Yana Masuzawa

Kuratsubo turnip

A white turnip with long roots that are not round, which is rare among turnip varieties. It looks like a small green-necked radish, about 20 cm long from the pale green part above the ground to the white root in the soil, and about 3 to 4 cm in diameter at the thickest part. Since it is close to the original species as it has not been improved to prevent pests and diseases, it is grown carefully. Although this vegetable is normally harvested in the fall, it is also planted for summer harvest and produced twice a year. Local people have been eating it as a pickle for a long time. It has a unique spiciness that is different from that of chili peppers or wasabi, and grated Kurotsubo turnip is used as a condiment for soba, sashimi, yakiniku, and other dishes.

Yamaguchi Sansa dance

It is said that it was introduced from the Shimohei region around the middle of the Meiji era and began to be danced as a Bon Odori dance.It is a dance that requires skill with its simple but sharp movements, and has been passed down as a dance with an improvisational nature and bright folk song style.

Five hundred arhats

In the 5th year of the Horeki era, in addition to the flood, there were over 60,000 people who died of starvation and disease in the entire domain due to a major crop failure that was considered one of the four major famines in the southern domain, and the following year, as a result of this, 2,500 people died of starvation in Tono territory alone. It is said that the number of harvests has increased, and poor harvests and bad harvests have continued since then. In the 3rd year of Tenmei, the 19th head priest of Daiji Temple, Gizan, carved 500 large and small natural stone statues of Arhats to repose the souls of those who died of starvation due to repeated poor harvests.