Pathway to Japanese Literature

Long tradition

Higashi-Inasa Village and Nishi-Inasa Village were separated by the Inasa River, nestled close to each other from east and west.
Judging by their names and geography, they might have been sister villages, but their animosity stood unmatched under heaven.
By some twist of fate, they did nothing but quarrel.
The roots of their conflict seemed to stretch back beyond living memory.

When I was not yet in elementary school, there was an old man over a hundred in my neighborhood.
He had already grown completely senile, making a habit of sitting on the veranda and dozing off, but when he died at 102, he suddenly became alert and left a will.
That was,

“Since my parents’ time, we’ve never lost to the west.
Don’t you lose to the west either.
Therefore, don’t pay taxes.
Higashi has never paid taxes since ancient times.”

That was a common admonition of this sort.
Given that a 102-year-old man spoke of it dating back to his parents’ time, there’s no doubt the conflict is an old one.
However, given that it was a 102-year-old man who spoke of not paying taxes as if it were a village principle, his mind must have been going.
Be that as it may for Nishi-Inasa, there is absolutely no fact of Higashi-Inasa people being particularly delinquent in payments.
I must clarify this for the honor of the village.

Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa—adults and children, men and women—all had terrible relations.
Even the dogs separated by the river would sometimes bark at each other.

“Bark! Bark!”
“Don’t lose!”

The children egged them on.
If children were spotted on the opposite bank, the humans would start barking at each other.

“Higashi-Inasa horse bones!”

“What? Nishi-Inasa cow bones!”

They’d called us “horse bones,” so we shouted back “cow bones”—it didn’t mean anything in particular. But as they kept at it, they’d gradually touch on real issues.

“Hey! Higashi-Inasa’s waterless village! Don’t go crying with that drought-stricken face!”

“What?! Nishi-Inasa’s flood-stricken village! When autumn comes, it’s quite a sight—young girls hiking up their skirts as they scurry away!”

“Go beat your drums and pray for rain!”

“Hike up your skirts and scurry away!”

Then they threw stones at each other. Since Higashi-Inasa sat higher up, they held the advantage in these stone battles. From Nishi-Inasa’s side, stones sometimes reached their mark and sometimes fell short. The river was quite wide.

Higashi-Inasa was along the mountains, so they struggled with water.
They diverted mountain streams to create rice fields.
In some places, they had to draw water using waterwheels.
Droughts took a severe toll.
That was why they were told to beat drums and pray for rain.
Though the Inasa River flowed along the village's edge, its higher elevation made it utterly useless.
Only lower-lying Nishi-Inasa Village received its benefits.
Yet they suffered damage too.
For every early autumn brought floods that struck part of their village.
This was what people meant when they spoke of young girls hiking up their skirts as they scurried away.
From Higashi-Inasas vantage point，the floodwaters spread below like a scene held in one's palm.
It was a view from on high.

At ○○ Town's middle school athletic meet, the athletic races from neighboring elementary schools had become one of the main attractions.
The boys of Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa would fiercely compete for dominance in this decisive competition.

“Our side took fifth place, and their side took seventh.”

“Last year our side was eighth and their side was sixth, so it’s the perfect payback.”

Even if they didn’t place in the rankings, it was fine as long as they didn’t lose to their rivals.
During my elementary school days, Higashi-Inasa once took first place.
Having to pass through Nishi-Inasa while carrying the championship flag made it quite an ordeal.

“Bastards—just wait until next year!”

Nishi-Inasa’s young men followed with eyes blazing.
From our side too, young men came out to meet them.
Had things gone awry, a rain of blood would have fallen.
The teachers in charge seemed thoroughly worried.

The young ones from both sides tended to be rough with each other.
They would cross paths in ○○ Town or the mountains.

“Hey.”
“Nishi-Inasa!”

By the time Higashi-Inasa called out, their underlying intent to pick a fight was already fully formed.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing special. They say your Hachiman Deity’s a counterfeit—does it still bring any blessings?”

“Bastard! You’re spouting nonsense!”

“What did you say?!”

“It’s your side that’s been worshipping counterfeits for generations, grinning like fools all the while!”

And the youths from Nishi-Inasa never backed down.

“Which side’s deity is the counterfeit? Long ago, our young men snuck into your Hachiman Deity’s shrine and swapped the sacred object with a counterfeit.”

“So you’re admitting theft? Those Higashi bastards have sticky fingers!”

“They went in half-drunk and did it! And that was before the Meiji Restoration. You don’t know squat about the village’s history.”

“I know all about it! When Hachiman appeared in a dream, our lads went straight over and snatched yours while they were at it. Higashi-Inasa’s so tight-fisted! You’re worshipping counterfeits you cobbled together yourselves!”

“Now, now—keep your head and talk straight. Would the real Hachiman get blown away by some storm?”

“What about your side?!”
“Even though yours got half-burned in some beggar’s bonfire!”
“Would a Hachiman Deity that actually grants blessings end up half-burned like that?”

“Bastard!”

“What did you say?”
“You bastard!”

