Folk Legends From Tono: Japan's Spirits, Deities, and Phantastic Creatures Read online

  She was worried that something might have happened. When Grandma came home, she explained that she and the other grandma were not getting along well on that day and they stayed by themselves. That was when they were going from Ise Shrine to Nara City. Also, a few years ago during the Great Kanto Earthquake (September 1, 1923), they were concerned about a group of villagers on a pilgrimage to the Grand Shrine at Ise. They used this fortune-telling method to find out if the pilgrims were safe. (114-261)

  Recently in Ontoku in Tsuchibuchi village, there was a man who had exceptional divination powers. He had a reputation for being very accurate using the “eight trigram” (hakke) method of divination. This rather complex Chinese form of “systemized divination” using numerical encoding has been popular in the rural areas of Japan for some time. Shamanism is different in that it relies on the inner spiritual capabilities of the “individual diviner.” This man had also developed his own technique of hakke interpretation, and he asked Sasaki Kizen to make a handwritten copy of his divination guidelines.

  A man named Yamaguchi went to see the man and have his fortune told. After he returned from the session, he told of the unusual things he had seen. “In the diviner’s house, there was a wooden post dividing the living room off, and then there were three bedrooms in a row covered with straw mats. There was also one long wooden beam used as a common pillow. There were several soiled bed quilts, as if the people had just gotten up. With grandparents, the husband and wife, a daughter, an elder sister, and grandkids, there were more than ten people in the house. They seemed to all sleep together.”

  A villager off to the side overheard him and said, “Is this the first time you have seen something like this? This is the way it is everywhere from here to the Shimohei area.” When Mr. Sasaki was young, he heard from his grandparents about the wealthy farmer Kamon in the Isawa district. Three hundred sixty-five men and women servants were sleeping with one very long square timber as a pillow. In the morning, they were awakened by someone hitting one end of the timber with a mallet. He really felt this was strange, in particular the emphasis on one long wooden pillow. (115-257)

  A man from Ayugai was on his way to Tono one day when he met a traveler he didn’t know. The traveler pointed to houses here and there, saying all kinds of things like, “So-and-so is sick in this house,” or “Such-and-such happened in this house.” These were things that the Tono man was already aware of, but he was personally surprised that a traveler new to the area could know so much.

  When he asked the traveler how he knew these things, the traveler replied there was no particular reason, but he did have some tiny white foxes that he pulled from his coat sleeve. “With just these,” he said, “anyone can know things just as I do.” Anxious to have this power, the man paid whatever it cost to purchase male and female white foxes. He was also instructed in detail how to take care of them and use them. From then on, he became an exceedingly effective fortune-teller.

  At first, he visited nearby areas, saying things like, “Today the father of this house will bring such and such fish from the port,” or “The price of the fish at the port is this much, and it can be sold for this much, providing this much profit.” Because he was usually correct, he came to be trusted by many people. He quickly became one of the few rich people in the village.

  But for some reason, over the years, his predictions became less accurate, and as a result, his family became poor again. In the end, he died along the roadside headed somewhere. This is how izuna works. The ability to see and predict the future has a limited duration, and it is said that when the person dies, they revert to their original normal state. There have been stories like this in other areas as well. (116-201)

  Recently there have been more people in more locations with the izuna fortune-telling skill of seeing and predicting the future. Even in Tsuchibuchi village, one person received an izuna fox from a traveler. Pretending to be a follower of the Buddhist Lotus Sutra, he was very successful in using izuna fortune-telling techniques. His reputation spread to the coastal areas, and one year he was asked to pray for a large fish catch. Where the waves hit the beach, the people set up a platform, and he prayed for three days and nights. But no fish came. The crowd at the port were angered and questioned what was with this impostor from Tono. They carried him to the ocean and threw him in. He was finally washed ashore by the waves and went home under the cover of darkness.

