"I want to go home and hold my wife's hand."
When the young man wished so in the mountains, his right leg was eaten up. It was by the bear which was considered to be a gift from the mountain god.
A novel "Kaikou no Mori” depicts a hunter who lived from Taisho to the early Showa era as a Matagi. It is a masterpiece of Tatsuya Kumagai, published in 2004, which also won the respectable Naoki Novel Prize. Exchanges of lives between bears and humans take place in the isolated mountains of deep white snow in order to pass lives to their next generations. Matagi has to impose such a difficult test on his own. However, why did they choose such a life?
Matagi’s Hot Spring, Facility Interior Space (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
Matagi’s Equipment, Amabuta (Rain Cover) (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
Document Pictures (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
Snow scene of Odate City (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
Bear as a source of life
To put it simply, Matagi are those who make lives from hunting. But it is their tradition and faith that make them different from just 'hunters'. Their history goes far back to the Heian period (794-1184). As Japan still boasts that about 70% of the country's land is covered by forest and mountains, Matagi has run through from the north to the center of Japan.
"Matagi made medicines from hunted bears and went on sale to other villages. On his street trip, he found a bride in various places, stayed on the land, and spread Matagi culture." Mr. Hiroaki Nakazawa of "Matagi-no-Yu" in Ani Uttou, Akita Prefecture, started so. "Those hunted bears were used everywhere in villages and left no waste as people make the most of meat, viscera, bones, blood, fur and everything. There is no excuse to treat the sacred bears poorly. Not only meat was precious, tongue and internal organs were used as medicines. Hunting is only possible during early winter and spring, when the leaves of the trees fall and visibility becomes better. The economic benefits brought by bears were very valuable for the mountainous settlements, where there was almost no source of cash income”.
"Do you want to try the most expensive medicine?", Mr. Nakazawa asked with grinning. What was offered was a thick sword called Nagasa, with the meaning of Mountain Knife, and a dry dark green thing looking like buds. The powder that Me. Nakazawa scraped with familiar hands was the taste of screaming. Very strong bitterness paralysed our tongues and it feels like that someone carefully and repeatedly condensed the bittier Yomogi plants over years. That was terrible. Even after swallowing, my tongue gets numbing and the smell remains from the tip of my nose to my head. Seeing our frustrated faces, Mr. Nakazawa smiled with joy, saying, "good medicine tastes bitter, right?”
"This is a dried biliary gall called “i”. It is useful as a gastrointestinal medicine and a panacea for poisoning. Isn’t this Nagasa Knife great too? We use this to cut plants down in the mountains or to disassemble animals. A long stick can be inserted in the hole in the handle, and it can be used as a bowl when confronting with a bear. I showed this to our overseas guests and they said: “It’s like Mountain Samurai."
The goddess seizes man’s destiny
Matagi believes that the mountain is a place where the gods of the mountains rule and the bear is a gift from the gods. But at first glance the act of eating precious and sacred things seems contradictory. The predecessors chose to resolve such contradictions was their own faith in honoring the mountains. "In Japan, the god of the mountain is said to be female, and our area is also no exception", says Mr. Nakazawa. "No one should make the goddess angry. She is said particularly ugly and jealous, so no women are allowed in the mountains, it’s absolutely forbidden. It is not permitted for Matagi to enter the mountain after touching a woman, and they even bring dried ugly Okoze fish to please the goddess. Also you need to use special Matagi words when speaking in the mountain, which are completely different from the one used in the village. The word Matagi is from the special language so we don’t know what it really means. It’s a message to the Gods that we respect the mountain as a sacred place and think it’s absolutely different from people’s land".
The rituals that take place on the mountain also vary. It is said to use a spell to show respect for a gift, such as when Matagi clear themselves by the water before entering the mountain, when they hit the bear, when they dismantle the bear, and when they finally thank God for the harvest. All these rituals and hunting strategies are organized by the head of the Matagi hunting group, called "Shikari." It is a so-called leader giving instructions on every person's role, from the ceremony to the cooking. Usually it’s a group of around 8 to 10 people, but depending on the prey, it can be counted up to dozens of people. In this team play hunting, it is the job of Shikari to decide the roles of watchers, catchers, menacers, shooters etc. "Also," Shikari "must always enter the mountain with a secret book that has been passed down from generation to generation. It is called "Yamadachi Konpon no Maki" and is forbidden to be shown to anyone else. It is said that it mentioned the Matagi ancestor Banji Bansaburou, was permitted to hunt in the mountains by the then emperor. It has a role to give a spiritual support for Matagis surviving in such a harsh environments”.
Matagi's Equipment (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
Matagi Museum, Guns Used for Hunting (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
Document Pictures, A Scene of Matagis Coming Down From the Mountain With Captured Animals (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
The bowl of blessing gifts from the mountains
In the hearth room, known as Matagi Zashiki, there is a smell of tickling appetite. Soft and rich flavor of miso is coming on they way. It is the Ani region’s sepecialite bear hot pot, Kuma Nabe, which is the same pot as the Matagis are eating. Mr. Nakazawa tells, “bears naturally have so strong odors that it can be hard to eat for tourists who are not used to the tastes of bears. So we try to make it softer taste". When the soup come into my body, a small voice of relaxation come out from my mouth. The soft and deep taste are formed by hint of Doburoku, unrefined Sake. However, it also has a strong and strong flavor of meat. The bear's meat is elastic and strong. Every time you bite, its oil comes out and full the mouth. It plays a delicate harmony with the bitterness of the wild mountain vegetables, also taken from the same mountains, which washes away the strong flavor of bear meat. The blessings of the nature are poured to this bowl.
Bear Meat Hot Pot Cuisine (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
Kuma Ramen (2019)Original Source: Akita Tourism Guide
There are men who isolate themselves in the harsh snowy mountains for days, praying for the god of the mountain. The fact gives me wonder how healed they were by this warm steam and hot pot. Of course, we do not understand the harshness of the mountain in the exactly same way as Matagi feel. However, it feels that the bear pot gave us the same appreciation to the nature.
Cooperation with
Matagi no Sato Tourism & Development Co., Ltd.
General Incorporated Association Akita Inu Tourism
SAVOR JAPAN
Photos: Misa Nakagaki
Text:Makiko Oji
Edit: Saori Hayashida
Production: Skyrocket Corpration
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