英語訳
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They watch as (relief food) is distributed. "How many people are in this house?" — at the cry from the doorstep, those suffering from hunger and thirst emerge from the second floor, and their clamorous rejoicing is such that they appear almost frenzied.
Furthermore, we hear of an even more harrowing account: The Third Artillery Battalion of the Osaka Division arrived at Shōbano for exercises on the 6th of this month, but from the following day rain began to fall, and due to the flooding, their route of passage was cut off for four days. Finding themselves in a field camp from which there was no escape, that very camp was submerged, and they were forced time and again to relocate to higher ground. Horses sank in the mud, capable only of raising their voices in high-pitched neighing. The cannon carriages were submerged in the water, unable to move, and the labor of transporting them to the hills was a difficulty beyond words. To make matters worse, word came of a shortage of provisions, and they were at a nearly complete loss as to what course of action to take. Even soldiers brave enough to storm an iron fortress found it only natural that they could not prevail against the brute force of the water's power.
Shiotsu is a village of over two hundred households, more than seven-tenths of which were flooded. Only houses situated against the mountain managed to escape harm, but the shortage of provisions was the same throughout. Seeing a barge loaded with one hundred and twenty-five bales of relief rice, threading its way between houses to distribute them to the village, and witnessing those on second floors, rooftops, or at the foot of the mountains pressing their hands together in reverential prayer — the sadness of the scene is beyond words. At the village office, the mayor and deputy mayor were carrying out their duties, but days without sleep had left their bodies exhausted and their responses sluggish. Seeing them expressing only gratitude for the kindness of the inspection visit while desperately busy with organizing the relief food distribution, the observer could not help but heave a deep sigh.
Naka-Kamibayashi has a total of over 770 households, a population of over 3,900, 366 *chōbu* of paddy fields, 160 *chō* and 1 *tan* of dry fields, an average annual rice harvest of over 8,000 *koku*, and its residents all pursue agriculture, also producing firewood and charcoal. On the night of the storm, from around 1 a.m. on the 31st, the Kamibayashi River and other upstream mountain streams began to overflow, and the mountains rumbled terribly, in places collapsing or gushing water. The scene was indescribably ferocious, and in the midst of total darkness, where one could not see even a foot ahead, the entire village's people grabbed whatever was at hand — reed matting, floor cushions, pieces of board — to shelter themselves from the heavy rain, and helped the old and the young as they fled screaming into the mountains. The confusion was extraordinary. When dawn broke, more than half of the entire village had been almost entirely submerged.
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...in muddy water. The village office, one higher elementary school, and three ordinary elementary schools were all flooded to a depth of two to three *shaku*, or even five to six *shaku* above the floor level. The village office fortunately escaped losing its documents and account books, but the Rikugō Ordinary Elementary School and the Higher Elementary School lost all their books, equipment, and other school supplies in the flood. Even after the water gradually receded, mud remained, making it impossible to easily enter the buildings. Walls had collapsed and roofs had broken, and the teachers and school board members were rushing day and night to carry out repairs and clean-up, yet there are still school buildings where classes cannot yet resume. Even those schools that have reopened have many students unable to commute because bridges were washed away; temporary bridges were erected once but were again washed away by a subsequent flood, and some have not yet been rebuilt. The damage to the village is as follows:
420 buildings flooded (including outbuildings), of which 5 households were completely washed away, 7 houses totally collapsed, and 15 houses half-collapsed; 38 locations of road damage totaling 4,200 *ken* in length; 123 bridges washed away, 6 destroyed; over 1,300 *ken* of embankment breached; 164 irrigation weirs washed away totaling 1,120 *ken*; 1,880 locations of mountain collapse covering 32 *chōbu*; 290+ *chō* of paddy field damage; 90+ *chōbu* of dry field damage; 13 *chōbu* of residential land damage.
