SAMURAI CONNECTION RESEARCH
There are probably over a thousand locations that can make claims to a Heishi (aka Heiki or Taira Clan) Ochiudo "fallen" connection after their demise when protecting the boy emperor at Dan no Ura
that the Tanaka （田中）and Nakamura （中村）family ancestors were in hiding in their tiny Yamaguchi mountain village
(not even found on Google maps) for maybe as long as 800 years. From the hundreds
of weather worn headstones in the village Ohaka, it comes as no surprise.
any theory of a Heike connection, even if only circumstantially, local
oral legend dictates that the Tanaka and Nakamura ancestral village and a nearby village (just
a 15-min. walk along a mountain path) once had two boats (Nisou Bune) from the
Heike period on the mountain top that they brought with them, as well
as a Heike (Jyofuku-ji) temple, a reputation for making bows and arrows,
a local Kyoto Ben accent (according to local Bhuddist head) used through the mid-1900s and a host of other stories that imply a link.
After all, why would farmers in the mountains of Yamaguchi Ken need or
have the skill to make bows and arrows?
interesting story says that the neighboring village once had over 200
villagers prior to the arrival of the fleeing Heike Samurai in 1185 A.D., but there
was some sort of conflict over the Samurai bringing their own Buddhist
temple (Jyofuku-ji) temple, which differed from temple of the
indigenous farmers and that this resulted in conflict.
is that the Samurai did not want to risk being turned over to the Genji
(Minamoto) by the local farmers and fled to the neighboring ancestral village Maruda (a 15-min.
somewhat of a sense of urgency in researching this village because only one elderly resident is left with any sense of the local history. Furthermore,
there is construction starting to take place in the area, rendering any
archaeological prospects negligible.
Edo era, a local Daimyo (warlord) designated an area village to produce Washi. There
were many Kozo (mulberry trees) that grew in that area and this was the
source of their ability to produce unique and exceptional quality Japanese paper. Even today, there
are some scattered Kozo trees. Apparently, the Daimyo set a policy that
nobody from the village (who knew how to make such high quality Washi)
could move out of the village, and if someone else outside of the village
wanted to marry someone in the village, that person had to move into the
village and stay in order to protect their paper-making secret. Some of those papermaking
tools are still stored in one of the old Kura (storage building, on the
second floor). When asked to see the tools, the Yoshikazu
and another woman were a little hesitant to show them because the
owner of the storage warehouse was not there.