午夜剧场

After retirement, I left Tokyo, where I was born and raised, and moved to Kumano City, Mie Prefecture, by way of Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture. It has been 10 years since I began living in a rented house on a slope overlooking the Kumano Sea. While I have been exploring ancient history there, this time I have delved into the early modern period for the first time.

Kii Province (Kinokuni) is also the "Land of Trees." Deep in the forest, there were Kijiya (Kijishi) and Sanka. The former were craftsmen who hollowed out wood such as horse chestnut, beech, zelkova, and cherry birch to make bowls, trays, and ladles. The latter wove winnowing baskets for farming tools or sold river fish to villagers. Since these mountain nomads are no longer there, one can only seek their traces and lingering scents in the fragmented memories of elders, gravestones, and death registers.

Villagers have long yearned for the mountains and held a romanticized view of the forest nomads. I am one of them. Taking the opportunity of the Kumano City Historical and Folk Museum's exhibition "Kijishi: Their Traditions and Work," I chased their phantoms and conducted numerous interviews with those involved.

The Kijiya who were active throughout the country considered Oguradani (Hirutani and Kimigahata in Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture) as their spiritual home. They lived in a world of "collective illusion," worshipping Prince Koretaka—the tragic protagonist of the Heian period—as their ancestral deity. My research began with a visit to Mr. Shoji Ogura, who still operates a lathe in Oguradani, nestled in the Suzuka Mountains. "Ogura" is a surname unique to the Kijiya.

The gaze of the villagers toward the mountain nomads was also mixed with curiosity. This gave rise to the popular belief that "there are many beauties among the daughters of Kijiya," which was popularized by local folk songs. In the deep mountains of Kumano City, the place name "Keisei (Beauty) Koya" still remains.

There were likely fair-skinned daughters among the Kijiya living in the mountains. There may have indeed been beauties. However, when curiosity escalates to claims like "because there was little interaction with other places, there was much consanguineous marriage, leading to the place name Chikushodani (Beast Valley)," it cannot be ignored. While it is true that marriages between Kijiya and villagers were few, they moved to various regions in search of good timber and had interactions within their own community, where many men and women likely formed bonds. There is a danger there that curiosity can lead to prejudice and discrimination.

My book includes stories of visiting actual sites, such as "the story of a Kijiya descendant discovering the ruins of an ancestral residence" and "the story of a clan traced from the grave of a certain Kijiya's wife." I also used many photographs and maps for readers who might want to visit these places themselves.

Eiichiro Kirimura

Shichigatsusha

168 pages, 2,000 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.