(A) Beccho Marsh

There is a place called Ishidou (stone hall) in the upper stream of the Kazusa River, which flows along the border between Kawanome and Fujiki villages in Omagari Town, Senboku County, Akita Prefecture. In the past, when Hachiman Taro (Minamoto no Yoshiie) army and the Abe clan, the lord of Matsuyama Castle, threw stones at each other and battled, the stones that flew from both Matsuyama Castle and Mt. Kanazawa collided and fell. The name derives from the fact that a hall was built on the site, and Kamo Myojin is now enshrined there.

There is the Bicchu marsh near this hall, where a retainer of the Abe clan, a man named Bicchu, was hit by the stone and died. He became a big butterfly after sinking into this swamp and still lives in this swamp hiding. He sometimes went out on cloudy days or nights to frighten people, so he got the name Beccho Marsh. Butterflies are called beccho in this area. (Fuhito in Omagari City, Akita Prefecture)

(B) Firefly Teahouse

There is a village called Kawanome in Omagari Town, Senboku County, Akita Prefecture. It was a place where rice delivered to the domain was easily transported by water. Once there was a bad man here named Kurobee, who broke into warehouses and robbed and torched houses so that he was crucified at Oiwake, and his wife and child were buried alive. From that night, Kurobe's soul began to fly, and those who were buried alive began to fly as fireflies due to their obsession with light, causing a disturbance in the village. Even though they became fireflies, they hugged each other and never left. We hear that they glow like balls and their size is as big as a horse's eye. A few years later, a virtuous monk named Enbo, who managed Sentsu Temple in Kawanome, held a memorial service in front of the mound where Clovee was buried, chanting the three types of sutras. Many fireflies gathered around him and lit up the text of the sutra all night, but they flew away at dawn, and no spirits were seen after that. These fireflies still appear, so many people come to see them on summer nights. Even a famous teahouse called Hotaru Chaya (Firefly Teahouse) remains. Standing on the moss-covered ground in a thicket of vegetation is the Kurobe Mound.

crucify（動）磔にする

obsession（名）執着

disturbance（名）混乱、騒ぎ、狼狽

virtuous（形）高潔な、有徳の

sutra（名）経

thicket（名）藪、茂み

vegetation（名）草木

Sentsu Temple is a temple built by boatmen of Kubota and Araya to ask monks to chant sutras when passing ships because there was a difficult place to pass called Koufukuji Pool on the Omono River in the past and ships had a hard time. It is said that when the chief priest recited the sutra to the ship, the ship passed through safely, so the temple was named Sentsu (passing ship) Temple. (Hosui in Omagari City, Akita Prefecture)

recite（動）詠唱する

The coast of Iburi, Hokkaido, was badly damaged by the eruption of Mt. Ezo Fuji. Recently, there was a major eruption of Mt. Usu* a few summers ago, resulting in the creation of Mt. Meiji Shintaro, which is over 600 feet tall. The eruption in the Kaei period (1848 - 1854) created Mt. Ousu. The old Ainu people call the old Mt. Kous the elder brother and the new Mt. Oous the younger brother, but Mt. Oous is taller than the elder brother. Their awe of Mt. Usu is far from complete, as they call the spirits of the mountains mysterious magical gods and revere them, shaving inaws**, offering sake, wearing beautiful clothes, hats, and swords, and recruiting enfants perdus to pray against evil every time they erupt. There is an abandoned village called Tokotan on the border between the villages of Usu and Aputa at the foot of the mountain. It is considered a terrible land cursed by snakes, and no one approaches there now. The beach protrudes like a hook from a promontory called the Messenger's Cape, the port of Usu is an arc, and there is a road between the rocks Udorochikushi and Kocciakechikushi, which face Mt. Komagatake called Osima Fuji, and strangely shaped rocks called Tateiwa, Shikeiwa, Takaisi, and Torisuishi serve as hiding places for fish. Here are two large stones called Giron (argument) stones. They seem to be arguing because they are standing. In the past, when the chiefs of Usu and Aputa had a territorial dispute, the envoys of both sides argued with each other here, and both sides didn't make any concessions and argued repeatedly, and they became stone. It is said to be a monument and is named Charangeshuma. It is a stone with eyes and mouth like a human at first glance. Apart from this, there is also a legend about Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Benkei in this stone. (Raian Kuwabara in Higashi Okubo, Tokyo)

eruption（名）噴火

awe（名）畏怖

revere（動）崇拝する

enfants perdus......決死隊

protrude（動）突き出る

promontory（名）岬

(D) Yomegashima Island

There is a beautiful island called Yomegashima Island in Lake Shinji in Izumo Province.

Once upon a time, when the lake was covered with ice, a wedding procession passed over the ice. The bride suddenly wanted to urinate on the way and couldn't stand it, so she relieved herself on the ice and the ice there melted so quickly that she fell into the water and sank. It is said that she became an island in present-day Yomegashima (bride island) Island. (Hyozo Shimizu)

urinate（動）排尿する

relieve oneself......用を足す

(A)

(B)

(C)

*Mt. Usu: A 737-meter volcano located south of Lake Toya in Hokkaido. It erupts regularly, and the 1944 eruption created Mt. Showa Shinzan.

**inaw: The ritual equipment used by the Ainu. It is made by scraping a wooden stick into a tassel-like shape and functions to mediate between divine spirits and humans.

(D)