Akagozuka - Akagozuka

One of the legends explaining nature. It is a legend of abnormal birth, in which a baby's cry was heard from the mound, and when it was dug up, a baby was found. In many cases, the baby was born to a pregnant woman who was buried, raised by a ghost mother, and eventually became a high priest. It was cultivated by the belief that the baby's spirit would stay within the area managed by the god of the road (Sae no Kami, the god of the boundary), roughly at the border of the village. It is a legendary version of the old story "Child-raising ghost," and overlaps with the legend of the "Crying Stone." For example, there is the legend of Zuhaku Shonin of Toko-in Temple in Tsukuba Town, Ibaraki Prefecture. His wife was killed on the way back to her parents' house to give birth, so her husband went on a pilgrimage, and five years later, when he arrived in the neighboring village, he heard a strange story from an old woman who owned a dumpling shop. "Every night, a young woman came to buy dumplings, so I followed her and found a baby crying in the bushes. The baby's head was as white as snow. We are raising it at Toko-in Temple." The story goes that her husband rushes over and they are reunited.

There are many similar legends, such as the one in Ryusenji Temple in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture, which refers to Zen Master Tsugen, and the one in Daikoji Temple in Ishidoriya Town, Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture, which refers to Priest Nyogen, whose tomb is called Nyogenzuka. The monk Jodo of Komyo-ji Temple in Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, was fed with candy that his mother asked for instead of rice dumplings. The Yonaki-ishi in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture, is also the subject of a similar legend. Some legends are linked to the belief in vengeful spirits, with the belief that the spirit of the mother clings to the earth as a child-holding Jizo, and that if a memorial service is held for the child, the ghost will stop appearing. The same can be said of Sai-no-Kawahara, which is the riverside border where the roads cross at the border of the villages, and is said to have appeared as a child's ghost, leaving only footprints behind. This belief was that the spirits of dead infants were resurrected by a god in their care; in an era when it was believed possible to call souls back from the afterlife, these beliefs became associated with land (mounds) and stones, and became legendary, and were also featured in biographies of high priests.

[Shogo Watanabe]

"The Tale of Akagozuka by Kunio Yanagita (included in The Complete Works of Kunio Yanagita Vol. 12, 1963, Chikuma Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

自然説明伝説の一つ。塚から赤ん坊の泣き声が聞こえ、掘ると赤子がいたという異常出生譚(たん)の伝説。多くは土葬した妊婦から生まれ、幽霊の母に育てられ、やがて高僧になったという筋を備える。およそ村境にあって、幼児の霊は道祖神（サエの神、境の神）が管理する範囲にとどまるという信仰に培われたもの。昔話「子育て幽霊」の伝説化で、「夜泣石」の伝説にも重なる。たとえば、茨城県筑波(つくば)町、東光院の頭白(ずはく)上人の伝説は次のとおりである。妻が出産のため実家に帰る途中で殺され、そのため夫は巡礼に出、5年後に隣村まできてだんご屋の婆(ばば)から奇妙なことを聞く。「毎夜若い女がだんごを買いにくるので、あとをつけると、藪(やぶ)のなかで赤子が泣いていた。その子は頭が雪のように白かった。東光院で養育している」という。そこで駆けつけた夫と親子対面するという話。

　同じ伝説は多く、福井県越前(えちぜん)市竜泉寺では通幻(つうげん)禅師のこと、岩手県花巻(はなまき)市石鳥谷(いしどりや)町大興寺では如幻和尚(にょげんおしょう)のことでその塚を如幻塚という。広島県廿日市(はつかいち)市光明寺の上達上人は、だんごのかわりに母の求めた飴(あめ)で養われる。静岡県島田市の夜泣石も同様の伝承である。子持地蔵として母の霊が現世に執着するため、供養すると幽霊は出なくなるという怨霊(おんりょう)信仰につながるものもある。村境の街道の交わる所、川境となる賽(さい)の河原も同様で、子供の幽霊が現れて足跡だけ残るというものもある。死した幼児の霊が管理された神によって再生する信仰で、魂をあの世から呼び返すことが可能と信じられた時代に、土地（塚）や石に結び付いて伝説化し、また高僧伝などに意匠されたものである。

［渡邊昭五］

『柳田国男著『赤子塚の話』（『定本柳田国男集12』1963・筑摩書房・所収）』

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