#Shino Mayu | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chanoyu-to-wa · 1 year ago

Text

Some Random Thoughts on the Practice of Chanoyu (13): the Use of the Ro during the Furo Season (Part 1).

A while ago, someone asked about how the ro might be used during the furo season. So -- because I think it might be good to take a short break from our discussions of tsuzuki-kane [續きカネ] and soe-oki [添え置き] -- I decided to use a recent chakai from the month of May, as a way to illustrate this matter.

Before looking at the tori-awase of the chakai, however, it might be good to repeat something that has been said here before: before Jōō created the irori, the only way chanoyu was being performed was with the furo.

Things had already started to move away from the daisu by that time (it appears that Shino Sō-on was already placing the furo on a round shiki-ita, which he arranged beside his family’s chū-ō-joku -- it seems that it was from Sō-on’s idea that Jōō derived his square ko-ita, by cutting a square within the circle); but the furo itself, even if Japanese-made, was still a very expensive object (and, in the case of the lacquered clay Nara-buro and mayu-buro, one that could easily be damaged as well).

It was in order to eschew the entire issue that Jōō recognized the communal cooking pit in the common room of the farmhouse as a potential alternative; and once it was perfected, his intention was that it be used all year round as the ultimate realization of the wabi aesthetic. Indeed, the furo was not used in the small room setting until after Rikyū entered Hideyoshi’s household (which he did between the end of 1582 and early 1583) -- the first example of which was when the small unryū-kama was used in the large Temmyō kimen-buro that was arranged on the Yamazato-dana [山里棚] (a tana resembling an inakama take-daisu, though with the front right leg removed and the ten-ita cut into a roughly triangular shape, both of which were necessary accommodations if the large Temmyō-buro was going to be placed on such a tana) in Hideyoshi’s Yamazato-maru [山里丸] (the 2-mat room that was constructed in the boathouse on the inner shore of the moat that surrounded Hideyoshi’s Ōsaka castle).

The first public reveal of this “new” way of serving tea in the small room appears to have been when Rikyū brought the same furo and kama to Kyūshū, and placed them directly on top of the wooden lid that he made to cover the mukō-ro in the tearoom that he had constructed in the “tea village” on the grounds of the Hakozaki-gu [筥崎宮], during the summer of 1587. So, prior to that occasion, only the ro had been used in the small room setting, irrespective of the season or temperature.

Turning now to the chakai that was held on May 14:

The kakemono was written by the Korean monk Seok-jeong of the Gumgang Temple in Busan. Seok-jeong s’nim is very famous for his cartoon-like sketches of Buddhist figures. This scroll features a painting of Bodhidharma, with his left hand raised, and the colophon jwa dan shib-bang [坐断十方] (za dan jippō; “from your seat scatter the ten directions” -- the meaning is to shed our misguided perceptions of reality through the repudiation of our ego, by means of the cultivation of samadhi via seated meditation).

The hyōgu [表具] is fairly typical of scrolls made for modern-day tea use, in terms of its proportions and the selection of the fabrics used; however, one point of note is that the handles are made from polished (but unpainted) natsume wood.

The chabana consisted of white tsuri-gane-sō [釣鐘草] (Campanula takesimana) and murasaki tsuki-gusa [紫露草] (Tradescantia ohiensis), in a coarsely woven bamboo basket.

The kama was a medium-sized unryū-gama [中雲龍釜].

The mizusashi was brown Seto ware, one of a group of mizusashi that Jōō ordered from the Seto kiln during his middle period (for use on the fukuro-dana -- they are thus associated with the early use of the ro, and are of the ideal size for chanoyu).

The name of this particular mizusashi is “Odori Hotei” [踊り布袋] (“dancing Hotei” -- Hotei being one of the seven Gods of Good Fortune, with his dance symbolizing unrestrained joy and contentment).

The chawan was black Raku-ware (of the Ō-guro [大黒] variety); the ko-bukusa [小フクサ or 古フクサ] was sewn from a variety of meibutsu-gire [名物裂] known as tan-ji chū-keitō-kinran [丹地中鷄頭金襴].

The chashaku is named “Yoka” [餘花] (which means flowers -- usually the word refers to cherry blossoms -- that bloom several weeks after the season has passed).