The sacred objects of the Hachiman Deities in Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa had become quite a thorny issue.
At the slightest provocation, accusations of counterfeiting would erupt.
Perhaps in the past, a battle for possession had been fought.
Perhaps as traces of this remained, both tutelary deities’ shrines exhibited specially reinforced security measures.
On the doors were seven large locks fastened.
There was a history behind this as well.
Initially, both Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa had one lock each, but when Nishi-Inasa added a second, Higashi-Inasa added a third.
Nishi-Inasa added four, Higashi-Inasa five, and they competed until both reached seven.
From then on, there simply remained no more space left to add any further locks.

For nearly a century, Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa Villages had disparaged each other’s Hachiman Deity’s sacred object as counterfeit while believing their own side enshrined two authentic deities.
If they had simply inspected them together, it would have been the quickest solution—yet they never did.

“Our side’s got two real deities—that’s why the blessings pour down!”
“One peek at yours would burn your eyes out!”

They traded these barbs endlessly.
For both villages, this was faith.
It needed no proof.

Among the factors that fueled the feud between Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa was shrine sumo. Higashi-Inasa’s Hachiman Deity held its grand festival in July, while Nishi-Inasa’s Hachiman Deity held theirs in August. At that time, sumo wrestlers from both villages would face each other on the dohyo. Having become a renowned attraction, visitors came not just from nearby villages but even from ○○ Town. Because they trained diligently year-round, their prize earnings proved substantial. In Nishi-Inasa, some had gone to Tokyo for apprenticeship and become proper sumo wrestlers. With the July and August festivals following closely, whichever side lost would immediately have an opportunity for revenge lying in wait. Yet if defeated twice consecutively, they couldn’t hold their heads high. Whether meeting in town or encountering each other in the fields,

“Hey.”
“Higashi youngsters—why don’t you go to a blacksmith and get some muscle put into those backs of yours?”

They were made to bitterly realize this.

For the people of Higashi-Inasa, the inconvenient reality was that reaching ○○ Town required passing through Nishi-Inasa.
Right after the festival, tensions ran especially high and unmanageable.
Those who swaggered in victory would seethe with resentment in defeat.

“Hey! Higashi-Inasa—don’t go strutting around with those swollen faces just because you scraped a rare win.”

They tried to pick a fight.
○○ Town had a population barely under ten thousand but stood as the only major city in the region.
Everyone had business there through their various connections.
Plays, picture houses, cafés—countless things tugged at the village youths’ curiosity.
The fact that this gateway to ○○ Town was their hostile neighbor Nishi-Inasa made everything thorny.
Occasionally, when trading barbs bloomed into more, those louts would gather their pals and lie in wait for their return.

However, there were times when Nishi-Inasa villagers also had to pass through Higashi-Inasa.
That was when they went to the mountains.
In summer, they would cut miscellaneous trees from the mountains and bring them back to stockpile fuel for the entire year.
This had become one of the tasks for the young men.
They would set out at dawn and return only after sunset.
When they approached Higashi-Inasa with a day’s earnings loaded onto their carts,

“Hey, you Nishi guys heading over there?”

They would sometimes be called out to like this.

“Good evening.”

“Not tonight.
This is about the other night.
You remember, don’t you?”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“Your buddies set up an ambush and picked a fight with us. Well?”

“What’re you gonna do?”

“If you don’t wanna get hurt, unload all your cargo and scram!”

“You guys, that’s a bit unreasonable.
We didn’t lay a finger on anything.
We just made ’em crawl between our legs.”

“Look.”
“You know damn well.”
“Come on.”
“Crawl between our legs and get going.”

“Can’t be helped.”

And they considered that the Nishi youths had also entered Higashi’s territory.
Outnumbered, they couldn’t afford to act recklessly.

When I wrote about these matters, it might have seemed like they quarreled daily, but that wasn't necessarily true. Once things started to settle, they settled, so there could be peaceful months with no incidents at all.

Tradition remained tradition, but personal relationships were a different matter altogether.
In fact, there were those among my relatives who had taken brides from Nishi.
While serving in the military, one had formed a sworn brotherhood with a fellow soldier from Nishi, leading to a marriage proposal with his sister being settled.
The exchange of brides was not uncommon.
There were even cases of adopted sons-in-law going from Higashi to Nishi.
In any case, these people were a sort of pioneer.
Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa had been asserting that since they were not sworn enemies, they must get along like other villages did.

Two Middle School Students Who Clicked

Around the time I entered middle school, Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa villages were in the state I’ve just described.
The majority valued tradition and regarded only their own village as important.
The true minority were awakening and growing concerned.
These were mainly those who had been to the military and those who attended middle school.
In other words, it’s because they saw the world that people opened their eyes, I suppose.
Those who remained solely in the village were generally stubbornly ignorant.
However, this was something I realized later. When I first entered middle school, I kept thinking hard about how to avoid interacting with those from Nishi-Inasa who attended the school.
From Higashi-Inasa, I was the only one.
There had been fifth- and fourth-year students from Higashi-Inasa, but the fifth-years graduated, and the fourth-year student dropped out halfway due to ill health and poor grades.
From Nishi-Inasa, there was one fourth-year student, two third-year students, and one first-year student.
According to their own boasts, Nishi had more wealthy families than Higashi, so there were also more residents attending middle schools and girls’ schools.
The first-year student was Hayakawa-kun, and he was in the same class as me.
He was the son of a wealthy landowner in Nishi-Inasa.
Because his estate was splendid, I had known about it for some time.
He was probably the wealthiest in Nishi-Inasa.
When I went to ○○ Town, I had no choice but to pass in front of the gate.
However, the first time I met Hayakawa-kun was after entering middle school.
No one introduced us, and since I knew he was from Nishi-Inasa, even when we ended up walking home together, I didn’t say a word.
Hayakawa-kun also kept silent, looked away, and walked on.
I remember us both making efforts to keep our distance for about a week.