The year's harvest is unlikely to exceed 1,500 *koku*, mulberry gardens have had half their entirety washed away, and over 200,000 mulberry trees have been swept away without a trace. Not only are the villagers immediately lacking food and clothing, but this year — up until the disaster — the rice crop had been the finest in many years, and the villagers had sold all of it except for their own table rice. Now even that table rice has been flooded, making it impossible to wait for the autumn harvest. Even if there is an autumn harvest, it will fall far short of one-fifth of a normal year's yield, and there is no way the village's residents can sustain themselves. Yet transportation is so difficult that obtaining food from outside is enormously challenging, leaving the entire village population with seemingly no choice but to await starvation — so they say, and intensive discussions of what to do are reportedly ongoing.
◯Rivers that flooded: The rivers in this prefecture that flooded are: Ōdo River, Yasu River, Ane River, Echi River, Azumi River, Hino River, Amano River, Inukami River, Uso River, Seri River, Yogo River, Chinai River, Iyamune River, Hebisuna River, Ta River, Ō River, Kamo River, Watsū River, Ōkami River, Yanagi River, Tenjin River, Oda River, Tsuboga-wa, Kidoga-wa, Ōtani River, Hayama River, and Oba River — twenty-seven rivers in total. Lake Biwa also saw its water level rise, inundating 1,983 *chōbu* of surrounding farmland. Due to the flooding of the aforementioned twenty-six rivers,
**[Left Page, Upper Section]**
...farmland was damaged to the extent of 589 *chō* and 8 *tan*, and the number of flooded houses, including those around Lake Biwa, came to 212.
According to surveys conducted up to September 1st, in the districts of Shiga, Kurita, Yasu, Iga, Gamō, Kanzaki, Echi, Inukami, Sakagami, Asai, Ika, Nishi-Asai, and Takashima, the total number of deaths was 48, injured 65; houses totally collapsed 2,648, half-collapsed 1,403; shrines, temples, schools, public offices, and company buildings totally collapsed 82, half-collapsed 24; other buildings totally collapsed 1,252, half-collapsed 317; roads damaged 1,819 *ken*; embankments damaged 847 *ken*; railway damage at 3 locations; 10 bridges washed away; 43 boats and ships lost. (Dispatched from Ōtsu on the 3rd)
◯Record of a Personal Observation of the Flood-Damaged Areas
*Ōmi Muromura, Shiba-no-ya*
On September 6th, from around 5 p.m., a violent rainstorm struck, accompanied by thunder. That night the rain did not stop, and by the following afternoon the rain was even worse. Past 2 o'clock, an alarm bell was heard. Sending someone to inquire, we learned that the embankment of the Ogawa River in a neighboring village had broken, flooding some 170-180 *tan* of farmland, with not a few houses flooded as well. Toward dusk, someone arrived with the news: "The Ane River embankment has broken, and Nagahama is flooding." On the 8th, I went to Nagahama town with one sturdy man to carry luggage. Since this flood was caused by the Ane River embankment breaking and flooding into Nagahama, the higher ground upstream was unexpectedly deeply flooded, while the lower Funamachi district was paradoxically less deeply flooded. On the 9th, I again obtained a boat and went to the home of relatives in Funamachi, where the water had risen two *shaku* above the floor, and everyone was living on the upper story. That day the rain still had not stopped, and the river water appeared to be overflowing more and more. On the 13th, I went to Nagahama again. The upstream higher areas were no different from the day before, and in Funamachi downstream the water had already risen four to five *shaku* above the floor level; one could gain entry to the upper stories only by equipping a boat with provisions. As I punted through the city streets, the foul stench of sake lees, cocoons, and grains from warehouses that had been flooded and had begun to rot struck my nose in thick waves. The flooding at Nagahama reached its peak on this day. Prior to this, since the weather had been clear on the 6th, I had entrusted my household to the wet nurse and sent her along with my third daughter and a maidservant to return to Ōgaki. The following morning, at Ōgaki Station...
**[Left Page, Lower Section — Map]**
*Schematic Map of Flood Damage in Ōmi Province*
(Place names indicated: Minakuchi, Kanzaki, Yokaichi, Yasu River, Hino River, Echi River, Inukami, Inukami River, Seri River, Sakata, Ō River, Fune River, Higashi-Asai, Ta River, Yoko River, Ika, Lake Biwa, Nishi-Asai, Ōura River, Ishida River, Ai River, Kamo River, Katata, Ōtsu, Takashima District)