sumigama charcoal kiln legends

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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sumigama 炭竈 / 炭窯 と伝説 Legends about charcoal kilns

Making charcoal was not a specialized work, but most farmers did it in the back woods of their home to use as heating. It was also done during other seasons, when they could sell their charcoal well. It takes about a week to cut the necessary wood and fire it in a special kiln.

. sumigama 炭竈　/ 炭がま (すみがま) kiln for making charcoal .
- kigo for all winter -

sumiyakigama 炭焼竈（すみやきがま）
sumiyaki 炭焼 (すみやき) making charcoal
sumiyakigoya 炭焼小屋（すみやきごや）hut used for making charcoal

sumiyakifu 炭焼夫（すみやきふ）worker making charcoal
... yakigo 焼子（やきご）
... sumioi me 炭負女（すみおいめ）woman carrying charcoal
sumiuma, sumi-uma 炭馬（すみうま）horse carrying charcoal
sumiguruma 炭車（すみぐるま）cart transporting charcoal
sumizori 炭橇（すみぞり）sled transporting charcoal
sumidawara 炭俵 straw bag or sack for charcoal


Kokubunjimura sumigama 国分寺村　炭がま kiln at Kokubun-Ji village


- source : library.metro.tokyo.jp -

Next to 八王子 Hachioji the area around Kokubunji was famous for its charcoal production.

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. Kanayago-kami 金屋子神 Deity of the Blacksmith .
Goddess of Tatara
tutelary of mines, metals, and the techniques associated with them.


source :　たたらの話 - wakou-museum.gr.jp

金屋子神社 Kanayago Jinja, Shimane
Kanayama-hiko-no-mikoto and Kanayama-hime-no-mikoto
There are a variety of curious taboos associated with Kanayago-kami.
- - - - - Among them:
Kanayago-kami hates dogs, ivy, and hemp. She favors wisteria.
Kanayago-kami hates women.
Kanayago-kami likes corpses.

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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :


.......................................................................... Aichi 愛知県 ......................................
北設楽郡 Kitashitara district 御殿村 Midono village

Two young boys went to the mountain and did not come back in time. When the villagers went out to search for them, they found them inside the charcoal kiln. When asked what happened, they told about hunting for a squirrel and eventually loosing their sense of space and where they were. So they hid in the kiln and went to sleep there.




.......................................................................... Hiroshima 広島県 ......................................
高田郡 Takada district

Kanayago san 金屋子さん Deity of Blacksmiths
This deity dislikes anything connected to giving birth. Therefore after a birth a woman is not allowed to come near the Tatara 鑪. Even now she is not allowed to come near a charcoal kiln.

. Takadono tatara 高殿鑪 hut for working with metal .




.......................................................................... Ibaraki 茨城県 ......................................

. Tengu practising Sumo with a 炭焼き charcoal maker .

. 稲荷さまのたたり the curse of Inari for smoke of a kiln .




.......................................................................... Iwate 岩手県 ......................................
奥州市 Oshu

deceived by a fox 狐
Around 1877 a vendor of sardines was deceived by a fox, put on a 鎧 war helmet , sat on his horse and wanted to go to war. But when he came back to his senses, he was sitting on a large root of a tree, had a charcoal bag on his hat and hit his own backside (to make the horse go faster in his mind).


source : tsuyama-tokusan/kamoaba
岡山作州 福炭俵 auspicious straw bag decorations for the New Year
Okayama, Sakushu



.......................................................................... Kumamoto 熊本県 ......................................

Yamawaro ヤマワロ Kappa
To prepare the rituals for a new charcoal kiln, the villager needed some 神酒 ritual Sake. So he took some money and a flask for the Sake and went to buy some. On the way he met a Yamawaro and got bewitched by him. He could hardly walk straight any more. Then he saw the cork of the flask being taken off and heard someone drinking. When he came to his senses, there was no sake and all the money had gone.

Once a farmer tried to make charcoal in the forest and slept there near the kiln. But all night a Yamawaro disturbed him, breaking branches from the trees. So the farmer went back to the local shrine 大神宮 and got a special amulet. He placed it near his kiln and since that night, the Yamawaro did not show up any more.

Generally, People should not build their homes or kilns to make charcoal in their commuting way.

