一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

Before the inauguration of the Haibuden (worship hall) in the afternoon of the same day, the local people treated Ms. Suisen Nishikawa, a classical Japanese dancer, and the Jikata, who visited Kurikoma to perform the "Shizuka no Mai" and us with mochi (rice cakes) which is a local cuisine of Kurihara at the guest house Nagomi no Ie run by Mr. Yasutoshi Takahashi, chairman of Kurikoma Kengyo Ltd, who built the Haibuden with his wife. All the rice cakes were freshly pounded, and there were many varieties on the table, including Zoni Mochi, Anko Mochi, Zunda Mochi and Natto Mochi. All the rice cakes were very tasty, and it was a warm time that eased the tension before the ceremony and brought smiles to everyone's faces. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi for providing lunch and a place to prepare, and the local people for their hospitality with freshly pounded mochi.

After the inauguration ceremony, the participants visited the tomb of Yoshitsune's body in Hanganmori under the guidance of Mr. Naoyuki Sugawara, Chairman of the Oshu-Kurihara Yoshitsune Society. Mr. Sugawara gave a detailed explanation of the history surrounding the mound, including why a gravestone was erected in Hanganmori. Mr. Sugawara said that when the foundation's Tahir first visited Hanganmori in July this year, he was impressed by the Islamic azan prayers offered there, and said with a laugh that Yoshitsune would have been surprised that Muslims were paying homage to him more than 800 years after his death.

Mr. Naoyuki Sugawara,
President of Oshu Kurihara
Yoshitsune Society

From 6 p.m., the Yoshitsune Society held a dinner party at Kurikoma-so, run by Tsugio Sugawara, who walked the 500 km from Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture to Kurikoma, Miyagi Prefecture for 43 days after the joint enshrinement in June 1999 of the sacred earth of the body mound of Yoshitsune in Hanganmori and the head mound of Yoshitsune at Shirahata Shrine, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Mr. Hiroyasu Sato, vice-president of the Yoshitsune Society, told us that he was very much looking forward to the visit of Ms. Suisen Nishikawa and the Jikata to Kurikoma, and that 12 of his old classmates had worked together to prepare mochi in order to entertain them. He told us that he had written the banner outside the Haibuden himself to convey his feelings of welcome. At the end of the dinner, our foundation's Tahir also expressed his gratitude to everyone, saying that the connection with the warm-hearted people of Kurikoma was like a gift given to him after 11 years of supporting the Tohoku region, and that he thought that Rentai Tohoku-Seinan had entered the next phase of its activities.

Mr. Hiroyasu Sato,
Vice President of Oshu Kurihara
Yoshitsune Society

When the representative of our foundation first visited Kurikoma at the end of July this year, framework of the Haibuden had just been laid by Mr. Takahashi, chairman of Kurikoma Kengyo Ltd, with several young people. The inauguration ceremony was successfully held only about 3 months later from our representative's visit. We would like to pay tribute to the selfless efforts of Mr. Takahashi and everyone else involved in the construction.

From 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 November, the inauguration ceremony was held at the Haibuden (worship hall) built by Mr. Yasutoshi Takahashi, chairman of Kurikoma Kengyo Ltd., and his wife near a hill called Hanganmori, where the body of Yoshitsune of Minamoto is enshrined, in Kurikoma, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture. The ceremony was hosted by the Society for Protecting the Grave Site of Yoshitsune of Minamoto and the Hanganmori, and Oshu Krihara Yoshitsune Society, and our foundation also supported the ceremony. Around 150 people gathered at the Haibuden.

The opening address was given by Mr. Naoyuki Sugawara, Chairman of the Oshu Kuriharara Yoshitsune Society and the Society for Protecting the Grave Site of Yoshitsune of Minamoto and the Hanganmori, followed by a congratulatory address by Mr. Suzuki, Chief Priest of Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, who participated as a guest and prayed that Haibuden would remain for generations to come. The representative director of our foundation also made a speech, explaining that the foundation has been carrying out activities for the past 11 years with the aim of supporting self-reliance, and that we have been working together with local people to think about social issues such as the declining birthrate and ageing population. He said that as a part of our activities, we built a monument to commemorate Yoshitsune and Shizuyoshi of Minamoto and Shizuka Gozen in Hiraizumi. Also requiem services for Yoshitsune and Shizuyoshi of Minamoto were held for the first time at the Shirahata Shrine in Senmaya, Iwate Prefecture in this June and July. He also said that he was able to hold a wonderful inauguration ceremony in Kurikoma thanks to the relationship between Mr. Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife, who was present at the ceremony.

