The Blue Dragon God of Lake Towada

There is an old legend in Lake Towada.

Once upon a time, a beautiful dragon woman lived in the lake.

She was bullied by the dragon of Mount Hakkōda, who came here many times each month.

One day, a monk named Nansobo arrived at Lake Towada.

He married the beautiful dragon woman who lived in the lake, gained eternal life, and became a blue dragon.

After fighting fiercely for seven days against the Hakkōda dragon, Nansobo won and became the lord of Lake Towada.

It is said that he still protects the lake today as the Blue Dragon God of Towadako.

This faith in the Blue Dragon was born about 1,200 years ago and spread throughout the Tohoku region.

The legend of Towadako was already known in Kyoto 600 years ago, even though it is 800 kilometers away from the lake.

Moreover, it appears in old books written at that time, where it is the only one of the northern Japanese legends that is mentioned. 

Do you know the Nanbu-han?

It was one of the administrative domains of Japan that existed about 200 years ago.The Nanbu-han controlled a vast territory that stretched across all of Iwate, half of Aomori, and northern Akita.

The lords of the Nanbu-han also worshipped the Blue Dragon God of Lake Towada, and the first lord of the domain was Nanbu Toshinao (1576–1632)．

 Toshinao believed that Nansobo had been his previous life, and he created a place in Morioka to honor the Blue Dragon of Towadako.

This place is Eifukuji Temple in Morioka, and the temple still exists today.

The stone pillar shown in the photograph in Morioka is engraved with the words “Towada Blue Dragon God.”

Hachinohe City in Aomori Prefecture also has a base of the Towadako faith.

This base is Fugenin Temple.

In old times, believers started their journey from Fugenin Temple and traveled to Towadako, spending three nights on the way.

Hachinohe City and Morioka City are far from Towadako.

However, people of faith walked for many days to reach the lake.

And there were not only these two bases of faith—there were many others.

The god of Towadako was extremely important to the people of that time.

This is the view seen from Fugen-in. Fugen-in is the starting point of Hachinohe side of Towadako faith.

This temple is 60 kilometers away from Towadako.

You can see the long and straight road started from the front of Fugen-in. This indicates that Fugen-in is very important place. Naturally, the dragon god of Towadako is an important god in this temple.

This is starting point of  Towadako faith on Akita Prefecture side. The name of this waterfall is Nana-taki. You can go close to this powerful waterfall. There is also a shrine to dragon god in front of this waterfall.

The Shimeitei observatory was one of the place to worship the blue dragon god in Towadako. Two peninsula are visible to the head and tail of the serpent. It is said that serpents are the attendants of the dragon god.If such a large attendant exists, then the Blue Dragon God dwelling in this lake must be truly immense.

There is a hotel called Towada-sou in Yasumiya-village.

At this place,more than 200 years ago, already there was many rest areas for people of the worship.

The village name "Yasumiya" means a rest area.

This is Towada shrin. The building is surrounded by wonderful sculptures. This building is new, built 1941. There is a small building behind this building. It is a little older than this building and was built in 1884.

 If you climb the mountain behind the shrine, you can see the Serpent’s Head on the opposite shore.

This is the closest place to the Serpent’s Head that can be reached without using a boat.

In the traditional Towada faith, the purpose was to pray to the Blue Dragon God and perform divination at this spot, which is said to be where the dragon dwells in the deepest part of the lake.

This sacred act was the very goal of their long, long journey.

It has long been said that if you make a wish to this god, any wish will be granted.