. Yamawaro, Yama-Waro やまわろ / 山童 "Child of the Mountain" .
- - - - - and his alter ego : Kappa　河童 "Child of the River"



.......................................................................... Miyagi 宮城県 ......................................
本吉町 Motoyoshi

deceived by a fox 狐
A plasterer had helped a farmer with his work and was on his way home. He had gotten some tako 蛸 octopus and iwashi 鰯 sardines and put them in a charcoal bag. But when he reached home, the bag was empty. He found some leftovers of octopus and sardines scattered at the nest of a fox - aaa, he had been deceived by a fox.



.......................................................................... Shimane 島根県 ......................................
飯石郡 Iishi district

Kanayago san 金屋子さん Deity of Blacksmiths
This deity dislikes women and especially women after birth.
If the men make charcoal in the kiln, no woman of this kind may come near or cook food for them close by. She has to make food somewhere far away.



.......................................................................... Tochigi　栃木県 ......................................

. Yamanokami hits a charcoal maker from 鹿沼市 Kanuma city .




.......................................................................... Tottori 鳥取県 ......................................
西伯郡 Saihaku district 中山町 Nakayama

. charcoal maker and Tengu .
Tengu no Kakuremino 天狗の隠れ蓑 The Tengu's Magic Cloak to become invisible




.......................................................................... Wakayama 和歌山県 ......................................
日高郡 Hidaka district みなべ町 Minabe

hikaru tori 光る鳥 a shining bird
Once a young man walked along a mountain road ad night when he saw a back of charcoal by the roadside. He kicked it down the valley and suddenly a shining bird flew past him. He was shocked and afraid and run fast tor home.



.......................................................................... Yamanashi 山梨県 ......................................

Kitatsuru district 北都留郡

. The Anger of Yamanokami .



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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
9 炭窯 (01)
91 炭焼き (00) /// 03 炭俵 (00)

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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炭竈やあれが桜の夕けぶり
sumigama ya are ga sakura no yuu keburi

charcoal kiln　--
the cherry tree becoming
evening smoke
.
Charcoal is being made in a kiln. The wood used is that of a cherry tree. The resulting poem is a succinct and poignant expression of Buddhist impermanence.
David Lanoue


- More haiku by Issa with sumigama -

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. sumiuri, sumi-uri 炭売 charcoal vendor, charcoal seller in Edo.

. sumi temae, sumetemae 炭点前 Charcoal Setting .
for the Tea Ceremony

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baka uma-shika yokai

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baka uma-shika　馬鹿 と伝説 Legends about the Baka Yokai
baroku 馬鹿（ばろく）
yokai 妖怪：馬鹿（むましか）Mumashika, Muma-Shika
Yōkai demon with a horse's head and deer's body


Hyakki Yakō Emaki

A Yokai beast with one horn, sometimes wearing robes like a monk. The head is long like that of a horse and his hands and nails are like the hooves of a deer. It has only one eye, which can jump out of the eye socket.
Its facial expression is that of a human Baka, a fool.

- quote -
Baka (馬鹿, ばか, or バカ) means "fool; idiot", or (as an adjectival noun) "foolish" and is the most frequently used pejorative term in the Japanese language.

The same 馬鹿 "horse deer" characters that transcribe baka are also used for names in Chinese zoological nomenclature and Japanese mythology.

In the Chinese language, malu 馬鹿 refers to the common "Red Deer; Cervus elaphus", which has a Japanese name of akashika 赤鹿 (lit. "red deer").

Mumashika is a rare alternate Japanese reading of 馬鹿 that names "a yōkai demon with a horse's head and deer's body".
The c. 1832 Hyakki Yakō Emaki 百鬼夜行絵巻 "100 Demons' Night Parade Picture Scroll" depicts it with one eye, horse mouth and ears, and deer horn and hooves.
- source : wikipedia -

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- source : tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives -

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. Tanuki no bakabayashi 狸の馬鹿囃子 the Tanuki Band Procession .
in Tokyo

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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :

.......................................................................... Ehime 愛媛県 ......................................
宇和島市 Uwajima town

In 下波村 Shitaba village, the deity ヒダル神 Hidarugami is called
shirami シラミ. They are a kind of misaki ミサキ.
And the local fishermen call it
baka 馬鹿 / バカ .
It comes like a white cloud surrounding a boat and draws it into the ocean.
Baka are the souls of people drowned during shipwrecks. Their souls are appeased at O-Bon and other rituals.
But when the villagers call it Baka, it gets angry and there will usually be a fire soon somewhere.

