In the Yowa era, there was a two-year famine caused by the onslaught of droughts, typhoons, floods and the fact that grains never ripened for harvest. People abandoned their land; some moved to the mountains. Buddhist prayers and rites were performed to remedy the situations but to no effect. Beggars began to fill the streets, and the famine became an epidemic in the second year. Bodies of those who starved lined the streets with almost no passage for horses and carriages. Some tore down their houses for simple resources to sell for spare change; others went to the extent of stealing Buddhist images and temple furnishings to sell. Chomei reveals that he was born in this age, and he recounts that one of the saddest occurrences is when loved ones died first by starving to feed their family or lovers. Chomei also gruesomely describes,"" I also saw a small child who, not knowing that his mother was dead, lay beside her, sucking at her breast.""