One morning, when I approached Hayakawa-kun's house, he was just coming out of the gate.
Our eyes met.
However, I tried to uphold tradition by slipping away a step ahead.

“Mr. Koike.”

Hayakawa-kun called out.

“Yes.”

I answered curtly, like a roll-call response.

“Let’s go together.”
“Let’s go.”
“My old man knows your father.”
“My family knows yours too.”

From that day on, we opened our hearts to each other.
We were together both going and coming back.
Every morning, Hayakawa-kun would wait for me.

“You—why do Nishi-Inasa and Higashi-Inasa have such a bad relationship?”

Hayakawa-kun brought up the issue.

“I’ve really had enough of it.”

“It’s a disgrace—both villages’ doing.”

“The principal at my elementary school keeps saying that too.”
“He says we must do something about it.”

“My old man says the same thing.”
“He says we middle schoolers have no choice but to lead by example.”

“Makes sense.”

“If you and I get along, since everyone’s watching, that’ll serve as education.”
“Let’s devote ourselves to the village together.”
“Let’s make a promise now, okay?”
“Right.”

Not long after that.
We ended up setting neither an example nor providing any education.
Instead, we witnessed an unexpected result.
One day, on our way home from school, we found ourselves surrounded by a group of grass-cutting boys.
Since they were all young lads, they were bigger than first-year middle school students.

“Even for Hayakawa’s young master—if this goes too far, we won’t stand for it.”

said one of them.
He was the roughest-looking of the bunch and appeared to be their leader.

“What’s this?”

“Since you’re Hayakawa’s young master, that makes it even harder to let this slide.”
“Since the young master is going to be an important person in the village,”

Then another one—a large-framed individual—stepped forward.
There were six of them in total.
They had been waiting while wrestling in sumo style.
An argument broke out between Hayakawa-kun and the leader of the grass-cutting boys.

“We young lads can’t just stand by and watch things that aren’t for the village’s sake.”
“Depending on how you act, we’ll give you a shove—keep that in mind.”

“What exactly isn’t for the village’s sake? Go ahead and say it.”

“Nishi is Nishi. Walking around with Higashi’s brats is wrong, don’t you think?”

“Stop talking nonsense. We’re classmates.”

“Even if you’re classmates—Higashi is Higashi and Nishi is Nishi. There’s a proper distinction.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

“If you won’t understand through words then there’s no helping it! That’s it—everyone!”

the leader barked the command.

The six split into groups of three each and lifted us up.
There was no time to react.
They had planned this all along.
The moment we were lifted into the air, our heads began knocking against each other.

“If it hurts, go ahead and resent us—it’s not our fault.”
“If it hurts, go ahead and resent us—it’s not our fault.”

they sang in unison.
It was a simple idea.
They must have thought that if they caught us and made us knock our heads together, we’d end up resenting each other and falling out.

“Ahh—it hurts!”

By the time we got back up, the pranksters had already fled.

"You bastards, just you wait!"

Hayakawa-kun shouted through tears and tried to chase after them.

"You should really just ignore them."

As I was in pain too, I soothed Hayakawa-kun while wiping my own tears.

"They're mostly tenant kids from our land."
"Since they're getting too cocky, I'll have my brother come give them a talking-to."

“So after all, it’s Nishi that’s even more unreasonable than Higashi.”

“That’s not true.”

“But there are guys like that.”

“They’re in the East too.”

“They’re not here. Come see for yourself.”

“Are you mocking the West? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You two mustn’t fight. It won’t set a good example.”

“I see. That may be so, but…”
“My head still hurts.”
“Mine hurts too.”

Hayakawa-kun was the youngest child of a wealthy family and, having been indulgently raised, had a willful streak.
His grades weren’t excellent either.
Admittedly, I couldn’t really boast much myself.
The two of us always occupied the central position in class without bearing grudges against each other.
Even if we studied, we wouldn’t become prime ministers—without saying it aloud, we’d likely grasped this truth in our hearts.
In class, we never drew any attention.
Yet it’s precisely such types who go all out once they return home.
We were that pair.
As we moved through third and fourth grades, we grew increasingly compatible.
We believed we’d done quite well as a model of reconciliation between Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa.
However, the principal of my village’s elementary school added this caveat.

“Koike-kun, being on good terms with people from the West is commendable, but whenever your name and Hayakawa-san’s come up, it leaves a rather unpleasant impression.”
“Even if the two of you get along well, going around pulling pranks like that will only diminish your effectiveness as role models.”