. Hidarugami ヒダル神 .

. Misaki ミサキ / 御先 / 御前 / 御崎 Legends about the Misaki deity .


.......................................................................... Kumamoto 熊本県 ......................................
天草郡 Amakusa district

Baka sama no sekihi 馬鹿様の石碑 Stone Memorial of Baka sama
It relates to 主留浦浜.


source : amakoma.sakura.ne.jp

If children climb this dangerous stone they often fall down and hurt themselves. Sometimes a sword comes out to cut them.
It might be a local diversion of the dialect, hakajun はかじゅん（墓順）- order of the graves and seats of the elders.


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玉名郡 Tamana district 和水町 Nagomi

From an old 古墳 Kofun tomb there is often a fire coming out, wobbling here and there.
The villagers call it
bakabi (baka no hi) 馬鹿火 "Baka fire", "Baka flames".

- quote -
Etafunayama Ancient Tomb (National Treasure　江田船山古墳
Eta Funayama Tumulus is a sixty-two-meter long, keyhole-shaped burial mound at the center of the Seibaru Tumuli, a cluster of mounds spread out on a plateau on the left bank of the Kikusui River in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu. It is thought that it was constructed in the late fifth century or early sixth century. In 1873, a set of exquisite burial goods was excavated from the sarcophagus-style stone burial chamber (also called a 'house-style sarcophagus with side opening') in the round portion of the mound. ..... From this we can speculate that the individuals buried in this tumulus played an important role in relations between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula.
- source : marley -


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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
(including baka, a foolish person) 馬鹿息子 - to be excluded
86 to explore (14)




完全復刻 - 妖怪馬鹿 - 京極夏彦 Kyogoku Natsuhiko

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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sakaki Shinto tree

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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sakaki　榊 と伝説 Legends about the Sakaki tree

Cleyera japonica, the sacred tree of Japanese Shinto.

The Japanese word sakaki is written 榊 with the Kanji character that combines
ki 木 "tree, wood" and kami 神 "spirit, god",
depicting a "sacred tree; divine tree".

Branches of the Sakaki tree are decorated with paper streamers (紙垂　shide) to make ritual purifying wands (玉串　tamagushi).

. sakaki さかき【榊】 sakaki tree, Cleyera japonica .
- Introduction -

The tree is
imiki, imi ki 忌み木 "taboo tree"
. imi 忌み / 斎み imi - taboo .
in the context of Shintoism. There are other trees of this kind, where deities come to reside during their travels in this world and the other.



source : sun-ray.co.jp/sougi

The proper way to make an offering of a Tamagushi at a funeral.


. Yama no Kami 山の神 God of the Mountain .
and the sacred 榊 Sakaki Tree - Legends

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There are also various shrines with the name Sakaki Jinja 榊神社 Sakaki Shrine in Japan.

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Niigata - 榊神社

新潟県上越市大手町4-12 - Joetsu town



To venerate one of the four famous retainers of Tokugawa Ieyasu
Sakakibara Yasumasa 榊原康政 (1548 - 1606)

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Tokyo

第六天榊神社 DairokuTen Sakaki Jinja
1 Chome-4-3 Kuramae, Taito, Tokyo

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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :

.......................................................................... Gifu 岐阜県 ......................................
揖斐郡 Ibi district

In 揖斐郡 the Ibi district someone threw a Sakaki branch from the Shrine 上花長神社 /花長上神社 Hananagakami Jinja and it flew all the way to Ichinomiya town to the Shrine 阿豆良神社 Azura Jinja, where it took hold and begun to produce blossoms.





.......................................................................... Hiroshima 広島県 ......................................
神石郡 Jinseki district (Divine Rok District)

A pilgrim to the Ise Shrine had forgotten a parcel on a rock where he had rested. A villager found it and threw it away. But on the next morning it was back on the rock. This continued for a few days. When he finally opened the parcel there was a Tamagushi inside. Now the family of this villager made the rock their ritual prayer place and venerated the Deity.
Later a member of the family split the rock with a chisel, and red blood begun to flow from the rock. This rock begun to grow little by little every year and soon was as high as the house. It was the Ishigamisan, Ishigami San 石神さん Divine Rock Deity.


