Sengen-Zuka ( 千現塚), Tsukuba`s Little Mt Fuji

Tsukuba`s Sengen (千現) District is not only a conveniently located upscale residential neighborhood (within easy reach of both the TX rail and JR Highway Bus Stations), but it is also home to an internationally renowned research institute (NIMS) and a major facility for Japan`s Space Agency, JAXSA ( I should also mention the presence of the tastefully appointed  flower shop- Blomster Anna ). Thus, I guess it could be said that this makes SENGEN one of the more prestigious and sought after addresses in Tsukuba City. The other day, while walking through that part of town, I made a fascinating discovery which revealed how EVEN IN PAST AGES , when the area that is now called SENGEN was  still mostly MARSHLAND,  it had been a coveted piece of real estate  which was vied for, and fought over by local residents, who at that time (The Edo Period 1600-1868) happened to belong to different clans . I got to know this , and plenty of other fascinating things as well, by stumbling upon a wooded mound, which I learned had  been dubbed - Tsukuba`s Mt. Fuji- atop of which stands a large slab upon which its tale has been inscribed.

The Stairs Leading Up The SENGEN-ZUKA (千現塚), Tsukuba`s Mt Fuji

 Before telling you the details of the history I found etched into the stone, let me first explain how I stumbled upon it, because some of the scenery I found along the route which brought me there bears great significance ( I realized later) to the tale which I will tell.

On a beautiful early summer day, I was in the Ninomiya neighborhood of Tsukuba, and  had a couple of hours to spare before an appointment a few Kilometers away in Takezono (another of Tsukuba`s neighborhoods). Instead of taking the bus, as I would have done if I had been more pressed for time, I decided to stroll around Doho Park and try to catch a glimpse of  some of the kingfishers ( kawasemi) which can often be seen on the western edge of the park`s pond, and then walk to Takezono.

The pond at Doho Park , still thick with reeds and other marsh vegetation on its eastern edge, is a remnant of an extensive system of marshes and woods which once existed in the area upon which The Tsukuba Science City was eventually built. These marshlands ran pretty much on a North-South axis, with the Oto-Numa Marsh (which still exists) demarcating its southern limit, and the grounds of what is now KEK (The High Energy Physics Laboratory), which had once been a big marsh,  near the systems northern edge. We can still find reed filled ponds within the precincts of The Space Center, Sanso-Ken ( NIAS), The Meteorological Research Institiute,  Matsumi Park, Tsukuba University, etc., and these are all aligned along the same axis (now sandwiched between Nishi-Odori and Higashi-Odori, major boulevards which run paralel to each other), and they are a testament to what Central Tsukuba was like in past ages.

Remnants Of Tsukuba`s Marshlands

I walked around the Doho Park pond and then headed off towards Takezono. I passed through the Sengen neighborhood, dropped in at the flower shop, and then crossed Higashi-Odori (at the interesection near the Chin-Rai Ramen Shop) and entered into the Kurakake section of Tsukuba City, which has until now been relatively free of modern development. After 50 meters or so down the road, just passed a graveyard, there was a little hill, crowned by a big, old cherry tree. If I had been in a car or on bicycle, I probably would have just kept going (as I had, many time before on this road) and not found anything. But as I was on foot, I noticed a staircase, just barely visible from the road, which led up the hill. I then proceeded to skamper up the 23 steps to the top.

The Story Of The SENGEN-ZUKA

There, the land had been flattened out creating a tiny hilltop plateau. Directly in front of me, in the shadow of the big cherry tree, stood two low, squat, stone monuments, one of quite recent make, and the other, so old that it had been severely mis-shapen after years (centuries?) of exposure to the elements. On the newer stone, inscribed with perfect clarity, were the characters reading: FUJISAN (MT. Fuji). A careful examination of the older stone, also revealed, (after finding the angle at which the light hit the stones surface in just the right way), the same characters.

