Cucumber god and Yamabe Shrine

The following text is a slightly modified machine translation and may have some unnatural parts.

==Introduction==

Gotsu City, Shimane Prefecture, is a town with a beautiful red roof tile, and Yamabe Shrine is in it. This is a story about the Yamabe Shrine.

Red tile house

Yamabe Shrine

==Synopsis==

A man lived with his sick mother in the village of Goda near the mouth of Gogawa river. One day when a man went fishing in Gogawa river, he caught a lot of fish. If I catch too much, the god of the river will get angry, so when the man started to put away his fishing tackle, a cucumber flowed from the river. It's not just a cucumber. Something shiny is on board.

When the wondering man picked up the cucumber, there was a small palace-shaped box above the cucumber, and when he opened the inside, god was enshrined.

I don't know why it came, but the man put god in his pocket with the cucumber and went home to take it home anyway.

The man and mother worshiped god and prayed with all their heart, perhaps because of their benefits, their mother's illness improved completely. This is thanks to god. He decided to consult Shoya (village headman) that it would be a waste to worship on his own.

After hearing the story, Shoya decided to build a palace on a small mountain in the village of Goda. The people in the village worked together to create a magnificent palace.

The festival day has been decided. That day, Shoya said, "This god came on a cucumber. The cucumber is the foot of the god. Let's not eat the cucumber only on the festival day." Everyone agreed and decided not to eat cucumbers on festival days. It is said that Yamabe Shrine was the palace that was built at that time. And it is said that people around the shrine still do not eat cucumbers on festival days.

Gogawa River

According to "Shikinai Shrines Survey Report Vol. 21, San-in-Do 4", it is as follows. It is said that there is a custom of not eating cucumber from July 1st to 17th, with the annual festival in between, because it is in harmony with the Gion Faith.

==Yamabe Shrine==

Yamabe Shrine (Yamabe Jingu) in Gotsu City is one of the candidates for Shikinai Shrine. Yamabe Shrine is also located at Hachimangu Shrine in Wada, Asahi town, Hamada City, and is one of the similar shrines.

Yamabe Shrine at Asahi town

It is said that Yamabe Shrine was hit by a large flood during the Showa period, and probably because of this, the building is made of concrete. A torn drum called the Disaster Preservation Taiko is displayed in the precincts, which shows the severity of the flood damage at that time.

the Disaster Preservation Taiko

In addition, there is Horan Ae as a special Shinto ritual, which is held once every four years to coincide with the Gotsu Gion Grand Festival at Yamabe Shrine.

==Digression==

It seems that the area around Hachimangu in Asahi town, Hamada City was the location of the movie "A Gentle Breeze in the Village".

==References==

• * 「式内社調査報告 第二十一巻 山陰道４」（式内社研究会／編, 皇学館大学出版部, 1983）pp.883-885
• * 「島根県の民話」（日本児童文学者協会／編, 偕成社, 1981）pp.93-98