The chaire was made of Bizen-yaki [備前焼], by Kimura Yūkei Chōjūrō [木村友敬長十郎], the fifteenth generation master of the original Imbe kiln. Since the Edo period, it had been the practice of his family to make copies of all of the meibutsu chaire; this is his copy of the chū-ko meibutsu [中古名物] Seto hyōtan-chaire [瀬戸瓢箪茶入] named Kūya [空也].

The shifuku was sewn from a piece of a summer kimono material (from the early Shōwa period), with the design called seikai-ha [青海波].

The futaoki is an iron kakure-ka [隠れ家] (this shape of futaoki is usually called gotoku [五徳] today); and the koboshi is made of lacquered bentwood (this koboshi was favored by Ryōryō-sai Sōsa [了々齋宗左; 1775 ~ 1825], the ninth generation iemoto of Omotesenke).

The reason why I decided to begin by mentioning the tori-awase was to give this explanation context -- because the selection of utensils necessarily has an impact on the temae.

According to Jōō, when the ro is used all year round (which was his original idea for chanoyu in the wabi tearoom), during the spring and summer, the ro-buchi [爐緣] should be of unpainted wood¹, while during the autumn and winter, it should be lacquered (in the wabi setting, this meant rubbing with lacquer, or the use of one of the less fastidious techniques, was preferred over something like shin-nuri).

As for the question of incense, when Jōō began to use the ro, the only kind of incense used in the tearoom was made from crushed incense wood -- jin-kō [沈香] or byakudan [白檀]² -- which was drizzled along the length of the dō-zumi [胴炭]³ (so the incense would continue to perfume the air over the course of the gathering). Since byakudan is the smell of the furo season, it is entirely appropriate to use it in the ro during the furo season (and that is what was done on the present occasion)⁴.

As for this particular two-mat room, the length of the guests’ mat has been emphasized by the 8-sun 2-bu wide board (which functions as an ita-doko), while the utensil mat was made to look smaller by replacing the far end of the tatami with a board 2-sun 5-bu wide. This arrangement where the ko-ita extends completely across the mat predated the appearance of the tsuri-dana: the board allowed the hishaku to be displayed on the mat (as here), without having to rest on the futaoki⁵; the kōgō was also commonly displayed on the board (according to the records of Rikyū’s own gatherings).

Placing a pair of fusuma to the left of the utensil mat mirrors Jōō’s own arrangement of the utensil mat of his Yamazato-no-iori [山里ノ庵]⁶. The fusuma allowed the host to lift the various utensils directly onto the utensil mat⁷. For that reason, a tana was always placed on the far side of that fusuma, to keep the utensils from sitting directly on the floor⁸.

The kama is an unryū-gama, which was suspended from the ceiling on a susu-dake ji-zai [煤竹自在]. Most of the unryū-gama made since the Edo period have the handle of the lid made of a small ring. The reader should notice the direction in which the ring-handle faces in the drawings. This orientation allows the ring to be pinched from the sides, between the thumb and first finger of the right hand, when it is picked up. This is the traditional way for such handles (which predated the unryū-gama by at least a century) to be oriented. The host should be sure to open the lid of the kama slightly before calling the guests back to the tearoom, to let the built-up steam escape.

The mizusashi is centered on the left side of the mat, with the futaoki placed in front of it (so that it is in between the two kane). The cup of the hishaku rests on the board (5-bu from the wall), with the handle running along the kane; and with the chaire displayed on the near side of the yū-yo [有餘] (this is referring to the 2-sun wide space that extends across the mat in front of the mukō-ro: nothing should be placed in the yū-yo).

The chawan and koboshi should be prepared as usual (in the case of the chawan, the chashaku should be oriented facing upward -- this was Rikyū’s rule); and, together with the go-sun-hane [五寸羽]⁹, they should be arranged on the tana (in the katte) in a manner that will facilitate their being lifted onto the utensil mat at the beginning of the temae.

The goza begins with the host opening the door, and bowing to the guests. Then he slides across the sill on his knees (according to Rikyū, people should not stand up in the small room; moving about is done on the knees). The host immediately turns back to face the open doorway, and slides the fusuma closed¹⁰. (It is important that he do this every time¹¹, since otherwise it will be impossible to open the other fusuma, to access the utensils placed there). Then he turns back to fact the shōkyaku, and the two exchange words¹².

