【Adachi Mystery Hunter goes!】 There are lots of old stories in Toneri! Effective for fulfillment of love too!? The tragic love story of Kenaga-hime [First Part]

Adachi Ward is located at the northernmost part of Tokyo 23 wards.
I have not well known Adachi yet, so I take a walk around every weekend.
I am sure that Adachi has its own good points which is not found in Ebisu, Kichijoji, Shinagawa.

Oops, I forgot to introduce myself. I am​ ​"Adachi Mystery Hunter"​ ​​ ​
​ ​​ ​who personally investigates strange things and mysteries in Adachi.​ ​​ ​

This time I came around Toneri.
This area has a well-known Toneri Park where "Senbon Sakura Festival" attracts many people is held in the spring.​ ​

When I wandered aimlessly, I found strange tiles. (※ above image)
"Black hair" "Waterside" ... ....
I had a strong sense of mystery.
Guessing from the picture of the tile, it seems to be an old tale or a legend handed down to Toneri.

I,​ ​"Adachi Mystery Hunter"​ ​​ ​started investigating with the help of the tiles above.

"Once upon a time ... ..."The old story with the beginning of this sentence is probably very familiar to everyone.
"Momotaro" "Kintaro" "Urashimataro" "Hanasaka Jisan" People have their favorite old stories, like that.
These old stories, traditions and legends have been handed down from many generations. Toneri also has such an old tale.

This time

"Once upon a time there lived a young woman who was a well-known beauty in a village..."​ ​

I will introduce the old story about "Kenaga-hime" with the beginning of this sentence, which has been handed down to Toneri area.
One of the tile says, "A long black hair has come down the river." Is it a woman's hair? Did it flow into the river?
What kind of story is "Kenaga-hime"?

The northernmost part of 23 wards, the oldest town in Adachi, Toneri

First of all, I would like to introduce a little about the town called Toneri.
Toneri in Adachi City, Tokyo is located at the northernmost part of Tokyo's 23 wards.
Just like a difficult place name, Toneri is also an old region with a long history where numerous ruins of the early Kofun period such as Toneri Iseki have been discovered.

Hunter headed for "The river in Toneri" with a hint of the tile image.
I realized that Toneri area was originally wetlands, while going ahead with the coverage and survey.
It seems that a lot of moats were made by irrigation works in the Edo period and the area was surrounded by the branches of the Tone River such as Arakawa, Nakagawa, Ayasegawa, Shinshibakawa like today.

When you get off at the terminal, "Minumadai Shinsui Koen Station" of "Nippori · Toneri Liner", you can see the unearthed articles excavated in this area in a showcase titled "The Oldest Village of Adachi, Toneri" . Have old inhabitants of Toneri lived well with the water?

There is a river when walking a little north from "Minumadai Shinsui Koen Station".
Although it is a very ordinary river at first glance, once across the river, it enters Soka city, Saitama prefecture. This river is the scene of that tile.

Okay, let's talk about the old story.

Once upon a time there lived a rich man with kind heart in a village called Nissato.
He had a daughter.
She soon grew up to be a beautiful young woman who was well known in the village ... ....

What is the story about "Kenaga-hime"?

There also lived a rich man in a village of Toneri across the moat who had a well-known son.
There were those who took care of them since both of them were marriageable age, and they were getting married.
Crossing the moat, a daughter got into the house of the rich man for marriage in a village of Toneri.

As a very beautiful couple, as if they were like emperor and empress dolls, they became a sensation in both villages.
Their enviable happy daily life lasted as they expected.

However, a few years later, the reason was unknown, suddenly the wife didn't get along with her parents-in-law.

She was not blessed with a child to their expectations and was feeling down every day.
Her beautiful appearance gradually declined, and the villagers worried.

She decided to tell this pain to her parents and left home.
However, she was heavy on her feet, and bent down on the edge of a pond worrying about it so much.

How long has it been since then? She finally threw herself in a pond, though she could not know what to do.

As she was missing, both families worried and they searched desperately for her with the villagers but could not find her.

After that, whenever it rained a lot, the waves like a small mountain raged. The villagers surely thought that the young woman became the guardian spirit of the pond.

A few years later, about 3 or 4-meter-long black hair has come down after the storm that lasted for several days.

The villagers surely thought that it was hers and they brought it to her parents in Nissato village. They were glad to have the hair as if their daughter came back home. They enshrined this hair as a deity. Since then, it seemed that no mysterious things happened in the pond.

Since then, this pond was called Kenaga-numa.​ ​

The end

(Source: Toneri learning center Minicomi magazine "Tsukushi" special issue "Toneri story telling")

The hair of Kenaga-hime is real!

The young woman who threw herself in the pond was the identity of "Kenaga-hime". As I stated earlier, the former Toneri area was a wetland, so there seemed to be many ponds, too. And the "moat" that came up in the story is said to be the current "Kenaga River".

And I knew that the black hair that came down the river really exists!

The enshrined deity of Kenaga-jinja Shrine, which is located in Nissato-cho Soka city Saitama prefecture, is said to be the young woman's hair.

The enshrined deity of Kenaga-jinja Shrine is the woman's hair......
The shrine which enshrined the woman's hair as a deity is very rare even across the country. Although it is not clear the relationship with Kenaga-hime, it is certain that there was something about hair in the past.​ ​

When you go to a residential area from Kenaga River, Kenaga-jinja Shrine stands alone.
It is not a bit calm that the woman's hair is a deity. Is it supposed to suppress Kenaga-hime's grudge and sorrow?

However, as I carried out the coverage and investigation,​ ​I got to know an unexpected facts!

>>Continue to the second part ...