The Turtles of Kōjin-buro

My family were also landowners.
In Higashi-Inasa, when you mention Mr. Koike of Kōjin-buro, everyone knows him.
We weren't wealthy like Hayakawa-kun's family, but we were renowned as an old-established household.
Adjacent to the estate lay a wetland that was neither quite a pond nor a rice field.
From one part of it, water trickled out and flowed down into the Inasa River.
The surname Koike probably originated from this spring water.
Near the cliff leading to the river, several old trees grew so thickly that even daytime felt dim beneath them, and there the Sanbō Kōjin Deity was enshrined.
That's why it's named Kōjin-buro.
Since the Sanbō Kōjin Deity resides where the water springs forth, I suppose the name means "the bath where the deity bathes."
It wasn't just my family's house.
About a dozen houses in that area formed the hamlet called Kōjin-buro.

During school terms, I would invite Hayakawa-kun every morning.
Conversely, when school was out, Hayakawa-kun would come to my place to play.
In summer, it was nearly every day.
When you passed through Kōjin-buro to the Inasa River, there was just the right swimming spot.
The water flowing from Kōjin-buro had formed a marsh along the bank, and there were turtles there.
When we grew tired of swimming, we would seek out turtles and carve our names into their shells.

“There’s already twenty or thirty turtles with the ‘Haya’ character.”

“There are even more with ‘Ko’.”
“Mine are easier to carve.”

“Do you think they’ll live ten thousand years or something?”
“They’re markers.”

“At least we’ll know whether they survive till next year.”

Kōjin-buro also had many turtles.
It seemed that when the river’s [turtles] came upstream, there were times when the ‘Haya’ and ‘Ko’ characters would amble along together in harmony.

“Hey, why do you think there are so many turtles gathered here?”

On one occasion, Hayakawa-kun raised a question.

“Aren’t they everywhere in this river?”

“Well, they do wander all over the place, but this area has the most.”
“Kōjin-buro seems to be the turtles’ gathering place.”

"They spend the winter in this marsh and around the Sanbō Kōjin Deity's shrine."
"They all end up gathering here."

“My father’s been looking into old books,” he said. “It says that at Kōjin-buro, turtles gather and cranes nest in the pines of Mine no Matsu. And he thinks there’s something odd about the name ‘Kōjin-buro’ itself.”

“Since my family’s the main house here, we’ve pondered this for generations,” I replied. “But the truth still eludes us. Well... I suppose it means ‘the bath where the Kōjin Deity bathes.’ Probably a name given by pious folk long ago.”

“This deserves proper scientific study,” Hayakawa-kun insisted.

“Tradition would say so,” I countered. “But scientifically? We know why—the spring water stays warm enough for turtles to winter here.”

And this was my father’s interpretation.

“Hey,”

“What is it?”

“Kōjin-buro being Kōjin-buro—within two or three days, a huge commotion’s gonna kick up.”

“Where?”

“Of course Higashi-Inasa.”

“What kind of incident?”

“Tomorrow—no, the day after tomorrow it will come.”
“Let’s save the fun for then.”

“Speaking of commotion, there’s talk about ghosts appearing in Eitoku-ji’s cemetery.”
“People say they’ve seen them.”

“That’s exactly it.”

“You knew?”

“Ha ha ha!”

Hayakawa-kun was beaming with pride as he wrapped two or three turtles in a handkerchief.

“What? Is this your doing?”

“Well, actually, I put the ones I took home the other day to use. I painted their shells with phosphorus and let them loose in the garden—when night fell, the people at home started screaming. There was a commotion about will-o’-the-wisps appearing. So I got the idea and took them to your temple.”

“You’re up to no good.”

“Ha ha ha!”

“Are you taking them home again today?”

“Yeah. With these, I’m gonna test the village youths’ courage.”

“Putting phosphorus on turtle shells—now that’s an idea.”

“It’d be nice if they could float through the air, but poor turtles—even as will-o’-the-wisps, they just scuttle along the ground.”
“But since it’s phosphorus, they’ll still get quite a shock.”

“When it comes to pranks like these, you’re the master.”

Soon, a newspaper article reported that will-o’-the-wisps appeared every night in the cemetery of Senpuku-ji Temple, a renowned temple in XX Town.
There were so many of them.
It said that even the folks in the netherworld, unable to endure the recent extreme heat, must be rising each night to cool off.
Just as Hayakawa-kun arrived,

“Hey. Did you extend your pranks all the way to town?”

I asked.

“Nah, I don’t know about that. I…”

“Smoothly put.”

“It’s true,” he said. “After I surprised the village youths and showed them how the trick worked, those guys must’ve done it.”

“Sounds like a real uproar.”

“They’re saying there’s a huge number of them, so they must’ve taken plenty over. Nasty bunch.”

“Because you taught them.”

“How about we go see the spectacle tonight?”

“Fine by me. I haven’t been to town in ages.”

Before we could even head out that evening, we were hauled into the police station in XX Town around noon that day. A policeman had come to summon us.

“You’re Koike Tamotsu and Hayakawa Seizaburou, the middle school students, correct?”
“It’s perfect that both of you are here together.”

Since he said that, there was no mistaking us. Even so, we turned pale. Though we two had grown accustomed to being constantly scolded by school authorities, facing the police was a first. Having no recollection of wrongdoing yet suspecting it involved the turtle incident, I exchanged looks with Hayakawa-kun. Whatever his involvement, I resented being implicated in something I knew absolutely nothing about.

