Hole
 
‘I have been living here for a long time, but I have never seen such a thing,’ strongly expressed a bewildered elderly woman who was busy working on her farmland, attending to her field.
Although the map suggested the Kofun location was close by, it seemed so far way and felt as if it must have been completely forgotten by its neighbors.
There was a path up to a reservoir for farming and it looked like people used to use this walkway in the past. However, once I passed the reservoir, the path disappeared through the overgrown bush and I couldn’t even find any animal tracks.

But I continued to battle through the bush which was almost as high as me, breathing in the aroma of fresh spring leaves and heavy soil.
However, trudging through piles of decomposed leaves and burdened by rain which had just be-gan, it became harder to walk through.
My view was limited because of the overgrown bush and I felt danger of losing my direction, every few steps I took.
Finally, after walking up the ridge and using GPS to make sure I knew where I was, I got to some flat land.
My GPS showed I was 100 meters away from my goal so I was quite relieved but I then realized that I couldn’t continue onwards because ivy was covering everywhere and preventing from getting to my final destination.
It felt as if the ivy was rejecting my way.
Because rain also started pouring down heavily, I reluctantly decided to head back the way I came.

The following day, I retraced my footsteps and near from where I walked up, I found a spot where some kind of land slid down.
When I looked around, I noticed behind the landslide a path which was going up the hill and in the right direction. However, there was a small shrine further on the way and the path disappeared soon after there. I thought it would be too difficult for me to continue forward, especially when I had to walk up very steep hill.
When I gave up going any further and started to walk back, I found a clearing in the bush and as I moved closer, I found a path which people used to use in the past.
I decided to follow this path, which was not easy with new plants covering my way, but I came to some flat land which was similar to where I reached yesterday.
I checked my GPS location and it was showing again that I was 100 meters from my destination.
There was no thick ivy but instead dense bush stopping me from moving on.
Doubts crossed my mind. ‘I have to go back again?’ I thought. However, I was determined to get to my goal so I slowly crept forward and squeezed through narrow clearings in the bush.
After walking for a while, I discovered a noticeable difference in ground level and I went down. There, I found a mound. I realized that here was my destination, a Kofun tomb.
Around this Kofun, there was some open space where someone had probably looked after in the past. The actual grave mound had gone but I found some stones making a circle.
One part of Kofun was destroyed and made a large black hole.
I felt everything was so beautiful. The present shape, which had been created over a long period of time, conveyed a strong dignity which deeply imposed on the serene soundings.
It seemed that all the plants and trees around this Kofun and even the mountain in the far back-ground had been drawn in to become part of this Kofun site.

I thought this was the answer I was looking for.
 
Yukio Oyama

穴　hole
 
「私は長くここに住んでいるが、その様なものはこの辺りにはないよ」
農作業をしていた初老の女性は当惑しながらも強い口調だった。
目指す古墳は地図上のそれほど遠くない所に印されているが、近隣の住民に忘れ去られている、とても遠い所にある場所の様に私は感じた。
 

農業用に作られた貯水池までは、人が踏み入った道がつながっていた。
しかし池を越えると獣道もなく鬱蒼と伸びた草木が行く手を阻んでいる。
新緑と古い土の匂いのなか背丈以上ある草木を踏み分けながら山を登っていく。降り出した雨と堆積した腐葉土のせいで足元も悪い。何歩か進んだだけで、視界も狭く、方向も見失う危険さえ感じる。
GPSで何度も位置を確認しながら尾根伝いに上ると、平な場所までたどり着いた。
目的のポイントは100メートルほど先にあるのを確認し、少し安心していたが、何歩か歩くと蔦が四方に網の目様に伸びていて、ここから先を目指すのは難しい。まるで蔦に先に進むことを拒まれている様でもあった。
降りだした雨も強くなってきたこともあり、とても残念だが登ってきた跡を辿りながら戻ることにした。
 

翌日昨日登った貯水池のルートの近くに土砂が崩れた様な場所を見つける。良く見ると崩れた先に小道があり、登っていくと小道が続いている。方向も悪くないようだ。
しかし、この道は暫く先に祠があり、そこで道は無くなっていた。それより先は進むことが難しい急斜面だった。
諦めて引き返していると、途中に僅かに何かが分け入った場所をみつける。
踏み入ると人が分け入った痕跡があった。
新しい草に覆われているが僅かな跡を頼りに上り進むと、昨日辿り着いた平らな場所と似た様な場所に着く。
目的のポイントまではやはり100メートル位を示す。ここには蔦はないが簡単には進めない位に深い藪に覆われていた。また後戻りかもしれないという不安を感じながらも草木の間を体が通れる程度の隙間を作りながらゆっくり目的地を目指す。
しばらくいくと大きな段差があり、下に降りるとその先にそれらしい土の盛り上がりを見つける。
 
やっと目的の場所にたどり着いたようだ。
 
古墳の周りは人が手入れした様に少し広くなっていた。
墳丘は失われ石の囲みが見えた。
一部崩れていて黒く大きな穴が開いている。
とても美しいと感じた。
長い時をかけて作られた今の形は年月を越えてきた風格があり、辺りを圧倒している。
周りにある草や木々、背景に遠く見える山までも取り込み、この古墳の一部分にしてしまった様だ。
そしてそれは私自身にとっての一つの答えでもあった。
 
大山友輝朗