YOSHIMURA Toshiaki

Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake BiwaSugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

Toshiaki

Title :
Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake
Biwa
Summary :Lake Biwa encompasses one sixth of the area of Shiga Prefecture andhas played a vital part in the lives of people of Shiga since ancient times.
Lake Biwa is well known as an important tourism resource. However,the people who live by the lake and depend on it for their livelihoods are
given little mention. Okubiwako, the northernmost area of Lake Biwa, isa breathtakingly beautiful area, with a very long, very rich culture but
public transportation to the area is limited and access is inconvenient,making it even more remote. In this paper I will present a survey of
Sugaura, a village in Okubiwako.   This village, which was mentioned
in poems of Man'yoshu centuries ago, has its own unique customs andculture that have been preserved to the present. In this survey I examine the lifestyle of the people of Sugaura, whose existence is intricatelyinterwoven with Lake Biwa, examining the period of the recent past to
the present day.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

１、Introduction 
The northern end of Lake Biwa area called Okubiwako has afjord-like landscape -limited flat lands and steep mountains reachingright up to the lakeshore. Sugaura is located around the center ofOkubiwako, on the west side of Tsuzurao-saki Point jetting out into
the lake. This village is known for the "Sugaura Monjo" (Sugaura
Documents -Historical record of the Middle Ages). This place wasaura Landscape of the Lakefront Settlement". By visiting there, I
wanted to know the lifestyle of Sugaura -once considered totally isolated from the other world-, where people have been living in harmony with Lake Biwa.

２、Scenery of Sugaura from Oura Starting the journey from Kaizu -located at the northern end of

Toshiaki YOSHIMURA

selected as the Important Cultural Landscape in 2016 for its "Sug-

Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

YOSHIMURA

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Name :

4

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成安造形大学附属近江学研究所 紀要『

OKUBIWAKO

第８号』

Lake Yogo

8
Siotu

Kinomoto
336

Nagahara Sta.
303

161
OisakaNagahama-City

JR Kosei Line

Oura

Okubiwako Parkway

Okude Bay

Makino Takasima-city

512

Kaitutenjinsya Shrine
513▲

JR Makino Sta.

161

54

557
Osaki Temple

SUGAURA

Kaituosaki
Tuzuraosaki

JR Omi-nakajyo Sta.

Lake Biwa

Cikubusima

Kosei (the west of lake), which is known for its beautiful cherry blossoms, you pass
Oura as traveling along the lakeside heading to Sugaura. Travelers can enjoy thewonderful scenery of Okubiwako while journeying this route. Unfortunately, thisroad was closed to traffic due to landslide caused by the recent heavy rain, so I
took another route from Ossaka Pass heading to JR Nagahara Station and then toOura. After passing Oura fishing port, you will enter the administrative territory of
Sugaura. The view of Lake Biwa in this area is quite unique -its calm water surface
with complicated coastline reflects the surrounding mountains- and gives us a totally different impression from the other parts of the lake. There is about 19 kilometerroad starting from the boundaries between Oura and Sugaura. This is Okubiwako
Parkway which had a huge impact on the tourism of Sugaura. As you go along the
curved coastline of Akasaki, a rice field appears on the left side along the valley.
This is a farmland called Moroko for which they often fought with Oura during the
Middle Ages. In Okutehama, there is another farmland called Hisashi, which also
caused the dispute over the land ownership. Today, we can see a well-developed
rice field spreading over the valley. Soon after you pass the pond that is being used
as a port of refuge, a clear view opens up and the familiar scenery of Lake Biwa re-Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