The the host turns to the left, and slides forward toward the temae-za, where he pauses briefly to appraise the condition of the fire¹³. He should also take note of the other utensils, making sure that they are still in the same places as when he arramged them on the mat (and if not, he should rectify things now).

After turning to face the fusuma¹⁴, and sliding it open, the host lifts the chawan onto the utensil mat (placing it in the lower left-hand corner of the temae-za). Then the koboshi is taken out, and the fusuma is closed.

The host turns to face the far end of the mat again. First the chaire is moved so that it overlaps the kane that is to the left of the central kane “by one third¹⁵.” The kane, in this case, is the me to the right of the futaoki¹⁶.

The the host then moves the chawan to the left side of the chaire. The foot of the chawan should be immediately to the right of the endmost yang-kane (which is 5-me to the left of the futaoki)¹⁷, with the back of the chawan’s foot touching the front edge of the yū-yo.

Next, the futaoki is picked up (with the right hand) and placed on the right side of the mat. Here its kane is on the fifth me from the heri; and it should be 2-sun from the front edge of the ro-buchi.

Then the host picks up the hishaku with his left hand¹⁸, and reholds it with his right. Holding the hishaku horizontally in front of his body, above his knee-line, he first moves the koboshi forward with his left hand (so it is 2-sun 5-bu below the lower edge of the temae-za), and then rests the hishaku on the futaoki.

According to Rikyū, the hishaku should be held so its cup approaches the futaoki at an angle (so that the corner is fitted into the depression in the center of the futaoki¹⁹); the hishaku should be brought into contact with the futaoki gently, and then the handle should be lowered to the mat²⁰. The handle should rest on the heri, with its right side to the left of the heri’s middle²¹.

After placing the hishaku on the futaoki, the initial arrangement is completed, so the host and guests bow for the sō-rei [総礼].

Following the sōrei, the host pauses momentarily, to collect his thoughts. Then the chawan is picked up and moved in front of his knees (the left side of its foot should be immediately to the right of the central kane, while the far side of its foot should touch the front edge of the yū-yo -- this is necessary so there will be sufficient space in front of the chawan for the chaire). Then the chaire is moved between the chawan and the host’s knees, with the chaire resting squarely on the central kane.

The host unties the himo, and then removes the shifuku in the manner appropriate to the kind of chaire he is using. The chaire is placed down on the mat again, and the shifuku is smoothed out, and then placed on the far side of the yū-yo -- with the mouth facing forward (according to Rikyū’s instructions), and the uchi-dome of the himo pointing toward the center of the mat.

The host then removes the fukusa from his obi, folds it, and tucks it into the futokoro of his kimono (or, if he is not wearing a kimono, he tucks the folded fukusa into his belt, near his right hip²²).

Then the host picks up the chaire, and while holding it over his left knee (the heel of his left hand can rest lightly on his left leg at this time, for security), he takes out the fukusa. Raising the chaire to the center of his body (above his knee-line), he wipes the lid, and then the shoulder, with the fukusa. Then, after returning the fukusa to his futokoro (or tucking it into his belt) once again, the chaire is lowered to the mat. Its back side should touch the front edge of the yū-yo, while it should not cross the kane on the left (this is a memory of the shiki-shi [敷き紙], where nothing resting on it was allowed to project beyond its edges).

The host then moves the chawan forward (so that its back side touches the front edge of the yū-yo). He takes out his fukusa, and places it on his left palm. Then he picks up the chashaku, cleans it with the fukusa, and rests the chashaku on top of the chaire. After which the fukusa is returned to his futokoro (or slipped under his belt).

Next, the host lifts the chasen out of the chawan and stands it on the mat on the same (yin) kane on which the futaoki is resting.

The the host takes out his fukusa, and wipes the lid of the mizusashi (because, on this occasion, the mizusashi has a lacquered lid) -- in front of the handle, on the far side of the handle, and then from the handle off the right side. (The case where the lid is made of the same material as the mizusashi was the original situation. Because the idea of making a lacquered lid for a mizusashi only appeared around the middle of the fourteenth century, it was felt that certain changes to the temae were necessary -- to make the use of a lacquered lid “more difficult²³.”) Then the lid is picked up with the right hand, reheld from the side with the left, and then leaned against the left side of the body of the mizusashi (the lid should touch the mat 3-me from the left edge of the foot²⁴).

