Yanase

This area is located in the northern part of Umaji Village, Aki County, in the eastern part of Kochi Prefecture. Located in the upper reaches of the Nahari River, the area has a warm climate and an annual rainfall of over 4,000 mm, which allows high-quality Japanese cedar trees to grow naturally. These trees are known as Yanase cedars, and were protected as Otomeyama during the Tosa Domain era. In particular, a beautiful forest of Japanese cedar trees with an average height of 40 meters and age of over 200 years has formed on the middle slope of Mt. Senbon, and it has been designated as an academically protected forest. In the past, timber was transported to Nahari and Tano at the mouth of the river by forest railway, but now it is transported by truck. In 1965 (Showa 40), the Yanase Dam was built downstream, and the village was submerged at the bottom of the lake, and a new town was built on Maruyamadai. The place name is said to come from a legend that the existence of the area became known when a trap set by a Heike fugitive was washed away.

[Masaki Hisahito]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

高知県東部、安芸(あき)郡馬路(うまじ)村の北部の地区。奈半利(なはり)川上流に位置し、一帯は温暖な気候と年間4000ミリメートルを超える降水量により良質のスギが自生し、魚梁瀬杉として知られ、土佐藩政期には御留山(おとめやま)として保護された。なかでも千本(せんぼん)山中腹には樹齢200年以上、平均樹高40メートルの杉の美林が形成され、学術保護林に指定されている。かつては木材を河口の奈半利、田野へ森林軌道で搬出したが、現在はトラック輸送にかわった。1965年（昭和40）下流側に魚梁瀬ダムが建設され、集落は湖底に水没し丸山台に新しい町が建設された。地名は、平家の落人(おちゅうど)がしかけた簗(やな)が流され、その存在を知られたという伝説によるという。

［正木久仁］

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