[Oga City, Akita Prefecture] Are demons real?! Traces of demons appearing throughout the Oga Peninsula - Oga Peninsula and Demon Legends 2

Setting aside the debate over whether Namahage are demons or gods, there are many demon legends on the Oga Peninsula. The story is based on a legend that says that five bats visited with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and turned into demons. For more information about this, see Oga Peninsula and Oni Legend 1

Tohoku Rokken trivia media: NEFT

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[Oga City, Akita Prefecture] Demons of Oga Peninsula - Why do Namahage use knives to punish people...

https://jp.neft.asia/archives/34981

When you hear the word Oga, the first thing that comes to mind is Namahage. Every year on New Year's Eve, demon-like people wearing masks with scary faces and costumes made of straw visit people's homes shouting, ``No lazy people, no crying children!'' In his hands, he holds a Deba knife and a bucket. Namahage descends to the village from Mt. Kamiyama to pray for the villagers not to be lazy in the winter and for good health and a good harvest in the new year (at the Namahage Chaito Festival) ©Akita PrefectureThe Namahage is scary at first glance, but... In fact, we are trying to punish the lazy people who spend all their time at the kotatsu and the irori hearth during the winter agricultural off-season, so that they will not get sick.

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Here, we will introduce you to the famous places that are actually marked with <Oni>

"Oni's Hidden Path", the path where demons walked in secret

" Oni no Hidden Path " is a famous place related to demons located in Oga Onsen Village. The cut through the vertical cliffs in the forest near the hot spring town was named ``Oni's Hidden Path'' because it looks like a part of the road where demons descended into the mountains while hiding.

In fact, this area was the site of open-pit limestone mining from the Meiji period to the Taisho period, and the cliffs on both sides are made of limestone. Currently, only this part of the ``Oni no Hidden Path'' remains of the quarry. This narrow road is a trolley road used to transport the mined stone to the dumping site, and the cliff part is the remains of an open pit mine.

The limestone that makes up the cliff has a huge mille-feuille shape made up of many thin layers of rock, and its constituents are contained in the hot springs of Oga Onsen Village as travertine.

Demon's hidden path＜Information＞

• Facility name: Demon's Hidden Path
• Location: Kitaura Yumoto Kusakihara, Oga City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0185-33-3191 (Oga Onsen Village Cooperative Association)
• URL: Demon's Hidden Path
• access:
  • Public transportation: Approximately 40 minutes by Oga Peninsula Ainori Taxi Namahage Shuttle from JR Oga Line Oga Station
  • Car: Approximately 45 minutes from Akita Expressway Showa Oga Peninsula IC towards Oga Peninsula

Google Map

``Oni's straw bale rolling'' where an oni carries a rice bale while rolling it.

There is a path made of reddish-brown stones that snakes through the rugged black rocks of the coastline. It came to be called Oni's Bag Rolling because it was said to be a road built by demons to carry heavy cargo such as rice bags from the ships that arrived on the coast to their homes

``Oni no Tawara Rolling'' is a brown lava (basalt = dolerite) that flowed out about 21 million years ago from cracks in granite that erupted from a volcanic explosion about 90 million years ago. It got in there and solidified. Nearby, volcanic black rocks called volcanic conglomerates can be seen that are approximately 7,000 years old, making them an academically valuable landscape.

Oni's bale rolling＜Information＞

• Facility name: Oni no Tawaro Rolling
• Location: Kitaura Nyudozaki, Oga City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0185-24-2100 (Oga City Tourism Association)
• URL: Oni no strawberry roll
• access:
  • Railway: Approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes by Ainori taxi "Namahage Shuttle" from Oga Station on the JR Oga Line
  • Car: Approximately 45 minutes from Akita Expressway Showa Oga Peninsula IC towards Oga Peninsula

Google Map

``Oni's Washing Rock'' where you can see demons working hard at washing clothes

`` Oni no Washing Rock '' is a shallow beach with rocks lined up neatly like a washboard, located on the Unosaki coast which is popular as Akita's Uyuni Salt Lake When you imagine a fierce demon working hard at washing clothes here, a heart-warming scene comes to mind.

, do you know what “ washboard

There are about 15 to 20 circular grooves in a thin wooden board, and dirt can be removed by rubbing soapy laundry into the grooves. After the 1950s, with the spread of electric washing machines and the advent of coin-operated laundry machines, they almost disappeared. However, it is said that it started selling again around 2000. Originally, the size was about 50 cm in height and 20 cm in width, but when a manufacturer released a smaller size washboard for business trips, it became an unexpected big hit, with total sales to date reaching about 1 billion yen. So it's surprising.

I digress, but ``Oni no Washing Rock'' is a landscape that was created when soft rock was scraped away by the erosion of waves, leaving behind hard strata.