Opening the mizusashi at this time is necessary because the kama is an unryū-gama: because of the small size of this kama, the water boils away very quickly²⁵. Thus, it is necessary to constantly replenish the kama with cold water, starting as soon as the lid of the kama is removed.

The host then picks up the hishaku with his right hand, and reholds it in his left hand so that it is above his left knee (it was at this time that it was held in the “kagami-bishaku” [鏡柄杓] position: opening the lid of the kama was felt to be akin to revealing the host’s heart -- the state of his samadhi -- to his guests, and so the hishaku was held like a mirror onto which his samadhi was reflected). He then takes the chakin out of the chawan and uses that to protect his fingers while lifting the hot lid off the kama. (As mentioned above, the ring-handle of the lid is pinched from the sides between the host’s thumb and first fingers -- with the chakin between the skin of his fingers and the metal of the ring.) The lid is lowered to the futaoki.

When the ring is held in this way, it will be pointed toward the lower right-hand corner of the temae-za. This leaves the side of the lid facing toward the middle of the mat completely unobstructed (meaning that there is no need to flip the ring over, the way certain modern schools teach²⁶). After placing the lid of the kama on the futaoki, the chakin should be rested on the lid (as shown in the drawing).

Then, after reholding the hishaku with his right hand, two hishaku of cold water are immediately added to the kama (to replenish what has boiled away since the sumi-temae), followed by a yu-gaeshi [湯返し]. After which, a quarter hishaku of hot water is dipped from the kama and poured into the chawan.

The host then immediately adds one hishaku of cold water to the kama, followed by a yu-gaeshi; after which the hishaku is rested on the kama as usual.

Then the host picks up the chawan, rotates it three times above the koboshi, discards the water, and returns the chawan to the mat in front of his knees.

The hishaku is picked up again, and a half hishaku of hot water is poured into the chawan. Once again, the host immediately adds a full hishaku of cold water to the kama, performs another yu-gaeshi, and again rests the hishaku on the kama²⁷.

The lid of the mizusashi is then closed, and wiped with the host’s fukusa in the same way as before it was opened.

Then the hishaku is picked up, and held with the left hand above the host’s left knee (kagami-bishaku, once again); and, again using the chakin (the lid will still be quite hot), the lid of the kama is picked up, and placed on the kama, closing it completely. Then the chakin is placed on the lid of the mizusashi, and the hishaku is again rested on the futaoki.

Then he picks up the chasen and rests it in the chawan, leaning against the far rim of the bowl. Then he performs the chasen-tōshi in the usual way, stands the chasen on the right side of the mat as before, and discards the water.

He dries the chawan with the chakin²⁸, places the chawan down on the mat in front of his knees, and returns the chakin to the lid of the mizusashi.

In the usual way, the host picks up the chashaku, and then the chaire, and transfers enough matcha to the chawan to make one portion of koicha (according to Rikyū’s way of doing things).

After returning the chaire and chashaku to their places on the left side of the mat, the host picks up the hishaku and holds it above his left knee (kagami-bishaku, again). Then, picking up the chakin, he again opens the kama, resting its lid on the futaoki (and then placing the chakin on the lid, as shown above).

At this time, during the furo season, the host once again rests the hishaku on the kama -- without doing anything else.

Then -- because this is the furo season, so cold water has to be added to cool the kama slightly before preparing koicha²⁹ -- the lid of the mizusashi is again wiped with the fukusa (as before), and then opened.

The host then adds one hishaku of cold water to the kama, followed by a yu-gaeshi. Dipping out a full hishaku of hot water, he pours an appropriate amount over the matcha in the chawan, and returns the rest to the kama. (At this time he does not add any more cold water, since he already did that before dipping out the hot water.)

Picking up the chasen, the host blends the matcha and hot water together to make koicha³⁰.

After the host has finished blending the koicha, the chasen should be placed on the left side of the mat, on the endmost yin-kane; it should also be in line with the center of the chawan.

_________________________

◎ While the details of the temae narrated here agree with Rikyū’s own writings, they might not necessarily conform with the way the modern schools teach these things. In every case where the temae practiced by the school with which the reader is affiliated differs from what is written here, it would always be best to follow your own school’s preferred methods.

