Tsunami legends

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .
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tsunami 津波 伝説　Tsunami legends

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. tsunami 津波 /　つなみ　Tsunami .
and the
Tohoku Region Pacific Ocean Offshore Earthquake March 11, 2011


yamatsunami 山津波 "mountain Tsunami"
. doshakuzure 土砂崩れ landslide legends .

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In the seventh month of 1728 (享保13年7月) something huge like a mountain was seen far away on the horizon along the coast. The huge thing divided into two, one going East, one going West. On the next day in Edo and ajacent regions a mountain had cracked and water from a Tsunami flooded Edo like a fountain spring.
22 years before this something similar had happened in Ise (伊勢で津波 1708), causing a Tsunami.

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................................................................................. Fukushima 福島県

. 宝の川 The river of treasures .
and a mountain tsunami 山津波 (landslide)


................................................................................. Hokkaido　北海道

Before a Tsunami reaches 松前 Matsumae, the figures of 仏神の姿 Buddhas and Shinto deities can be seen flying in the sky to give a warning.
- - - Kaishi Shinroo 海市蜃楼
. shinroo 蜃楼 heat shimmers .
"flimmering town" shinshi 蜃市（しんし）, "town in the sea, kaishi 海市（かいし）


................................................................................. Ibaraki 茨城県 with 山津波 landslides

In 石岡市 Ishioka town, a male and female dragon 雄龍と雌龍 were celebrated
as the Deity of the Mountain 山の神様.
Legend tells, that once the female dragon shapeshifted into a lady, met a young samurai and fell deeply in love with him. But the young samurai died right on the spot. There occurred a huge landslide and two peaks formed, with the scales of the Dragon forming a special mountain shape.


................................................................................. Iwate 岩手県

In 大船渡市 Ofunato town at 三陸町 Sanriku village



Oshirabotoke オシラボトケ Oshirasama
In the 及川家 Oikawa family a pair of オシラボトケ "White Deities" is venerated. But on the New Year's day and on March 13th they are covered with a cloth. When the Sanriku Tsunami came, the house was destroyed but the Shirasama survived.

. O-Shirasama - short for O-Shirase sama お知らせ様 .


................................................................................. Mie 三重県 with 山津波 landslides

In the 飯南郡 Iinan district, a yama tsunami 山津波 landslide and a huge serpent
大蛇が、白猪山で大崩れによる山津波で流され、火を吹きながら出ていった。そのだいじゃの岩穴を蛇穴と呼ぶ。


In 熊野市 Kumano town, the 便所の神様 Deity of the Toilet
In 1854 the 安政 Ansei Earthquake struck the region and the Toilet Deity of the 竹内長太夫家 Takeuchi family was flooded into the sea. At that time, at the homes of good people, 御札 divine amulets fell from heaven, but on the homes of bad people stones fell from heaven.
竹内長太夫 Takeuchi Chodayu was known as a good fisher of whales 鯨男 and his family still lives in 二木島港 Nigishima harbour .

- reference : hamamine.jp/kumano -


................................................................................. Miyagi 宮城県

If during an earthquake the deer are calling, there will be no Tsunami.
If the dear do not call out, there will be a Tsunami.


................................................................................. Nagano 長野県 with 山津波 landslides

In the 上伊那郡 Kami-Ina district, a legend about Fudo
経平という場所に小堂があったが、山津波で埋没した。年を経て、そこが毎夜光を放ったので、天和元年３月に近隣住民が掘り返した。すると、そこから不動尊の木造が現れたので、現在の場所に安置したという。

In the 南佐久郡 Minami-Saku district, a legend about あかずの観音
現在「観音堂」と呼ばれている所には，江戸中期まで立派な観音堂があった。ところが，ある年山津波でこの堂がつぶれてしまったので，観音様は難を避けるために北佐久郡三井村（現佐久市香坂）の閼伽流山に飛んでいってしまった。以来この観音様を｢あかずの観音｣と呼んでいる。


................................................................................. Nagasaki 長崎県

In 島原市 Shimabara town, a 大蛇 huge serpent
The Lord of Shimabara had been hunting in the forests around 雲仙嶽 Unzen volcano, where he saw two large serpents and killed one of them, wounding the other. Soon after the fields of the region were destroyed by some wild animal and there was no harvest this year. People thought it was the doings of the one serpent that survived.
Anyway, there was a doctor called 多比良 Taira who treated a woman for her wounds. She told him that her husband had been killed and in his revenge destroyed the fields. She was greatfull to the doctor and also told him he should run away, because soon the volcano would erupt and a Tsunami would come and bring more disaster.
So this huge earthquake and Tsunami in 1729 was the curse of the serpent 大蛇の祟り.
Taira 多比良町 is now a place name in Unzen . . . 長崎県雲仙市国見町船津.