6

turns. Once Chikubu-jima Island comes into sight, you are very close to the settlement of Sugaura.
Although Sugaura was once known as a hidden village, you feel like you are in a
tourist spot when you are welcomed by a restaurant as well as the accommodation
facility -kokumin shukusha "Tsuzurao". Coming to the fork, the road leading up to
Sugaura is parting from Okubiwako Parkway and you keep going along the coastalroad. Right after passing one of the Yanmar Home Factories, which brought additional income to people of Sugaura, the Great ginkgo tree of Suga Shrine will attract your attention. Now you have reached the settlement of Sugaura. At the time
when I visited the village, the members of the elderly club were cleaning the visitor
parking. There is a reed roofed Nishi-no-Shisokumon (the Western Four-columnedGate) on the left of gokusho (hall of offering) beside the path of Suga Shrine. And
the Higashi-no-Shisokumon (the Eastern Four-columned Gate) is standing at theother end of the settlement looking across the bay. The area that is sandwiched between the Eastern and the Western gates is the village of Sugaura. At the center ofthe settlement, there is a harbor surrounded by concrete structure which does notreally match the atmosphere of this village. This harbor was constructed in 1979 asa part of the New Inshore Fishery Structure Improvement Project by Shiga Prefecture. This lead to the reclamation of both Eastern and Western old harbors calledfunairi, which was a part of traditional landscape of Sugaura for a long time. In
front of the harbor, there is a tiny bit of shingles and three pieces of 3-meter-longplanks are stretching out to the lake separately. The local people call the plank uma
and it is used for washing and drawing
water. When I was there, two young children and an elderly man -seemed to be
their grandfather- were playing with water. And a woman -probably their mother- was sitting on uma while watchingthem play. It gave me a glimpse of what
their daily life is like.
The village of Sugaura. The village is located ona small section of land between the mountains
and the lake.

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３、Sugaura Village First, I visited Suga Shrine. The path runs along Koidegawa River which flows
straight down to Lake Biwa after its rerouting in 1952. At the end of beautifully
built stone path, there is chozuya (purification fountain), and the mossy stone staircase further leads to haiden (hall of worship). Shrine parishioners need to be barefoot beyond this point in order to show their piety. In the past, people of Sugaura
would get on the boat barefoot to prevent slipping on the wet floor. Boat was an important means of transportation for the local people back then. And that said to be
the reason of having the custom to become barefoot as the entire shrine was liken
to a boat including the boat-shaped kofun (tumulus), which might be the imperialmausoleum of Emperor Junnin according to local legend. There is a sign board saying that the public visitors also need to change their footwear into slippers. Free
rental slippers are available for the visitors.
Suga Shrine is the result of merging three shrines in 1909 -Kobayashi Shrine,
Akasaki Shrine and Hora Shrine- following the Shrine Merger Order issued by thegovernment in 1906.   Facing the shelter of the main sanctuary, there are Hora
Shrine -enshrines Emperor Junnin- in the eastern sanctuary located on the rightside, and Kobayashi Shrine and Akasaki Shrine in the western sanctuary on theleft side. In conjunction with the 1,250th anniversary festival held in 2013, the precincts are well-maintained. The whole experience of visiting there made me awareof the strong connection between Suga Shrine and people of Sugaura. Next, I went
to the Sugaura Local Museum located beside the path -just about halfway to theshrine.
The museum is operated by the local people of Sugaura and opens only on Sundays. By contacting them in advance, they kindly opened the facility for me eventhough it was on a weekday. In one of the rooms, the visitors can see Suga Shrine
related munefuda (ridge plaques), ema (votive horse tablets), and the resources regarding So village existed in the Middle Ages. And some folkcraft articles are on
display at the inner room. I had Mr. Senzo Fujii, who is in charge of the management, as a guide and also interviewed him about the life of Sugaura from the Showa
to the Heisei Period. After the interview, Mr. Fujii recommended the chief priest
Tomio Akiyama of Amida-ji Temple, for his extensive knowledge about the history

Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

8of Sugaura. So I decided to meet him another day.
Mr. Fujii told me that the population of Sugaura has decreased and is also aging.
When I visited there in July, the settlement was really quiet and I didn't see anyone
outside on the day time. From a dousojin (travelers' guardian deity) found at thewestern end of the settlement, I headed down to the center of the village, where
the remains of Higashi-no-funairi (the Eastern Old Harbor) is. I walked along the
breakwater stone walls called namiyoke ishigaki , which is one of the landmarks of
Sugaura. Among the tasteful old houses, there are also some newly built modern
houses and Yanmar Home Factories. If there were salt scent of the sea, you would
feel as if you were, not in the settlement by Lake Biwa, but in a beautiful fishingvillage facing the Sea of Japan. It's about 300 meters distant to Amida-ji Temple.
Looking at wonderfully constructed Ano style stone walls, there is a big weeping
cherry tree and hondo (main hall) on top of it. Walking along the road for another200 meters, I came to Higashi-no-funairi (the Eastern Old Harbor). Higashi-no-

Shisokumon (the Eastern Four-columned Gate) is another 300 meters away. From
there, I returned to Nishi-no-Shisokumon (the Western Four-columned Gate)
through the lakeside street called Hama-dori .
I visited Sugaura again on another day to interview the chief priest Tomio Akiyama of Amida-ji Temple. I supposed to first interview Mr. Tatsumi Iwasa, the owner of kappo ryokan (Traditional Japanese inn serving Japanese cuisine) Sakichi,
about the local food culture. But due to miscommunication, I made the chief priest
wait for some time and I really regretted it happening. Despite all that, he kindly

West Shisokumon Gate. This is a gate at theboundary of one of the original four villages.
[OR: This is a gate at the boundary of one ofthe original four village sites.] Only the east andwest gates remain today.

Stone steps leading to Suga Shrine. The area
beyond this point it sacred ground, and villagers coming to pray at the shrine proceed fromhere in bare feet.

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explained to me -for more than two hours- the details about the history of Sugaura
and the life of the local people. On another day, I managed to listen to Mr. Iwasa of
Sakichi for a couple of hours about Lake Biwa and its food culture and the festivalsof Suga.
The stories I've got from the three interviews -Mr. Senzo Fujii from the Local
museum, the chief priest Tomio Akiyama of Amida-ji Temple, and Mr. Tatsumi
Iwasa from kappo ryokan Sakichi- cover such a wide variety of topics, showing
their in-depth knowledge. It was a rich experience as if I were traveling throughthe past to see the history of Sugaura over a thousand years.

４、Sugaura Today 
There are about 120 over houses in Sugaura, but only around 50 of them are occupied with the total of 120 people. Local industry is limited and a number of people are working outside Sugaura. For the sake of convenience, some are living near
the town even though they have their houses in Sugaura. As a result, the settlement of Sugaura has a serious issue of aging. Route bus -an important means oftransportation for the local community- runs only three times a day. At Sugaura,
people used to heavily rely on boat as the main transportation in the past, but now
it has been replaced by cars. Until last year, there was a small shop in Sugaura butthey couldn't survive as now the young ones buy household items outside the village. Although a mobile store vehicle comes to the village once a week, it is getting
more challenging for the elderly ones to live. I didn't really see any children in Sugaura, but they told me that there are two in the village -one in nursery, another inkindergarten. Talking about fishery, there are two to three full-time fishermen andfive to six people doing it as a part-time job addition to their office work. Yanmar
Home Factories have been a part of the industry of Sugaura since 1960s, and about
ten of them are still in operation.
●Agriculture in Sugaura
Today, farmland in the village is extremely limited. According to Mr. Fujii, theyused to sell firewood and tung tree as the source of income, but it was replacedwith mulberry as its cultivation became popular because it was more convenient toship by boat. Today it's hard to imagine but he said that the settlement was sur-

Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

10rounded by mulberry fields from the late Meiji period to the early Showa period.
Regarding the rice crop, Sugaura -which does not have flat land- has been making
every effort to secure rice field as it can be seen from the land dispute with Oura,the neighbor village, since the Middle Ages. Both Hisashi and Moroko at Okudewan bay produce rice. Until the early Showa period, they dried rice on hasa-kui (awooden drying stand) at a sunny beach because those rice fields were not ideal fordrying rice due to its terrain with poor airflow. It was also convenient to do so at abeach since they had to ship the products by boat. Lake Biwa has had a huge influence on the local agriculture. Chestnut trees and bamboo used for making hasa-kui
were one of the important local products. Madake (Japanese bamboo) was commercialized such as bamboo-ware, and kendo equipment -protective gears and bamboo
sword. But bamboo products are not being made in the recent years and the bamboo grove is wasted. Sugaura is facing the south and it is warmer than the otherpart of Kohoku (the north of lake). This climate allows them to grow fruit trees likemandarin oranges and loquat, but they say that feeding damage by wild boars, deerand monkeys is serious in these days.
●Fishery in Sugaura
Until the Meiji period, fishery was not something that people can make enoughmoney to survive and the fishermen had lived in poverty. It was only after the
Taisho period that fishery became a profitable business. As the new road to access
Sugaura opened up in the Showa period, there were number of trucks to come andgo transporting "chi-ayu" (young sweetfish). There were so much ayu (sweetfish) in
those days, the beach was said to be looking all dark around October every year
because of dead ayu that couldn't manage to go upstream.
The water quality of Lake Biwa had deteriorated during the period of high economic growth in the late Showa period. It seems that the water quality has improved to a certain degree since then, but knowing how clean the water was in thepast, Mr. Fujii said that it is still far from that of those days before the lake waspolluted. Reflecting the changes of water quality, the total catch of fish has decreased in Lake Biwa. Besides that, there is the increase of imported fish and theconsumers eating less fish in the Heisei period. Affected by all these factors, thenumber of fishery employees in Shiga Prefecture has significantly dropped including Sugaura.

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成安造形大学附属近江学研究所 紀要

第８号●Fish in Okubiwako
The area around Chikubu-jima Island is particularly good fishing grounds among
the northern lake because the water is clean and deep.
Just before noon, I saw a fishing boat left the harbor. After a while, the boatcame back from offshore. So I asked if they had any catch, then a short reply says;"ami-ebi" (Akiami paste shrimp). Looking at the hold, I saw small shrimps in thewater. It was "suji-ebi" (lake prawn) taken from the offshore fish preserve. I'm not sosure but perhaps "ami-ebi" means "suji-ebi" in the local community. It reminded meof some local dishes such as ebi-mame (stewed bean with freshwater shrimp) andkaki-age (deep-fried vegetable strips and shrimp).
At kappo ryokan Sakichi, we enjoyed sashimi, grilled fish, and miso soup using"Biwa-masu" (Biwa trout) which is also called "the Gem of Omi (Lake Biwa)". Nicefatty and sweet meat of Biwa-masu has no peculiar taste -It was superb and delicious. Biwa-masu is an endemic species of Lake Biwa and it can grow up to 40 to 50
centimeters in length. In Kosei (the west of lake) area, it is called "amenoio" whereas
Sugaura people call it masu (trout). Biwa-masu fishing season is between June and
September and they use either gill net or pole-and-line fishing on a trawl-boat.
There is also Biwa-masu farming going on at Samegai Trout Farm in Maibara city,
but its availability in the market seems to be still limited at the moment.
In the fish preserve at Sakichi, there were over ten iwatoko-namazu (rock catfish)
and indigenous koi (carp). It's rare to see natural carp of a local variety. Iwatoko-

namazu is thinner than regular namazu (catfish) and its skin is spotted grayish
color. The body size is about 30 to 40 centimeters in length and they prefer clear
and deep water with rock beds. Typically, fishermen use gill net and pole-and-line
fishing to catch them. During May and June, they come into shallow water tospawn where reed beds grow. I heard that sashimi or broiled iwatoko-namazu is delicious, but unfortunately I didn't get the chance to taste that.
People say that there were plenty of catch for "gigi" (a kind of catfish) and "tena-

ga-ebi" (freshwater prawn) using traditional fish traps such as mondori and tatsube ,but today fishermen can't catch them anymore. They said that they haven't seen

gigi for nearly ten years. Talking about "wakasagi" (Japanese smelt), Sugaura people
has no custom to catch them as wakasagi is not the indigenous species in LakeBiwa.
I heard that they have a poor catch of ayu this year. The weather may have triggered a bad water circulation at the lower layer of Lake Biwa, causing low oxygenSugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

