Iron hole sinking - Kanna Nagashi

Japanese: 鉄穴流し - かんなながし

...A town in Naka District, central Shimane Prefecture. Population 3,354 (1995). It borders Hiroshima Prefecture to the south, and the Ichiki River, a tributary of the Gono River, flows north along the western border. The northern part of the town is an elevated semi-plain, while the southern part is a steep topography of the Chugoku Mountains, and most of the town area is covered by forests. The area around Mount Ungetsu is a production area of iron sand, and the remains of a Kannanagashi iron hole can be seen. In recent years, the population has declined significantly, and as a countermeasure to depopulation, efforts are being made to promote agriculture and forestry, with rice as the main crop, as well as the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, tobacco, and wasabi, and livestock. The area around the prefectural border is designated as the West Chugoku Mountains Quasi-National Park. ...

From "Tatara (bellows)"

…The occupations within the Yamauchi area included murage, sumisaka, sumi-taki, banko, tego, daiku, and sage, but murage is said to be a corrupted form of the archaic word muragi-mi, meaning the head of a tatara group. Judging the color of the fire and the blowing of air are important in tatara work, and all work was done by tatara masters, except for kanna-gashi, the iron sand extraction work, which was done by farmers. The tatara masters worshiped Kanayago-gami as their guardian deity, who was also considered the ancestor of the tatara technique, and it is said that he either taught the technique to murage or descended to earth bringing the ancestors of the tatara masters with him. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "tetsuanagashi" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…島根県中央部，那賀郡の町。人口3354(1995)。南は広島県に接し，西境を江の川支流の市木川が北流する。北部は隆起準平原，南部は中国山地で急峻な地形をなし，町域の大部分が山林で占められる。雲月山付近は砂鉄の産地で鉄穴流（かんなながし）の遺構が見られる。近年，人口の減少が著しく，過疎対策として農林業の振興に力を入れ，米作を中心にシイタケ，栗，タバコ，ワサビの栽培，畜産を行っている。県境一帯は西中国山地国定公園に指定されている。…

【たたら(鑪∥踏鞴)】より

…山内の職種には村下（むらげ），炭坂，炭焚，番子（ばんこ），手下（てご），大工，サゲなどがあったが，村下は古語であるムラギミの訛語とされ，たたら集団の長を意味した言葉とされている。たたら作業は送風と火の色の判断が重要で，砂鉄採取である鉄穴流し（かんながし）を農民が行うほかは，すべてたたら師が行った。たたら師は守護神として金屋子神（かなやごがみ）をまつったが，この神はたたら技術の祖神ともされ，村下に技術を伝授したとか，たたら師の先祖をいっしょに連れて降臨したと伝えられている。…

※「鉄穴流し」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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