Pathway to Japanese Literature

Maebashi’s Lily of the Valley Lanterns

The newly opened Eight-ken Road, which circles from in front of the station around the outskirts of the city, was one of Maebashi City’s remarkable sights.
The plane tree-lined streets rustled their deep green leaves in the evening breeze, appearing refreshingly cool at a glance.
At night, Lily of the Valley Lanterns modeled after lily-of-the-valley flowers were lit, creating a feeling of 'easily dawning' that suited a summer night.
Two Folk Songs.

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Come and look closely

Lily of the Valley Lanterns

With four small flowers

One parent

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Night in Maebashi, ah

Lily of the Valley Lanterns

Though the moon does not rise,

There is no darkness

The mountain ranges of Haruna and Akagi

To the west, the Haruna mountain ranges are visible, and to the north, the Akagi mountain ranges can be seen.
Maebashi City is a metropolis enveloped in natural beauty.
Three Folk Songs.

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From Mount Haruna
Even a baby crow,
Come play with me
Fly on over
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From Mount Akagi

Even a baby rabbit

Come play with me

Hop on over

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Crow won’t come, won’t come

The rabbit won’t come either.

To play with me—
Is it that they dislike it?

Along the Echigo Highway to Shibukawa

From Maebashi City, following the Echigo Highway along the flow of the Tone River toward Shibukawa.
This entire area is mulberry fields.

One Nursery Rhyme.

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This area around here is

Mulberry fields

If Mr. Silkworm were to see [this]

Come reel [silk]

アララノラツテバ

アララノラ

Amidst the mulberry fields, here and there lie potato fields, their leaves swaying in the river breeze.

One Folk Song.

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Since Doyo season had come,

The potatoes in the field—

Had they sprouted young ones?

Bustling busily.

After traveling about two ri, I came upon Bando Bridge—the oldest iron bridge in Gunma Prefecture.
The Tone's waters flowed beneath it with ferocious force.
I had heard this area was the Tone River's sole ayu breeding ground.

Ayu dart and play in the rapids, fins fluttering,

While I wave flags and play with children in the fields.

Remembering an old poem I'd composed when visiting the Nagara River, I crossed Bando Bridge.

One Folk Song.

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Crossing Bando Bridge,
Crossing Bando Bridge,
The little ayu glanced this way.
Fox flowers bloomed,
Bloomed and withered,
Bloomed again.
Little ayu, look this way,
Fox flowers bloomed.

In the fields around here, red fox flowers bloomed here and there.
Handa Crows and Yagihara Foxes

If one crossed Bando Bridge, there stood Furumaki Village—Gunma Prefecture’s famous model village. Until over a decade ago, it had been such a morally corrupt place that folk songs called it “Handa Crows and Yagihara Foxes,” but through the efforts of its current mayor, Mr. Mamada, it became one of Japan’s foremost model villages. Mr. Mamada’s efforts up to that time spawned countless moving tales that brought tears to listeners’ eyes. Even seeing how villagers revered him by calling him “Ninomiya” made clear what manner of practical-minded leader he was. One Nursery Rhyme.

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Mayor Mamada

Fired his gun.

Handa Crows

Handa Crows are no more.

Yagihara Foxes too,

Yagihara Foxes are no more.

Mayor Mamada
Fired his gun.

Before long, I arrived at Shibukawa Town.
The O-Tone River splits into two branches at Shibukawa: one flows toward Numata, the other toward Kusatsu.
I departed Shibukawa along the Agatsuma River—the Tone’s headwaters—toward Kusatsu.
At last, from this point began my account of exploring the headwaters of the Tone River.
One Folk Song.
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Jōshū Shibukawa

Until I return,

That I came—

Don’t tell.

Nagano Highway's post towns

The Echigo Highway split into two at Shibukawa, with one branch becoming the Nagano Highway.
The Nagano Highway was the sole river thoroughfare that followed the Tone River's tributary, the Agatsuma River, into Shinano Road.
I departed Shibukawa along the Nagano Highway toward the source of the Agatsuma River.
Along the highway's post towns remained carriage stands, old-fashioned tea shops, and vestiges of bygone days.
Four Folk Songs.

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On the Nagano Highway's

At Michizane's path,

A horse neighed.

Saw me.