It wasn’t an arrest.
Of course, there was no reason for us to receive such treatment.
It was a voluntary appearance.
However, being suddenly thrust before the Police Chief left us not a little perplexed.
The Police Chief was the father of a classmate of ours.
After offering a formal “You’ve had quite the ordeal coming all this way in the heat,” he got down to business.

“By the way, a great many of the turtles you keep have escaped and made their way to Senpuku-ji Temple’s cemetery here.”

he began.

“…………”

“Does this not ring any bells?”

“Uh… not at all.”

Hayakawa-kun answered.

“Please give an honest account.”

“I don’t know, really.”

“An estimated thirty turtles are being kept at Senpuku-ji Temple.”
“From now on, you must refrain from such trivial public disturbances.”

“This has absolutely nothing to do with me, but…”

“A considerable number had ‘Hayakawa’ carved on their shells."
“Those are yours, aren’t they?”
“And the ones with ‘Ko’ carved must be yours, Koike-kun?”

“……”

“You coated their shells with phosphorus and released them into the cemetery.”
“This sort of scientific mischief could only come from middle schoolers.”
“Moreover, turtles around here only exist in the Inasa River.”
“There are absolutely none to be found elsewhere.”
“Therefore, we determined this was done by someone commuting to school from Inasa.”
“When we discreetly checked with the school, fourth-years Hayakawa and Koike stood out as the prime candidates.”
“We also learned you two are practically inseparable.”

The Police Chief explained like Sherlock Holmes.

“I’m thoroughly impressed.”

“I won’t inform the school.”
“If you have time for pranks like this from now on, please read a morals textbook instead.”
“Since I won’t reprimand you this time, you should stop by Senpuku-ji Temple and offer an apology.”

“Sir.”
“No—that was wrong.”
“Police Chief.”

“Ha ha ha.”

“Police Chief, I don’t lie. As for the Senpuku-ji matter, it truly has nothing to do with us, but the one at Inasa’s temple is me. Moreover, since Koike-kun knows absolutely nothing about this, it’s unfair to lump him in with me.”

“Then who’s responsible for Senpuku-ji?”

“It must be the young men from my village.”
“I startled them at the temple by showing how the trick worked.”
“Since they were all impressed, they must’ve tried it out themselves.”
“If it were me and Koike-kun, we wouldn’t bring turtles carved with our own names.”

“I see.”

“Still, I feel responsible.”
“I’ll warn the youths and watch my own conduct.”

“Good, good.”
“Then send those youths over to apologize at Senpuku-ji Temple.”
“The priest’s boiling mad.”

“I’ll go and apologize. The turtles will be donated to the temple pond.”

“If there are as many as thirty, you can’t take them back. That’s sufficient.”

And with that, the Police Chief let it go at that.
When I thought about it, Hayakawa-kun wasn’t guilty either.
As for me, I had simply been going along with it.

Steadfast Champion of Friendship

We had thought our shining example would make Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa villages fast friends, but in truth, relations had only deteriorated further. It was the spring we entered fifth grade. As usual, the school held its athletic meet on the grounds, with even elementary students participating in races. The event left a strong impression on me since I served as a judge. For the first time in years, Higashi-Inasa claimed victory—though by the narrowest margin against Nishi-Inasa. Truthfully, no one could say which side had truly been superior. When Nishi-Inasa lodged a formal protest, we judges invoked our sacrosanct authority to dismiss it. But as Higashi-Inasa's delegation carried the championship flag toward Nishi-Inasa territory, their youths lay in ambush—

“Today’s was rigged because there were Higashi people among the judges!”
“That championship flag—hand it over here!”

With that, they launched their assault.
The flag bearer was a high school student.

A brawl suddenly broke out, and the supervising teachers couldn’t control it.
The Nishi-Inasa students had returned ahead of time and conspired with the young men.
Over a dozen injuries were sustained among the high school students from both sides.
The championship flag was torn to shreds.
The newspapers sensationalized it as a scandal in the education world.
Both Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa Village ended up having their principals resign to take responsibility.
Hayakawa-kun and I held each other’s hands and cried at this time.

“What utter fools our village’s lot are!”

And so.

Both were valued principals.
Because I had been one of the judges, I felt particularly responsible.
Since it had been a close call, it was only natural that Nishi-Inasa felt bitter about it.
If we had declared Nishi-Inasa the winner back then—how would things have turned out?
Still, it would have been no good.
Our side would have lain in ambush without fail.
Ah—thinking this way and that—I came to realize how truly ill-fated these neighboring villages were.

“Principal, I’m truly sorry.”

And I apologized countless times.
Principal Andou was magnanimous.

“Everything’s on a path to get better soon, you know.”
“Let’s both be patient.”

He showed the magnanimity of a great man.