¹On this occasion, the ro-buchi was made of sawa-kuri [沢栗] -- a variety of chestnut wood that grows near streams in the wild. This wood, which is beige, with a slightly darker grain, was the kind of ro-buchi preferred by Jōō and Rikyū for this purpose.

²Before the modern period, byakudan with a reddish tinge was preferred (since it has a more subtle aroma than white byakudan). However, this kind of byakudan is rarely seen today.

³Crushed incense wood is what is used in the temple setting.

Chips of incense wood, such as are usually used today, were originally made to perfume the breath while speaking (a chip was held under the tongue for this purpose).

It is unclear from the historical records when the change from crushed incense to wood chips was made.

⁴Neri-kō, as a way to perfume the air in the tearoom, did not come into use until a number of years after Jōō began to use the ro in his 4.5-mat tearoom.

When neri-ko was used throughout the year, the blend appropriate to the particular season seems to have been preferred:

◦ bai-ka [梅花] was used in spring;

◦ ka-yō [荷葉] was used in early summer;

◦ ji-jū [侍従] was used during the rainy season;

◦ ka-yō [荷葉] was used again during the period of intense heat;

◦ kikka [菊花] was used in early autumn;

◦ raku-yō [落葉] was used from late autumn to early winter;

◦ kuro-bō [黒方] was used in the depths of winter.

The reader should understand that this is only one system. Other series (in which the various blends were sometimes associated with different seasons) are also described in the classical literature (and these tend to reflect period-specific preferences -- which may or may not be tied to the availability of certain of the ingredients, most of which had to be imported from the continent).

This sequence cited above appears to follow the traditional division of the tea year into seven seasons (which primarily was used as a guide to the selection of the utensils): shun [春], u-zen [雨前], u-chū [雨中], u-go [雨後], shū [秋], shō-kan [小寒], dai-kan [大寒].

⁵In the early days, people were still using the treasured futaoki that had been placed on the daisu and other tana-mono, which were objects of appreciation. Resting the hishaku on the board permitted the guests to look at the futaoki without having to touch any of the other utensils*. __________ *If, for example, the hishaku was resting on the futaoki, since there was no tana in this kind of room, the question became what to do with the hishaku while looking at the futaoki. Placing it on the floor would dirty it.

Also, if the hishaku was resting on top of it, it is likely that the guests would not be able to see the futaoki clearly, and so not recognize what it was.

⁶The Yamazato-no-iori [山里ノ庵] was Jōō’s first 2-mat daime room. It was built in late 1554 or early 1555, at the same time as Rikyū’s Jissō-an [實相庵].

⁷Moving back and forth between the utensil mat and the katte, while carrying in the utensils one by one, was something that was supposed to be done only in the shoin setting.

In the wabi room, it was preferred that once the host reached the temae-za, he should not leave again until the service of tea was finished (this seems to have been Jōō’s idea from the beginning).

⁸These drawings show Rikyū’s tabi-dansu [旅簞笥] (which was used with the door removed, since the fusuma itself fulfills that function), since that tana is less deep than most of the others -- though any sort of mizusashi-dana could be used. In Jōō’s day there was a preference for high-quality mizusashi-dana with four legs, since those tana (fine though they might be) could not be used on the utensil mat.

The tabi-dansu was designed as a portable dōko (for use in a larger room that had not been constructed as a dedicated tea room -- meaning it had neither a ro, nor a built-in dōko). At the siege of Odawara (in 1590), Rikyū used the tabi-dansu when serving tea during Hideyoshi’s conferences with his generals. The furo-kama (the small unryū-gama in the large Temmyō kimen-buro), mizusashi (kiji-tsurube), and futaoki were arranged on a naga-ita. After everyone had taken their seats, Rikyū entered carrying the tabi-dansu in front of his body. He placed it on the mat to the left of the one on which the naga-ita was arranged*, opened the door, and then turned to face the naga-ita†.