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Nagano Highway's
Clip-clop clip-clop horse
Where was it born
A horse, perhaps—
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If you kick a pebble

In front of the tea shop
The pebble got startled
It rolled away.
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The pebble startles
I won’t kick anymore.
Gazing at my heel,
That’s what I thought.

A River Where Fish Cannot Live

The Agatsuma River rushed down from the foothills of the rugged mountains stretching through the heart of Agatsuma District and flowed into the O-Tone River.
There were many scenic spots such as the view from Numajiri Bridge, the wonder of Iwaido Cave, and splendid vistas found everywhere.

One Folk Song.

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Downward, ever downward,

The rapids’ waters

For some reason hurrying

Flow.

From Kusatsu Hot Springs to Shibukawa—a stretch of approximately ten ri (about 39.5 kilometers)—the waters of Kusatsu Hot Springs flowed through the Agatsuma River basin, and not a single fish species inhabited it.
I decided to call this ten-ri stretch of the basin the “Fishless River.”

Two Folk Songs.

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Jōshū Agatsuma

Is it fate's bond?

Where fish cannot live

There is also a river.

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Where fish cannot live

Agatsuma River’s

Gazing at the water

To dwell here—

A Mountainous Region's Unique Land of Beauties

In Tokyo, it was rare to see bare-faced women, but here they were all without makeup.
Moreover, this abundance of beauties must have been a unique blessing of these mountains.

Three Folk Songs.

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Sis, look over here.

Just show me your face a bit.

The dimples on cheeks—

Who gave them to you?

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The dimples on cheeks—

Mother gave them.

"Don't lose them if you fall,"

she told me.

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Snapped geta thongs—

"Geta? No thanks!"

"Fall and Mother scolds you—

you'll get scolded by Mother."

While bare-faced beauties could be seen here, this being a remote mountain area after all, one couldn't find Modern Girls like those seen in Tokyo.
One Nursery Rhyme.

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Modern Girl, hey there!

Aren't they here? Hey there!
If they're here, striped snakes—
They'll chase you!
Striped snake, hey there!
Modern Girl, hey there!
Aren't they here? Hey there!
Modern Girl, hey there!
If they're here, striped snakes—
They'll chase you!

The Antidote-Selling Women’s Corps

Before long, I arrived at Nakanojō Town.
The Agatsuma River there divides into two—the main stream and a tributary.
I followed along the tributary of the Agatsuma River and proceeded up the Shima Highway.
The Shima Highway was a passageway to Shima Hot Springs constructed along the river through a valley for four ri (approximately 16 kilometers).
Along the way, I ended up traveling with an antidote-selling women’s corps that had come from Echigo.
The women’s corps were worldly-wise, but after all, they were women.

They walked while singing with expressions that seemed unable to bear their homesickness—lyrics like, “When we left Echigo yo, tears fell too yo—”
One Folk Song.

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In the mountains—oh, the mist rises

Even the pheasant chicks—

Echigo, how I miss you—

Flutter-flap

A Night at Shima Hot Springs

Shima was a lonely hot spring town nestled in a valley, yet several well-equipped hot spring inns stood there. From the third floor of Tamura Ryokan, I gazed down upon Shima's entire panorama at a glance. The tributary of the Agatsuma River had narrowed into a mountain stream that flowed before the inn. Though small, upstream there were famous sights such as Ogura Falls, Ōizumi Falls, and Hinami Falls.

Evening mist circled the mountains, and before I knew it, the day had faded into the fog.

It was precisely the midst of the Hour of the Ox that night.
A piercing battle cry rent the darkness.
The moment I thought, "Huh?", I also heard the sound of countless footsteps rushing about on the corridors above and below.
I intuitively thought, "Bandit Attack," and immediately leapt to my feet.

Shima Hot Springs’ Hour of the Ox

The battle cry that rent the darkness around the very middle of the Hour of the Ox, the extraordinary footsteps in the corridor—what I had been certain was a "Bandit Attack" turned out to be the clerks of Tamura Ryokan shouting to announce the Hour of the Ox.

One Nursery Rhyme.

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*Shima’s Tamura*

The clerks
*Yo-heave-ho*
They raise their battle cry
*Announcing the Hour of the Ox*
*Yo-heave-ho*
*It’s the dead of night*
*The clerks are sleepy too*
*Yo-heave-ho*
With sleepy faces
*They raised their battle cry*
*Yo-heave-ho*

It was precisely the Midsummer Day of the Ox.
It was from the tradition that soaking in the hot spring during the Hour of the Ox on the Day of the Ox has a special efficacy against all ailments that they informed the bathers of the time.
What thoughtful clerks they were.
One Nursery Rhyme.

