The Wisdom of Japanese Folktales

A folktale of Yamagata

"An Old Tale about the Rai Shrine"

The weather that year was unstable. It was the fifth year of the Bunka Era, more than 187 years ago. One afternoon in June, according to the old calendar, the thunderclouds above Mt. Takatoya spread, the darkness advancing swiftly. The thunder roared fiercely along with flashes of lightning and as the rumbling drew closer, the rain began to pour down as if heaven and earth had been dislodged. People were so frightened that they closed the shutters of their houses, placed sticks of incense in their open fireplaces and put their hands together in prayer. "Guardian deity of Buddha, the sutras and the sangha save us." Then they hid in their mosquito nets. After a while the rain and the wind ceased and when the villagers anxiously opened their shutters, they were surprised to find egg-sized hailstones lying on the ground. Upon further examination, they saw that all their crops had been completely flattened like a newly laid carpet. This thunderstorm became known as a guerrilla storm that had swept past the slopes of Mt. Shirataka. In this way, great damage was caused to the harvesting of rice and there was widespread famine that year. However, surprisingly the fields around the Rai Shrine in Kurofuji had borne no damage from the storm. People said that this was because the fields were under the protection of the God, Ikazuchi. As a result, people came from far and wide seeking the rice seeds of the Rai Shrine fields. The story goes that the grandfather of Kudo Tokichi (Kudo Rokube) from Kaisei farmed with rice seeds from the Rai Shrine. It is said that he deified the Rai Shrine in a small stone shrine by the road, close to the Ebina Commander Monument inside the Atagosan Park behind the current Osato Shrine (erected in October 1982). In 1918, dry weather had continued since the rice-planting period and rainmaking rituals had taken place all around the country. One July night in Kurofuji, the lion in the traditional lion rain dance flayed around as if it had been taken over. In the middle of the night the thunder roared and the lightning flashed, accompanied by rain that slowly and steadily hammered the earth. The rain grew stronger, moistening the land, and making it fertile.

"An Old Tale about the Rai Shrine"

The weather that year was unstable. It was the fifth year of the Bunka Era, more than 187 years ago. One afternoon in June, according to the old calendar, the thunderclouds above Mt. Takatoya spread, the darkness advancing swiftly. The thunder roared fiercely along with flashes of lightning and as the rumbling drew closer, the rain began to pour down as if heaven and earth had been dislodged. People were so frightened that they closed the shutters of their houses, placed sticks of incense in their open fireplaces and put their hands together in prayer.

"Guardian deity of Buddha, the sutras and the sangha save us." Then they hid in their mosquito nets. After a while the rain and the wind ceased and when the villagers anxiously opened their shutters, they were surprised to find egg-sized hailstones lying on the ground. Upon further examination, they saw that all their crops had been completely flattened like a newly laid carpet. This thunderstorm became known as a guerrilla storm that had swept past the slopes of Mt. Shirataka.

In this way, great damage was caused to the harvesting of rice and there was widespread famine that year. However, surprisingly the fields around the Rai Shrine in Kurofuji had borne no damage from the storm. People said that this was because the fields were under the protection of the God, Ikazuchi. As a result, people came from far and wide seeking the rice seeds of the Rai Shrine fields. The story goes that the grandfather of Kudo Tokichi (Kudo Rokube) from Kaisei farmed with rice seeds from the Rai Shrine. It is said that he deified the Rai Shrine in a small stone shrine by the road, close to the Ebina Commander Monument inside the Atagosan Park behind the current Osato Shrine (erected in October 1982). In 1918, dry weather had continued since the rice-planting period and rainmaking rituals had taken place all around the country.

One July night in Kurofuji, the lion in the traditional lion rain dance flayed around as if it had been taken over. In the middle of the night the thunder roared and the lightning flashed, accompanied by rain that slowly and steadily hammered the earth. The rain grew stronger, moistening the land, and making it fertile.

民話ポータル：The Wisdom of Japanese Folktales