Welcome to Inamura-no-Hi no Yakata.

Hamaguchi Goryo, renowned for starting the “fire of rice sheaves,” was born in Hiro-mura village, Kishu (currently Hirogawa-cho, Wakayama).
He saved the lives of many villagers by starting a ‘fire of life’ when a tsunami hit his village following a major earthquake that occurred in 1854, during the Ansei era. That achievement has been handed down as a symbol of tsunami prevention still applicable today.
In December 2015, the UN designated November 5 World Tsunami Awareness Day in commemoration of the day Goryo lit his fire. The spirit of tsunami awareness has spread throughout the world.

Inamura-no-Hi no Yakata, consisting of the Hamaguchi Goryo Archives and Tsunami Educational Center, is celebrating ten years since its opening. It was built to honor Hamaguchi Goryo’s achievements and hand down his lessons.
The exhibitions contained here will give you more knowledge about tsunamis and help you be prepared in case of a disaster.
We hope that you too can gain as much knowledge as possible on tsunamis so as to be prepared for any future disasters. Light the fire of rice sheaves that will last forever in your heart.

Inamura-no-Hi (fire of rice sheaves)

“This must be something big.” Gohei spoke aloud to himself as he rushed out of his house.

The quake was not actually that big, but the long, slow shaking and the rumbling sound were weird and something he had never experienced before. Gohei was the headman of the village, and was very worried as he looked down at the village.

Nobody seemed to be paying much attention as they were all busy preparing for the festival that night to celebrate the year’s great harvest. Then he looked at the sea, and couldn’t take his eyes off it.

The waves were coming toward the shore against the wind, and a large sandy field dotted with dark rock bottoms had quickly appeared on the shore. “Oh my god. This must be the sign of a tsunami,” Gohei thought. “If I don’t do something now, 400 people’s lives will be swallowed up along the whole village. There’s no time to lose.”

“Let’s do it!” said Gohei, and ran into the house to pick up a huge torch. Lighting the torch, he rushed toward the rice sheaves piled up ready to be taken in, and set fire to one of them, saying, “This is our harvest, but I can save the lives of the people if I do this.” The sheaf burst into flames, and Gohei continued to desperately light each of the other sheaves in turn.

After he had set fire to all the sheaves, he threw the torch to the ground, and just stood there, staring blankly at the sea. The sun had already set, and it was getting darker and darker. The fires he had started were lighting the sky.

A monk at the temple saw the fires, and started to bang the bell. Young men in the village started to run to the higher ground, shouting “Fire! It’s the headman’s house!” Then all the old people, women, and children ran up the hill, following the young men.

Gohei, looking from the higher ground, felt more and more frustrated, as the people seemed to be moving much too slowly. Finally, about 20 young men reached the rice fields, and tried to put out the fires. Gohei shouted, “Leave the fires, but you have to bring everybody here!”

As the village people continued to climb the hill, Gohei did a headcount one by one. The people were not sure what was happening, and were just looking at Gohei’s face and the fire in turn. It was then Gohei screamed as loud as he could, “Look! It’s coming.”

Everybody turned to look at where Gohei’s finger was pointing through the twilight, at a very thin line in the far distance where the horizon met the sea. But the line was growing thicker and wider, and coming closer and closer extremely quickly.

“It’s a tsunami!” somebody screamed. The gigantic walls of water were approaching really fast, and suddenly hit the land with tremendous power, like a mountain falling down from the sky or a hundred claps of thunder all at once. The people couldn’t help but jump backwards.

It was almost impossible to see anything, as the extraordinary plume of water dashed toward the hill like a huge cloud. But then they saw with horror that the sea was moving madly through the village, back and forth, repeatedly, smashing and grabbing at everything in its path.

Nobody could speak for a long while. They were just looking down at their village which had been gouged out by the waves and had disappeared completely. The fires on the rice sheaves were being blown around by the wind and burning strongly, lighting up the area brightly in the darkness.

Finally, the people came back to their senses, and realized that they had been saved by these fires. Then they kneeled down and bowed in front of Gohei in silence.