Each community in Tono city showcases traditional performing arts, for example, Kagura dance, Deer dance, Tiger dance, Sansa dance, etc.
We pay homage to the fact that many communities are maintained and traditional arts are inherited in Tono City, which has a population of only 30,000.
Let’s get mochi (rice ball) thrown from the mikoshi and deer hair after the deer dance for your good luck. Never overdo it.
The origin of Tono horseback archery (Yabusame in Japanese) is in Kamakura (Tsuruoka Hachimangu shrine). It was brought to Tono (Tono Hachimangu shrine) via Hachinohe (Kushibiki Hachimangu) in Aomori prefecture as well as ‘Kappa’ story. But the distinguishing feature in Tono’s is that the another warrior runs to see if the previous warrior hits the target successfully or not. If the arrow hits the target, he will yell out “Yo itariya (Good shooting) ! “, but it sounds like “Yo Italiano ! “.
Each warrior runs 3 times on the track and he shoots a bow three times on each run.
Preliminary preparation is essential to enjoy Tono truly. Tono Story is compiled by Kunio Yanagita for more than 100 stories told by mouth, but they are all unsatisfactory because of lack of succession. Am I the only one who feels like the story is cut off? Even so, when I came to this land, it was strangely convinced that such a strange thing happened.
<example1> God hides the child
At twilight, the girl disappeared suddenly, and thirty years later, when her relatives were gathering at her house, she suddenly reappeared, but she soon left somewhere……. So what happened then? I do not understand the continuation of the story.
<example2> Kappa
While washing the horses in the river, a kappa came out and tried to pull the horse into the abyss. Kappa, who was caught by a villager and said to kill him, apologized mysteriously saying “I’ll never be bad again”, so the villager felt sorry for him and letthe kappa go off. Then Kappa stopped playing mischief……… So what happened then? I do not understand the continuation of the story.
tono guardian kappa
Kappa is said to be apparition (ghost), abandoned baby, etc. Historically, there is a theory that the Lord moved from Hachinohe with Kappa living at Kushibiki Hachimangu Shrine in Hachinohe. At the entrance to the shrine, a dog is usually a guardian, but in Tono this is the kappa. The Tono Kappa likes cucumbers, and the Tono city issues a capture permission (This is true!).
<example3> an old man
In order to secure food for the family, an old man, over 60 years old, was moved to a land called Denderano. He not only waited for his death, but also went down to the village during the daytime to engage in farm work and live……. It’s a thought-provoking story.
Please find your mysterious story and favorite landscape in Tono countryside !
Gallery (click photos)
tono countryside
tono guardian kappa
tono Kappa abyss
tono hop
tono grapes
tono arakamisama in aozasa
tono denderano
tono konseisama
tono unstable stone
Roadside Rest Area ‘Wind Hill'(Welcome Festival event)
Here you can buy lunch boxes made by locals. Good assortment !
No matter how you look at it, it looks like a Totoro tree ！
In fact, a cedar tree is divided into two at the base, which is only visible to Totoro’s ears at a distance. Even so, the shape is really good.
There is an observation deck with a parking lot nearby, but let’s walk around the Totoro tree through the thickets.
*)On the way I often worried about whether I could reach my destination or not in the real countryside.
By the way, Sakekawa village is famous for various mushroom cultivation. I learned later looking at the production area display at the supermarket in the neighborhood.
‘Gathering early summer rains / Even more rapid / The Mogami River’
by Basho
boat going down
Basho traveled to Tohoku district during the Edo period and left many famous haiku poems. One of them is the Mogami River.
waterfall from the cliff
The seasons were different, but the flow was not as intense as I expected.
Time seems to have stopped and the area is quiet. I can only hear the sound of pointing the boat’s rod to the river. A stream of water falls from the cliff and the boat song of the boatman is sucked into the mountains. On the way you can see the ruins of Oshin’s outdoor studio. I fell asleep on the way.
The following is a boat landing. One-way, two-way, etc. you can chose according to your schedule.
In the Edo period, silver production in Japan was about one-third of the world and the representative ‘ Iwami Ginzan(Silver mountains)* ‘ became World Heritage. ‘Ginzan Hot Spring ‘ has the same story adding hot spring and the downtown is said to be retro-modern and is visited by many foreign tourists like Kyoto.
public bath
But the best way to spend time was to take a public bath in the entrance of the village designed by Mr.Kuma Kengo, architect who designed the main stadium Tokyo2020 after visiting mine ruins at the end of village (small walk).
mine ruins
*)Ginzan and Ginza(silver guild or place)
Since the foundry of silver coins was placed in Tokyo during the Edo period, Ginza has developed into a high-class shopping district and any central shopping districts of even small towns in Japan have been named as the same Ginza district.
Soba, a thin noodle made of buckwheat flour, is eaten or the scent enjoyed all over Japan and had become a subject of classical literary arts, especially rakugo.
Yamagata was a place to ship rice to the Edo Shogunate by Kitamae ship, so rice production was popular. Soba has historically been offered as thank-you after the rice farming work that many neighbors helped, and its taste was a showcase for the farmers. That is why soba became famous in Yamagata prefecture.
Soba fields spread along the Oishi Kaido(highroad) in the countryside, and many soba restaurants are concentrated in it. In August, the fields are filled with small white flowers, and in the fall you can enjoy the fragrant new soba.
Gallery (click photos)
soba highroad left
soba highroad right
soba menu left
soba menu right
The restaurant ‘Heikichi’ I found in the countryside by chance is the following.
The place name is “Jinego”, literary ‘next year’s children’ in Japanese characters, because it was too snowy to register the birth at the government office only next year.