Immediately after graduating middle school, I began helping with work at the village office.
If I had just kept fooling around, I’d have been bored to death with all that free time.
It was pocket money work.
Hayakawa-kun became a trainee at a bank connected to his father and went to ○○ Town every day.
In truth, both of us had resolved to go to Tokyo, but a well-meaning person intervened.
That was the middle school principal.
When Father went to consult him,

“These days, even if you graduate from university, there are no job openings unless your grades are exceptionally good.”
“Someone with your Tamotsu’s level of intellect is a dime a dozen in Tokyo. Pouring tuition money into someone of his caliber would be no different from throwing cash into the Inasa River.”

he made sure to tell him in no uncertain terms.
From Hayakawa-kun’s side as well, when my older brother went to inquire, he received exactly the same response.
Only the wording differed.
He reportedly said it was as wasteful as using banknotes for kindling.
We were indignant.
We resolved that as long as that bald-headed man was around, we’d never set foot in our alma mater again.
Even after Hayakawa-kun started working at the bank, he came to visit every Sunday.
He hardly missed a single visit as long as it didn’t rain that entire year.
A friendship like this is truly precious.

“You’re truly diligent,” I praised him.

“Thanks to you, I’m steadily becoming a proper banker now.”

“Of course that’s true for your bank work, but here—this is dedication to our friendship. You keep coming even when I’ve no interesting stories. It doesn’t sit right having you always come to me. I’ll start visiting your side too.”

“No, no—”

“Don’t you mind?”

“Well.
“It’s really no trouble at all.”

“This Sunday, I’ll come from my side.”

“No, no—”

“Why?”

“Maybe I should just come out and say it?”

“Is there some circumstance behind this?”

“Hmm. There’s some complex psychology at work here.”

In the same Sanbō Kōjin Furo area stood a household called Nakajima-ya. They used to be tenant farmers on our land while running a hardware store, but since the eldest and second sons went to America to work and send money back, they had been living comfortably of late. They built a new house. The youngest daughter graduated from girls' school one year after us. She was rather pretty and reputed for her splendid academic performance. Whenever Hayakawa-kun caught sight of the girl during their school commute days, he would invariably affect an aloof manner.

One time, jokingly,
“I want to marry that girl—what do you think?”
he said.

“Do you know that girl’s background?”

“I know.”
“Since my cousin was her classmate, I made inquiries.”
“I hear her older brothers are in America, right?”

“Hmm.”
“Your family is prominent.”
“The sister of migrant workers isn’t a suitable match.”

“You let that slip, didn’t you?”

“What about?”

“Your family’s an old-established house too.”
“When they say ‘the Koikes of Sanbō Kōjin Furo,’ even we on our side know that name.”
“They’d never accept me marrying some migrant worker’s sister.”

“Like I’d ever marry her!”

I declared it as a joke, but Hayakawa-kun might have been serious even back then.

That story continued.
Hayakawa-kun said he wanted to marry Takeko-san from Nakajima-ya and asked me to arrange it.

“Actually,”
“Since you were right here, I thought you might have ambitions of your own—that’s why I kept coming over to keep an eye on things for a whole year.”

“You’ve been thorough.”

“I admit you have no ambitions.”
“Can’t say for sure.”

“Hey”

“Ha ha…”

I talked to my father and had him ask the old man of Nakajima-ya about his feelings.
At Nakajima-ya, there was no hope of the eldest and second sons returning.
They had started a farm over there, but true success wouldn’t come for another ten or twenty years.
The eldest and second daughters had both married off and become outsiders.
The elderly couple would ultimately depend on their third daughter Takeko-san’s care, so they couldn’t send her off as a bride.
They had been saying from America that their younger sister should take in an adopted son-in-law to carry on the family line.
This being the situation, their refusal stated they couldn’t give her in marriage and asked for kind understanding.

When I conveyed that exactly, Hayakawa-kun had no objection to becoming an adopted son and pressed forward earnestly with his request.
There was no helping it—he was still wavering.
There’s that old saying about three measures of rice bran.
Moreover, he was the foremost son of the Hayakawa family in Nishi-Inasa.

“Hey, what do you think about this?”

“What about?”

“Just because she’s good-looking—recklessly becoming an adopted son-in-law like this…”

“Hers is better than mine.”

“If I go to a household where she’s smarter than me, I’ll just end up under her thumb.”

“That’s precisely what I’ve been hoping for all along.”

“You’re such an idiot.”

“Are you going to interfere?”

At this, Hayakawa-kun’s face took on an expression as if he were about to pounce.

Incorrigible.
I asked my father again.
It became clear Takeko-san had taken an interest in Hayakawa-kun.
The Nakajimas responded they’d welcome the Hayakawas’ third son as an adopted heir—but the Hayakawa family refused.
His parents and brothers—everyone opposed it.
Hayakawa-kun began agonizing.
He couldn’t focus on his bank work.

It was I who went out to Nishi-Inasa nearly every night and repeatedly negotiated with Hayakawa-kun’s brothers.
I’ll skip the twists and turns.
Hayakawa-kun had his wish granted and came to Nakajima-ya in Sanbō Kōjin Furo as an adopted son-in-law.
At Sanbō Kōjin Furo，turtles gather，and cranes nest in the pine-clad peak.
A joyous occasion indeed!

From Local History to Resource Development

I continued helping with village office work while immersing myself in local history research.
One reason was my resentment at having been harshly criticized by the middle school principal.
I wanted to have him see whether I was smart or not.
I was poor at both languages and mathematics, but always scored well in history alone.
Hayakawa-kun also took an interest in this field.
Father was a Nakajima researcher and collected literature.

