Hyouka - Volume 03 - The Kudryavka Sequence - Welcome to KANYA FESTA! (1)

before the laying of the crops and after harvest, as well as during Obon and
New Year, they would go around collecting food and drink from the village
folk. It would seem that this was considered a form of payment in lieu of
money for renting land from the Chitanda clan. In turn, the leasing of land
would form the basis of their wealth.
After the war, as part of the land reforms, the Chitanda clan, like all other
large landowners, were compelled to sell most of the land they held to the
government. Yet, Chitanda Shounosuke, the leader of the clan then, saw this
as an opportunity to use the money from the land sales to modernize the
farming equipment as quickly as possible, and profit from the new farming
techniques. As such, Shounosuke was able to slowly buy back the land that
was sold off, and by the time my father became head of the clan, the
Chitandas had reclaimed nearly half of what was once their land, which was
considered to be quite large during the late Showa period.
This may sound like me boasting, but Chitanda Shounosuke was not simply a
man with business acumen, he was also a trustworthy man, as well as my
grandfather. Though as he died early on, I do not remember much of him.
Anyway, the Chitanda clan had managed to weather the chaos during and
after the war and maintained their status. As a result, they are still in charge
of representing the local community during the festivals.
To begin with, contrary to what Fukube-san had said, the Chitanda clan aren't
exactly so rich as to tower above everyone else. As a result, the annual
festivities were reduced from four times a year to just twice, during spring
and autumn, and the symbolic "payment" these days was merely a bottle of
wine. As such, the ritual was merely an excuse for everyone to gather and
have a feast. Though as I can't drink, I can't take part in the feast myself.
The spring and autumn festivals would take place in a small shrine
worshiping the "village god", which was a minor deity. There would be the
usual rituals of a lion dance and carrying of the mikoshi [1] . A person from
the Chitanda clan would act as representative for the shrine pilgrims and pray
for a peaceful year during the spring festival, as well as give thanks during
the autumn festival.