Matosama

Many tributaries and streams flow from the mountains into the Doshi River that runs through the village of Doshi. One of those tributaries, the Murokubo River, has a circular rock feature with white concentric circles on granite. It is nicknamed matosama, roughly “the venerable target.” The rock is enshrined and worshiped as a deity of water, and stroking it is said to bring about heavy rains.

According to local lore, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate (1192-1333), once visited the area to undergo martial arts training. He built a tower in what is now the Matoba district––located on the Yagurasawa River, on the other side of the Doshi River about 4 kilometers away––and practiced shooting arrows from the top of the tower, aiming at the “venerable target.”