.......................................................................... Kagoshim 鹿児島県 ......................................
大島郡 Oshima district 竜郷村 Tatsugo

yamawaro ヤマワロ Mountain Kappa
昔、榊を折ってくるように言いつけられた継子が、榊の木がわからず折れなかったので説教されて自殺した。それがヤマワロになったという。ヤマワロは人間の真似をし、音を出す。ある人がヤマワロのたくさんいるところの近くにある杉山に薪をとりに行き、夕方に帰ってくると、着物の糸が全部抜け落ちていたことがある。



.......................................................................... Kochi 高知県 ......................................




.......................................................................... Kyoto 京都府 ......................................
南丹市 Nantan town

At the temple 安養寺 Anyo-Ji when someone tries to cut the Sakaki tree, he will become a terrible stomach ache. During the time of the 明治維新 Meiji Restoration a man with a wild temper tried to cut the tree with a sickle, but from the cut red blood begun to flow. The man cried out loudly and held his body in a strong stomach ache.



.......................................................................... Miagi 宮城県 ......................................

sanboo 三宝 three treasures
神社や諸派神道などで、縁談や事業などの吉凶について、大吉・小吉・大凶・凶などと書いた小さい封書を三宝にのせ、その上を神官が大麻または榊の枝で軽く撫でて、それに付着した封書の内容で吉凶を占うという。


.......................................................................... Mie 三重県 ......................................

Once there was a fire at 伊勢神宮 the Grand Ise Shrine around 1825. Suddenly the door of the shrine 荒祭宮 Aramatsuri no Miya opened all by itself. At the 外宮 Geku a Tamagushi begun to bear fruit.

zuitoo 瑞稲 abundant rice plant at 玉串御門 Tamagushi Go-Mon gate
（現在の内玉垣南御門）
Once out of the Tatami mats of the gate there grew a special rice plant with an abundant crop in autumn. It was seen as an auspicious sign for the realm.




.......................................................................... Nagano 長野県 ......................................
北佐久郡 Kitasaku district

Sakaki Jinja 榊神社 Sakaki Shrine.
During the Sakaki Matsuri 榊祭 Festival, 榊様 Sakaki Sama make a line and walk through the village. When they reach the home of a villager who is thought to be bad by others, they stop and try to enter the home by force. A home where Sakaki Sama has entered will have a death in the family soon after.
- - - Nagano-ken, Hanishina-gun, Sakaki-machi, Sakaki




.......................................................................... Niigata 新潟県 ......................................

千垢離立願は病人が危篤のときに平癒を祈る立願で、一生に一度の立願である。まず海か湖の岸辺を清めて忌竹を立てて注連縄を張り、祭壇を設けて献饌して榊（苧柄とも）の葉を1000枚用意する。神官が祭壇で祈祷し、立願解人が榊葉を分配して首まで水中に入り、沖に向かって平癒を唱えるごとに葉を流す。流した葉が沖へ出れば願いが叶い、磯辺に寄ると凶だといわれている。

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加茂市 Kamo

During the rituals for the New Yeara Sakaki Tamagushi is used and then placed at the entrance to the village to protect the place and hinder the deities of disease and misfortune to come inside.



.......................................................................... Okayama 岡山県 ......................................
落合町 Ochiai

. senzo no misaki 先祖のミサキ Misaki for the ancestors .




.......................................................................... Shimane 島根県　 ......................................
飯石郡 Iishi district

. Offerings to 荒神さん the Kojin Deity .



.......................................................................... Tottori 鳥取県 ......................................

揖屋村の洞泉寺近辺の百姓が、和尚と会話後に消える。和尚が捜すと後庭に金幣と榊葉を持つ彼がいた。和尚に言うには、会話後しばらくして白頭の老翁が現れ、我は稲荷で国君と江戸を守護し、今は自社が破損して別の稲荷と同居している。来年お上に吉事があって使者が下される。その時の金幣と榊葉の使い方を託宣されたという。

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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -
73 榊 (10)

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. Legends about Kobo Daishi Kukai - 弘法大師　空海 - 伝説 .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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. Join the friends on Facebook ! .

- #sakaki #sakakitree #Cleyerajaponica -
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