source : qsr.mlit.go.jp/unzen/sabo


................................................................................. Oita 大分県

In 佐伯市 Saiki town, a statue of 観音様 Kannon Bosatsu came rolling in during a tsunami. The statue was caught in the net of a fisherman, and its halo was sparkling.
Other versions tell of a tree floating in the waves and when they cut it, blood came flowing out of the cut. So they made a Kannon Statue to appease it.


................................................................................. Okinawa 沖縄県

In 石垣市 Ishigaki town
In 伊良部町 Irabu town, - ningyo 人魚 "human fish" (dugong)
In the village of 白保村 Shiraho there were three families living under arrest. Once they caught a human fish and wanted to eat it. Before they cut it open the fish talked to them and told them of a coming big Tsunami. Afraid they threw the meat back into the sea and apologized for catching the fisl.
And just so, a big Tsunami came and destroyed the whole village. But the homes of these three families were saved.

This was 八重山地震 the Yaeyama Earthquake of 1771, with a Tsunami of 60 meters, killing 1574 people in Irabu alone.



The 1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami (also called 明和の大津波, the Great Tsunami of Meiwa) was caused by the Yaeyama Great Earthquake at about 8 A.M. on April 24, 1771, south-southeast of Ishigaki Island.
..... The dead and missing amounted to 12,000 people, and more than 2,000 houses were destroyed on Ishigaki and Miyakojima.
- More in the Wikipedia -

- - - - - 海神，ワダツミ，ユナイナマ
Once a rich family caught a fish called ユナイナマ Yudainama and cut it for a meal.
But this fish is the messenger of the 海神の使者 Deity of the Sea. So the Sea God became angry and sent a Tsunami to destroy the home of the family.

- - - - - ヨナタマ Yonatama - dugong in the local dialect
When the fishermen wanted to prepare a meal with the catch of the day, putting one fish on the net for barbeque, there was suddenly a voice coming from the sea:
"Come home soon, hurry!" 早く帰って来い.
And the fish on the net replied
"Please come and get me, fast!" 迎えに来てくれ.
And right then a Tsunami rolled in and destroyed the whole village.


In the 島尻郡 Shimajiri district,
In 富盛村 Tomimori village near the ギーザという泉 Giiza spring three women went to worship at 具志頭 Gushikami. One of them had menstruation and washed her underwear in the spring. This was a serious ritual pollution and at once a tsunami welled up from the sea and killed all three women.



................................................................................. Shizuoka 静岡県

In the 賀茂郡 Kamo district there lived the マキヤ Makiya family and their home was swept away by the huge tsunami. The family members were saved by a huge Norota eel ノロタ（海鰻. Since then this family never eats any kind of eel.


In 下田市 Shimoda
Once there came shiroi hige no roojin 白いひげの老人 an old man with a white beard.
He warned the residents of Shimoda before a Tsunami and told them to evacuate to the mountain, 下田富士 Shimoda Fuji. After the first Tsunami hit the town, he warned the people again: "There is another big Tsunami coming, so don't go home yet, stay here on the mountain!" And when the last big Tsunami had hit, there was a sparkle in the sky and he flew off.
This was in fact namikiri Jizo 波切り地蔵, "Jizo cutting the Waves".

tsunami Jizoo 津波地蔵 Tsunami Jizo
There are some statues of Jizo with various names, indicating the place where a huge Tsunami stopped after destroying a village.
. namikiri Jizoo 波切り地蔵 Jizo Bosatsu cutting the waves .
michibiki Jizoo みちびき地蔵 Jizo leading the Way / The guiding Jizo
namiseki Jizoo doo 波せき地蔵堂 Namiseki Jizo Hall
namiyoke Jizoo 波除け地蔵 "Jizo warding off the wave"


................................................................................. Tokyo 東京都

sangen no oto 三弦の音 the sound of a Shamisen
In 1701 in the Hoei period, there was a famous Shamisen player. One day he went to Shinagawa for a concert with his troupe, whne the sound of his Shamisen sounded quite stange to him. This is the forebode of a Tsunami, he understood. So he and his friends left fast. And indeed, soon the tsunami came and many houses and lives were lost.
1707 - Hōei earthquake 宝永地震 Hoei quake and Tsunami


