[Flood Records] Ansei Fubunshu (4) Kawasaki, Shinagawa, Takanawa, Shiba, Kyobashi, etc.

○ When my friend, Miyazaki Ittaku, was staying overnight in a place called Misaki in Miura District, Soshu, it was around the 24th or 25th of this eighth month. At that time, after night fell and people had quieted down, a very terrifying roaring sound echoed from the sea from somewhere, and he was so suspicious and uneasy that he could not sleep and spent the night awake. When he asked the master of the inn about this, the master replied, 'This must be what the elders call a "water battle."' Later, I thought that this must have been the sign of a great wind and tsunami, where the water from the seabed mixed and fought. The locals know of 'water battles,' but they do not know that they are signs of a tsunami. It is something to be aware of.

Upon consideration, the Spring and Autumn Annals record that the waters of the Gu and Luo rivers fought, destroying the royal palace.

Also, a book called the Xing Shu Ji Shi records that 'a water god named Luo Boyong fought with a water god named Hebo Biaofu,' but the Xing Shu is largely a book of absurd lies and is not worth taking seriously at all. Even so, the Spring and Autumn Annals is a book by a sage. I do not feel there could be any falsehood in it.

Also, the Five Elements Records of the History of Song records that in the 14th year of Shaoxing of Emperor Gaozong of Song, the river water in a place called Leping County rose naturally and entered the fields in several hundred places. Also, there was something in the water in the fields that seemed to be sucking it up. Even though there were no embankments or weirs, it rose naturally to a height of several zhang above the ground. The water in the wells of houses to the south of the village also rose several chi. It was just like a rainbow. The sound was equal to thunder. After breaking through the fences and receding, after about ten-plus periods (about 2 hours), the two waters returned to their original places.

Also, in a book called Shuo Hai, it is said that there are two ponds in a place called Pudingwei in Guizhou. When night falls, the sound of the water is terrifying. When someone opens the door to look, the water hangs over the surface and is difficult to approach. They close the door and wait for the night to break, and by the time it is already bright, the water has decreased significantly. It seems that people say this is a 'water battle.'

○ There is a strange story in Susuki Shinden on the seaside from Kanagawa. There was a wealthy farmer named Tarobei who, after the earthquake in Edo the previous year, thought it was a terrifying thing. Since he was not short of money, he immediately rebuilt his house, removed the thick beams and replaced them with thin ones, and took down the tiles and replaced them with a thatched roof. Everyone clicked their tongues at how quickly he worried about it. However, in this great wind, his roof was blown off just like that. While other houses did not suffer as much, the rumor is that Tarobei suffered twice as much.

In his neighborhood, there was a man named Zensuke who had been in poverty since his grandfather's generation. Since he could not afford to repair his house, his shed and storage room were made with dug-in pillars, and the roof was tied with ropes by himself to withstand rain, dew, frost, and snow. Well, in this great wind, the storage sheds in the whole village were blown down, or the roofs were blown off, and on top of that, the high tide came surging up. When they went to pull out their collapsed storage sheds, many people suffered because they lost the miso, pickled radishes, and other light tools they had stored. However, because Zensuke's storage shed had pillars buried in the ground, not a single part of it was washed away. Since the roof was originally repaired and tied with ropes, it also passed through with only a little damage.

Thinking about this, I hear that the ten thousand lamps of the wealthy man on Mount Koya are often on the verge of going out, but the single lamp of the poor man remains bright and never goes out. There is virtue even in poverty. Because one is wealthy, one may conversely invite hardship. I have written down the situation as it is for the future reference of others.

○ Kanagawa-dai is high ground, so the wind hits it hard, and although there are many damaged houses, there is no worry about that high tide. From there, Namamugi, Shirohata Village, Ichiba Village, Sunako-cho, Kawata Village, Iregawa, and Hatcho, all of them were hit hard by the storm, and there were some detached houses that were pitifully collapsed.

Also, boats blown up onto the road were like fallen leaves blown to the shore. Also, on the seaside, from Honmoku to around Haneda, the boats that had been tied up disappeared, and unknown boats came drifting in. Because of that, many of the fishermen's small houses were pushed over.

Among them, it is said that a walking boat from the official boat landing that had been in Edo drifted to Haneda. This must have been something that was carried away when the high tide receded.