The tabi-dansu was made so that it could be used with any chaire, except for a large katatsuki resting on a chaire-bon selected according to Jōō’s method (that is, the tray would be 3-sun larger than the chaire on all four sides). A tray of that size will not fit inside this tana. However, Jōō’s tray for a ko-tsubo chaire (such as Rikyū’s “Shiri-bukura” chaire [尻膨茶入]‡) would fit. A large katatsuki would have to be used with a tray selected according to Rikyū’s calculations (in other words, the tray would be 2-sun larger on all four sides). A clear understanding of the distinction between these two kinds of bon-chaire will be very useful for anyone who hopes to make sense of the aesthetics of Rikyū and his followers. ___________ *In, for example, an 8-mat room, it seems that Rikyū performed the temae on the left of the two mats in the middle, with his assistant (who conveyed the bowls of tea to each guest) seated on the next mat.

†This is completely different from how the tabi-dansu is used today.

‡Which he used during the most intimate conversations between Hideyoshi and one of his officers, or when receiving an envoy from the Hōjō defenders.

⁹The go-sun-hane [五寸羽] is the small-sized habōki that is used on a daime utensil mat.

In the small room, the utensil mat is always considered to be a daime (regardless of its actual size), since the lower 1-shaku 5-sun of a full-length kyōma tatami was always yū-yo in the small room setting.

¹⁰Rikyū preferred to reach across his body. Thus, when opening the fusuma (which, in the example shown, would slide from the host’s right to left), the host would reach up to the hand-hold with his left hand and, after opening the door 1-sun or so, push the fingers of his left hand through the aperture, and so pull the door open to the middle of his body. Then he would lower his left hand and continue pushing with his right hand until the door was open.

The door should not be slid open completely. Rather the panel that was just opened should be left projecting 1- or 2-sun beyond the edge of the other panel, so it can be grasped easily when it is time to close the fusuma again.

¹¹Unlike in the versions of the furo-season usage taught by many of the modern schools, where the fusuma by which the host enters and exits the utensil mat is occasionally left open -- ostensibly for the purpose of keeping the tearoom from becoming too hot -- this cannot be done in this room (since it will make it impossible for the host to open the other fusuma, through which he accesses the objects arranged on the tana behind it).

Furthermore: in Rikyū’s period the tea gathering was considered to be an extremely private affair, meaning that the doors would always be closed (and locked, where locks were available).

¹²Their discussion, at this time, is usually focused on the chabana, and the objects arranged on the utensil mat.

¹³According to Rikyū, the condition of the fire is the thing that determines what can be done during the gathering -- and a master chajin was one who could build a fire during the sumi-temae (always at the beginning of the shoza) that would keep the kama boiling until the service of usucha was finished, with the sound of the kama persisting (albeit weakening) until the guests left the room.

While the host pauses here to inspect the fire, he also should also check and see that the initial arrangement of the other objects was not changed by the guests in any important way (and if it was, he should put things aright before proceeding further). Unlike today, when scolding and hypercriticality have become important activities by means of which the guests attempt to control each other (so their behavior conforms with the norms established by their particular school), in Rikyū’s time the guests were free to do pretty much whatever they liked, and they often picked up the various utensils to look at them closely when they first entered the room for the shoza, or the goza. (Indeed, Jōō actively encouraged them to open the door of the ji-fukuro, or the dōko*, so that they could look inside at that time, only asking that the last guest close the door again when they were done.) However, since the host will also use the positions of the various utensils to guide his hand when moving new objects onto the utensil mat, his faith in the initial arrangement should be confirmed before he begins doing anything else. __________ *Only in the case of the mizuya-dōko was this sort of thing strongly condemned by Rikyū (meaning that he began to assert the host’s authority only during the last two or three years of his life, since the first mizuya-dōko was the one he built in his Mozuno ko-yashiki [百舌鳥野小屋敷], which was completed in late 1588 or early 1589).

¹⁴The fusuma at the left of the temae-za had a similar function (indeed, it was the inspiration for) the door of the dōko. The original dōko was simply a locally made wooden box, with a shelf suspended across the middle, that was a wabi alternative to the imported mizusashi-dana that had been all the rage during Jōō’s middle period. Once the size of this tana had been fixed, it was only a matter of time before the opening, and the fusuma sliding in front of it, were reduced to being no larger than necessary. (This, of course, was only possible in a 4.5-mat room, where the dōko is some distance removed from the host’s entrance. In this particular two-mat setting, however, it would be difficult, since the host’s fusuma must slide behind the other so that he can get into and out of the room, meaning that the height of the two doors must be the same.)

