本論文は以下の4つについての調査分析をふまえたものである。⑴ 和歌山県紀ノ川流域などのいわゆる流葬を伴う両墓制，つまり大きな河川の岸辺や中洲に埋葬墓地が設けられ，大雨や河川の氾濫によって蓄積した遺体が墓地ごと流されてしまうような事例の存在，⑵ 大山喬平や網野善彦たち以来の研究蓄積のある平安京と鴨川の河原をめぐる歴史，つまり洪水と氾濫の危険な場所でありながらも同時に葬送地とも繁華街ともなってきたという歴史，⑶ その鴨川上流に位置する京都市の北部山間の村々では鴨川水系にありながら，京都御所で使われる水を汚穢してはならないという厳しい規範のもとにその墓地が分水嶺を越えて設営されてきたという歴史と民俗，⑷ 広島県の太田川上流に位置し河川の氾濫が頻繁におこってきた町場の中洲の利用の歴史と民俗，である。以上の作業によって指摘できた主な論点は以下の4点である。第1に，自然災害の危険と経済的魅力という相矛盾しながらも継続し続ける相互関係が存在するということ，そしてその強い伝承力の存在である。第2に，生活上の必然である汚穢の蓄積を，氾濫と洪水という自然災害が周期的に掃除し浄化して生活世界を新たにリセットするという逆利用の発想が存在するということ，そしてその強い伝承力の存在である。第3に，鴨川をめぐる淨穢観念の民俗伝承には古代の平安京以来の歴史の投影をみることができるということ，たとえば死穢忌避観念と獣肉獣血感覚の変遷など生活文化変遷の歴史は地域ごとに事例ごとにまた階層ごとにそれぞれ時差を含みながら立体的な歴史変遷をたどるという事実である。第4に，河川の洪水や氾濫の災害をめぐる諸事例の共通の特徴は，災害を受けても再び同じ場所に復帰していく，その繰り返しという営為にある。災害被害はできるだけ事前に予防して悲劇を繰り返さないようにする，というのが「常識」である。しかし，人間の生活欲，利潤追及への欲望や，死穢忌避の観念や汚濁処理の感覚的世界においては，その「常識」が通用しない事例が歴史的に存在してきている。この民俗学の災害論は，災害を負の側面から論じる「常識」の視点をいったん差し置いてみて，危険覚悟の上で展開する活発な経済活動と，河川の氾濫や洪水などの自然災害を逆利用する発想が存在するという伝承事実に注目したものである。つまり，「防災」だけではなく「対災」という伝承的な営みへの注目である。

This paper is based on the following four studies: (1) a study of the so-called riverside double grave system in the Kinokawa River Basin in Wakayama Prefecture (these graves are located on the banks and sandbars of major rivers so that the graves and bodies can be washed away by heavy rains or floods); (2) a study of the history of Heian-kyō and the Kamogawa River shores, which, as Kyōhei Ōyama, Yoshihiko Amino, and others have argued, flourished as a commercial district as well as a funeral place despite their vulnerability to floods; (3) a study of the history and folk customs of mountain villages upstream of the Kamogawa River in the north of Kyoto (the villagers' graves have been built outside the watershed boundaries of the Kamogawa River Basin because of the strict restrictions placed on them to prevent impurity in the river, which had also been used by the Kyoto Imperial Palace since old times); and (4) a study of the history and folk customs of a town upstream of the Ōtagawa River in Hiroshima Prefecture, where sandbars were actively used despite their susceptibility to floods. The results of these studies indicate the following four findings: (1) there are attractive and repulsive interactions between natural disaster risks and economic benefits, and these relationships have been passed on; (2) a counterintuitive idea has developed that the inevitable impurities accumulated in the course of daily life can be periodically cleaned and washed away by natural disasters, such as floods, so as to refresh the living environment, and these customs have been passed on; (3) the traditional concept of purification of the Kamogawa River seems to have been affected by the long history of the area dating back to the Heian period, and lifestyle and cultural customs, such as the concept of the impurity of death and the sense of animal meat and blood, have changed at different times and in different ways in each region, in each case, and in each social class throughout history; and (4) all these places susceptible to river floods share the common characteristic of attracting people to come back to live there repeatedly after such disasters. From a “common sense” perspective, all possible measures should be taken to proactively prevent natural disasters and stop tragedy from repeating itself. However, in history, this common sense is sometimes overridden by emotions and beliefs, such as people's desire for better lives, ambition to make money, the concept of the impurity of death, and belief in purification. By breaking the “common sense” assumption that natural disasters are bad, this study of disasters from the perspective of folklore focuses on the historical fact that economic activities were actively promoted in some areas despite their vulnerability to natural disasters and that even a counterintuitive idea developed that natural disasters, such as river floods, can be useful. In this study, attention is paid to the traditional custom of preventing as well as utilizing natural disasters.

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source:https://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/outline/publication/ronbun/ronbun9/index.html#no203