会津山村の農耕儀礼 : 「畑の神」の去来を中心に

抄録

There are many villages in the high mountains which surround Aizu district. They are located at altitudes of about four to six hundred meters. People in these villages have been engaged in mountain labor and agriculture until recent times. Annual rites strongly reflect these occupations. The matter to be dealt with in this paper is the rituals of Jichin-sama and Oyoka in which the deity's coming from and returning to heaven is characteristic. Jichin-sama is the ritual in which the deity comes from heaven on February tenth of the lunar calendar and returns to it on October tenth of the lunar calendar. Oyoka is a ritual in which a benevolent deity and a wicked deity come from heaven on February eighth of the lunar calendar. Only the benevolent deity is invited into the house by suspending a mekago (a bamboo basket) at the entrance. Finally this deity returns to heaven on December eighth of the lunar calendar. Japanese folklorists have said that Yama-no-kami (a deity of mountains) is replaced by Ta-no-kami (a deity of fields) in spring. However, the author believes there is still room for discussion in this matter. The points to be considered in this study are as follows ; 1. The transition of agriculture in mountain villages of Aizu. 2. A supposition of crops in which in the system of agrarian rituals are rooted. 3. A study of the character of the deity's coming and returning to heaven. The conclusions of the study are as follows : 1. The mountain villages in Aizu converted from superior dry field cultivation to paddy field cultivation. Although the conversion began during the middle of Meiji and Taisho, complete conversion was not realized until after World War II. 2. Agrarian rituals as we know them at present center around rice. Nevertheless, the consideration of ritual crops appearing in Koshogatsu (Minor New Year festival on the full moon 15 th day of the first lunar month) , Jugo-ya (full moon festival of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month) , Jusan-ya (full moon festival of the 13 th day of ninth lunar month) and Jichin-sama, indicates that at the base of agrarian rituals millet and cereal have played an important role in the formation of agrarian rituals. 3. In a detailed investigation of Jichin-sama and Oyoka in the mountain villages of Aizu, it became clear that these rituals were closely related to Yama-no-kami. In other words, the deity who appears in these rituals is Yama-no-kami and it is believed he comes in spring. By taking into this point as well the noted items I and 2, it can be concluded that Yama-no-kami came in spring as "Hatake-no-kami" (a diety of dry fields) in the stage of dry field farming. Thus, in mountain villages of Aizu it is difficult to state that Yama-no-kami comes as Ta-no-kami in spring. The interrelationship between Yama-no-kami and "Hatake-no-kami" would become clearer by an analysis of the concept of the deity seen in swidden farming.