“You know, rather than going off to university and dabbling in superficial foreign literature, our studies have far more meaning.”

“Really. They’re doing things nobody needs to do, but we’re doing things someone has to do.”

“It’s just a side project, so progress is slow, but I’ll have something solid to show by the time those university folks graduate.”

“Let’s go all out. Actually, I’ve been thinking of quitting the bank.”

“Why?”

“Time’s too precious. Working an abacus all day and getting twenty yen a month for it is just soul-crushing. You don’t need to push yourself so hard—you could live off the dowry.”

“Takeko-san is such a fortunate person, isn’t she?”
“Since a fine groom like me comes as an adopted son-in-law bringing a dowry.”

“That’s where the sacrifice comes in. We set an example for Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa’s reconciliation.”

“It’s not that much of a sacrifice. After all, I ended up with a beautiful person like that.”

“When I think about it, I’m fortunate too. It wasn’t just me falling for her. Takeko-san also says that ever since her school days, she didn’t dislike me.”

“This won’t do.”
“Before I knew it, I’ve been made to listen to all this.”

“Working at the bank serves no purpose.
“All for twenty yen a month—I can’t even see your face all day because of it.”

“Are you quitting?
“Really?”

“Hmm.”
“Anyway, if I’m going to do research, I want to do it properly.”

My village office stipend was fifteen yen.
Though different from Hayakawa-kun’s circumstances, I could still get by without formal employment.
I tended to gravitate toward whatever was easiest.
Not long after Hayakawa-kun left the bank, I quit the village office too.
Wanting to devote myself to local history research had merely been an excuse I gave Father.
Looking back now, my motives seem dubious—yet I felt compelled by something deeper, as though I couldn’t have found peace otherwise.
I believe fate exists.
Perhaps everything unfolded along what Principal Andou called “the path to betterment.”
We had ended up veering from our local history studies into wholly unforeseen territory.

One evening, Hayakawa-kun came to visit and we talked at length.
He was no longer Hayakawa-kun.
He was Nakajima-kun now.
Right after the wedding, he had kept his distance, but nearly half a year had passed.
Now that our houses were close and neither of us had work, we ended up visiting each other every day.

“Don’t you think Kōjin-buro might have been an ancient hot spring?” said Nakajima-kun. We would imagine our homeland as it was a thousand years ago and take great pleasure in constructing highly imaginative theories about it. “Did you also think of that?”

My heart thudded.

“Hmm.
“Actually, my father planted the idea in me.”
“Didn’t I say once that the name Kōjin-buro was strange?”

“I remember.”
“It was around the time we were called to the police over the turtle hatchlings.”

“My father said it like it was a genuine inspiration—that over there might’ve been where a hot spring once gushed forth long ago.”
“That must have lingered in my head.”
“I had a dream where a hot spring gushed forth from your estate.”

“That’s a relief. Ha ha ha!”

“You and I hugged each other and rejoiced.”
“We shouted ‘Banzai! Banzai!’ over and over.”
“Then I woke up when you all and Takeko shook me awake.”

“How dull.”

“Ha ha ha!”

“You’re wicked. Making up some dream you never even had just to brag about your marriage.”

“No—I really did have that dream.”
“I think it’s promising.”

“What is?”

“It’s the hot spring.”

Nakajima-kun lowered his voice.

We diverted from that evening onward.

From local history research to resource development.
However, our year and a half of study proved immensely useful.
In our minds existed a map of our homeland from seven hundred years ago.
Inasa was still a wild field.
○○ Town had already existed as a village along the highway.
There was a record stating that the Genji army had been stationed there for a long time.
The mountain closest to the town was Kinpu Mountain, which in ancient times was simply called Peak.

“At Kōjin-buro, turtles gather, and cranes nest in the pines of Peak.”
“This, you see, is a song that captures the spirit of sightseeing.”

“Just as the pines on Peak withered and the cranes stopped coming, the hot spring must have stopped flowing too.”

“Another thing is how many burial mounds cluster around here.”
“There’s even a village called Tsukahara.”
“When warriors from both the Genji and Heike clans got wounded in battle, they’d lodge in ○○ Town and take curative baths at Kōjin-buro.”
“Those who healed went home, while the ones who died got buried and became mounds.”

“Even looking at it naturally, this seems like prime hot spring territory.”
“Right where mountains meet river!”

“Some hot springs were found by deer or monkeys, but ours here was discovered by turtles.”
“They overwinter here because hot water flows underground.”

“Shall we name it Kamenoko Hot Spring?”

“No—Kōjin-buro would be better. Probably named by someone from the Genji clan. Somehow it’s got a valiant ring to it.”

“If this hits big—and it will—”
“We’ll be nouveau riche overnight!”

“Let’s definitely try this!”

“Wait a moment, if you please.”
“I’ve got preparations to handle.”

Nakajima-kun bought up the opposite bank of Kōjin-buro.
If it gushed from Kōjin-buro, then the hot water vein must undoubtedly run to the opposite bank.
On our side as well, the two of us purchased additional fields along the mountainside.
We intended to monopolize it.
We dreamed every night.
My dreams always ended in failure, leaving me groaning and thrashing in my sleep.

