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Info
岩手県のドリームランド
Original article: http://ja.scp-wiki.net/dreamlandiwate
Author: ©︎FattyAcid
Translator:Salamander724
Īhatōv
Īhatōv Wards (by Toyoho),
LoI-8128-b (by the Jailors),
Dreamlands of Iwate Pref.
Ihatov (diacritics omitted)
Conspectus
In Japanese, there is an idiom “a truth come from falsity (or, fiction)”. Those who live in the neighborhood of paranormalcy like us are especially aware that the border between fiction and truth fluctuates very easily. In that respect, a very interesting area exists in Northeastern Japan. It is a space where the inside of the author's head shapes the landscape, and the distinction between fantasy and reality is extremely ambiguous.
We, Aodaishō, hope to spread the movement and ideas of the Hand in Japan, and become a bridge between this country and the Library. Then we must be aware of our domestic environment surrounding paranormalcy first. As a first step, we decided to look into the special areas scattered within the country. This is the monumental first page of our dossier.
Illustration
Landscape photo of Īhatōv. The forest and mountains seem far away, but they are not.
Knowledge
Traits: Īhatōv is a region that occupies the western part of “Tōno Yōkai Sanctuary”, the otherworld located in Iwate Prefecture. The southern plains are laid out with countryside and pastures, while the centre is a small town (called ‘Morīo City’ by the dwellers). The style of buildings here is Japanese-Western eclecticism that was common from Meiji to early Shōwa era; in contrast to the architecture of the rest of the Sanctuary, which is purely Japanese traditional style. There are woodlands around the town. The northern part is mountainous, with a mountain that looks like a miniature version of Mount Iwate being the most prominent.
The inhabitants of Īhatōv consist of humans, sapient animals and plants and minerals, monsters and spirits, and clammbons12. However, we cannot assert that “humans” among Īhatōv residents are the same as “humans” outside Īhatōv, due to the special nature of the region, which will be after-mentioned. The same applies to animals and plants and other beings.
Nature: Īhatōv is known as an area where the dreamscape of late Mr. Kenji Miyazawa, a writer from Iwate, has become an embodied reality. This place is constantly affected by metaphysical/pataphysical influences, thus weird phenomena always occur. In short, this space is established by a theory that differs from physical, magical, or occultic laws.3
The internal geographic situation is clearly proving it: the apparent distance and the actual distance do not match at all.45 One minute you're in an infinitely wide pasture, the next you're in a forest after a short walk.6 Therefore, the terrain should be considered as a rough directions, such as “a mountain on the north side and a field on the south side.” When you go to a certain point, you can arrive relatively easily if you have the will to go there.7
History & Associated Parties: It is unknown when this otherworld came about, but it seems that it already existed during Kenji Miyazawa's life. The turning point came in 1933, when Mr. Kenji died and Īhatōv began to collapse. It was Ms. Yabu Isanagi, the mayor of Tōno Yōkai Sanctuary, who separated Īhatōv from his death and anchored it onto ‘Samuto Locality’.891011 Since then, Īhatōv has become part of Samuto Locality, and now it remains as the “Īhatōv Wards” within the Yōkai Sanctuary.
Few people physically migrate from the outside, because the land was not originally suitable for residence, and there were relatively suitable lands nearby. However, it seems that during the post-war era, entities who have congeniality to the pataphysical properties of this land visited and settled. For example, there is ‘Ambrose Wildcat House’12, an Ambrose-affiliated restaurant.
Approach: The place itself can be safely accessed via Tōno Sanctuary. To enter the Sanctuary, you must be contact to the ward office. Fortunately, the mayor is favourable to us for now. In addition, we think that there are some more Ways we don't know in this area.
As we wrote in the previous paragraph, there are a lot of weird phenomena inside. Don't be surprised if anything happens. The trick here is not to bring common sense with you. Pay attention to the animals, plants, and stones, to be careful not to step on them inadvertently.13
Contact with the residents is no problem if you pay enough attention and respect to them.14 Even a complete layman on psychology can easily see that their mental structures differ from those of people living in modern Japan.15 They have an innocence and spirit of altruistic self-sacrifice. They hate domination and oppression. They are very curious and often speak to you first. It is rare to live in such a autarkic environment and not have antiforeign ideas.
Observations & Stories
“Īhatōv is a nomination. If you have to find the location, it is located on the field cultivated by Little Claus and Big Claus, among worlds like Alice's beyond the looking-glass, in the far northeast of the desert of Tepântar, and in the far east of the kingdom of Ivan the Fool. This is a dreamland exists in reality within an image of the mind of the author, that is, Iwate Prefecture of Japan.
Everything is possible there. You can jump onto an ice cloud to travel north by riding the wind of general circulation, or talk to an ant crawling under a red vase.
Even sin and sorrow shine there as sacred and clean.”