Demon Washing Rock <Information>

• Facility name: Oni no Washing Rock (Unosaki Coast)
• Location: Unosaki, Funagawa Port, Oga City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0185-24-4700 (Oga City Tourism Association)
• URL: Demon's Washboard
• access:
• Railway/JR Oga Line Take a taxi from Oga Station or rent a car near Oga Station
• Car: Approximately 70 minutes from Akita Expressway Showa Oga Peninsula IC

Google Map

“Oni no Kakure Sato”, the remains of a demon’s residence on Mt. Kanpuzan

Kanpuzan which rises at the base of the Oga Peninsula , is a low mountain with an altitude of approximately 355 meters.A rotating observatory has been set up near the top where the grassland spreads out, and you can see everything from the Oga Peninsula to the Sea of ​​Japan and Lake Hachiro (formerly Hachiro Lagoon). It is a popular tourist destination on the Oga Peninsula where you can enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view.

Kanpuzan is a volcano that was originally active from about 30,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago, but is currently inactive and is not registered as an active volcano. The last eruption was recorded in 1810 during the Edo period, but the actual situation and damage caused by the eruption are unknown, and this eruption report is now being used by the Akita domain as if there was no eruption, but that there was damage. The established theory is that it was created within the domain in order to report it to the shogunate under false pretenses.

There are three crater traces remaining on Mt. Kanpu, but at the southwest end of the first crater there is a place where large rocks suddenly pile up inside the grass source, forming a pyramid-like structure. Because there is a space of about 3 tatami mats inside, it is said to be a place where demons lived in hiding, ``Oni no Hidden Village'' (or ``Ishigura'').

Geologically speaking, ``Oni no Hidden Village'' was formed during an eruption a long time ago, when lava was pushed out from underground and became a mountain, unable to withstand the weight of the mountain and collapsing. .

Demon's Hidden Village/Kanpuyama <Information>

• Facility name: Demon's Hidden Village/Kanpuzan
• Address: 62-1 Kanpuyama, Wakimoto Tominaga, Oga City, Akita Prefecture　
• Phone number: 0185-25-3055
• Kanpuzan Rotating Observation Deck/Observation Deck Restaurant
• Business period: Late March to end of November
• Closed: Open every day during business hours, from early December to mid-March
• Admission fee:
• Rotating observation deck/adults 550 yen, elementary and junior high school students 270 yen
• *The revolving restaurant can be used without admission fee.
• URL: Demon's Hidden Village/Kanpuzan
• access:
• Public transportation: Approximately 20 minutes by Kanpuzan sightseeing taxi (reservation required) from JR Oga Line Oga Station
• Car: Approximately 40 minutes from Akita Expressway Showa Oga Peninsula IC

Google Map

Mayama Shrine, the origin of Namahage

the Oga Sanzan, the northernmost one Mt. Shinzan (567m above sea level). , which includes Mt. Shinzan Honzan (715m), and Kenashizan (677m), is a mountain religion that began in the Asuka period and was most popular in the Heian period, and involved strict ascetic training in the mountains. It was worshiped as a mountain for Shugendo.

Shinzan Shrine was founded in the early Nara period, and is said to have been erected by Jikaku Daishi Ennin Until the Edo period Koubouji , and after the Meiji Restoration, it became Shinzan Shrine.

From the Heian period to the Edo period, it is said to have flourished as a sacred site for Shugendo, receiving patronage from the powerful clans who ruled Oga and the Satake clan of the Kubota domain.

Mayama Shrine is known as one of the shrines where legends about demons remain. The ``Namahage Hall'' and ``Oga Shinzan Folklore Museum'' have been opened within the precincts, where you can see various Namahage events handed down on the Oga Peninsula, as well as 150 Namahage masks, and experience Namahage. The ``Namahage Sedo Festival'' is held on the grounds on the second Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of February every year, and is crowded with many tourists.

Mayama Shrine＜Information＞

• Facility name: Mayama Shrine
• Location: Mizukaizawa, Kitaura Mayan, Oga City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0185-22-5050
• URL: Namahagekan
• Public transportation: Approximately 40 minutes by Oga Peninsula Ainori taxi “Namahage Shuttle” from Oga Station on the JR Oga Line
• Car: Approximately 40 minutes from Akita Expressway Showa Oga Peninsula IC

• Facility name: Namahagekan
• Admission fee: General 660 yen, Elementary, junior high and high school students 330 yen, Combined ticket for 2 museums / General 1100 yen, Elementary, junior high and high school students 660 yen
• Opening hours: 8:30-17:00
• Closed: Open all year round

• Facility name: Oga Shinzan Tradition Museum
• Admission fee: General 770 yen, Elementary, junior high and high school students 550 yen, 2 museum ticket / General 1100 yen, Elementary and junior high school students 660 yen
• Namahage custom learning course (Namahage experience):
• April to November/9:00 to 16:30 (Time required: approximately 20 minutes, 9:00 to 16:30)
• December to March/9:30 to 15:30 (9:00 to 15:00 from January 1st to 2nd)
• Closed: Open all year round

Google Map