The footprint of Daidarabo
Long ago there was a giant called Daidarabo. This is the story of when he lived in Daira, which is now a suburb of Mito called Uchihara.
The people there were troubled by a mountain to the south because they couldn't get enough sunshine. Daidarabo also wanted to do something for the villagers, so he bathed in perspiration and pushed the mountain to the north side of the village. From then on the people had enough sun for their crops. The mountain is now called Asabōyama and is on the border of Mito and Kasama.
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However, after he moved the mountain, the make made by the mountain became a pool that flooded every time it rained. What Daidarabo did next was to make a river to drain the water from the pool and made a lake at the lower reaches of the river. This lake is now known as Lake Senba in Mito.
Daidarabo also lived in Ikushi, which is now Tsunezumi in Mito. He loved to eat shellfish. He would stand on the hill in Okushi, bend down and pickup shellfish to eat from the seashore of Isohara, which is now Ōarai. After he ate the shellfish he dumped the shells on the hill in Okushi and you can still find the remains today. People say that the small marsh at the foot of the Okushi hill is one of Daidarabo's footprints!
Now as you go from Ōarai to Mito, you can see what Daidarabo looks like in life-size. He is sitting on a hill looking down at the nice view of rice paddies with a satisfied look on his face.
