hama kudari

this is from a blog: http://www.minkantaishi.org/uuc/yoron/english/jat/Journal.files/april/april.htm
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Hama Kudari

It`s pretty cool when Yoron has its own holidays. Yesterday was Hama Kudari and after lunch everyone took the day off. I`m still unsure of true the significance of the holiday but it has something to do with gods, the ocean, new-born babies and feet.

Everyone went to the beach and for about five hours we searched for shells and clams. The tide was really low so we took a boat out to the reef and walked for what felt like miles. Me and Senta went "shako hunting" (shako is a large white clam) which was really hard because the big ones were wedged in between rocks and we had to hammer them out.

At dusk we headed back to shore and had a huge bbq and drank. All the new born babies from the Nama area were blessed and their feet were washed. The yusen flowed like a raging river and I managed to stumble through two sugar cane fields on my way home.
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interesting. i began with the name yagoro, because it was supposedly the name of a famous kappa who originated the phrase "kappa no kawa nagare." but as i googled the name yagoro, i found that 1) it was an archery term meaning the instant before release; and 2) there is a festival called yagoro-don, in which an effigy of yagoro, some leader of a rebellious clan, is raised in a parade to appease the spirit of yagoro. this festival originates in something called the hama kudari, which, interestingly enough, has something to do with "new born babies and feet."

for those of you paying attention to this blog, i'm writing a story about kappa. and the name of the kappa is yagoro. it's interesting, but as i search the associations down, there appears to be some kind of resonance going on. i'll have to research hama kudari further. if any of you have any input, please.