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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- #sumigama #charcoalkiln #sumiyaki -
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