○ From Kawasaki to the Rokugo ferry, this too had a very severe flood, and everyone suffered. In the areas of Higashi-Kawabata, Yawatazuka, Zasshiki-cho, Kominami, Kamata, Omori Village, Suzugamori, and Hamakawa, people thought of that high tide as a tsunami and some escaped to the mountains through the water. Those who were slow had no time to escape, and there were even people who climbed onto their roofs, and the commotion was extraordinary. After daybreak, there were those who were troubled by the damage to their roofs and fences.

○ Shinagawa-juku has Gotenyama right above it, so while they were preparing to escape there if the water rose a little more, the wind and rain gradually calmed down, and they felt relieved as the tide receded, but various things were washed away by the water, and some were barely found. Others were troubled by losing important customer ledgers.

Also, official ships and merchant ships, both large and small, that were anchored side-by-side before and after the battery were blown together. It took many days to get them out to the deep sea. Among them, the newly built foreign-style large ship did not show any damage, but it was blown onto a shallow area, and it is said that there were not a few boats that were crushed because of this.

〇 A person I know, who employs many craftsmen, had pickled daikon radishes by hand and stored over ten barrels for use until the end of the year. All of them were washed away by the high tide, and after gathering what he could from around his house, he managed to collect about two barrels' worth, he said with a laugh.

〇 Takanawa Ushimachi is located on low-lying land. Furthermore, being near the sea, the residents were shocked when the high tide reached the floorboards. The owner said he would take the many cows he kept out of the shed to let them escape, but even though the cowherds gathered and tried to get them up, the cows would not move at all—as the proverb says, "like pulling them out of the darkness"—and they were at their wits' end, so the story goes. They said this was the opposite of the trouble they had when they let the horses escape during the earthquake last year. I can easily imagine their distress.

〇 From there, around Tamachi and Hon-Shiba, there was much damage, but from Fuda-no-Tsuji to around Mita, there was little damage. It is said that the entrance and the great hall of the Satsuma lord's mansion at Nanamagari collapsed. In Shiba Kanasugi and along the beach, houses were pulled by the waves and blown down by the wind, resulting in total destruction. Furthermore, the state of the wrecked ships in this area is difficult to describe with a short brush, so I will leave it to an artist to depict, and you can judge by looking at that.

〇 A fire broke out from Katamonzen 1-chome amidst the wind and rain, and the entire neighborhood was burned down. The main street up to Udagawa-cho, and the south side of Shinmei-cho in Kage-cho were both burned away, stopping at the corner of Mishima-cho.

However, this time, the owner of the house where the fire started was prepared to be punished and remained cautious, but there was no such order. Therefore, when the town officials inquired about this privately, they were told that since this wind was an extraordinary event, the mistake could not be strictly blamed, and it would be left as is. They shed tears of joy, saying it was truly a benevolent decision.

〇 Around the Sai-oji temple gate and Shin-nami, among the many damaged houses, it is said that all the back-alley rental houses and temporary structures collapsed. Generally, this was not limited to this place; since there were many houses that had not even been maintained after the earthquake, they all collapsed. Indeed, in previous years, the earthquake shook the storehouses and all the wealthy families suffered, but this time it is the poor who are suffering. The number is too great to list. Truly, that both the rich and the poor are suffering together can be called a sign of the times.

〇 Within the Zojo-ji temple grounds, there was much damage to the lodging quarters here and there, and a staggering number of large trees in the surrounding area were blown down. Around Kiridoshi and Nishikubo, town houses and samurai residences were slightly damaged, and along the Atago-shita street, the front fences of the residences were damaged, and fire watchtowers fell in several places.

〇 Between Shinbashi, Shibaguchi, and Owari-cho, there are collapsed houses in various places. In Ginza 3-chome, the guard station and the fire watchtower fell into the street while the temple bell was still hanging.

It is said that a staggering amount of firewood and lumber came flowing to the Daikon-gashi in Kyobashi. This must have been what was piled up along the riverbanks in the Hatchobori and Sanjukken-bori areas, which was brought in by the high tide.

From here to Nihonbashi, along the Chonan-dori street, and from there along the Honcho-dori street, and in the Jikken-dana east and west, and inside Kanda from Imagawa-bashi, although there are some collapsed houses, they are the same as usual, so I will omit them.