Karami - entanglement

The names of reclaimed land are common along the Ariake Sea coast in western Kyushu, especially in Saga Prefecture. The Matsudoi (main island) of the first tide-blocking breakwater, believed to have been constructed around the Kan'ei-Kanbun era (1624-1673), continues across the Saga Plain, and on the seaward side, reclaimed land with 'Hiraki' names spreads out like scales. Many of the reclaimed land in Fukuoka and Kumamoto Prefectures has 'Hiraki' names, and while Otakuma in Saga Prefecture at the mouth of the Chikugo River has 'Hiraki' names such as Meiji-Kiraki and Shinko-Kiraki, Onojima in Fukuoka Prefecture, which is also part of the same Kawanakajima, has 'Uchi-Kiraki' and 'Nagasaki-Kiraki' names. During the Tenmei era (1781-89), the Saga Domain established six roppu-gata (rokufu-gata), one of which was the karakata (traditional Japanese square), which promoted a policy of reclamation of tidal flats. However, there were other structures before that, such as the Hoei karakata, and even after the Meiji era, they were called the Taisho karakata and other structures. The origin of the name karakata is said to come from the fact that when building a tide-blocking embankment, first pine log stakes were driven into the ground at regular intervals, and then bamboo was attached to them to create a fence, which then became the core of the embankment (doi). The karakata names are diverse, including Denbei karakata and Shusansha karakata, which are the names of the entities involved in the reclamation, Ryujin karakata and Benten karakata, which are the names of the guardian deities, and good names such as Banzai karakata and Daifuku karakata.

[Shigeru Kawasaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

九州西部にある有明海(ありあけかい)沿岸、とくに佐賀県域に多い干拓地地名。佐賀平野には寛永(かんえい)～寛文(かんぶん)（1624～73）ごろの築造とされる潮止め第一堤塘(ていとう)の松土居(まつどい)（本土居）が続くが、その海側には搦名の干拓地が鱗(うろこ)状に広がる。福岡・熊本県域の干拓地には開(ひらき)名が多く、筑後(ちくご)川河口の佐賀県大詫間(おおだくま)は明治搦、新興搦など搦名であるのに、同じ一つの川中島をなす福岡県大野島(おおのじま)は内開、長崎開などは開名である。佐賀藩は天明(てんめい)年間（1781～89）六府方(ろっぷがた)を設け、その一つに搦方を置いて干潟(ひがた)の干拓政策を推進したが、それ以前にも宝永(ほうえい)搦などがあり、また明治以後も大正搦などと称した。搦の由来は、潮止めの築堤にあたってまず松丸太の杭(くい)をある間隔で打ち、それに竹などを「カラミ」つけて柵をつくり、堤防（土居）の芯(しん)にしたことに起因するという。搦名は干拓主体名の伝兵衛搦・授産社搦、守護神名の竜神(りゅうじん)搦・弁天搦、佳名の万歳搦・大福搦ほか多様である。

［川崎　茂］

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