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Site Selection Characteristics of Shrines Affected by Tsunamis in the Coastal Areas of the Sanriku Region

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Site Selection Characteristics of Shrines Affected by Tsunamis in the Coastal Areas of the Sanriku Region Journal of JSCE, Vol. 5, 226-245, 2017 Special Topic - Restoration and Recovery from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake（ Invited Paper） SITE SELECTION CHARACTERISTICS OF SHRINES AFFECTED BY TSUNAMIS IN THE COASTAL AREAS OF THE SANRIKU REGION Shin OSAKI1 1Member of JSCE, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Eng., University of Tokyo (Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan) E-mail: [email protected] This study aims to define site selection characteristics of shrines affected by tsunamis in the coastal ar- eas of the Sanriku region, to understand the differences between the locations of shrines that did or did not survive the disaster through field surveys and historical reviews. First, through the field survey, this research demonstrates that shrines in the area are generally located on ridge of mountains less likely to be affected by tsunamis and the destroyed shrines tend to be located near the low-lying coastline or on flat- lands. Second, through the historical reviews, the characteristics of shrine locations have greatly changed since the middle of the 12th century. This research indicated that shrines were mostly positioned along the ridge line during the time of the ancient belief system and became more diverse during the medieval period from the mid-12th century onwards, when the culture of “kanjo,” the ceremonial transfer of a di- vided tutelary deity to a new location according to the enshrined deity’s character, was introduced to the area. In addition to this general site selection characteristics, the experience from earlier tsunamis affects the re-selection of shrine sites. In conclusion, the site selection system for the shrines consists of global and local mechanisms. Finally, the author suggests the possibility of utilizing the shrine’s site selection characteristics as a way to hand down the tsunami experience to the next generations. Key Words : shrine’s site selection, shrine founding, transferring deity, Sanriku Region, tsunami 1. INTRODUCTION moved back to where they once lived 2). Yamaguchi explains that people’s nostalgia for their homeland (1) Background and the convenience of work have acted synergisti- Cities and villages develop unique forms over a cally to make people want to resettle in their origi- long period as people enjoy the blessings of nature nal locations. while making necessary adjustments to protect The low frequency of disasters caused by tsuna- themselves from its power. The villages settled mis seems to be closely associated with people’s along the coastal areas of Sanriku have prospered preferences to live in regions on lower land. mainly through the fishery industry, despite being Large-scale tsunamis often occur beyond the life battered repeatedly by tsunamis. In the Sanriku re- span of most individuals, thus, exceeding the max- gion, where extensive damage was caused by the imum period that the experience of a tsunami can be tsunami that occurred alongside the 1933 Sanriku handed down directly from one generation to the earthquake, the Secretariat of the Minister of Home next. In recent years, people have tended to overes- Affairs’ city planning section implemented a mod- timate safety, believing that sea walls built along- ernized recovery plan. Accordingly, residents of side the development of civil engineering technolo- fishing and agricultural villages, which are easier to gy will protect their land from the threat of a tsuna- relocate, have collectively been moved to higher mi. For these reasons, people from the Sanriku ground. Meanwhile, residents of cities with popula- coastal area may have opted for the convenience of tions too large to relocate have been directed to re- work and decided to settle on lower land, rather than settle in the locations where they once lived1). protecting themselves from the threat of another However, Yaichiro Yamaguchi reported that in the tsunami. On the other hand, shrines have existed in years since then, people from some of these villages or around the village for much longer, far beyond 226 the scope of people’s memories. place in the Japanese shrine origin has totally dif- Shrines have been worshiped by the people of the ferent geographical and historical features from the village as symbols of their beliefs. At the same time, coastal areas in Sanriku region so that the site selec- they have functioned as the village’s key public tion mechanism of shrines in this research site is space. The Sanriku coastal area is also known as a still unclear. region where local residents enthusiastically cele- One of the most important attributes is the en- brate religious ceremonies at shrines. Traditional shrined deity. Enshrined deities are known to have performing arts such as Toramai (tiger dance) and unique characters. In general, these are often recog- Shishi-Odori (deer dance) are handed down with nized as “divine virtues” or “divine favors.” local