Mountains,water and people〜山と水と人のつながり〜

With participation of

Taki Kentaro
Nishinoko Fisherman
Ishizuka Sadajiro
Fukamachi Katsue
Andre De Antoni

Noma Naohiko
Komura Hiromitu
Miyoshi Iwao
Hirade Naoatsu
Hamada Kiyoshi“Mountains, water and people”
Video director

Mikhail Lylov
Publisher

Sound mixing

Michal Krajczok
Literature

Miyake Hitoshi“Concept of Natue in Japanese Folk Religion”

Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

457, Kamigamomotoyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto-shi

TEL：075-707-2100 (in charge)
FAX：075-707-2106
URL：http://www.chikyu.ac.jp
DesignImage / Editing / Concept

Mikhail Lylov

Shimauchi Risa
Brochure editing

Translation

Ayabe Kaho
Ishii Junichiro

Muratsu Ran
Tanaka Riaki

Shimauchi Risa
Ando Koichi

othersThank you

EditionElke Marhofer
Fukamachi Katsue
Yoshida Takehito
Nakai Hiromu
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

2020.03

Laboratory of Environmental Design, Kyoto University

University of Gothenburg
Shooting location

SHIGA
2018.03-2018.09

Nakai Minami
Senda Masako

Fukamachi Katsue
Kyoto University, Graduate School of Global Environmental
Studies

Associate professor

Landscaping

Yoshida Takehito
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature/The Universityof Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor

Ecology

Mikhail Lylov
International video director who specializes in research
projects and video production that focus on the relationshipbetween people and the environment. His works are

published in countries such as Russia, Germany and Japan,
and are actively involved in education and social activities.

Dialogue with people, dialogue with nature
Satoyama, near the human settlements of Lake

work takes the form of a series of conversations

Biwa in Shiga Prefecture are a unique habitat typethat Lylov had with local people. By examiningthat connect a series of mountains, rivers, and lakes

the theme of “the relationship between mountains,with a human culture that has developed slowly

water, and man,” the film explores the importanceover time through the interchange between manof the connection among them, as well as theirand nature. Ecological and cultural networks havebeauty. As Lylov navigates through kasumitei

developed and become manifested in the lives ofembankments rooted in traditional flood-control

the people that inhabit these satoyama, as theysystems, lagoons that connect land with Lake Biwa,

have leveraged their relationship with the diverse

and watercourses and stonework produced using

nature of this unique environment. Roads andlocally sourced materials, he interprets and depicts

waterways have played important roles in furthering

the region's fertile natural resources, as well as thethe physical and spiritual activities of these

traditional wisdom and skills in disaster prevention

networks. Connecting regions in every direction,and reduction. Moreover, in the discussions on

they have brought food, clothing, and shelter totraditional tools that have been handed down

their inhabitants, and are closely connected to local

through generations in the region, and in the scenes

annual events and religious beliefs.

of the Sanno Festival at Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine,
Lylov helps us understand the connection between

This documentary was created by Mikhail Lylov,

the mountains, water, and man through examining

an internationally renowned video director who

people's daily lives and beliefs.

recorded his experiences in the Ado-gawa River andNishi-no-ko lagoon areas in the foothills of the Hira

Produced and released as an educational film in

Mountains, as well as Sakamoto, the temple town

both Japanese and English, we hope that the movieof Mount Hiei, all located around Lake Biwa. The

presents the viewer with the opportunity to foster
an understanding of the interconnection between
mountains, water, and man, and encourages theexchange of ideas in communities and educationalsettings.

Fukamachi Katsue

4Knowing the Connection between People andNatureThe blessings and challenges that nature provides

of fuel and food started coming in from outside

are closely related. While the many blessings ofthe local area, people's lives and their relationshipnature support and enrich our lives, sometimes

to nature changed, and so too did nature's own

nature can also bring challenges. Ever since people

existence. However, evidence of nature remains

first inhabited, they have always prospered andintact to this day. The climate is changing aroundsuffered as a result of nature. Indeed, it is the trials

the world, and even the way that the rain falls upon

and tribulations of this relationship with nature

us is expected to change. Indeed, nature's blessingsthat have become woven into people's history. Overand challenges will continue to impact people'stime, people have learned how to live in harmony

lives. Given this trajectory, perhaps it is time towith nature. However, the once-close relationshiprebuild our relationship with nature by learning

between people and nature is unravelling, andfrom traditional wisdom and skills.

traditional wisdom and skills are at risk of being
lost.

The movie “Mountains, water and people” depicts
how the lives of people living in the foothills of the

The Hira Mountains lie to the west of Lake Biwa

Hira Mountains are connected to the mountains,in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The rain that falls uponrivers, and the lake that surround them. This

these steep mountains runs down its slopes, passing

work conveys both the beauty and challenges ofthrough deep forests, villages, and eventually into

nature in this area. What will you take away from

Lake Biwa. Along this path, grasslands, forests, andwatching this movie, and how will you feel aboutcrops can be found, and dragonflies, fish, and birds

people's relationship with nature? We hope thatthrive. The rain also carves soil and rocks from thethis opportunity will present you with the chance tosteep slopes, which are then transported in rivers

reflect deeply upon the connection between people

and deposited to create the beautiful shores of Lakeand nature.