¹⁵This is the way the idea is expressed in things like the Nampō Roku. What it actually means is that the foot of the chaire is located immediately to the right of the kane, so that the body of the chaire extends across the kane (in the case of the meibutsu chaire, and meibutsu chawan, the foot is usually one-third of the maximum diameter of the body); the back of the chaire should touch the front edge of the yū-yo, as if it were an invisible wall -- it is fairly easy to visually extend the front edge of the ro-buchi across to the mat to this point, allowing the host to gauge the width of the yū-yo without much difficulty*). ___________ *When it comes time to move the chawan beside the chaire, the back of the chaire is the visual guide that helps him determine how to orient the chawan.

¹⁶This is why the placement of the futaoki -- centered, as it is, in between the kane -- is so important: it shows the host where both the yin and the yang kane are located -- since the me on both sides of the futaoki represent those kane.

Rikyū said that the kane, especially in the wabi small room, should be recognized by counting the me on the mat*, and this is what he meant. __________ *In entry 50 of Book Seven of the Nampō Roku, it was alleged that Rikyū marked the kane on a sort of measuring tape, which he then hid in his futokoro, bringing it out when he was arranging the utensils on the mat at times when other people were not present; but this sort of action is contraindicated by his own words.

Using a measuring tape was a machi-shū practice that the machi-shū of the Edo period subsequently strove to validate by also putting the device into Rikyū’s hands. Rikyū’s point, however, was that the wabi setting does not demand such exactitude -- and, indeed, such excessive care is actually out of place there. It is better for the objects to be aligned with the me of the mat -- that is, so the side facing the guests is seen to be so aligned with the me (since placing objects so that their edges are in between me looks careless).

¹⁷The kane were derived from the shiki-shi [敷き紙], which accounts for some of the more arcane conventions associated with them -- such, as in the case of the endmost yang-kane, the idea that things are bound by them (objects placed on the shiki-shi were not suppoed to project beyond the edge) -- though this is only really a rule during the actual preparation of the tea. This is why the chaire must be wholly within the confines of the kane, since the purpose was that any tea that might fall off of the chaire* would be caught by the shiki-shi (which was originally used only once, and then discarded after use), rather than soiling the mat. ___________ *In the early days, the fear of contaminating the tea with lint meant that the chaire was rarely cleaned as diligently as today. As a result, it was not unheard of for tea to remain on the shoulder of the chaire, from where it could become dislodged, and so fall onto shiki-shi.

¹⁸This is done so he does not have to reach over the chaire and chawan with his right arm to access the handle of the hishaku, which would be wrong.

¹⁹The depression in the top of a futaoki is called a hi [樋]. In the early days its presence (or absence) was considered to be the most critical feature of any object that the host wanted to use as a futaoki.

²⁰Audibly striking the hishaku against the futaoki, and then dropping the handle so it bounces several times before coming to a rest* were machi-shū practices adamantly deplored by Rikyū -- not only because they were annoying, but because they could loosen the joint between the hishaku’s handle and its cup, resulting in the hishaku leaking during the temae. __________ *This kind of thing was viewed as a kind of “natural magic” by the Koreans of the middle ages (and even today), since the interval between taps decreases by exactly half with each repetition. Nevertheless, while this is so, it is out of place during the temae.

According to Rikyū, the cup should be gently rested on the futaoki, and then the handle should be gently lowered to the mat -- even in the most wabi setting.

²¹The outermost 5-bu on all four sides of the mat is yū-yo.

²²This was explained by Rikyū.

While Rikyū preferred to wear a kami-ko [紙子] (a kimono sewn from heavy paper treated with persimmon juice -- making it a dark brick-red color), many people of his period preferred to wear Korean-style clothing, consisting of a pair of loose pants tied at the ankles with strips of cloth, and secured around the waste by a narrow cloth belt, and a separate shirt that was tied at mid-chest with a sort of cord attached to the hems, both of which were made from undyed cloth (usually cotton or hemp, so they were between off-white and a pale beige).

In either case, a jittoku [十德] (a hip-length overgarment, sewn from black diaphanous silk, and traditionally worn by monks on formal occasions) was worn over the other garments before entering the tearoom.

²³This will likely strike the modern reader as an odd way of thinking about the matter, since the higher temae are invariably more complicated than the lower.