resident’s proactive support. Thus, as many Well-known examples include Inari, who is wor- shrines in the Sanriku coastal area often function as shiped as a deity of agriculture and vocations in key community hubs, they can be considered as in- general, Michizane Sugawara as deity of learning, dispensable key locations when we conduct spatial and Ebisu as deity of business prosperity. Urasaki8) planning for recovery and regeneration of the com- conducted a research on the locations of Mikumari munity. shrine (“mikumari” stands for “dividing water” and As described below, much news coverage and the shrine is known for its deity of water distribu- many previous studies emphasized that many tion) and Takagama shrine, Nara, which is known as shrines barely survived the tsunami in 2011. How- a shrine to pray for rains, and pointed out certain ever, it is important to note that not all shrines sur- relevance between the enshrined deities and vived. There is a need to know the differences be- topographic characteristics. tween the locations of shrines that did or did not According to these researches, the topographical survive the disaster. locations of the shrines tended to differ from region to region, whereas the tendency seemed to be af- (2) Purpose fected by the shrines’ attribution such as sizes and Based on this background, this study aims to de- enshrined deities. Enshrined deities should be cho- fine site selection characteristics of shrines affected sen under strong influences of local conditions such by tsunamis in the coastal areas of the Sanriku re- as climates, landshapes, occupation of the citizens, gion, to understand the differences between the lo- and disasters, for example. That is, enshrined deities cations of shrines that did or did not survive the dis- are supposed to have an influence on the shrines’ aster. Furthermore, it discusses how the site selec- site selection from a topographic point of view. tion characteristics of shrines can be utilized for re- generation. (2) Shrines’ location characteristics compared with disasters According to the previous researches on the asso- 2. PREVIOUS RESEARCHES ciations between shrine locations and natural disas- ters, focused on the area surrounding Hanaore Fault, (1) Shrines’ location characteristics from a Kyoto (Koresawa and Horikoshi, 20049)) and Ko- topographic point of view surido area, Toyoma (Hattori and Nii, 201210)), Early researches on the characteristics of shrine shrines tended to stand in the locations which were locations typified from a topographic point of view likely to be affected by natural disasters or in the focused on Fukuoka prefecture (Hitaka et al., locations meant to protect the village from natural 20053)) and pointed out that there were many shrines disasters. situated in flatlands and basins. Other researches On the contrary, in the coastal areas of Tohoku that focused on Saga plain (Goto and Nakaoka, region, which are quite frequently affected by tsu- 20024)), Nara prefecture (Urasaki, 20085)), and nami, people often speak of shrines as locations that Tohoku region (Tagami, 20046)) reported that the are less likely to be affected by natural disasters. A shrines in these areas tended to be located at the feet good example is Namiwake shrine in Wakabayashi, or top of mountains. In other words, the characteris- Sendai, Miyagi. Imamura introduces an old myth tics of shrine locations varied according to the re- related to this shrine, which is believed to have di- gions. vided a gigantic tsunami into two and saved the res- Further, Urasaki7) reported that the geographical idents from damage (Imamura, 201111)). Further, features of the shrine location varied in accordance Miyasaka et al.12) researched on the Sennan plain, with the size of the shrine, which was a useful result where Namiwake shrine is located, and found that of shrine location analysis where attributes of shrines tended to be located on slightly higher shrines were taken into account. Whereas his re- grounds such as beach-ridges and natural levees in search site, Nara prefecture, one of the most historic those villages located closer to the sea, even in a 227 vast flatland area. Further, Takada et al.13) conducted be influential on the shrines’ site selection. Howev- an intensive research on the damage situation of er, there are still many shrines that do not belong to shrines located along the coastal areas of Miyagi the Association of Shinto Shrines, and the shrines caused by the tsunami in 2011, with analysis focus- whose origins are unknown are not necessarily ing on the enshrined deities. This research indicated proven to have long histories. There are also no re- that there could be some relevance between the search results with factual evidence that identifies number of damaged shrines and the characters of the the association with the previous tsunamis. enshrined deities; for instance, the shrines where Accorindg to the research conducted by Endo and Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the deity of water and natural Mazereeuw18) that focused on Shizugawa, Utatsu, disaster was located were much less likely to have and Tokura areas of Minami-sanriku, Miyagi, older suffered damages.
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