(A) Waka of Saigyo Monk and the Lowly Woodcutter

Saigyo Pass in Minami-Koma County, Kai Province is a pass that runs from Suruga to Kai along the Fuji River, and there is an interesting legend about the origin of the name Saigyo Pass.

Once upon a time, Saigyo had been traveling to various provinces to study waka poetry, and he was conceited that he could make good waka poems, so he thought that there was no greater poet than him, and when he passed this mountain road, he met a lowly woodcutter. Is there anyone in Kai who composes waka poems? When he asked, the woodcutter told him that if he were composing waka poems, I would do it, so please listen to me, and he composed,

'Ikitchina Tsubomishi Hana ga Kicchina ni Buppiraitaru Oketoji no Hana'.

Saigyo was surprised that he didn't understand the meaning of his waka, so he thought that even a lowly woodcutter would read such a poem in Kai, he had better visit Kai after a little more training because he didn't know what he would face if he went inside. That's why it was named Saigyo Pass. This woodcutter's waka means that the flowers that had fallen when I went were blooming when I returned, and oketoji means cherry blossoms. Cherry bark is used to bind magemono (bent-woodware), so cherry blossoms are called oketoji(tying a tub).

conceited（形）うぬぼれた

woodcutter（名）木こり

bark（名）樹皮

woodenware（名）木製器具

There is a similar story in the Yositsu region of Hiroshima Prefecture, Aki Province. The waka poem in the story is,

'Ikisama ni Nanika to Mishi ha Modorosama ni Shakutojikatshu no Ki no Hana. '

Around Tsuruoka in Uzen Province,

'Ekisama ni Tsubomishi Hana ga Kaerichi Yama ni Saku mo Saitari Wappatoji no Hana.'

In Nitta Village, Kozuke Province,

'Okokko Yukimita ganda Sore Soko ni Furakisometari Tabukurige no Hana'

This song means that, as if looking at snow, the flowers of tobacco case trees are blooming everywhere, and since the local people used tobacco cases made of cherry bark, the cherry blossoms are called tobacco case tree flowers. If we look around the country, we will find similar stories. (Kyoko Yamanaka)

(B) Old Woman in Kadoya

In Ecchu, there is a proverb that says, 'Even an old woman in Kadoya has something to do.' Kakuma Village, Shimoniikawa County was where Doi Higonokami or Genshichiro's castle was located during the Onin period, and Uesugi Kagekatsu had 5000 soldiers surround the castle and attacked it for 30 ~ 40 days, but he could not capture it easily. So, he devised a plan, inquired about the villages, sought out an old woman of eighty or so years of age, and arrogantly cursed her, saying, "You must know the details of the castle when it was built, so tell me all about it.". She replied, "I know about it, but I can't tell you because it's about the lord's castle in my town. If you want to know, please ask politely." Kagekatsu was very angry with her, but it was inevitable. So, he made her sit on the seat of honor and politely asked her about the time when the castle was built, whether there was water in the castle, and where the water source was, and she told him every detail. He followed the old woman's instructions and dug the water source, and in a few days the castle, which was so strong, was captured. That is why the proverb "the old woman in Kakuma has something to do," was established, and later it became "Kadoya."(Sekijiro Izumi in Toyama City)

proverb（名）諺

arrogantly（副）横柄に

curse（動）罵る

inevitable（形）不可避の

politely（副）丁寧に

Mt. Haruna straddles Nishi-Gunma and Azuma Counties, with Ikaho Marsh at the top. Therefore, there was a dispute over whether this marsh belonged to Nishi-Gunma or Azuma County. Then, there was a wise man in Nishi-Gunma County, and he went to the capital and ordered many fans. He made the craftsman draw a light picture of an irises and write a haiku saying, "Come and see the irises in the Ikaho marsh, "and gave him a small deposit, but he didn't come. (Kuntaro Imaizumi in Ota, Gunma Prefecture)

deposit（名）手付金

(D) Earthworm Dung

Don't be arrogant if you have money, earthworms' dung on Sado. There is a mountain in Nishimikawa, Obuse Village, Sado Province where a lot of gold dust can be extracted. A long time ago, a boat captain came to this mountain and bought leeks, and the roots shone. He looked carefully and found gold dust mixed with the soil on the roots, so he often came to buy leeks afterward and stole gold dust in the field. Later, the owner of the field noticed and looked for it himself. This is said to be the origin of earthworm dung, that is, gold dust mining in Sado*. (Ringai Maeda)

