著者

前迫 ゆり

出版者

大阪産業大学

雑誌

大阪産業大学人間環境論集 (ISSN:13472135)

巻号頁・発行日

no.14, pp.141-151, 2015

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ニホンジカの影響を大きく受けている世界遺産春日山原始林および春日野一帯はかつてどのような植生景観であり,今に至っているのだろうか。千年以上にわたる自然史を紐解くヒントが,700年代に描かれた最古の地図,鎌倉時代から室町時代に描かれた春日曼荼羅および春日権現験記などに代表される絵図にあると考えられる。本報では,日本最古の地図「東大寺山堺四至図」および鎌倉時代の春日曼荼羅などの絵図から,春日山およびその周辺の植生景観を読み取り,考察した。I studied ancient Mount Kasuga and its surrounding landscape and vegetation using the oldest known map of the area, drawn in 756 (`Todaiji Sankai Shiishi Zu'), and cultural artifacts such as the Kasuga mandalas from the Kamakura period and the Illustrated Tales of the Miracles of the Kasuga Deity (`Kasuga Gongen Kenki'). One Kasuga Shrine mandala(the`Kasuga Miya Mandala') depicts Mount Mikasa, the abode of the Kasuga deity in front of Mount Kasuga, with a bird's-eye view of the landscape. Other images on Kasuga mandalas include a spring scene of Kasugano with cherry blossoms and willows, and an autumn scene with many deer. These are likely to be connected to the landscape of Kasugayama, a warm temperate evergreen forest, and Nara Park, which still contains deer. The winter scene of Mount Kasuga in `Kasuga Gongen Kenki' clearly indicates that the forest consisted mainly of evergreen broad-leaved trees, and contained some deciduous broad-leaved trees and conifers. The deer mandala depicts the image of the sacred tree(`sakaki': Cleyera japonica) behind a deer, symbolically reflecting the presence of the god (`kami'). The image titled Kasuga Deities Departing from Kashima Shrine(`Kashimadachi Shin'ei Zu') also shows vegetation and gods and the presence of sacred deer. I propose that the plant in this image may be Podocarpus nagi, which was respectfully presented to the Kasuga Shrine (`Kasuga Taisha') by other prefectures in the Middle Ages. This is supported by plant morphology and the presence of P. nagi on Mount Mikasa. This study suggests that today's Mount Kasuga and the surrounding Kasuga Field retain the cultural landscapes of the Middle Ages.