A Living God

A Living God

　　　　The following story illustrates well the religious core belief of the
　　　Japanese. It is entitled, A Living God or Hamaguchi Daimyojin or
　　　Hamaguchi Gracious Deity. It was originally written by an English writer
　　　named Rafcadio Hearn or Koizumi Yakumo, his adopted Japanese name. A
　　　Japanese elementary school teacher named Jozo Nakai modified the story
　　　in Japanese under the title, Fire of Big Bundles of Rice or Inamura no Hi.
　　　　It was used as a story of instruction and the textbook for elementary
　　　schools throughout Japan before.  The story is as follows:

    　　Long, long ago, before the Meiji era, there was a disaster that happened
　　　in a small village located in some coastal province of old Japan. There was
　　　a man named Gohei Hamaguchi. The villagers usually called him Grandfather
　　　 because he was an old man and was much respected by the villagers.
　　　They always consulted with him about their difficult problems and he would
　 　give them good advices how to sell their rices at the best price.

   　　 He lived in a big thatched house which he had built on the edge of a hill
　　　overlooking the village. One day, a hot afternoon in autumn he peered out
　　　the window of his house at　the villagers below and observed them preparing
　　　for their annual harvest festival.
    　　It was sultry day and comforting breeze blew from the sea, but he watched
　　　the intense heat of the sun was causing the still air to pile layer upon layer
　　　over the sea. In the village below, the people did not notice the subtle change
　　　in the air, but Gohei Hamaguchi saw the　disturbance of the sea with its waves
　　　rising, darkening and seemingly moving in opposite to the wind. Then,
　　　remembering a story told by his grandfather long long time ago. He knew the
　　　terrible tidal wave was about to engulf the village.

    　　At once, he lit a torch and ran to his harvested rice fields as fast as he could.
　　　There, one after another, he set fire to the big　bundles of rice on the ground.
　　　The flames of the burning　rice leapt skyward and blazed brightly in the wind
　　　from the sea. Then, He struck the large bell hungging at the temple nearby.
    　　The villagers, seeing the blazing fire and hearing the ringing bell,　rushed up
　　　the hillside where Hamaguchi stood. At first they thought he was crazy, but
　　　when they looked back down at the sea, they loudly　shouted, "Look! Look!
　　　A terrible tidal wave is coming!"
    　　Very soon, the tidal wave struck the village　and destroyed the villagers houses
　　　carrying away all their possessions. The people stood perfectly　still and were
　　　unable to speak because of the sudden catastrophe had befallen　them.
   
    　　Gohei Hamaguchi, by his sacrifice, lost all of his property, but he had saved the
　　　lives of four hundred villagers. They were　unable to make their Grandfather rich
　　　again, but several years later, when　the village had revived, they named their
　　　savior　Hamaguchi Daimyojin or　Hamaguchi Gracious Deity.
　　　 They built a small shrine where the spirit of　Gohei Hamaguchi was deified　and
　　　the villagers would pray there everyday, even though he still lived.  Thus, curiously
　　　or not, the soul of Gohei　Hamaguchi was worshiped by the villagers as a living God.

　　A Brief History of Rafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo).

    　Rafcadio Hearn was born in Greece, in 1850, the son of an Irish army　surgeon and
　　a Greek mother. He went to America and worked there as a　journalist. In 1890, he
　　came to Japan as a travel journalist. He also worked　as an English teacher in the
　　city of Matsue in Shimane Prefecture. He　married with Setsu Koizumi, the daughter
　　of a samurai and became a Japanese.  He changed his name to Koizumi Yakumo.
　　After that, Rafcadio　Hearn, now Koizumi Yakumo, taught English literature at Tokyo
　　University and　Waseda University. He died in Tokyo, in 1904, at the age of fifty-four.

　　　 His main books include, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan; 　In Ghostly　Japan; Ghost
　　Story (Kaidan); 　Shadow God Country Japan: One essay.
    　These manuscripts, together with his diary and other writings, are　reserved in The
　　 Rafcadio Hearn Library of Toyama University. 

　　March 2001,described