英語訳
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Looking at a piece of wood attached to the mountain forest near the bridge—which had been constructed 36 shaku (approximately 11 meters) above normal water level—it was found to be 17 shaku (approximately 5 meters) above the bridge deck, meaning the flood waters had risen to 53 shaku (approximately 16 meters) above normal water level. The number of houses swept away and casualties of people and livestock in the village were still unknown, but parents did not know the whereabouts of their children, and children did not know the whereabouts of their parents; all had barely managed to flee to the mountains with only the clothes on their backs. As for Shimowachi Village, since all routes into it had been cut off, the full extent of the damage could not be ascertained, but its losses in swept-away houses and casualties of people and livestock were certainly no less than those of Kamiwachi Village. Other towns and villages also suffered various degrees of damage. In consequence, the agricultural crops of the entire district faced the prospect of total or near-total failure, and the losses were truly extraordinary—even people over seventy years of age said they had never witnessed such devastation. It was also reported that houses had been swept away in Tomimoto Village, though no details had yet been received. It should also be noted that officials of the civil engineering district had been rushing about east and west, day and night without rest since the night of the disaster, making their rounds of the breached sections and working with great diligence—a dedication that moved everyone who witnessed it.
In Funagaoka, Abe Village of this district, a man named Naito Manzaemon was cut off by the rapidly rising floodwaters, and his family of five clung desperately to bamboo in the attic of their house, narrowly managing to survive.
In Kamata, Tomimoto Village, there was a person running a watermill on a slightly elevated piece of ground (name unknown). When the embankment at Kitagase in the same village breached, the floodwaters arrived instantly and there seemed to be no way of escape. However, the person discovered a large window that had been cut into the ceiling for silkworm raising and had not yet been closed, and barely managed to get out through it onto the roof, thereby saving their life.
**Flood Damage in Ikaruga District** In Ikaruga District, Tamba Province, the flooding in Ayabe and neighboring villages was severe, resulting in 32 deaths, 123 houses swept away, 30 houses completely destroyed, 18 bridges washed out, and 8 head of cattle and horses lost—making it the worst-affected area in the country after Fukuchiyama.
**Kyoto Prefecture** In Minamikuwata District, Tamba Province, the damage was: 27 houses completely destroyed, 16 houses swept away, 881 houses flooded, and 356 chō of farmland inundated. (Dispatched from Kameoka on the 2nd.)
In Tango Province, in Kasa District, the Isazu River rose approximately 4 jō and more, and levees on the west bank breached at two locations, flooding Maizuru Town to the level of the second floor of residences, with household goods and merchandise entirely
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flooded or swept away. Fifteen houses were completely destroyed and 18 people died; the full extent of damage throughout the district was not yet clear. In Yosa District, the Miyazu River flooded severely, with 10 houses flooded and 10 mountain collapses. In the central area, the Takeno River rose 1 jō 3 shaku, the Konishi River 8 shaku, and other rivers generally by more than 1 jō; 26 bridges were washed away; 34 locations totaling 570 chōbu of farmland were flooded; 200 locations totaling 36 chōbu of farmland were washed away or buried in sediment; 140 mountain collapses covering approximately 8 chō 2 tan; 100 levee breaches covering approximately 8,800 ken; 5 road collapses covering 500 ken; 4 houses swept away; 10 completely destroyed; 10 half-destroyed; 480 houses flooded above floorboard level; 520 houses flooded below floorboard level; one man and one woman killed. In Takeno District, 15 houses were completely destroyed, with other damage still under investigation. In Kumano District, all rivers rose approximately 6 shaku to 1 jō above normal; in Kumihama Town alone, all 180-odd houses in the entire town were flooded above floorboard level. A total of 24 bridges were washed out across the entire district. The destruction and devastation of roads, embankments, mountains, and farmland was enormous.
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**● The Disaster Befalling the Family of Miyamoto Shigezō of Aratagō-chō, Kobe**
(See frontispiece illustration) Kobe Matsumoto Yoshihide
The water disaster in Kobe City was truly the worst seen in more than thirty years, leaving countless fellow citizens without homes to live in, without clothes to wear, reduced to immediate poverty—and beyond that, reducing husbands, wives, and children to parting forever in a single night, leaving them in a state where tears of grief would not dry day or night. Such misery is not something that pen and paper can fully convey; yet in order to deepen the compassion of our readers, let me recount one tragedy that occurred in Aratagō-chō, not far from the breach in the Minato River embankment.
In the first block of that district there lived a man named Miyamoto Shigezō, forty-four years of age that year. He and his wife had six children: an eldest son (18), a second son (14), a third son (11), an eldest daughter (15), a second daughter (7), and a third daughter (2). The family of
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eight had been passing their days in peace and health—until the night of August 30th proved to be a night of such dreadful misfortune for them. That night, the master of the house had gone to visit a friend near the Nankō Shrine on some business and stayed the night there; the second son, third son, and eldest daughter had likewise stayed the night at a neighbor's house. At home, only the wife and three of the children had gone to bed side by side. At around eleven o'clock, the mother was suddenly awakened by water touching her face. She frantically kicked off her bedding and leapt up, and the mother and four children rushed toward the door—but the water had already reached chest depth. Carrying the youngest child, and with the eldest son bearing a younger sister on his back, they tried to flee toward the match factory behind the house, but the current was too strong for their feet to advance. In the midst of their struggle, the eldest son suddenly lost his footing and fell into deep water, accidentally dropping the little girl he was carrying. He tried to save her but could not. Just at that moment, fortunately, someone on the roof of the factory reached out with a bamboo pole to help, and waiting for the young girl to float up, they quickly pulled her onto a piece of timber nearby. The eldest son himself climbed up the bamboo pole to the rooftop and barely managed to save his own life—yet the mother was still in the water below, and he could only look up at the rooftop, weeping bitterly. When a bamboo pole was extended again to save her, it was as if by heaven's decree that in that instant the infant in the mother's arms was first swept away by a wave and disappeared from sight, and then the mother herself lost her grip and was carried away, her destination unknown. The eldest son, watching from the rooftop, witnessed the entire scene but could do nothing—he could only gnash his teeth in anguish and weep. Of the three children staying at the neighbor's house, the second son was barely rescued and pulled up to the rooftop of the factory, but the others were all swept away.
The master of the house, Shigezō, who had been staying near the Nankō Shrine, heard the news of the flooding in the night and immediately tried to return home, but the current was too strong and the road impassable. When he finally reached Aratagō-chō near dawn, his house was gone, and he could only see three of his children weeping on the rooftop of the factory. Ah—how great must his anguish have been at that moment!
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Truly, one night of water had caused a man to be parted from his wife and three children, cast into the depths of human sorrow.
The story of Miyamoto Shigezō is but one example. Were one to conduct a thorough investigation of the affected areas, the materials for equally harrowing tales would surely number in the multitudes. We earnestly hope that all our readers will shed tears of sympathy for these disaster victims and extend whatever assistance they can.