At the inauguration ceremony, commemorative performances included "Oshu Shinobi Uta" by Hiroyuki Hashi, a singer and younger brother of Mr. Takahashi, who built Haibuden, Kurihara Kagura and Jono Kagura, and a special performance by Ms. Suisen Nishikawa, who was invited by our foundation to perform "Shizuka no Mai".

It was a heart-warming moment that the "Shizuka no Mai", which Shizuka Gozen, who once parted alive with Yoshitsune and became a captive, danced at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine in Kamakura to express her grief at parting, was performed near the Hanganmori where Yoshitsune was laid to rest over the ages. The performer, Ms. Suisen Nishikawa, also expressed her feelings for Shizuka's love for Yoshitsune, as recited in Shizuka's Dance, in order to convey them more strongly, apart from the feelings of Shizuka standing in the dance hall of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine.

In addition, the seven accompanists of jikata (nagauta, shamisen, kotsuzumi, otsuzumi and fue) graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts gave us a wonderful performance in this performance of "Shizuka no Mai". We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Ms. Suisen Nishikawa and the jikata for travelling all the way to Miyagi Prefecture to show their wonderful performance, and to a gurdian, Ms. Suina Nishikawa, and the staff. We would like to thank each and every one of them for their cooperation.

You can watch the full version of the inauguration ceremony of Haibuden on YouTube Official Onokun Channel.

On Monday 31 October from 6 p.m., a dinner with about 20 people was held at our base camp, Senmaya International Club.

In addition to members of the local community with whom we have had a long-standing relationship, this time we were joined by Mr. Nishihara from the Laboratory of Conservation Ecology at Chuo University, a postgraduate student Ms. Saijo, and former chief priest Genpou Chisaka at Chishouin Temple in Ichinoseki City. Mr. Nishihara is conducting research on living creatures and environmental changes throughout Japan, and on efforts to conserve biodiversity (i.e. to protect the links between various living creatures and their habitats) in Ishikawa and Chiba prefectures. Our representative director, who was interested in his research, contacted Mr. Nishihara and heard that he was regularly visiting Chishouin in Ichinoseki City for his research, so we invited him and Chishouin's former chief priest Genpou Chisaka to join the dinner for the first time.

Chishouin is known as the first cemetery in Japan to have conducted tree burial, but according to former chief priest Genpou Chisaka, the 'Jumokusou no Sato (Tree Burial Village)', which has been active as a branch temple of Shouunji Temple, a family temple of the Tamura family, the 30,000-goku feudal lord of the Ichinoseki Domain, descending from Ukyo-dayu Tamura, was approved as a religious organisation as Nagakurayama Chishouin and is now a separate brother temple of Shouunji and is engaged in nature conservation activities. The wife of the Oyama priest of Shirahata Shrine, who has been very helpful in our activities and was also present at this dinner party, is a member of the Tamura family, so she was very happy to meet the former chief priest Genpou Chisaka again.

For the dinner, Sukiyaki was prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Hatakeyama from Okago and as usual was a great success. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Hatakeyama for their preparation.

The dinner was also attended by former chief priest Genpou Chisaka, which led us to a visit to Chishouin on the following day, Tuesday 1 November. Chishouin, known as Japan's first tree burial cemetery, is a tree cemetery of the satoyama type, maintained and managed with the idea of preserving the ecologically rich natural environment and leaving it for future generations. The cemetery was made possible by the former chief priest Genpou Chisaka himself, who has a deep knowledge of living creatures and plants and is also involved in local ecosystem conservation activities and environmental education initiatives.

During these activities, we found that Mr. Nishihara and former chief priest Genpou Chisaka,with whom we were able to make new contacts, are strangely connected to the Ichinoseki and Senmaya areas, where we are based. We would like to continue our activities in the future, valuing both old and new relationships.

From 6:00 p.m. on Friday, July 29, at our base Senmaya International Club, we hosted a concert by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji, in which she played five pieces of music ranging from 200 years ago to the present day. During the day, ceremonies and events were continuously held from the morning; however, the beautiful performance by Ms. Yamaji made everyone feel at peace. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to her for coming from Okayama to Iwate and presenting wonderful performances many times.

From 7:00 p.m., we held a dinner party attended by about 32 guests from local communities. For this party, we requested Mr. Lee Shuei, a Chinese cuisine chef at Tokyo Prince Hotel, and his friend Ms. Fon to cook healthy dishes, which were a fusion of the food from their home countries, Taiwan and Vietnam. For the dishes, plenty of tomatoes and peppers were used, which were offered by Mr. Ikuo Takeyama, who set up a Dutch-style hydroponic farm in 2016 in partnership with local farmers, and everyone enjoyed the delicious taste.