earthworm（名）ミミズ

dung（名）糞

leek（名）ネギ

gold dust......砂金

(E) Ryuzu

Once upon a time, at the request of a farmer who lived in Mizusawa, Nishiyama Village, Nishi-Murayama County, Uzen Province, a rokubu, who trained in various provinces, stopped by and chanted sutras in front of a Buddhist altar. The daughter of the house, who fell in love with him at the sight of his kind figure, drank a little tea left at the bottom of his cup after he had gone home, and instantly became pregnant, and months passed, and she gave birth to a boy as beautiful as a jewel. Soon after, she heard voices chanting sutras from outside. When she went out, she saw the rokubu, who had visited her last year. She invited him to come in and recount. Without a surprised look, he borrowed the tea bowl he had used last year with the baby, and when he said a spell, the baby disappeared like it had vanished, leaving a piece of tea at the bottom of the tea bowl. When she saw it, she was startled and ran out of the house in no time, until she came to a swamp a mile to the north, where her body became a serpent. She jumped straight into the swamp and never came back. The rokubu took pity on her and built a temple in the village to pray for the soul of his daughter. Ryusho Temple is the temple.

sutra（名）経

altar（名）祭壇

recount（動）詳しく語る

startle（動）びっくりさせる

Ryuzu (dragon head) is the name of the place my daughter jumped into. (Kikumatsu Sugano in Sendai)

(F) Fire at Jinshan Temple

There was a great chief priest named Chiton at Choo Temple in Odate, Yosima Village near Iwakitaira. He had studied abroad in Tang. One day, when there was a fire at Jinshan Temple in Tang, he told people to put out the fire quickly and let the stones in the garden of Choo Temple pour water, and suddenly it started raining heavily. The sound sounded like chidon-chidon to him. Later, Jinshan Temple sent him a statue of Nirvana as a recompense. (Shigeru Sasaki in Iwakidaira)

Tang（名）唐

recompense（名）謝礼、お礼

(G) Mukademaru

One day, when Shimojo Yagozaemon, who also worked as a village headman in a pioneer family in Yoshii, Nakadori Village, Kariwa County, Echigo Province, was riding back from Takada when he came to a steep road called Kanigafuchi, his horse started to make noise and he stumbled, and the sword he was wearing fell out of its sheath. When he got home, he saw that there was no sword, so he sent his men to search for it, and found a large centipede, about three feet long, wriggling by the road. When he heard the story of his subordinate who was surprised and went back, he found that he had dropped the sword as he expected, so he took it back happily. When he looked carefully at the sword, he saw a centipede (mukade) shape on the surface of the sword. Later, he named his sword Mukademaru and cherished it. (Toshinori Nakanishi)

stumble（動）よろめく、つまずく

sheath（名）鞘

centipede（名）ムカデ

cherish（動）大切にする

(H) Mt. Nunobiki in Iwami Province

Mt. Nunobiki, the thirteenth most famous mountain in Japan, can be seen in the south of Yagami Village, Ochi County, Iwami Province. To the west is a resting place for Yamanba*. It is a rock cave in the eighth station of the mountain. The entrance is wide, but it suddenly narrows from a few tens of meters deep, and you have to bend down before you can proceed. If you pass through it, you will find an unusually large place called Senjoshiki (a place where 1000 tatami mats can be laid). There is also a hole in the back of it, but you can't get in. I don't know how deep it is, but it seems to run through the mountain.

station（名）合目

A long time ago, a goddess of Mt. Nunobiki and a carpenter named Hida Takumi made a bet. It was decided that the goddess would weave cloth and wrap a mountain in one day and one night, and the carpenter would build a temple in one day and one night. The carpenter worked hard, but his work was slow. It was not half done yet, but it was almost dawn, and he looked anxiously toward the mountains, where the cloth seemed to have been woven and the mountain was completely white, and he stopped his work, thinking it was no good. Later, when he looked closer, it was the moonlight that looked white. But he stopped the work, so he lost. This is the origin of the name of Mt. Nunobiki. (A person who lives in a village next to Mt. Nunobiki in Iwami Province)

make a bet......賭けをする

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

*mining in Sado: Gold mining was carried out in Sado from the 16th century to 1989. During the Edo period, 400 kilograms of gold were mined annually.

(E)

(F)

(G)

*Yamanba: A kind of Japanese yokai, meaning an old woman in the mountains. She eats travelers who are lost in the mountains. It is also said that he gave treasures to women and raised a famous samurai in the Heian period, Sakata no Kintoki. In the Shikoku, she is enshrined as a god in some regions.

(H)