著者

安渓 遊地 安渓 貴子

出版者

山口県立大学

雑誌

山口県立大学國際文化學部紀要 (ISSN:13427148)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.11, pp.55-67, 2005-03-25

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This is a collection of the narratives of Mr. AKAGI Hayashi, an eminent story-teller living in Tokuji Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Based on his field surveys begun five decades ago, he kindly invited us to visit sites of historical and folkloric interest scattered throughout Tokuji. Every time he guided us, we were happily surprised by his ability to narrate centuries-old oral traditions in detail as if they happened only yesterday. The core of his narratives was the Herculean acts of a Buddhist priest, Saint Chogen (1121-1206), who used timbers from the Tokuji forest to rebuild the Todaiji Temple, a World Heritage in Nara, which had been destroyed during the civil war of Genji and Heike. Although almost every cultural heritage in Tokuji, Buddhist statues, saunas, tea cultivation, paper-making and so on, is affiliated to Saint Chogen, Mr. AKAGI also expands his vivid biographic narratives to such recent times as Santoka (1882-1940), a famous poet of haiku, who lived and died as a vagabond mendicant.