12in the water. A lot of effort have been
put to restore the environment, such as
improving water quality, restoring reed
beds, and releasing fish for the recovery
of fishery resources. However, we needto admit that the force of nature is more
powerful than any human capability.
This fisherman has returned to port at the endof a day of fishing for lake prawns (kawaebi),
one of the so called “eight rare fishes of Lake
Biwa” (Biwako hacchin).

A kind of rock catfish (iwatokonamazu) andcarp (koi). Iwatokonamazu is indigenous to Lake
Biwa. It lives in areas of clear, cold water.

This is a piece of fishing equipment used long
ago called tatsube. It is about 40 centimeters
high and is made of bamboo.

●Lake Biwa and Tourism
In 1971, "Okubiwako Parkway" newly opened, advertising the great view fromhillside of Sugaura all the way to Tsukide. This led many tourists to visit Sugaura
and four "minshuku" (guest house) started business as the tourism was boomingback then. However, the number of visitors has gradually decreased. Now the lastremaining minshuku has also stopped accommodation service and is just focusing
on food catering.
Today, the only available accommodation in Sugaura is the third generation kapporyokan Sakichi. The customers come for the following reasons; Sightseeing -thelandscape of the settlement, enjoying seafood of Lake Biwa, and duck cuisine. Mag-amo (mallard) farming has been in operation since 1982 at Okudehama, and about
4,000 mallards are being shipped annually. Now Sugaura is not as crowded as before when Okubiwako Parkway opened. But it has transformed into a new tourist

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attraction -the place where the visitors, while walking in a quiet and peaceful fishing village, will reflect on the deep and intriguing local history and enjoy the catchfrom Lake Biwa and its surrounding areas.
Few years after the opening of minshuku , "kokumin-shukusha Tsuzurao Inn"started business in 1975. They expected to have a good business because kokumin-

shukusha (lodge operated by local government) was very popular back then, but theboom ended after a while and Tsuzurao Inn closed down after operating for ten
years. Later on, they started the business again as a limited-liability company upon
the request from the local community, and it has been known as "kokumin-shuku-

sha Tsuzurao" until now. There were some surprising plans for tourism development such as building a ropeway between Sugaura and Chikubu-jima Island, but thevillagers have been protecting the local landscape. I hope that there will be more
visitors coming to Sugaura with the added tourist attraction -being designated as the Important CulturalLandscape of Lake Biwa.

An old map of Sugaura. This was
designated a national treasure in
2018.

Chikubushima. The goddess Benzaiten is enshrined here. Ferries carry tourists from Omi
Imazu and Nagahama to this famous site.

●Landscape with Stone Walls
Stone wall is one of the main features of Sugaura. For example, "namiyoke-ishiga-ki" is the stone wall serves as breakwater, protecting the village from the waves of
the Lake Biwa. Some may wonder; "It's not a big deal, just lake water." However, according to Mr. Fujii, the lake water actually went over the stone wall and came into
the houses when typhoon hit. Today, high waves no longer affect the village since
the bank was built at the harbor. Between the beach and the houses, there is astone wall called "mono-oki" (Lit. "Storage"), which is made of big stones. This was
the most important stone wall in the village although now we see some vegetable

Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

14

farms and barns built on top it. It is about two-meters-thick solid structure. Alongthe street of the settlement, there is another stone wall surrounding the houses,
which is made of smaller stones. It does not have much thickness as the "mono-oki"wall. This wall was built as a double protection in case the waves from the lake goover "mono-oki" . There are some cuts in the wall for a walkway, and the water-stopboard was inserted to prevent flooding in case of emergency. Another type of stone
wall seen in Sugaura is a mound stone wall, which is designed to fully utilize thelimited land. The stone wall of Amida-ji Temple is especially a magnificent one, butsimilar walls can be found in some other temples, shrines, and houses built on a hill.
Since there is a mountain standing right behind Sugaura, any streets going down
to the lake becomes a river once water flowing out of the mountain. Apart from thewalls to prevent flooding of the lake water, there is another wall designed to stop
overflowing river water. But now it is hard to see the trace of this wall as the roadhas been re-developed.