................................................................................. Yamaguchi　山口県


source : sci.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/sci/info - 金折研究室

「語り継がれた山口県の大地震 と津波－伝説と民話－
先人が私たちに残してくれたメッセージから貴重な教訓を読み取り、防災教育や地域防災へ生かそうとするものである。
Legends and tales about the Earthquakes and Tsunami as told in Yamaguchi


................................................................................. Yamanashi 山梨県 with 山津波 landslides

In 北杜市 Hokuto town,
At the graveyard of the temple 来福寺 Raifuku-Ji there is a Hokora sanctuary for a serpent, indeed for a nine-headed dragon 九頭竜の祠. Once when the dams of the river had broken during a landslide, a huge serpent had curved its body along the riverbank to protect the homes from flooding away.


source : museum.pref.yamanashi.jp - 水の国やまなし
A Hokora Shinto sanctuary for the Nine-Headed Dragon Deity 九頭竜神の祠
南アルプス市上高砂区


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- Reference - nichibun yokai database -

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source : plaza.rakuten.co.jp/keibaguide/diary

都市伝説／南海大地震は津波が怖いんです.
We are afraid of the Tsunami coming with the Big Nankai Earthquake.

- quote -
Nankai megathrust earthquakes
are great megathrust earthquakes that occur along the Nankai megathrust – the fault under the Nankai Trough – which forms the plate interface between the subducting Philippine Sea Plate and the overriding Amurian Plate (part of the Eurasian Plate), which dips beneath southwestern Honshu, Japan. The fault is divided into five segments in three zones, which rupture separately or in combination, and depending on location, the resulting earthquakes are subdivided by zone from west to east into Nankai earthquakes, Tōnankai earthquakes, and Tōkai earthquakes.
..... All of these great earthquakes have resulted in damaging tsunamis, which are particularly damaging due to the Japanese population being concentrated on the Taiheiyō Belt, especially the coastal cities of Tokyo and Osaka, the two most populous in Japan.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- - - - - Historical Tsunami in Japan - - - - -

684 - Great Hakuho earthquake - 白鳳地震（はくほうじしん）Hakuhoo jishin
白鳳の大地震（はくほうのおおじしん）、白鳳大地震（はくほうおおじしん）, 天武地震（てんむじしん）
白鳳地震は、『日本書紀』に記述があり recorded in the Nihon Shoki.
The first recorded tsunami in Japan, it hit on November 29, 684 on the shore of the Kii Peninsula, Nankaido, Shikoku, Kii, and Awaji region. The earthquake, estimated at magnitude 8.4, was followed by a huge tsunami, but no estimates exist for the number of deaths.
- Hakuho, further reference -

869 - Jogan Sanriku earthquake 貞観地震
The Sendai region was struck by a major tsunami that caused flooding extending 4 km inland from the coast. The town of Tagajō was destroyed, with an estimated 1,000 casualties.

887 - Nankai 仁和地震（南海トラフ連動型地震説あり）
There was a strong earthquake in Osaka, Shiga, Gifu, and Nagano prefectures. A tsunami flooded the coastal region, and some people died. The coast of Osaka and primarily Osaka Bay suffered especially heavily, and the tsunami was also observed on the coast of Hyuga-Nada.

1293 - Kamakura big earthquake 鎌倉大地震 - M8クラス
A magnitude 7.1 quake and tsunami hit Kamakura, then Japan's de facto capital, killing 23,000 after resulting fires.

1361 - Nankai 正平地震（康安地震）（南海トラフ連動型地震説あり）
On Aug 3, 1361, during the Shōhei era, an 8.4 quake hit Nankaido, followed by a tsunami. A total of 660 deaths were reported. The earthquake shook Tokushima, Osaka, Wakayama, and Nara Prefectures and Awaji Island. A tsunami was observed on the coast of Tokushima and Kochi Prefectures, in Kii Strait and in Osaka Bay. ...

1498 - Nankai 明応地震（東海・東南海地震）
On September 20, 1498, during the Meiō era, a 7.5 earthquake and tsunami hit. The port in Wakayama damaged by a tsunami several meters high. 30–40 thousand deaths estimated. The building around great Buddha of Kamakura (altitude 7m) was swept away by the tsunami.

1605 - Nankaido - Keichō Nankaido earthquake 慶長地震（南海トラフ
On February 3, 1605, in the Keichō era, a magnitude 8.1 quake and tsunami hit Japan. An enormous tsunami with a maximum known height of 30 m was observed on the coast from the Boso Peninsula to the eastern part of Kyushu Island.