 As I straightened myself up and turned to the right, I found myself face to face with a large gray stone slab , which stood much taller than the average person. At the top it read- SENGEN-ZUKA YURAI (千現塚由来), which means: The Origin of The Sengen Mound. Here ( in summary) is the story the stone tells:

In the year 1690, there was a land dispute between two villages. One was Onozaki, part of the Yatabe Clan`s holdings (lying to the west of the marshlands) and the other was Kurakake, then part of the the Tsuchiura Clan`s Territory. Each village claimed the marshland as its own. At that time the resources of the marshes, reeds, thatch and other grasses were of great value for the villagers  for use as roofing, and animal fodder, and also for making various objects for everyday life. The two villages took the dispute to court. In an effort to ensure victory in the suit, certain Kurakake villagers travelled to the foot of Mt Fuji, to the Sengen Shrine (浅間神社) to appeal for intervention. 

A New Stone Reading- Mt Fuji, Beside A Much Older Stone With The Same Inscription

In 1697 the Shogunate`s officials made a decision in favor of Kurakake. In thanks to the God for helping to make the vilagers prayers come true, a mound was constructed which offered a view of Mt. Fuji, and the Goddess of the Sengen Jinja was enshrined there. Thereafter it become a focus of worship for the people. Erected 1979.

Now this story is interesting at many levels. First, The Japanese now pride themselves on having a society with very few lawyers, and in which LITIGATION is unusual. It is surprising to find that more than 300 years ago, traditional hamlets in this area resorted to lengthy( 7 years), and probably very expensive legal maneuvering (just think of the cost in bribes alone!).

Then there is the matter of  Mt. Fuji Worship, a religious sect (FUJI-SHINKO) which actually came into being  in Nagasaki (quite a distance from the mountain itself !) between the years 1532 and 1553) . This sect focused on pilgrimages to Mt Fuji and asceticisms in the caves and lava tubes around the mountain. During the Edo Period (1600-1868), the popularity of this sect spread among the people (especially in and around the capital, Edo). To this day when climbing mt Fuji, you might come across devotees of the sect, clad in wera pilgrim-wear , while walking keep up a continuous chant of ROKKON SHOJO ROKKON SHOJO. The little Fuji Mound in Tsukuba, was a  place where people could not actually make it to the REAL MOUNTAIN could make a SYMBOLIC visit. It also intersting to note that there is a big cherry tree on the Fuji Mound. This is not the work of chance. You see, the Goddess of  Mt Fuji,  KONOHANA SAKKUYA HIME. is also the Goddess of Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom ( and by extension, the Goddess of Mortality, as cherry blossoms quickly fade away after blooming).

This Goddess is also appealed to for families who want children, and for pregnant women`s easy delivery. The reason for this is that according  to japanese mythology, KONOHANA SAKKUYA HIME was inpregnated after spending just one night with her huband, NINIGI NO MIKOTO, who became extemely suspicious. Thinking that the child must be from another man (or God, should I say), NINIGI set fire to the hut is which his wife was giving birth. Miraculously, mother and child were unscathed. This naturally makes theisGoddess an obvious choice as a  deity to appeal to for conception or easy delivery.

Then we have the matter of the place name SENGEN. It was only natural for the villagers, as a way of expressing their appreciation, to name the piece of land that they had won in the suit after the God which had give them that little extra edge. Now the characters used for this neighborhood have changed to 千現, so unless one knows the obscure bit of history inscribed on the slab, it would not be possible to guess at the origin of the place name. Also, the characters for the SENGEN SHRINE (　浅間神社), are often misread even by Japanese, as ASAMA JINJA. Thus, few people who read the slab would make the connection between the story of the mound and the name of the neighborhood which lies just across the road.

Well now you know!

And if you are thinking about climbing the real Mt Fuji this summer, but are PUT OFF by all the effort and SUFFERING that this would involve, you might want to consider conquering Tsukuba`s little Mt Fuji instead. You can do it in just 23 easy steps!