We also invited Mr. Yuichi Yonezawa, his wife and his daughter Tae, from Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, to the dinner party. On the day of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, Mr. Yonezawa evacuated to the rooftop of the three-story reinforced concrete building where he ran a packaging supplies shop. However, the tsunami soon reached there, so he climbed the chimney and had a narrow escape from death. In the meantime, his parents and younger brother fled to the shelter right next to the building and sadly, never came home. In his speech at the party, Mr. Yonezawa spoke as follows: "I feel chagrined at this tragedy, but I believe my wife and Tae survived in exchange for my deceased family members. Tae, born in the year of the earthquake, turned 11 years old this year. Please come and visit the building which saved my life; I put a sign indicating the tsunami water level on it. I am willing to guide you around at any time."

The party was also attended by Dr. Hiroyuki Iwamoto, who runs a neurology clinic in Senmaya Town, and his family. Dr. Iwamoto said that he became friends with Syed Tahir, a member of our foundation, and their friendship mentally saved him very much, and he was thankful to him. Mrs. Iwamoto also gave her speech. She told us that her hometown is Kamakura, and when she started living in Iwate, she felt a distance from her hometown; around that time, she heard about our foundation's activities related to Minamoto no Yoshitsune and felt a curious coincidence.

With this dinner party, once again, we deeply appreciated the connection with local communities and had a strong sense that we would like to continue such a dinner party that would allow us to interact with local people in the future.

Following the chinkonsai (a ceremony for the repose of the departed soul) for Yoshitsune of Minamoto, held on 15 June, the anniversary of his death, we performed a service to pray for the peace of the soul of Shizuyoshi of Minamoto (named by our Representative Director), who is the son born to Yoshitsune and Shizuka Gozen. It was held on 29 July, the birthday of Shizuyoshi, at Shirahata Shrine, which is associated with Shizuka Gozen and located near our base Senmaya International Club.

At the chinkonsai, kencha (tea offering) was conducted by Ms. Kiyoko Chida from Senmaya Town, who is a member of the Urasenke school of the tea ceremony. In addition, a piece of music, "Shizuka no Mai" (Shizuka's Dance), was performed by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji who dedicated it to the souls of Yoshitsune and Shizuyoshi; she arranged the piece and performed it for the first time in Japan. In this ceremony, through the good offices of Mr. Jinan Fujiwara (the owner of Kurikomaso, hot spring inn on Mt. Kurikoma), a helmet and armor were placed in the main shrine in order to worship Yoshitsune as one soul; they were created by likening the helmet to his head and the armor to his body. In June 1999, Mr. Fujiwara performed a ceremony to pacify the soul of Yoshitsune at Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture by combining the soil taken from the grave that enshrines Yoshitsune's body, located on the Hanganmori hill in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, and the soil taken from the grave that enshrines his head at Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa. After the ceremony, he walked a distance of 500 kilometers from Fujisawa to Kurikoma, Miyagi Prefecture, taking 43 days. Unfortunately, Mr. Fujiwara was unable to attend our ceremony, but we sincerely appreciate him for his cooperation.

Continuing on from June, Mr. Shin Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife again offered their support, which enabled us to perform the chinkonsai successfully. We deeply appreciate the enormous efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Oyama from preparation through to the day.Continuing on from June, Mr. Shin Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife again offered their support, which enabled us to perform the chinkonsai successfully. We deeply appreciate the enormous efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Oyama from preparation through to the day.

The naorai (feast after the ceremony) served at the shrine office was attended by guests who gathered not only from Senmaya Town but also from various places, including four from Kurikoma, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, and one from each of Nishiwaga and Hiraizumi. The foundation's Representative Director delivered the following thought-provoking speech: "History is often written by statesmen, but the truth lies deeply in the minds of the common people. To develop the areas around Ichinoseki and Hiraizumi to be a garden of love and peace that the Fujiwara clan once aimed for, what can we do today by going beyond the concept of 'world heritage,' which is just a defensive approach?" We also screened a video of "Shizuka no Mai" (Shizuka's Dance) performed at Kamakura Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine to think about the feelings of Shizuka Gozen.

We hope this ceremony will be held annually as a shrine event, along with the Yoshitsune's chinkonsai in June, and will be helpful to promote local development and make this place a garden of love and peace.

An article about the chinkonsai for Yoshitsune of Minamoto and Shizuyoshi was published in the Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun newspaper on 1 August, 2022.