1698 - Seikaido-Nankaido ?1696
On December 22, 1698, a large tsunami struck Seikaido-Nankaido.

1707 - Hōei earthquake 宝永 - Hoei quake
On 28 October 1707, during the Hōei era, a magnitude 8.4 earthquake and tsunami up to 10 m in height struck Kochi Prefecture. Till Osaka.
... Hot springs at Yunomine, Sanji, Ryujin, Seto-Kanayana (Kii) and Dogo stopped flowing.

1741 - West Hokkaido 寛保津波
On 29 August 1741, the western side of Hokkaido was hit by a tsunami associated with the eruption of the volcano on Oshima island. 北海道西南沖の大島で火山性地震

1771 - Great Yaeyama Tsunami (see above)

1792 - Unzen earthquake and tsunami 島原大変肥後迷惑 Shimabara Taihen Higo Meiwaku
M6.4 - Tsunamis were the main cause of death for Japan's worst-ever volcanic disaster, an eruption of Mount Unzen in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.
Killing about 15.000 people.

1854 - Nankai, Tokai, and Kyushu, Ansei Great Earthquake 安政東海地震
The Ansei quake which hit the south coast of Japan, was actually a set of three earthquakes, two magnitude 8.4 quakes and a 7.4 quake over the course of several days.
... Shizuoka tsunami heights of 4–6 m
... Wakayama tsunami reached as high as 8.4 m.

1855 - Edo - Ansei Edo earthquake 安政江戸地震
M7.1, hit the Tokyo region of Japan, killing 4,500 to 10,000 people.

1896 - Meiji Sanriku earthquake 明治三陸地震
M8.5 - On 15 June 1896, ... the waves, which reached a height of 100 feet (30 m), killed approximately 27,000 people. In 2005, the same general area was hit by the 2005 Sanriku Japan earthquake, but with no major tsunami.

1923 - Great Kantō earthquake 関東地震（大正関東地震、関東大震災）
... on 1 September 1923, and devastated Tokyo, Yokohama, and the surrounding areas, caused tsunamis which struck the Shonan coast, Boso Peninsula, Izu Islands and the east coast of Izu Peninsula, within minutes in some cases. In Atami, waves reaching 12 meters were recorded.

1933 - Showa Sanriku earthquake 昭和三陸地震（三陸沖地震）
M 8.4) On March 3, 1933, ... tsunami waves as a result of an offshore magnitude 8.1 earthquake. The quake destroyed about 5,000 homes and killed 3,068 people, the vast majority as a result of tsunami waves.

1944 - Tōnankai earthquake 東南海地震（昭和東南海地震）
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake on 7 December 1944, about 20 km off the Shima Peninsula in Japan, which struck the Pacific coast of central Japan, mainly Mie, Aichi, and Shizuoka Prefectures. ... the quake is estimated to have killed 1223 people, the tsunami being the leading cause of the fatalities.

1946 - Nankaidō earthquake 南海地震（昭和南海地震）
21 December 1946 had a magnitude of 8.4 ...
The tsunami that washed away 1451 houses and caused 1500 deaths in Japan.

1964 - Niigata earthquake 新潟地震
M7.5 - The subsequent tsunami destroyed the port of Niigata.

1983 - Sea of Japan earthquake 日本海中部地震
On May 26, 1983 at 11:59:57 local time, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake occurred in the Sea of Japan, about 100 km west of the coast of Noshiro in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Out of the 107 fatalities, all but four were killed by the resulting tsunami, which struck communities along the coast, especially Aomori and Akita Prefectures and the Noto Peninsula.

1993 - Hokkaido earthquake 北海道南西沖地震
A devastating tsunami wave occurred along the coasts of Hokkaido in Japan as a result of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, 80 miles (130 km) offshore, on July 12, 1993.
... it was too late for Okushiri, a small island near the epicenter, where some waves reached 30 meters and struck within two to five minutes of the quake.

2011 - Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami 東北地方太平洋沖地震
On March 11, 2011, off the Pacific coast of Japan, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake produced a tsunami 33 feet (10 m) high along Japan's northeastern coast.

- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

- reference wikipedia : 地震の年表 (日本) -



source :　forbiddenplanet.co.uk


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. Natural Disasters 自然災害 shizen saigai - Naturkatastrophen .
- and their legends -
- drought, earthquake, flooding, landslides, tsunami, typhoon, volcanic eruption -


. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

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