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In this corner, we will have a Kesennuma citizen appear as a teacher.Rias Ark Museum of Art" This is Masamitsu Kayaoka, a curator in charge of historical and folklore materials at the Museum. Thank you very much, Professor Kayaoka!
The theme this time is ...
Hello everyone! This is Kayaoka from the Rias Ark Museum of Art. Autumn is well underway. The Rias Ark Museum of Art where I work is located on top of a mountain, and the surrounding area is rich in nature. Recently, autumnal flowers such as daisies and bush clover have been in full bloom. Not only flowers, but this season you can also see akebia and viburnum fruits on the surrounding walking trails. Some of you may have memories of eating them as a snack as a child. In fact, much of Kesennuma's city area is covered by mountain forests, and the people who live here have received many blessings from the mountains since ancient times. In this article, I would like to introduce just a small part of that.
Sozome and Hoya
At this time of year, you can almost always see Viburnum berries when walking in the mountains. They stand out among the greenery and are very cute. Viburnum is called "Sozome" in this region and has been used as a material for tools.
▲Sozome (Standard Japanese name: Viburnum)
By the way, the other day in "Okaeri Mone" the story of "abalone opening" came up. Although it wasn't explained in much detail in the story, "spike fishing" is a popular method in southern Sanriku, where a hook is attached to the end of a long pole to hook abalone and sea urchins on the seabed. In this type of fishing, the fisherman uses a tool called a box lens to view the seabed from a boat and aim, so the transparency of the seawater is important. Also, because it is a very delicate type of fishing, it cannot be done when there is wind or waves. This is why murky water and wind are considered problems in the story. There are only a limited number of sea and weather conditions that are suitable for "spike fishing".
▲The key to catching abalone. The wooden box behind it is the "box glasses" (on permanent display at the Rias Ark Museum of Art)
▲The mechanism behind tsuki fishing (Illustration by Hiroyasu Yamauchi)
Now, let's get back to the topic of sozome. There is a fishing method similar to mitsuki fishing in which sozome plays an important role. It is called "probing sea squirt fishing." Probing sea squirt fishing is a fishing method in which sea squirts that are attached to reefs or the seabed are caught using a long pole with a three-pronged hook.
▲Hoyakagi. A metal key is attached to the end of a pole made from sozome.
Exploratory sea squirt fishing is similar to the "spike fishing" introduced earlier, but the seabed is not seen with a box-and-pole fishing pole. It is a very difficult fishery in which the sea squirts are caught by "exploring" the invisible seabed using only experience and intuition. Sea squirts have roots in rocky reefs, which are torn off with a hook. For this reason, the ideal rod material is the staghorn stinger, which is strong and flexible. Also, in the unlikely event that the rod breaks, the staghorn stinger will not break in two, but will split and break, so it is unlikely that the hook will be dropped to the seabed. The fishermen themselves would go into the mountains to collect the suitable staghorn stinger for fishing. In the past, there were master fishermen on each beach who would skillfully use several staghorn stingers connected together to form a long rod of over 20 meters.
▲Tie the pieces of sozome together to join them.
This fishing method is difficult, and with the popularity of sea squirt farming, it is rarely practiced nowadays.
Sozome and Octopus
▲Ishari (right) and Takokoroshi (the two on the left)
Also, while listening to the fisherman's stories about fishing in the past, Sozome appears when the conversation turns to octopus fishing.
The hooked tool on the right of the photo is called "ishari," and is used to catch octopuses. It is made of wood or bamboo tied to a flat stone. It is a clever use of natural shapes, and is truly beautiful, don't you think? I could look at it for hours (laughs). This ishari is baited and lowered into the sea, and then moved up and down to lure the octopus and pull it out. Once caught, the octopus is killed quickly on the spot. If you don't do this, the octopus will escape or stick to the boat and become impossible to remove. To kill an octopus, a pointed stick called a "takokoroshi" (left photo) is used to pierce the octopus between the eyebrows. Sozome was often used for this takokoroshi (unfortunately, the takokoroshi in the photo does not seem to be made by Sozome). Many of these old fishing tools were handmade by fishermen. Fishing begins with going into the mountains to select the wood for the materials. A veteran fisherman from whom I spoke about this octopus said, "You can tell a fisherman's skill by the tools he uses, even without watching him fish."
In "Welcome Home, Monet," Monet's grandfather says, "All fishermen in the old days knew a lot about trees." This line can be rephrased, though a little far-fetched, as, "In the old days, you couldn't become a fisherman unless you knew a lot about trees."
Marine Industry and Wood
In the Sanriku region, with its ria coastline, the sea and the mountains are close by, and wood was easily available on the beach. In terms of its connection to fishing, wood was indispensable not only for materials for fishing gear, but also as fuel for processing seafood, such as bonito flakes (for more on the relationship between Kesennuma and bonito, seeSee previous article).
▲The process of smoking dried bonito flakes. They are smoked slowly over and over again using smoke from burning wood. In the past, dried bonito factories employed dedicated staff to supply firewood from the mountains. (Interview cooperation: Maruyama Co., Ltd.)
Salt can be said to be the "crystallization" of the blessings of both the sea and the mountains. In the past, there were many "salt fields" in the Kesennuma area where salt was produced. A large amount of firewood is needed to boil the salt in the salt fields. Kesennuma, with its abundant forest resources near the sea, is an area suited to salt production, and during the Edo period it was one of the important salt production bases for the Date clan. A painting from the Bunsei era (1818~1829) shows that the words "Oshiokiyama" and "Otetsuyama" are written in various places in the forest. This shows that the trees on the mountain were carefully managed for use in the salt and iron industries.
▲"Map of Kitakata Akaiwa Village, Motoyoshi County" (detail). The characters for "Oshiokiyama" are visible.
To the end
Kesennuma's slogan is "Living with the Sea," and so the general image of the city is that of a "sea town." However, when you look at the history and culture of this region, you'll see that the people have not "lived" solely on the sea. When you visit Kesennuma, we hope you'll be able to experience the "way of life of the Kesennuma people" that is embodied in the city's beautiful scenery and delicious food.
We will have Kesennuma citizens appear as teachers.
You can view the "Teach me, Mr./Ms. XX!" series here.
https://kesennuma-kanko.jp/category/marumarusensei/
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