Kataribe Village  

A village of about ninety inhabitants, located where a tributary joins the Yanga Gawa in the foothills of the Hida-sanmyaku.  There are two bridges in the village, though the larger one is constructed of bundles of branches laid upon a wooden frame, and is washed away when the water level rises in the spring floods each year.  When the bridge is gone, a ferry is operated across the Yanga Gawa instead.

The second bridge is smaller, and of sturdier construction.

North of the village stands a small temple, and close to that is a cluster of shacks occupied by those of the Eta caste.

In the village itself are two stone markers.  One has a niche cut into it, where a lamp burns continually, and a ceramic bowl usually contains an offering of rice balls.  The pillar itself is some four feet high, and is flanked by a pair of stone shishi.  It serves as a shrine to the kami who protect the village.

The other marker is shorter, no more than three feet high, and bears an age-worn inscription in Kanji, in the form of a haiku:

Since time began
the dead alone know peace.
Life is but melting snow.

Recently the village, though poor, has been subject to threats from bandits.  The border skirmishes between the Oguroyumi clan and their neighbours, to the west, have made it difficult for the villagers to get official aid in dealing with the problem.