“Tamotsu, are you having another hot spring dream?”

It was always my mother who would wake me up.

When we called experts from Tokyo and began digging at Kōjin-buro, the villagers laughed.
The first borehole was a failure.
We tried drilling where water welled up at Kōjin-buro, but only succeeded in increasing the water volume—no hot spring emerged.
The second location was where I had considered most promising.
There existed a patch in the rice field where crops withered year after year.
Having judged the geothermal heat there to be strong, I had meant to start with that spot, but the engineer fixed his plans on the water-seeping area.
Yet the second attempt also failed, while the third one—the ravine behind Kōjin-sama—proved successful.
What gushed forth was hot enough to scald skin.
When we shifted to the opposite bank next, there we struck it in a single attempt.

After that, for about a month, we were in a frenzy.
Entrepreneurs from Tokyo came to purchase the hot spring rights.
It was remarkably quick.
It was the day after the hot spring had gushed forth, so perhaps the engineer had sent a telegram.
People also came from Osaka.
After granting an audience to those people, Mr. Koike spoke to the newspaper reporter as follows.

“Originally, Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa were on bad terms.”
“Though I think heaven made hot springs gush in both villages to unite them, there’s a risk they’ll just compete over prosperity and put on increasingly disgraceful displays.”
“For my part, since I don’t want to encourage that tendency any further, I’ve no qualms about selling the rights elsewhere depending on the money involved—and so on.”

When I thought it felt oddly familiar, I realized I had expressed a similar sentiment myself.
Mr. Koike was me.
No one forgets their own name, but appearing in the newspaper was a first for me.
In the personal news column too,

“Mr. Koike Tamotsu and Mr. Nakajima Seizaburou are staying at Flower House in ○○ Town, handling administrative duties for Kōjin Hot Spring’s operation.”

It had been introduced.
It was not a stay.
I was taken there by everyone and couldn't get them to let me return.

Led by the mayor, leading citizens of ○○ Town came to visit us at Flower House. It was advice urging us never to transfer the hot spring rights elsewhere for the sake of the prefecture. I felt thoroughly discomfited by the white-haired and bald-headed crowd prostrating in their haori and hakama. Then, a dozen or so prominent members from Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa came together. They were all long-acquainted dignitaries.

“We sincerely apologize for our constant quarrels until now. With this hot spring’s emergence as our turning point, we pledge to reconcile—please allow us to join the hot spring association just this once. We earnestly request this.”

We had no idea how to handle it. What proved particularly vexing were these geisha-like attendants who shadowed us relentlessly. Even when I stepped into the restroom, they would follow and pour water for me to wash my hands. I declared it utterly exasperating. Nakajima-kun, whose wife awaited him at home, clearly found the situation intolerable too—he vanished first. He made his escape back to the village. Father had come to retrieve me. Likely spurred by Nakajima-kun’s urgent report, Father must have felt he couldn’t ignore the situation any longer.

“Hey! Hey!”
“This is a teahouse!”
“This isn’t some inn for children to stay at!”

Father scolded.
It was amusing how everyone kept bowing their heads to these young entrepreneurs.
As for Nakajima-kun’s father—

“Well now.”
“Seizaburou, you’ve turned out better than a cat after all.”

—he was said to have praised him with those words.
Parents are unbeatable.
I thought teachers were another thing I wasn’t good with either.
The middle school principal’s statement appeared in the newspaper:

“Koike and Hayakawa had grades that were neither good nor bad during their school years.”
“I was worried about the villages’ poor relations.”
“Their intentions were never bad.”
“He had aspirations to study in Tokyo, but since I didn’t think he had the brains for it, I put a stop to it.”
“Because of that, they ended up loafing around the village and managed to strike upon the hot spring this time, I suppose.”
“People never know where they’ll stumble upon something.”
“Those lacking in intellect need not necessarily despair.”
“As their former teacher, what I hope for is that on this occasion, the two of them will not lose their heads and instead put the power they’ve been given to good use for their fellow villagers.”

“Et cetera.”

Fortunately, we did not betray the principal’s expectations.
For twenty years since then, Nakajima-kun and I had been running the hot spring association.
With abundant hot water and ○○ Town lying at a key transportation hub, Kōjin Hot Spring developed by leaps and bounds until it became renowned throughout Japan.
My place was the source spring.
We simply kept using the name *Kōjin Bath* that had existed since ancient times.
It was Koike of Kōjin Bath after all.
This time, the association members recognized our contributions and erected a bronze statue at Kawabata Amusement Park.
I consulted with Nakajima-kun and placed specifications.
Since having busts of hot spring inn owners would be presumptuous, we had it made as two children holding a turtle and talking.
How we came up with the hot spring from the turtles’ wintering is described in detail in *Onsen Senbei*.

Now, as for what became of the relationship between Higashi-Inasa and Nishi-Inasa—there were no more villages.
○○ Town had become a city and was merged.
When people have enough to eat and wear, they learn propriety.
By catering to customers from all over Japan and thoroughly profiting from them, the neighbors no longer quarreled among themselves at all.

(December 1936, Kōdan Club)