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*Wake up, customers*

*The Hour of the Ox Ah has come*

*If you don't wake up quickly*

*The Hour of the Ox Ah departs*

*Once it departs*

*It won't come again this year*

*We hate sleepyheads!*

*We hate sleepyheads!*

*"Let's go back, let's go back!" they cried*

I looked at the bathhouse.

*Wake up, customers*

*The Hour of the Ox Ah has come*

The next day, I returned to Nakanojō and set out again along the Nagano Highway following the main stream of the Agatsuma River.
The view from Shima Hot Springs lacked variety.

One Folk Song.

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At Shima, even the boiling waters

O-Tone River’s

At last, the current’s

becomes water

Kanto’s Yabakei

The highway following the Agatsuma River from Nakanojō to Hara-machi and from Hara-machi to Gōhara was a peaceful rural area with many hemp fields.
Two Folk Songs.

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Beat beat the fields

If you ask whether it's Doyo—

It's Doyo, Doyo

The hemp spoke.

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The lower leaves of the hemp

Fall and wither

Shall we reap in Doyo?

The hemp trees

From Iwa Island, the mountains on the opposite bank began to close in, and the Agatsuma River gradually transformed into a rushing torrent.
The approximately two-ri stretch from Iwa Island to Kawarayu is hailed as Kanto’s Yabakei and this highway’s foremost scenic wonder, but seeing the Agatsuma River’s waters flow while roaring with a fearsome sound and blowing up spray gives one rather an eerie feeling.
One Folk Song.

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Here and Chōshi

Though fifty ri apart—

The water never sleeps

flows on

Hot springs gushing from the riverbed

Eventually, I arrived at Nagano Prefecture.
The Agatsuma River here split into two—the main stream and a tributary.
I proceeded upstream along the tributary Sukawa River.
Approximately two ri upstream lay Yunohira Hot Springs.
A further two ri upstream lay Hanashibu Hot Springs.
Both of these hot springs gushing forth from the riverbed were a remarkable sight.

One Nursery Rhyme.

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Bubbled up! Bubbled up! Bubbled up!
From riverbed surging,
Overflowing its banks,
To Sukawa coursing onward,
Rushing ever forward,
Agatsuma-bound waters,
Churning through rapids roaring,
O-Tone’s mighty currents joining—
Gurgle-gush-gurgle!

Overflowed and gushed

Kusatsu Hot Springs’ famous features

When I crossed one mountain from Yunohira Hot Springs, I reached Kusatsu Hot Springs—the Kusatsu of "Even doctors or Kusatsu’s waters..." fame. Kusatsu Hot Springs had its signature feature: "Yumomi". There was also the famed site “Sai no Kawara”. There was also a mysterious “Hyōkoku (Ice Valley)”. These three were the unique pride of Kusatsu Hot Springs, completely unseen anywhere else.

Three Folk Songs.

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The Yumomi begins,
Yunaga-san's chant
The chant begins—
The waters won’t churn

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At Sai no Kawara
Though I thought it inexcusable,
Stone Jizo statue
I stroked it.

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The Ice Valley?
Even summer brings cold
From within the rocks
The wind arises.

I departed Kusatsu Hot Springs and made for the source of the Agatsuma River’s main stream—Torii Pass on the Kōzuke-Shinano border.

The Nagano Highway followed along the main stream of the Agatsuma River as far as it went.
Even when looking at the larch forests and mixed woodlands interspersed with white birch trees, one could not help but realize how much this area was a highland plateau.

One Folk Song.

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In the mixed woodland,

Bleaching white cloth

Lovely white birch

Bleaching cloth

Before long, I passed through Tsumagoi and arrived at Shikazawa Hot Springs.
The main stream of the Agatsuma River had transformed into a mountain torrent.
I shall leave any further exploration of the headwaters to true adventurers.
My journey along the Agatsuma River—a tributary of the O-Tone River that had been my objective—singing nursery rhymes and folk songs as I went, came to an end.
Shikazawa Hot Springs is Jōshū’s sole highland hot spring, and the surrounding vistas are magnificent.

One Folk Song.

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Asama's foothills—
Rokurigahara Plain too,
Go through, go through—
The wind blows