These stone wall wave breaks form an integral part of the scenery of Sugaura.

●Customs and Manners of Using Water
Today, water supply is available for all houses in Sugaura -distributed from thewater source located at the side of Suga Shrine. Until the mid-Showa period, peopleof Sugaura used to source drinking water from mountain stream, spring water andLake Biwa. At a place called ido , built beside a spring water or waterway, the local
community strictly separated the upper water -for Buddhist service, drinking,washing, etc. - from the lower water. Similarly, there were some designated sections
at the beach according to the type of water usage at Lake Biwa. The chief priest
Akiyama said that, when some people moved in to Sugaura due to wartime evacuation, there was a commotion as they did not know how to properly use the wateraccording the local rule. For drawing water or washing at Lake Biwa, uma had

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成安造形大学附属近江学研究所 紀要第８号

been used. Today uma can be found on the beach -the west side of the harbor- as
the local community recently revived the use of this traditional item, which hadn't
been used for a long time.
It is not wrong to say that the use of water at Sugaura has been established as apart of their lifestyle. Having water supply system to each house was a big change
for Sugaura, but the locals say that themost significant change was triggeredby Okubiwako Parkway and flood control projects such as building a checkdam. It caused the mountain stream andspring water to either decrease or deplete. And the water of Lake Biwa is nolonger fit for drinking. Mr. Iwasa uses
well water for the fish preserve in his
restaurant, and he said that it becomes

In this scenic photo we can see small wooden
jetties called “uma” jutting out into the lake.

slightly muddy on a rainy day.
●Festivals of Sugaura
When the three shrines were merged and became Suga Shrine, there were number of challenges on the arrangement of parishioner and the customs of both Western and Eastern villages. The annual events such as festivals are carried out by thenine men, three ujiko-sodai (parish representatives) and three each from Westernand Eastern groups called kannushi-gumi (the group of chief priests), on a yearlyrotation.   The current year's kannushi-gumi has three duty periods -moto, naka,

sue - and it rotates every four months.
Usually, the Festival of Suga is held on the first Saturday and Sunday of April. At
this festival, they pray for good harvest and safety of people, and we can see someunique customs during the festival. The festival is also called he-matsuri , and they
have unique performances such as he-mawashi -they sweep the ground- and he-ta-

oshi .   The carriers of mikoshi (portable shrine) wear special sandals, which have
only a front half portion of it, called "ashinaka" . They keep running while carrying

mikoshi and their heels won't touch the ground, thus they don't need the back portion of their sandals.
There are three mikoshi -called Hachioji (of Kobayashi Shrine), Akasaki (of Akasaki Shrine), and Myojin (of Hora Shrine)- and only the first one that is taken out

Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

16

from mikoshi-do (hall of mikoshi ) will be carried to otabisho (place for portableshrines to rest) at Higashi-no-Shisoku-mon Gate and going around the village -theperformance called "mura-mawari" (Lit. "Going around the village"). The rest of