This may mean that there are other metaphysical areas similar to Īhatōv.161718 However, it may be better not to interpret it literally. At least the "Keepers"1920 at the time never seized or concealed this document. Then, this article may not be a direct reference to the anomalous areas.21 — K.K.
“On April 26, the annual concert was held at the Cultural Hall of Morīo City, Īhatōv Wards. The ‘Morning Star Music Band’, which celebrates its 90th anniversary, has been familiar to us for a long time, and continues to work as a rare touchpoint for the Western music. This year's music festival had a succession ceremony for the first time in 20 years. Paul the Cellist (18 years old) succeed to the name of Gauche, thus became Gauche V, and performed "Tiger Hunting in India". After the performance, he confessed happily that he practiced for several nights without sleep.”
— Promoting Toyoho, May 2017
What we can read in this article: it seems that “reenactment of Mr. Kenji's work” has been handed down as a ritual/event among the locals. In other words, they have reenacted the story of “a clumsy cellist improves his skills by animals' nagging”22 five times so far. We may have to note that there are stories whose characters die, among Mr. Kenji's works, including "Obbel and the Elephant", "the Genius Loci and the Fox", "The Life of Budori Gusukō". — AO
“This time, the wildcat house has launched a daytime-only lunch menu. It's a locavore menu made with existent ingredients carefully grown in Tōno, such as rice, soybean paste, vegetables; and local produts from Īhatōv: beautifully reflected wind and peachy morning light. For dessert, we recommend a compote made with unblown quince. Try it with yoghurt.”
Oh, I want to go again for the purpose of this new menu. A fancy restaurant where you can have a great dining experience no matter how many times you go. — U.K.N.23242526
“The Volcanic Bureau is recruiting new employees. Novices are also welcomed. Why don't you work and learn about geological minerals from your seniors? The duty is to observe volcano, install and repair observation devices, and exhaust the volcanic gas. Anyone who wants to join is welcome to visit the Bureau for themselves.”
— The Volcanic Bureau of Īhatōv
The Volcanic Bureau has the most modern style building in Īhatōv. There is a lot of measuring meters inside, but it is not known whether it is actually observing something scientific.27 Even so, engineers and scholars belong to the Volcanic Bureau seem to be acting on some kind of independent theories. In the first place, the very existence of volcano here is surprising.28 There seems to be nowhere to run in the event of a major eruption. Is this really okay? However, none of the residents, including the staffs of Volcanic Bureau, are anxious about this.29
And for sure, "The Life of Budori Gusukō" is the story of the protagonist becomes an engineer of the Volcanic Bureau and then eventually perish. Let's keep it in mind with the Gauche case. — AO
“Long time ago, the mountain over there erupted several times. At that time, the ash and smoke came out together, and that's me that fell on here. The eruption calmed down, the grass grew thick in fields and hills, and trees also began to grow, so a forest here became. I've been watching everything all the time. All of them — flora, bugs, beasts, people — are kind-hearted. Please be friendly to them.”
— A large black rock by the forest
Wow, I never thought I'd have the opportunity to talk to a rock.3031 According to him,32 it seems clear that an eruption occurred in the past. However, I could not figure out when it was. It's all unknown if the volcanic eruption was after the occurrence of Īhatōv region,33 or if the rock formed by the previous eruption34 acquired his consciousness as Īhatōv region occurred, or if the memory of him was fabricated. He looks like basalt, so I think he must be volcanic rock. But his sense of time seemed to be different from ours, thus he didn't mention the year or month. There is no way to know; we can't exam his composition by cutting him. — Deck.
Doubt
There must be other place/entities like this. Although it is hard to imagine that every human soul has such a place attached to it, there may have been a few people in history, if you narrow it down to prominent authors or artists. For example, an entity called “Andersen”, which is often referred by the Jailors, seems to be related to the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. And among the entities collectively called “deities”, there are also those that appear to be acting like characters of mythos rather than being numinous spirits. If there is a reader who is familiar with the relationship between fiction and reality, please share your information with us.
And, another “Doubt” I have is whether it's okay to deposit this file into the Library or not. The Library is a nexus where all the strange and weird and eerie things are gathered to the extent that I can never imagine, and the knowledges gathered in there are disclosed confidently. It's a little embarrassing to think that my writing becomes among them, and that the inhabitants of otherworlds might read it. In terms of quality, I'm not sure whether this is something to put on the shelf or not. The last getaway plan was fine, but it's my first time to write a catalog like this, Christmas, please erase this part later. I was so confused that I wrote something weird.35
I thank you for taking the courage to write this entry, my new comrades from the Far East. Do never worry too much. There are all kinds of books in the Library, including those that were not written. As the Library is a place to share knowledge that you want, so the knowledge you share, however trivial, deserves to be deposited. Though the Library is a very eerie place, that doesn't mean it's a scary place. Just as we have been accepted, you will be accepted too.
P.S. The Japanese literature shelves have the unpublished works by Kenji Miyazawa. Not sure if they will be helpful, please take a look. — L.S.