  He was angry and fed up with izuna magic. He placed the small foxes in his pocket, put on a white cone-shaped wicker hat, and went into the deep water on the Kogarase River behind his house. He gradually sank down into the water. The foxes had no choice but to come out of his pocket and climb up onto his floating hat. He quietly untied the strings to the hat, and let the hat with the foxes on it sail down the river. It is said there is no other way to be freed of the izuna magic. (117-202)

  It is said no one will complain about being warned (shirumashi) by a raven in advance of misfortune. A few years ago, the following happened to a household next door to Mr. Sasaki. An old woman relative of the household fell off the Tanigawa Bridge and died. A raven making an alarming noise came flying from the direction of the dead woman’s home and slammed its wings against the sliding paper door before flying away. Everyone in the house was surprised, and just when they hoped nothing bad had happened, a relative reported about the old woman’s death. (118-146)

  There was a box in the Miya family that was never supposed to be opened. Family members had been warned for generations that if they opened the box, they would be blinded. The current master of the household decided, “It is okay if I am blinded,” and he opened the three-layered box section by section. All there was inside was a blue-and-white checkered cloth. (119-141)

  Once a samurai warrior had a dream that he had swallowed Mt. Monomi and it was in his stomach. Concerned, he sent his servant off to have his dream interpreted by the priests at the famous Daitokuin Temple. On the way to the temple, the servant met another samurai. When asked where he was going, the servant explained the situation. The samurai said, “This is really something!” He laughed, saying, “If he had really swallowed Mt. Monomi, his stomach would burst open.” At Daitokuin Temple, they said that since someone had already interpreted the dream, they couldn’t analyze it again. The samurai who had the dream, for some reason or other, committed suicide by slashing open his stomach. (120-150)

  Everywhere, including our area, there are sayings, warnings, and local beliefs about how to conduct your life. For example, eating spicy food is a sign of extravagance. So, if you have never eaten expensive red peppers (been frugal), you will become rich. If you turn up the ashes in the hearth, a childlike specter will emerge. If you bang on the hearth or the suspended pot hook above it (which indicate respect to the fire deity), the “deity of poverty” will be happy. If you face your food tray and tap your rice bowl with chopsticks (improper behavior), you will be poor. If you glance at someone over your rice bowl (a hard way to judge character), you will have an ugly bride or bridegroom. Take care of all critical tasks yourself: never ask someone to prepare the hot coals in the hearth for the night or to sharpen the teeth of your saw. (121-256)

  A sword or knife should be placed by the bedside of a newborn child to ward off evil. If this is not done, when the baby is left alone, a demon spirit (ma) will possess it by entering the pores in its skin. When it gets older, one should avoid having it look in a mirror, lest it be possessed by a demon spirit. (122-242)

  When twins are born, their father must climb up on the roof of the house and shout three times so all the neighbors can hear, “My wife and I had twins.” If he doesn’t do this, then the next time, they will have twins again. Twins were considered a misfortune because it was thought the abilities of one child were divided between the two children. Also, sometimes the firstborn was favored. (123-240)

  When a new mother first leaves the “birth room” and goes into the sunlight, she sho
uld wrap a cloth around her head to protect against the glare of the light. Also, she should mark the forehead of her baby with a dot of soot from a kettle (as a sort of protective evil eye). (124-243)

  When the placenta that connects the fetus to the mother’s uterine wall does not come out naturally after birth, then a round pot cloth used for steaming rice (koshiki) is placed on the mother’s head. Then the placenta will soon emerge. When Mr. Sasaki’s daughter, who lived next door, gave birth, they were concerned that the placenta had not come out. An old woman in the village recalled this magical cure (jugon) with the pot cloth, and the placenta came out easily. It is said no one can question the effectiveness of this secret technique. (125-239)

  It is said that Hataya-no-Nui was one of the best hunters in the region. Magic formulas and chants have been passed down from this famous hunter. For example, no matter how short a piece of rope you cut off, if you take it in your hand and stretch it while chanting “one meter, two meters, three and a half meters” and then hang it on a tree, no evil spirits will come near. (126-221)

  The twentieth of the first month is for celebrating flax or hemp used to make linen. It is taboo for a short woman to enter the house in the morning because she will hinder the flax growth. If she does come, then she must be fumigated and purified with the smoke of burning pine needles. (127-291)

  An itako is a female (sometimes blind) medium or shaman with intense spiritual and communication powers. Shamans contact spirits, perform exorcisms, and act as oracles for the villagers.