1 Comments

• At July 2, 2009, Ellen Taleon wrote:

  Dear Avi,

  Nice sleuth work..Wow, you are a better historian than some

  locals maybe..And you have the talent and imagination to write it down in eloquent and colorful narrative too.By the way, I noticed that you have written so many articles about Tsukuba and the neighboring areas to date. You can already compile them and make them into a lucrative book about Tsukuba..

  Thanks for sharing such Tsukuba stories and

  tales to the foreign community. Since we can barely understand

  the language, it is nice to know some tidbits and glimpses into

  the city we have come to love..in a language we are all familiar with..and from the same viewpoint,that of the gaijin outsider..

Photos by Jing Villareal
Videos by Jing Villareal

Jing also supplied the new header for the blog, a photo of flaming leaves in Doho Park. Thank you, Jing!

If anyone else would like to have us showcase their Tsukuba-related photos or video (or art, or anything else), please contact us!

Can you guess what that black stuff that's floating in the pond is?

Nope, not rotten leaves or twigs.

They are tadpoles!

There were thousands of them, and they were swimming like a school of fish! This pond is located inside the Tsukuba Botanical Garden, and the pics were taken last weekend.

Sorry, it was dark and I was in a hurry! Besides, I took this photopgraph from my cell-phone, so the image quality is not that good to begin with.

I saw all kinds of trucks that had Japanese writing on the side -- trucks that used to belong to nursery schools, nursing homes, swimming schools, etc. I was very surprised, however, to happen upon a truck that belonged to a company in Tsukuba (Interior Igarashi) while I was in Zambia. I am tempted to call up this company to let them know about the free advertising they are getting in southern Africa!

4 Comments

• At July 31, 2007, Norie wrote:

  Hi, Shaney! (^O^)／

  I'm glad to talk to you again here.

  It's good for you to had a great trip to Africa, isn't it?

  I highly recommend you to call to　"ｲﾝﾃﾘｱ　ｲｶﾞﾗｼ".！

  I believe they'll be very very surprised to hear you. i bet !

  Please tell me the result of that after your calling.

  I'd love to hear it　very much!

• At August 4, 2007, herb wrote:

  i think a lot of african scholars bring back the cars they bought here in japan because they're duty free. my friends did!

• At September 27, 2007, m.a. wrote:

  It's indeed a surprize that such a company-owned car is being used in Africa!!! Yet I think it's interesting to know that and I could imagine how excited you were when you happened to see the car in the place that is so far away from Tsukuba !!

• At September 27, 2007, Shaney wrote:

  Yes, it was quite shocking to see something from Tsukuba in Africa! I saw lots of trucks with Japanese writing, though, so I imagine the chances were good that I would at least see a truck from Ibaraki while I was there.

Sajid is the first to take me up on my request to send photos to share with the Tsukuba community. Here is one of his photos showing a gorgeous sunset with Mt. Fuji just visible in the background. Click the photo (or this link) to see a bigger image.

Have a look at the rest of Sajid's photos on Flickr.

3 Comments

• At March 3, 2007, dimaks wrote:

  Shaney, thanks for quick post ..and a plug of my Flickr photos :) Rest assured, Ill be adding more, as much as time permits me.

• At March 3, 2007, Shaney wrote:

  Hi Sajid,

  Thank you for sending me the link to your album! I am really pleased to be able to include photos that other people have taken. It will give our readers -- especially the ones who are planning to coming to Tsukuba and are wondering what it is like -- a real sense of what it is like to live here, from a number of perspectives.

  By the way, I added a Photo Albums page to the site today and included your album there.

• At March 3, 2007, dimaks wrote:

  Appreciate that.. glad to be of contribution.

Flower shots: (click to enlarge)

Yamanakako lake: (click to enlarge)

The astounding Mt. Fuji: (click to enlarge)

A butterfly by the lakeside: (click to enlarge)

The rest of the photos here.

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dimaks blogs at skamid.com

I think this collection by Mori gives a good sense of what the University of Tsukuba campus looks like.