Tales of Mountain Life 3: The Mountain God and the New Year

As the New Year approaches,
salted, opened Pacific saury caught in the Kumano Sea arrives at the remote mountain village where Yuki lives.

Since there are no roads for cars, peddlers carry them on foot along the mountain paths.
In this region, *saury sushi was an indispensable New Year's feast.

However, because this saury is extremely salty, it must first be desalted, then deboned, and lightly cured in vinegar.
Mother placed the pot of simmered vegetables on the charcoal stove and began deboning the saury.

Calling out to her mother, "I'm heading out now," the two of them set off.


Preparing the New Year's offerings and decorations is Father and Yuki's job.
Father carries a small bottle of sake and a shimenawa rope,
while Yuki grips a paper bag filled with rice tightly as she accompanies him.

The spring water beside the house belongs to the Water God.
The water flows through a bamboo pipe into the *well, from where it overflows into the irrigation channel and down to the rice fields.

Father first made an offering to the Water God.
Then, he visited the gods of the rice fields and vegetable gardens, and finally headed toward the mountain behind the house.
After climbing a little way up a narrow path near the garden, a large camphor tree stood within a thicket.

This tree is the Mountain God.

It seems to have been here long before Father was born.
The area around the hollow at the base is sunken, and dead leaves have piled up. Because the surrounding thicket blocks the wind, it feels strangely comforting.

While treading on the dry, rustling leaves,
they hung the shimenawa, offered the sacred sake and the rice placed on yuzuriha leaves, and the two of them pressed their hands together in prayer.

The Mountain God stood in silence.
Father looked up at the treetops swaying in the wind for a while, but then

"Alright, let's head back."
"Okay."

As they stepped out of the thicket, a cold winter wind blew against them. Even while rubbing her numb hands together, Yuki felt excited.

The day after tomorrow is New Year's Day. They had already pounded mochi, and there were tangerines in a large wooden box in the shed. Above all, she would get to wear the fine clothes she had bought at the end of the year.

• Saury Sushi
  A type of pressed sushi made using Pacific saury that has been opened at the back and lightly salted,
  a local dish made for celebrations and festivals along the Kumano Sea coast and in the mountain villages of the Kii Peninsula.

• Wells in mountain areas are
  not dug into the ground, but are flow-through water storage tanks that collect water drawn from mountain streams.

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Tales of Mountain Life 3: The Mountain God and New Year's

As New Year's approaches,
salted, opened Pacific saury caught in the Kumano Sea arrives at the remote mountain village where Yuki lives.
Since there are no roads for cars, peddlers carry them over the mountain paths.
In this region, saury sushi was an indispensable New Year's feast.
However, because this saury is extremely salty, it must first be desalted, then deboned, and lightly pickled in vinegar.
Mother set the pot of simmered vegetables on the charcoal stove and began deboning the saury.
Calling out to her mother, "I'm heading out for a bit," the two of them set off.


Preparing the New Year's offerings and decorations is Father and Yuki-chan's job.
Father carries a small bottle of sake and a sacred straw rope,
while Yuki-chan grips a paper bag filled with rice tightly as she accompanies him.
The spring water beside the house is the god of water.
The water flows through a bamboo pipe into the well, from where it overflows into a waterway and heads down to the rice fields.
Father first made an offering to the god of water.
Then, he went around to the gods of the rice fields and vegetable gardens, and finally headed toward the mountain behind the house.
After climbing a narrow path near the garden for a while, a large camphor tree stood within the thicket.
This tree is the mountain god.
It seems it has been here since long before Father was born.
The area around the hollow at the base is a depression, where dry, fallen leaves have piled up. Because the surrounding thicket blocks the wind, it feels strangely comforting.
While treading on the fallen leaves that make a dry, rustling sound,
they decorated it with the sacred straw rope, offered the sacred sake and rice placed on a yuzuriha leaf, and put their hands together in prayer.
The mountain god stands in silence.
Father looked up at the treetops swaying in the wind for a while, but
"Alright, let's head back."
"Okay."
As they stepped out of the thicket, a cold winter wind blew against them. While rubbing her numb hands together, Yuki-chan felt excited.
The day after tomorrow is New Year's. They have pounded mochi, and there are oranges in a large wooden box in the shed. And above all, she gets to wear the fine clothes she was bought at the end of the year.

• Saury sushi
  A type of pressed sushi made using Pacific saury that has been opened at the back and lightly salted,
  a local dish made for celebrations and festivals along the Kumano Sea coast and in the mountain villages of the Kii Peninsula.

• Wells in mountain areas are
  not dug into the ground, but are instead flow-through water storage tanks that collect water drawn from mountain streams.

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