The Dog Stones

This story was written based on a folklore in Western part of Japan. There were two countries in the West of Japan. People decided to set the border between countries by letting two dogs fight...

Once upon a time, Japan was divided into many countries.  To the north of Kyoto, along the Sea of ​​Japan, there were the country of Tango and the country of Wakasa.  They were on bad terms with each other, and had always border dispute.  People of both countries often came together to talk, but were not able to find a solution.

On one occasion, someone said,
“Why don’t we get one dog from each country, and have them fight?  Let’s decide the border by the result of the fight.  If Wakasa dog wins, Wakasa will determine the border, and if Tango dog wins, Tango will do.”
After the end of the talks, the two countries agreed to follow that opinion.

It was the day of the decisive battle of the dogs.  Both dogs chosen were white, and had tough-looking.
The people of each country believed that their dog was better than the other, and gloated in mind,
"This game is ours.”

The standoff between two dogs went on for a while.   The dogs were growling, and then clashed violently.  People cheered the dog of their own country.  But soon, they found out that the dog of Wakasa was dominant.　

While fighting, the Tango dog, watching for a chance, ran away.  The dog of Wakasa chased the dog of Tango immediately.  Wakasa dog finally wrestled the Tango dog to the ground at around the top of a hill.  In this way, the border was decided as the country of Wakasa said.

Since then, the hill where the dog game was held became to be called "Kichi-saka" " good luck hill.   It was said that because there was a good thing for Wakasa, people called the hill Kichi-saka. 

The mountain path of Kichi-saka is right on the border of Wakasa and Tango.  There are a big stone in the shape of a dog on each side of the road.  The stone on the right is called Wakasa-inu (Wakasa dog), and the left is called Tango-inu.  Passing through the hill, and looking at those dog stones, people still remember the story of the border dispute in the past.

Author's Note

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