  You should not kill a snake that appears near a house because it is likely to be the soul or spirit of an ancestor returning in a different form. Some time ago, Mr. Yanagita from Hayashizaki killed a grass (ring) snake by a stream just in front of his house. Being cursed for this, he and his child became seriously ill. He consulted with a female shaman (itako), and through her, the snake said, “I am the grandfather of your house. Concerned, I was just checking to see if everything was fine at home. Then you killed me as I was gazing at the house.” The man apologized and was finally forgiven.

  At a house in Sasaki Kizen’s neighborhood as well, someone fell ill after killing a snake by the stream in front of their house. When the shaman (itako) questioned the snake, it said it was the mother of that house. There are any number of other examples of this same thing happening. (128-181)

  Kobugahara in Yashu is highly respected as a fire-prevention deity. This is also where the Furumine fire-prevention shrine is. Many people in the Tono area worship this deity, which is very fond of the Japanese mountain yam or sweet potato. At prayer meetings, the villagers compete with each other to see who can offer the deity the largest yam.

  They also put a yam on the roof of the house as an offering to the deity Kobugahara. The next morning the yam is gone. Then they get a letter of appreciation from the shrine for the donation of the yam. One time, someone from Kamigo village went to a prayer meeting at the main temple in Yashu. He thought that he would be punished for not bringing a yam, so he lied, saying that he had forgotten to bring it. He said that he left it at home by the outside walkway. In the temple office, they said not to worry since they would send someone to get it. The man went to sleep feeling bad about what he had done.

  The next morning, a person from the temple said that they had sent someone to his house to look for the yam by the outside walkway, but they couldn’t find it. Perhaps someone was up to no good or had stolen it? This was a warning. Henceforth, he had to be careful about lying.

  He went directly back to the village only to find out that the night before, a shed by his house had burned down. In another case, the Ogasawara house in Tsuchibuchi village prayed to this deity and offered a yam. But they used a nice big yam to feed the family and put a small yam on the roof for the deity. Sure enough, there was a fire, and their house burned to the ground. The people who saw this at the time talked about it. This was about twelve or thirteen years ago. (129-65)

  In Isagozawa, there is a rock called “old woman rock” (uba-ishi) at the base of Mt. Ishigami (rock spirit). A long time ago, a “miko” (Shinto shrine maiden) knew that women were considered ritually polluted and not allowed to climb the mountain. Still, she thought that it was okay for her to climb it because she was searching for a deity (kami). She got on an ox and climbed Mt. Ishigami despite the taboo. Then suddenly it rained hard and the wind blew. She was blown off the ox and became this rock. Nearby there is a rock called “ox rock.” (130-12)

  There is a spring bubbling in a thicket in a place called Shinzan in Kashiwazaki. This spot has become a small pond, and it is said that if a person’s shadow is reflected on the surface, it will rain. (131-41)

  Sasaki Kizen’s friend Mr. Miyamoto was a supervisor in the construction business. It is reported that he went to worship at what is known as a kiyomizu “purified or sacred water” spot. These sites where new springs develop are thought to be blessed and have special healing powers. These spots enjoy a sudden but brief popularity and are referred to using the phrase hayari-gami (popular deities).

  Mr. Miyamoto had the following experience. When he put the spring water on his Japanese writing brush and wrote Chinese characters on white paper, the writing was hard to read. Only when he wrote the words “The Deity of Mt. Hayachine,” with hardly any water, the Chinese characters were clear and beautiful.