mikoshi will be carried to the center of the settlement. On both sides of the roadthat mikoshi passes, there are piles of beach sand placed every 30 to 40 centimeters-they just look like piled salt- for purification. According to Mr. Iwasa, they viewthat the beach sand is being washed and purified by the water of Lake Biwa.
The idea of purification by Lake Biwa can be seen in their year-end event as well.
At toshikoshi-matsuri (the year-end festival) held on the last day of the year, they
visit Suga Shrine and receive the item called "toshinomi" . This is how toshinomi is
made; A small flat stone -the size of the little finger's tip- taken from the beach istied to a rope made of bundled rice stalks. It is first offered to kamidana (a homeshrine), and then hung from the eaves so that birds can eat them. Toshinomi is all
handmade by kannushi-gumi (the group of chief priests) -each of them makes 150
pairs (300 pieces). It is not an easy role. The flat stone tied to rice stalks is a symbolof purification because it had been washed by the water of Lake Biwa.
●House Swap (Moving House)
Generally speaking, the term Yamano-te (uptown or mountain-side) implies thatthe area is a high-class neighborhood. However, it means the other way round at
Sugaura. Land price of Hamade -the lakefront- is higher than the mountain-side
area called Kitade. Hamade area is directly affected by Lake Biwa, so the residents
must have financial power to maintain the necessary structures such as stone
walls. Also, the lakefront Hamade had the advantages in the use of harbor and water, thus Hamade was considered superior to Kitade. If any family from Hamade ishaving financial difficulties, there was an arrangement to swap their house with thefamily from Kitade, who now has financial power to live in the lakefront. This wascalled "ie-gae" (House swap). As the community, their lifestyle -closely related towater- and the importance of the lakefront area had more priority than the individual family. Perhaps this may have led them to come up with the House swap system. The picture kept by the chief priest Akiyama of Amida-ji Temple tells us how
frequently the house swap used to be done.
● Amida-ji as So Temple
Sugaura was formed by two "So communities" -the Western village and the East-

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成安造形大学附属近江学研究所 紀要第８号

ern village. Today there are only four temples remaining in Sugaura, but there used
to be twelve small temples including uji-dera (clan temple) founded by shido-so (laypriest). Among those temples, "Jokozan Togakuin Amida-ji Temple" (Founded by
Takuga Shonin in 1353) -which is "So Temple"- has played an important role of thevillage as dojo (training place for Buddhism) for a long time. Amida-ji Temple also
had a role of terakoya (private school) until the educational system was implemented in Meiji era. It had served as a meeting place for the So village community until
the modern-day Sugaura Community Center took over the role. The record of So
village called Amida-ji komonjo (the ancient documents of Amida-ji Temple) has survived until today, and it has been deposited with Shiga University.
Reference information
Sugaura: Sugaura, Nishiazai-cho, Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture  /  Transportation - Omi Railways Bus ride from Nagahara Station (JR Kosei Line)
Emperor Junnin: He was deposed in 764 due to Fujiwara-no-Nakamaro's Revolt andexiled to Awaji Island. According to "Shoku-Nihongi" (The Chronicles of Japan, Second Volume), he died there in 765. In Sugaura, however, it is said that Emperor Junnin did not die in "Awaji (淡路)" as it was written so by mistake, but it supposed tobe "Omi (淡 海)" –Lake Biwa- and the boat-shaped kofun (tumulus) of Suga Shrine
said to be the imperial mausoleum of his.
Yanmar Home Factories: By Mr. Magokichi Yamaoka, the founder of Yanmar, anumber of factories were set up in rural areas in the northern part of Shiga Prefecture. Workshops were built on private premises and the local people -mainly housewives- worked on rough machining at those factories. It gave them supplementary
income and contributed to improve their living conditions. Home Factories had supported the community of Sugaura during the Showa period, and about ten of them
are still in operation.
References
The Board of Education of Shiga Prefecture. (2014). Sugaura no kogan shuraku kei-

kan hozon katsuyou houkokusho [Report on Conservation and Utilization of Sugaura
Landscape of the Lakefront Settlement].

Sugaura -The Village Where People Living in Harmony with Lake Biwa

18

成安造形大学附属近江学研究所紀要

第８号

発行日

平成31年３月●日

発

学校法人京都成安学園 成安造形大学 附属近江学研究所〒520-0248 滋賀県大津市仰木の里東４-３-１
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発行者

西久松吉雄

編

成安造形大学附属近江学研究所

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