The Yamawaro of Ashikita Town Tagawa and the Manners of River Crossing from the Early Modern Period to the First Half of the 20th Century

The Yamawaro of Ashikita Town Tagawa and the Manners of River Crossing from the Early Modern Period to the First Half of the 20th Century
The custom of asking the Yamawaro for help when crossing a river, which is passed down in Ashikita Town Tagawa, Kumamoto Prefecture, reflects the spirit of a time when mountains and rivers were deeply embedded in people's lives as an unbroken ecosystem. The mountainous terrain of southern Kyushu is steep, and the rivers rise quickly after a brief rainfall. From modern times until the early Showa period, there were few bridges, and river crossings were an unavoidable activity, but there were limits to what humans could do in response to the violence of nature. Therefore, the practice of praying to Yamawaro, who was believed to be downstream, to watch over one's life, carried weight in daily life, and spitting downstream was considered taboo. It was believed that spit had magical powers and that the direction of the spit was a spiritual message, so it was feared that it would be disrespectful to the spirits if it was directed the wrong way.
The act of throwing stones to ask for permission to use the land when staying overnight in the mountains was also associated with a value system that regarded the mountains as an area controlled by something other than human beings. Similar greetings for entering the mountains are recorded in materials from various Kumamoto areas, including Itsuki-mura and the Kuma region, suggesting that the awareness of negotiating with mountain deities, mountain masters, and mountain children permeated daily life. While mountain villages in the early modern period depended on the blessings of the mountains for slash-and-burn farming, timber harvesting, charcoal making, and other activities, they also faced the ever-present danger of collapses, falling rocks, wild animals, and torrential rain.
Even today, the Ashikita region is known for its rapid streams, and tributaries of the Kuma River system change their water levels in a short period of time. Recent studies have also pointed out that the steepness of the Kyushu Mountains has historically caused repeated floods and flash floods. In these natural conditions, the manner of relying on the Yamawaro is thought to have worked as a social device to bring visibility of danger and shared prudence. The flow of the river was sometimes understood as containing hostility, and by giving it a spiritual persona, people were guided to behave cautiously in the face of natural changes.
Today, river crossing hazards are managed through revetment and weather reports, but with the increase of unpredictable heavy rains, the sensitivity of people to respect nature as an other is being reevaluated. The Yamawaro tradition of the Tagawa River conveys the wisdom of mountain villages, where people are aware of their boundaries with nature and live while working humbly with it. It is not a superstition, but an ancient technique for deciphering the rhythms of the environment, sharing dangers, and maintaining order in the community.