Visit stages of Tono Story before/after festival

tono countryside
tono countryside

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 let the kappa go off.  Then Kappa stopped playing mischief………    So what happened then? I do not understand the continuation of the story.

tono guardian kappa
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)

Roadside Rest Area ‘Wind Hill'(Welcome Festival event)

Here you can buy lunch boxes made by locals.  Good assortment !