  It seems that this “pure water” hayari-gami had a connection with the kami of Mt. Hayachine. In fact, old Torahachi prayed by first calling out “the Black Snake Dai-Myojin Deity,” and later calling out “the Deity of Mt. Hayachine.” (132-46)

  Sasaki Kizen went himself to worship the hayari-gami at Chita-no-Kakuchi. If you visit there, you will see wooden lids for pots that are offered up to the deity with the worshipper’s prayers written on them. A local proverb says that red bean soup with rice dumplings and the hayari-gami are both best enjoyed while they are fresh and hot. The idea of offering a pot lid to hayari-gami is said to come from the freshness of the steam from the food at the moment the lid on a pot is removed. (133-48)

  There was an old lake in the Tonnomi Forest. The late Professor Ino Kanori (1867–1925) said the phrase “Tonnomi” was written using the Chinese characters for “bird and ocean.” Ino often told stories about this lake. As a sacred place, the forest has been off limits to people for a long time. In particular, people were not allowed to go near the lake.

  If someone who was not a believer in the sacred nature of the forest entered it, a nobleman on a whitish horse wearing a Japanese robe and a headdress would emerge from deep inside the forest and toss the person out of the forest. When the person tossed out of the forest regained consciousness, they would find themselves face down in a rice field far away. It seems this doesn’t happen anymore. (134-36)

  Hayari-gami faddish healing water sites seem to pop up in place after place. Before long, a pure water (kiyomizu) hayari-gami site appeared in Ayaori village. I heard that its rituals were conducted by an old woman. (135-47)

  The priest Mujin, who established Tozenji Temple (1300s), once climbed on raigoseki (welcoming stone) and looked in all directions. He quickly got down from the stone and went to the Yakko well. He scooped up some water with a long-handled ladle, looked up into the sky, and scattered the water. Immediately, dark clouds filled the sky as they headed in a southerly direction. People thought this was strange and didn’t know why he did it. A few days later a letter came from Mt. Koyasan in Kishu (which is in the south) expressing their gratitude to Mujin for helping to put out a fire on the mountain. (136-67)

  In this area there are several locations where people believe in the healing qualities of hayari-gami sacred water. These spots have been very popular from time to time. When Sasaki Kizen was young, one night from the base of a rock, pure water (kiyomizu) bubbled out. It became a hayari-gami health spot.

  Around twelve or thirteen years ago (1915–1916) in the Tochinai area, one night “pure wa
ter” bubbled out from the base of a big cedar tree. This spring was said to cure many illnesses, and nearly one hundred people a day came to worship there. A bathhouse that used this water for bathing was built and it was popular for a while, but after two or three months, people lost interest.

  Five or six years ago, at the base of the mountain where Tengu-no-mori (Tengu Forest) is, pure water bubbled out. It was discovered by an old man named Torahachi from Tsukumoushi village. It was popular because Torahachi said that the spring had the spiritual powers of the black snake. In this case as well, over one hundred people came to worship there each day. (137-44)

  Mt. Hayachine Shrine, founded in 806, is closely associated with religious mountain worship, wandering priests, and the sacred kagura dance. According to hunters, the deity of Mt. Hayachine is the Buddhist “three-headed Daikokuten,” the god of wealth and prosperity and one of Japan’s seven lucky gods. The carved head of Daikokuten is in the center. The carving to the left is Bishamonten, the god of warriors. The head to the right is Benzaiten, the goddess of the arts and water. Together they are the protectors of the three Buddhist treasures: the Buddha, the Buddhist law, and the Buddhist community of followers.

  Currently, the object of worship at Mt. Hayachine is the golden eleven-headed Buddhist Kannon goddess of mercy and compassion. This Kannon (surveying the world for sounds of suffering) represents the ten stages of enlightenment and the eleventh element of Buddhahood.