D) Princess Anju

Don't drink the water from the Shikaura beach on one side, the poison is flowing there!

One of the daughters of the magistrate, Iwaki Masauji, was a beautiful princess named Anju. Sansho Dayu fell in love with her and eventually kidnapped her and came to Katabe Village in Sado Province to woo her, but she just wouldn't accept him. His love for her became hatred, and he bullied and tormented her, and abused her so badly every day that she cried every morning and night until she finally became blind. Even the village children threw snakes and centipedes at her. Finally, they wrapped the droppings of horses and cows in bamboo bark and tormented her by feeding them, saying that they had brought rice cakes as souvenirs in imitation of the voice of her brother Dooumaru. One time, a real Dooumaru visited her. She didn't want to repeat the damage she had done, so she thought he was a bad child and swung her cane to keep him at bay. He took out and showed her the comb he had previously given her. She was relieved at last. Since then, thanks to his care not leaving her side for a moment, her blind eyes have gradually healed. They were glad that the cure of her eyes was from heaven, and at last, they escaped safely from Katabe Village. There are three rivers in Katabe: Shikaura, Nakagawa and Surusu. Among them, the Nakagawa River in the middle was poisoned because Anju washed her eyes. It has long been said that drinking water will make you sick. (Shogetsu Nakagawa in Ebisu Port, Sado Province)

magistrate（名）判事

torment（動）ひどく苦しめる

centipede（名）ムカデ

bark（名）樹皮

cane（名）杖

(E) Jomine Peak and Kan'na River

If you go to Kozuke Province from Nakasen-do Road, you have to cross the Kan'na River, and Shinmachi Station is just around there. Going back along the Kanna River from here, you can see 48 huge Samba stones* from the iron bridge. Crossing the bridge, it is the territory of Chichibu, Musashi Province. Jomine Peak is not far from there. Speaking of Jomine, there is Jomine Shrine, which is famous for its envoys being monkeys.

In the past, Masakado**, who called himself Shinno (the new emperor), lost the battle in Kashima and escaped to Jomine. The pursuer, Tawara no Tota Hidesato, searched many places, but his whereabouts were completely unknown. One day, however, more than three meters of fine hair flowed downstream of the Kanna River. There was no one with such beautiful hair in this period except Masakado, so the army went up the river and finally found him and killed him. Since then, his vengeful ghost has stayed in Jomine and resented Hidesato so strongly that the balloon flower, which is the emblem of Hidesato, never grows in Jomine. Those who climb this mountain should never speak of Tota or balloon flowers.

The original Chinese character notation seems to be that the Kanna River is also a river where gods flow. (Shunpo Arai)

vengeful（形）復讐心に燃えた

(F) Shakain Temple

It is said that when Konishi Yukinaga* burned the famous Shakain Temple on Mt. Shakain in Yatsushiro County, Higo Province, he used pea shells as fuel, and even today, peas are not produced in this village. Even if you make them, they will be eaten by insects and will not bear beans. On February 15 and April 8, people visit the temple from all over, but strangely, it always rains at that time. They are said to be the descendants of those who obeyed Konishi's orders, so it rains. (Yu Nasu)

pea（名）エンドウ

shell（名）莢

(G) The Cell of Hachiman Shrine

A long time ago, lightning struck the well of Hachiman Shrine in Konda, Furuichi Village, Minami-Kawachi County, Kawachi Province. When Daikoku put a lid on the well with a metal basin, the thunder was in trouble, and he asked for forgiveness because it would never strike again. Daikoku forgave him. So Konda has never been struck by lightning. (X in Minami-Kawachi)

(H) Nunakawa-hime

This is the story of Oumi village, Nishi-Kubiki County, Echigo Province.

A goddess named Nunakawa-hime, who lived in Izumo in the past, brought a stone when she moved from Izumo to this place, and it is in a field of Biridani in this village. It's shaped like a pagoda. It seems that it didn't want to move elsewhere, and no matter how many times it was moved, it always returned to its original location overnight or in a day. Several years ago, the owner of the field, Rinpei Watanabe's wife and his second son Ryosaku noticed the stone and took it out of the field, but the next day it had returned to its original place.

This field used to be a mound, so don't take a horse or dog near it. If you take them, they will die. There have been many such cases in the past.

