Guide to Noto’s Satoyama and Satoumi (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) by Photos and Movies
Name
Kowashudo
Address
Oniya, Monzen-machi, Wajima City
Category
Natural landscape
Class
Designation
Japan’s 100 Exquisite and Well-conserved Waters (1985) Municipally designated natural monument (June 1987)
Comment
Kowashudo refers to spring water from halfway up Mt. Takao behind Sojiji, a temple of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism. The water is believed to be sacred water that Ryujin (the dragon god) bestowed upon Keizan Jokin, the founder of Sojiji Temple. The temple uses the water when dedicating tea or hot water to the Buddha, while residents nearby use it for their tea or other purposes. Once upon a time, a religious father and his son in a neighboring village drank the water. Then, the father, a sake drinker, got drunk and the water his son drank remained as it had been. The name “Kowashudo” comes from part of what the son mumbled at that time. It sounded like “Ko wa shudo.” When Keizan Jokin heard about this, he adopted for the name Chinese characters that have auspicious meanings. That is what legend tells us. This place was selected as one of Japan’s 100 Exquisite and Well-conserved Waters by the Environment Ministry (1985).
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