The Communities and Sacred Places of Hirado
Kasuga Village
There is a small village on the west coast of Hirado Island
in Nagasaki Prefecture.
Its name is Kasuga.
The heavy waving ears of rice ripen,
turning from green to gold.
Encircled by the ridges of Mt. Yasumandake,
the island’s highest mountain,
the terraced fields of swaying rice stalks are one of Kasuga’s attractions.
From the first coming of Christianity to the present day,
the rice fields have been a source of livelihood and of faith.
Rice is still grown here today.
The scenery, which changes with the seasons,
was designated an important cultural landscape.
When I first moved here as a young wife,
the sight of the fields amazed me.
Some people might say, “So what?
There are terraced rice fields all over Japan.”
But I was amazed.
The tourists go every which way in the rice paddies.
If you’re outside, they’ll always ask you something.
“Isn’t it beautiful!” and “Isn’t it lovely!”
That’s what people always say.
There were loads of tourists on Mt. Maruoyama.
As I drove down, I was waving the whole way,
and the tourists waved back.
The terraced rice fields of Kasuga use pure water
from a spring on the forested Mt. Yasumandake.
Water has always been an essential part of life in Kasuga.
It is the basis of people’s livelihood.
All the water we use to farm the fields
is spring water from Mt. Yasumandake.
We depend on the mountain for our water.
This village, that village,
we all use water from Mt. Yasumandake.
With it, we can do anything.
I went fishing. Caught 10 fish.
I’m always inviting my mom and dad here to Kasuga.
I boil some rice and we have a meal.
We finish the rice in no time at all.
Dad loves it here because the food’s so good.
Various initiatives are underway to help people
learn about the history and landscape of Kasuga.
This is the “Terraced Rice Field Walk.”
You can learn about Kasuga while looking at the fields.
A guide will lead you around and show you the highlights.
Let’s have a look at some of them.
This is the tataru-ishi stone.
There is a frightening legend about it.
Touch it and it will cast an evil spell on you.
If you do touch it by mistake, put a pebble on it.
Then you should be okay.
Then there’s the ningyo-iwa, a human-shaped stone.
It has stood like this for centuries without toppling over,
though it looks like it might fall any moment.
On the Terraced Rice Field Walk, you get a sense of the
natural landscape, the history and the warmth of the people.
Kasuga is a village where you can feel the
richness of nature and the diversity of culture.
As you enjoy the landscape, think about people living
close to nature and about the history of their faith.