Biwa. In between the mountains and the lake arevillages where people have lived since ancient times.
The blessings conferred by these nearby mountains

Yoshida Takehito

and lakes have long supported these communities
who have prospered by protecting themselves fromthe disasters that the mountains and lakes havewrought upon them. During the time when people's
lives were closely connected to nature, people
integrated the positive and negative aspects ofmountains and rivers into their lives. When supplies

5Studying the River, Learning from the Water
I have spent roughly a year following the work of aand use of power. In other words, what the ancientgroup of researchers and students, who investigate

Chinese philosophers wanted to transform into

communal responses to natural disasters andknowledge—what they paid attention to—were thetechnologies for ecological disaster risk reduction

attitudes of rivers and the habits of water.

(Eco-DRR) around Lake Biwa. While I waslearning from the researchers, the researchers were

For example, Lao-tzu recommends observing howlearning from the stories of residents, and thewater follows the river's path and to use your powerstories originated from the people's experience ofand energy in a similar way, thus formulating thedaily interaction with the environment. Collective

principle of wu-wei: “The world is ruled by letting

learning is an interesting process in its own right,

things take their course. It cannot be ruled byas the shared experience leads to different resultsinterfering. 1” Are not the kasumitei an example

for every participant. Hence, knowledge, facts, andof the early-modern engineers learning how to live

information are only parts of the valuable outcomeswith the rivers, to govern them without governing,of the collective research process. For example,

by letting them follow their habit? To do something

before one learns something, (s)he develops anin accordance with wu-wei is therefore consideredinterest in the subject. The attention that is createdthe achievement of the aim through acting in

is as important an outcome as the knowledge itself.

accordance with the propensity of things.

Making a film—making an image of something—is first of all an exercise in paying attention. And

In the context of modern disaster prevention

as soon as some attention is given, it provokes

engineering, water is understood as an object ofattention in response. Drawing from my experience

governance because it possesses a destructiveof participation in various research projects, I

potential: the purpose of managing a river is tothink that a researcher or a filmmaker, despite thecounteract the water's force. In my opinion, thisparticularities of their practices, becomes entangled

represents a distinctly modern concept of force,with the local community precisely because of thiswhich defines force as the potential to exert

exchange of attention. This basic exchange underlies

violence. In the view of ancient philosophers,

the creation of values: attention associated with awater, corresponding to yin, is also a force, but ofparticular person becomes a perspective of appraisal,a different kind. Because water can take any form

an attitude; becoming aware of the difference ofgiven to it, and, without any additional effort andanother's perspective leads to a change in yourutilizing only its own weight, can pass through evenown attitude. As a filmmaker, I am interested in

the tiniest of fissures, it can be considered the force

this dimension of learning, which underpins andof perceptivity, a creative yet passive force. Using

parallels the formation of knowledge per se.

the modern language of technology, one can saythat the attentiveness of water teaches us to use

Ancient Chinese philosophers, such as Lao-tzu

our energy efficiently, to achieve more by doing

and Chuang-tzu, formulated their philosophicalless. “Practice non-action. Achieve without doing,2”knowledge by observing rivers and the qualities ofrecommends Lao-tzu.

water. Mountains and rivers appeared to them as
self-governing entities; through the observation of

While working on the film, I encountered anotherthe river's way of living we can understand its ethics

fascinating example of learning from the natural

6

environment in the Sanno Festival of Hiyoshi Taisha

the environmental philosopher Marion Hourdequinof Otsu City. The festival's celebratory events areputs it:staged in accordance with the path of the river thatruns down from the mountaintop, passes the villages

The view of nature inherited from enlightenment

with their rice paddies and arrives at its “home ”

puts its faith first of all in human rationality, it

Lake Biwa. When I see the image of people flowing

emphasizes controlling and planning, directing ourdown the hill, all wearing white happi jackets, I

lives and shaping the world around us. What is

cannot but think that the observation of mountainlacking in this view is ... receptivity. Receptivity

rivers must be at the source of the Sanno Festival

involves “a capacity of seeing and a tendency ofof Hiyoshi Taisha. A river travels unlike a person: it

seeing others’ viewpoints … in the favorable light,

has not left its source although it has already arrived

in which they appear to those others” . As such it

at its destination. If the river, in following its pathis bound up with care and empathy, and with ourneither leaves nor arrives, then it eternally returns,

emotional lives more generally5.

