Journey to the Wizarding World of Hogwarts

"There is actually a problem with this commission." After Murakami regained his composure, he explained to several people over lemon tea, "The client has actually disappeared."

The missing client?

Robert became interested and looked at Murakami with curiosity.

"Mr. Ishii is a folklorist." Murakami Takashi gave a full introduction. "It seems that he likes to investigate those unique myths and legends. I only received an invitation to come to Tokushima this time."

"Invitation?" The little wizards showed interested expressions, "What invitation?"

"Well...first of all I want to ask you a question, have you ever heard of porcelain plate painting?"

Unlike paintings on dinner plates, vases, or ritual vessels, although porcelain plate paintings are also paintings, they are also exquisite pieces of porcelain.

Compared with paper and silk, the physical and chemical properties of ceramics are very stable. They are not afraid of moisture or mildew. Their colors can still remain bright despite being exposed to wind and rain for many years.

Based on this magical feature, in 1998, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. built the world's first porcelain famous painting art museum, the Otsuka International Museum of Art, in Naruto National Park in Naruto City to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the company's founding. Neon's largest art museum.

The total investment in the museum is about 40 billion yen, covering an area of ​​nearly 30,000 square meters. The entire building is embedded in the mountain and is extremely solid. The exhibition hall is divided into 3 underground floors and 2 above ground floors, and displays more than 1,000 works collected by more than 190 art museums in 25 countries.

Of course, it's a replica.

And it's a high imitation.

The exhibits are produced using special porcelain printing technology, which not only maintains the same size of the original work, but also restores the true style of the work, allowing people to truly appreciate the artistic value of the original painting, allowing visitors to You can enjoy famous paintings and murals from all over the world.

What is worth talking about is that these porcelain plate paintings will not change color or deformation even if they are stored for more than 2,000 years. Therefore, it plays an important role in recording and preserving famous human cultural heritage. This art museum is both technically and conceptually They are all world firsts and can be called unique art museums in the world.

And this art museum is built next to Naruto Bridge.

The little wizards were walking on the mountain path. There was originally an art museum bus that they could take, but Murakami Takashi said that he would never touch any means of transportation for a while, so they could only walk up slowly with this guy. .

Fortunately, the surrounding environment is pretty good.

"Are there any... legends about monsters in Tokushima Prefecture?" Neither Robert nor Hermione knew much about this. After all, even at Hogwarts, there was still a terrible lack of information on East Asia.

Regarding this kind of information, Murakami Takashi expressed that he had no idea at all.

"Here in Shikoku, it is still a tanuki, right?" Yuko tilted her head and said that this is the most famous one, "such as 'Awa Tanuki Battle', 'Yashima Bald Tanuki' and so on..."

Talking about the battle between Apori...

In layman’s terms, it can be understood as…

The tanuki [Kanecho] was rescued by the human [Moemon]. After that, it went to join the Yakuza, but was feared by the leader of the Yakuza [Rokuemon], who wanted to win it over through marriage, but [Kanecho] He declined and resigned on the grounds of repaying his kindness. Because he was afraid of letting the tiger return to the mountain, the Jidao boss led his younger brothers to sneak attack [Jin Chang], but only succeeded in killing [Jin Chang]'s men.

In order to avenge this subordinate, [Kanacho] gathered 600 tanukis, and [Rokuemon] also gathered 600 tanukis. The two sides fought to the death for three days and three nights in the lower reaches of the Katsuura River. The river bed was covered with Finally, [Kinaga] killed [Rokuemon], but it was also seriously injured.

After taking his last breath and returning to Hikaino, [Kin Chang] expressed his gratitude to his benefactor, and then died.

But the war did not end. The tanuki army of [Kinaga] and the tanuki army of [Rokuemon] were still at odds. It was not until the [Bald Tanuki of Yashima] came forward that the two sides stopped the war.

Later, in order to express his gratitude for [Kinaga]'s deeds, [Moemon] enshrined it as "Masame Kincho Myojin" and was worshiped by others.

[Rokuemon] is regarded as "Rokuemon Tanuki Daimyojin".

As for the "Bald Tanuki of Yashima", it is the patron saint of Yashima Temple. It is good at the art of transformation and is also the general of Shikoku Tanuki. Because of its many good deeds in its life, it has many believers in various places in Neon, and it can bless people's weddings. Good marriage, harmony between husband and wife, happy family, abundant children and grandchildren, and prosperous business.

Yashima is a highland located in the northeast of Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture. It is famous for being the battlefield of the Genpei War. Well, the Genpei War may not be realistic, but it should be regarded as Minamoto Yoshitsune's famous scene, and then there is [ Dannoura·Hachibune Jump], well, but this story rather tarnishes the image of beef balls.

The bald raccoon dog of Yashima once led more than 300 tanukis to recreate the scene of the Genpei Battle. It can be said that he is very, very proficient in the art of change.

"Could it be that the tanuki monster we are looking for this time?" Hermione expressed that she was very curious. Could any of the exhibits in the art gallery have been stolen by the tanuki monster?

"I don't know, but I have other stories. Do you want to hear them?" Yuko seemed to be interested and started to introduce other monster legends.

The first thing I want to talk about is the legend about the Carrying Stone.

"There is a strange stone in a cemetery at 2-chome, Nishijigenya-machi, Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture. It is said that this is the tomb of a famous Hercules. However, two or three months after the tomb was built, this stone was Shitou suddenly spoke.

"'Carry me on your back, carry me on your back', it shouted in the empty cemetery, as if hoping someone could take it away. The people around it were very scared and called it 'Carry me on your back', and at the same time asked Keep others away.

"Someone heard this rumor and wanted to find out. He picked up the stone and walked two steps. He felt that the stone was very light, so he continued to walk forward carrying the stone. However, the stone on his back became heavier and heavier. Heavier and heavier.

"Finally, he couldn't carry it anymore, so he threw the stone on the road, and the stone broke into two parts instantly. From then on, he never spoke again."

Robert thought to himself, this was probably a legend made up by the ancient officials in order to prevent the residents in their territories from robbing them of the tombs, right?

Hermione was confused, "Isn't it harmful?"

Yuko shook his head, "I haven't heard of any harm."

In fact, there is a similar monster called the "Carrying Demon". When encountered in the middle of the night, it will shout to passers-by on the roadside, "Carry me on your back, carry me on your back" and jump on the backs of passers-by. .

This kind of monster is also very light when carried on the back, and then becomes heavier and heavier, and even those monsters will bite the victim's head.

However, there is also a legend that if you successfully bring the bearded demon home, you will get a bag of gold coins.