25 to 26 years ago, there was a large cedar 15 ~ 16 meters away from this mound. The perimeter was 7 ~ 8 meters long, and 8 large boughs extended from about 2 meters from the ground, and the curved part of the boughs was wide enough to lay several tatami mats. In spring, villagers went out with sake to admire the large cedars. In the past, at midnight on March 24, Dragon Lamps appeared from Dragon Palace and rested on the cedars before climbing the nearby Gongen Shrine on Mt. Kurohime. A famous sacred tree also died after a fire broke out in the hollow. (Tekko Ono in Oumi Village, Nishi Kubiki County, Echigo Province)

(I) Yakushi Nyorai

One and a half miles north of Nishiyama Village, Nishi-Murayama County, Yamagata Prefecture, there is a high mountain called Mt. Kanagura. In the past, Yakushi Nyorai was enshrined at the top there, and many people visited there. The place about a mile up the mountain was called Umatate (horse stop) because pilgrims connected horses there, and horses were off-limits above here. Kaneyama Shrine is located 400 to 500 meters from here. A little beyond that is Douaki. The old halls for religious associations and practitioners were deserted with the decline of Yakushi Nyorai and became deserted without a guard, so it was named Douaki (Uninhabited Hall). A little further on, around the steep slope, there used to be hundreds of stone pillars 3 inches on one side and 7 ~ 8 feet high. On the way back from the pilgrimage, the stone was knocked down like dominoes, and the next day it was restored. These mysterious stones have now been stolen to use as garden stones and building foundations, and none of them remain. At the top of the mountain, there is a place called Tengu's sumo ring, which is a ring-shaped place without any vegetation. There is a pond of about 1 tsubo a little distance away, and the water is pure. It is water used by pilgrims, and Iwafune Stream flows from it.

off-limits（形）立ち入り禁止の

Once upon a time, Jozan, the administrator of the temple, colluded with a man named Abe to cut down pine trees on this mountain. Then the statue of Yakushi Nyorai suddenly disappeared. It is said that there was an apology saying "I hid because the trees were cut down and there was no place for me. Anyone who sought me out will have his way with wealth and glory, "but even now no one has found the statue. A wood dealer named Chohachi cut pine trees on this mountain at the commission. One day, when he went down the mountain alone, he met a child of about 12 ~ 13 years old. When the child saw him, he turned into a rice bale and chased him. He was so surprised that he ran off without looking behind him and managed to survive. The joke that there was nothing more terrible than being chased by rice was no joke to him. (Kikumatsu Sugano in Motodera Koji, Sendai City)

administrator（名）管理人

commission（名）委任

bale（名）俵

(J) The Remains of a Pine Tree

There is a place called Ebisu in Nagama, Yashiro Village, Kita-Katsushika County, Saitama Prefecture. A long time ago, there was an old pine tree in the field where a fox lived, but when the villagers cut it down without knowing it, sand fell, and no crops were produced. Then, the villagers consulted and thought that it was the curse of the pine tree, so they carved a sign called the remains of the pine tree into the stone and set it up. The curse stopped after that. The stone still stands.

Note: A few 10 meters away is a small pond called Maruike. Three rounds of the pond, holding his breath, were said to haunt a white serpent with horns. Speaking of snakes, Hachiman Shrine in Sazaemon, Tamiya Village, in the same county has been renovated and is now magnificent, but in the past, there was a large serpent on the artificial mountain of Sengen Shrine in the precinct. On one occasion, the caretaker found the serpent eating rice offered at the stone shrine of Sengen Shrine (three feet wide and six feet high with seven rolls, and he told it not to show up, and then it disappeared. (Ryozo Tanaka)

precinct（名）境内

caretaker（名）管理人

(K) Night Cry Bell

There is a night cry bell at Kozen Temple in Kamogaritsumugi Village, Nishiyatsushiro County, Kai Province. When casting this bell, a child who was playing by its side accidentally fell into the casting pot and was cast with it. It is said that a child's cry can still be heard from inside the bell on a cold night. (Taka Takano in Toyowa, Nishi-Yatsushiro County, Kai Province)

cast（動）鋳造する

Note: In Hajikashima Village, Nishi Yatsushiro County, in the past, when pounding rice cakes offered on the day of Tookan'yaa*, a child was accidentally pounded together. Since then, it has been said that if rice cakes are pounded on the day of Tookan'ya, blood will be mixed in them, and even now not a single household pounces rice cakes. (Taka Takano)

(A)

*Miho Shrine: A shrine in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. Its name appears in the topography 'Fudoki' compiled in the eighth century. The shrine is located near an important fishing base. After the medieval period, the belief spread among the common people as a guardian deity of good catch, sea safety and business prosperity.

(B)

(C)

(D)

(E)

*Samba stones: A rock produced in Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture. Blue-green with white stripes is often used for garden stones.

*Masakado: Taira no Masakado (? - 940) A military commander in the eighth century. Based in Shimousa Province, he wielded his power, killing his uncle and starting a rebellion in 935 due to the territorial dispute of his father's heritage. He went on a rampage in the Kanto region calling himself the new Emperor, but he was attacked by Fujiwara no Hidesato and died in the battle.

(F)

*Konishi Yukinaga: (? - 1600) A military commander in the Sengoku period. He served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and was active in the Imjin War. After Hideyoshi's death, he joined Ishida Mitsunari's army but was defeated in the Battle of Sekigahara and executed. He was also a Christian.

(G)

(H)

(I)

(J)

(K)

*Tookan'ya: An event held in eastern Japan on October 10. Appreciating the fall harvest, children walk around pounding the ground with thick straw sticks.