3

just as the festival returns every year. Although theriver returns eternally, one cannot enter the same

Receptivity is a virtue attributed by Chinese

river twice, for every time it is different water thatphilosophers to water. Paying attention to theflows past your feet. In the same manner, theattitudes and habits of water allows them to

Sanno Festival of Hiyoshi Taisha celebrates theunderstand what it means to act receptively. Hence,season's change: “Change and difference are what

it is not the power to affect that we learn fromreturns and repeats” the river tells us.

water, but the power of being affected. It is from4water that one learns to appreciate the perspectives
In a time of serious ecological crisis, we areof others and to act by the propensity of thetempted to search for recipes for living in organic

environment.

harmony with nature. This seems to be a strange
way of thinking because disagreement and discord

Kasumitei weirs, stone water channels suiro andare as much a part of the unfolding of ecologicalshishigaki stone fences—the technologies at theprocesses as peace and harmony. For example,

focus of the Eco-DRR project—take advantage ofrecurrent ecological disturbances, such as landslides

the power of being affected by environmental eventsand floods diversify ecological conditions andjust as much as they manifest the people's power tocontribute to the richness of ecosystems. Just as

affect their environment. Hence, the contemporary

the satoyama is exemplary in articulating thevalue of these old technologies does not stem solely

value of human-induced ecological disturbances infrom their efficiency, functionality or durability, butmaintaining diverse ecologies, examples of Eco-

also derives from the fact that they encapsulate a

DRR mechanisms such as kasumitei can articulate

receptive attitude towards the environment. Re-

the value of rivers and their habits for maintaining

evaluation of these technologies may bring ourhealthy ecosystems.

attention to the necessity of learning from the rivers
and water, mountains and stones.
Mikhail Lylov

If we compare pre-industrial technologies of disasterrisk reduction, which are the focus of the Eco-DRR
research project, with modern mainstream methodsof disaster prevention engineering, it becomesapparent that the two methods reference the twovarying conceptions of force described earlier. As

1, Daodejing , chapter 48.
2,Daodejing, chapter 63.
3, “Dao is like a river flowing home to the sea” , Daodejing, chapter 32.
4,Words attributed to the Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “You
could not step twice into the same river.”5, Marion Hourdequin. 2016.

7

STORY
1. Moriyama Community Center (Session)
The first screening of the film was held in Moriyama. Local
residents attended the screening, they shared their opinions
about the film and discussed the issues addressed in it.

2. Kasumitei
Our research began at the office of Professor Taki. Afterhe explained about kasumitei, we visited the places, wherekasumitei were located in the past. Nowadays, just byobserving

the riverbank, it is very hard to see kasumitei. Not

surprisingy, only a few residents know about them.

3. Nishinoko fisherman
Meeting with a fisherman at Nishinoko was a chance encounter.
We learned a lot by simply observing activities of this person:
how he throughs his net into the water, how he relies on bothchance and skill to catch the fish. As a result, we understood,that the fisherman's net is a technology, with which a person
embraces chance. Isn't kasumitei also a technology, with whichpeople embrace natural disasters?

4. Moriyama stones
Moriyama village is located between steep slopes of Horai
mountain and west lakeside of Biwa. From the story told by
Ishizuka Sadajiro, we learned, that famous Moriyama stones
were procured after landslides. The latter were bringing stones
down to satoyama area.

5. Folk implements
Ishizuka Sadajiro and Nakai Hiromu showed us the cart used
to gather Moriyama stones on the slopes of Horai mountain.
The cart was driven downhill using the cows, who nowadays
vanished from the villages. Appreciating the intricate ornamentof Moriyama stones, we were interested to see their birthplace.

86. Chogoro-iwa
Not far from that modern disaster-prevention installation, we
found Chogoro-iwa. It is an enormous rock, which is admiredby the residents of Moriyama. Maybe, this stone materializes
people's consciousness about natural disasters? Noriko riverbends around the rock, so Chogoro-iwa acts as a shield behind
which old Moriyama village is safe from big landslides.
7. Sand control dam
Descending along Noriko river, we found a series of enormous
concrete dams and embankments. These were built upon the
Noriko river in the recent past to prevent landslides common
to the area. These constructions provided security to the newly
developed areas of the village, train line and road at the cost of“freezing” and damaging the riparian ecosystem.
8. Vegetation of Mount Horai
Following the Noriko river further down, we arrived at thesatoyama area. Professor Fukamachi explained how thecomposition of the forest reflects the history of “environmental
disturbances” . Such disturbances as small landslides, typhoons,and firewood coppicing contribute to the diversity of the forest
species. The effect of these disturbances depends on their scale
and timing. Pointing to the abundant stones under our feet, she
explained that Moriyama stones were also used to create stone
weirs to fence out the wild boars and sediment flows in case oflandslides.
9. Sanno Matsuri of Hiyoshi Taisha
Traveling down the Horai mountain with the water of Norikoriver we finally arrived in the village area. We were lucky to
see Sanno Matsuri of Hiyoshi Taisha which takes place a few
kilometers south of Moriyama. A flow of people, who descendfrom the mountain top to the shore reminded us the waters of
Noriko river. Similar to a mountain river, the procession ‘flows’
downhill, passes the village and reaches Lake Biwa .
10. Kitahira old map
Rice growing cultures depend on the element of water and theelement of earth to thrive. At the shore of Omimaiko and Lake
Biwa , our group stood between water and earth. From theinterview with residents and through the exploration of the pastland use we learned how people have changed their relationshipto these elements.

9

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ISBN: 978-4-906888-71-9

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC
BY-NC 4.0)
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Eco-DRR Project
Research and Social Implementation of Ecosystem-based
Disaster Risk Reduction as Climate Change Adaptationin Shrinking Societies©2020 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature