Though not a scientifically-proven premonitory phenomenon, legend has it that changes in the water are a sign of an impending catastrophe.
"It was just a slight change from usual, but I thought it was strange," said 79-year-old Kazuko Nishimura, as she looked back on it.
Nishimura had taken a peek into the hearths as she accompanied shrine visitors that morning. She noticed then that the water in two of the four 800- to 1,000-year-old iron hearths, which was usually a muddy reddish brown from trash and rust, was clear. The water had turned black like ink before the 2004 Chuetsu Earthquake in Niigata Prefecture, and vermillion before the 2008 Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake, Nishimura said.
Meanwhile, on April 22, more than a month after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the water was once again murky.
Victims of the March 11 quake and tsunami have given various accounts of what they think may have been omens, though they admit they cannot confirm the links. Some in the town of Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture, for example, said that crows disappeared a few days prior to the temblor, and pillars of light stretched into the sky beyond the cape the night before, while residents of Kuji, Iwate Prefecture, said that they had had an abnormally large haul of octopus.
It's possible that the disaster victims are merely making interpretations based on a subconscious desire to link everything to the massive earthquake.
Considering the fact that "science" was unable to predict such an unprecedented disaster, however, there's no basis to outrightly dismiss such folk beliefs. Plus, keeping a habit of noticing even the slightest changes in our environment -- which those living in outlying islands may be particularly skilled at because of their general proximity to nature -- may even serve to better prepare us for unforeseen disasters. (By Tomohiko Kano, Morioka Bureau)
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) April 23, 2011
沿岸南行記：津波被災地より 宮城県塩釜・２２日 「神釜の水」が変化
御釜神社にまつられている４台の神釜。奥の２台が震災前に澄んだ＝宮城県塩釜市で、狩野智彦撮影
普段の記事と同じように書くならば－－。＜東日本大震災約７時間前の３月１１日午前８時ごろ、宮城県塩釜市の御釜神社で、鉄製の「神釜」の水が普段と異なり澄んでいたことが分かった。水の変化は変事の前触れと伝えられ、住み込み管理人の西村和子さん（７９）は「わずかな変化だけど変だなと思った」と話している＞。むろん科学的根拠のある前兆現象ではない。
だが、拝観客の付き添いで当日朝、釜をのぞいた西村さんは証言する。１０００～８００年前製というフライパン状の釜４台のうち奥の２台で、いつもはゴミやさびで赤褐色に濁る水が澄んでいた、と。０４年の新潟中越地震前は墨色、０８年の岩手・宮城内陸地震前は朱色に変わったという。２２日は濁っていた。
数日前からカラスが消え、前夜に岬の先で光の柱が空に伸びた（宮城県南三陸町）▽タコが異常にとれた（岩手県久慈市）－－。「関連は分からない」が地震前の事だ、と各地で被災者に聞いた。何事も地震に結びつける心理が無意識に働いた可能性はある。
ただ、未曽有の震災を予知できなかった「科学」が、これらを否定できる理由もない。ささいな環境の変化にも目を配る気構えは、不測の災害への備えに通じる気もする。自然との距離が近い離島では、より変化に敏感かもしれない。【狩野智彦】
英訳毎日新聞 2011年4月23日 東京朝刊
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