But this is a problem that arose (perhaps intentionally) during the Edo period. The original daisu temae (the so-called gokushin-temae [極眞手前]) was very simple, with all actions dictated only by necessity. Originally, only a mizusashi with a lid made of the same material as the body was permitted, and this lid was cleaned (with a damp chakin) when mizusashi was filled with water when the daisu was being prepared for use.

But when the lid of the seiji unryū-mizusashi [青磁雲龍水指] was broken during the attack on Yoshimasa’s storehouse (yet the body was left completely unscathed), Yoshimasa felt it was too much of a waste for such a precious object to be thrown away. So he had a wooden lid carved and painted, to resemble the original celadon lid. But it was found that dust clung to the lacquerware in a way that it never did to pottery or metalwork*, and this is what necessitated the wiping of the lid with the host’s fukusa every time it was going to be opened or closed (for fear that the dust would fall into the water, thereby contaminating the contents of the mizusashi).

The original usage was basic. The later modification was more complicated, because it took into account the peculiarities of the new lacquered lid. __________ *Or perhaps it might be better to say that the dust was simply more obvious on account of the material that was used. Nevertheless, because people were now more sensitive to this issue, a remedy had to be devised, and that is how the procedure came into being.

²⁴This angle of inclination is considered to be the most stable, and so less likely for the lid to slip and fall on the mat.

²⁵The original unryū-gama was the small unryū-gama, which holds three mizuya-bishaku of water* when full. However, that kama was really too small to be used over the ro (because, on account of the larger fire and greater heat, the water will boil away too quickly). Later a slightly larger version of this kama was cast for use in the ro (it holds four mizuya-bishaku of water), and this is what is now known as the medium unryū-gama (chū unryū-gama [中雲龍釜]). It was made for use with the ro, and in that setting it was supposed to be used in the same manner as the small unryū-gama was used on a furo. ___________ *A mizuya-bishaku -- this is a standardized measuring device -- holds 400 ml of water when filled to the rim (though in practice, it probably holds a little less when water is being poured into the kama). Consequently, the small unryū-gama holds around 1200 ml (when filled to the bottom of the kan-tsuki -- as was the original rule, though some of the modern schools have changed this), and the medium unryū-gama holds 1600 ml.

²⁶Originally the ring-handle was pinched between the thumb and first finger, as described here. The early ring-handle did not have a projecting leg (that keeps the ring from lying flat on the face of the lid). Consequently, the host had to lift the ring up with his fingernails (cultured persons of the upper classes, both men and women, effected long fingernails during that period*). As a result, holding it from the sides was the most logical way to do things.

Ring handles of this sort were first seen when old bronze mirrors came to be used as lids for kama during the late fifteenth century†.

These mirrors had a small knob, with a hole pierced through it, in the middle of the back side (the front side was polished as smooth as the technology of the day permitted, and then silvered); and a cord was threaded through that hole (which was then braided to make a handle by means of which the mirror could be held up -- this can be seen in the photo). When mirrors that had lost their silver were used as lids for kama, a cord was impractical (since it would get wet from the steam, and so get too hot to handle; cords of this sort were also susceptible of catching on fire).

After chanoyu came to be practiced by members of the samurai caste (whose physical training meant that they could not have excessively long fingernails), the little leg was added to the ring, to make catching hold of it easier.

Unfortunately, by the Edo period the machi-shū had forgotten how this was supposed to be done, and began putting their index finger through the ring (meaning that the ring will have to face toward the host at all times). Because the ring was now taking up the very part of the lid where the chakin would have to sit, Sōtan and his followers got into the habit of flipping the ring over, so that the side of the lid facing him was unobstructed. Of course this not infrequently resulted in the host forgetting to flip it back over before the end of the temae‡ -- which was another point about which the guests could gossip later. __________ *Long fingernails meant that they did not have to do any sort of manual labor.

The way of doing things like handling a writing brush always took into account the fact that the user might have long fingernails.

†This was because, since bronze was not yet being made in Japan, this was the only way to get lids of that metal for the iron kama that were being cast in Japan. (When these old mirrors lost their silver, there was no way to repair them, so they became useless. Using them as lids gave them a new purpose.)

‡If the ring was not flipped back, it would be very difficult to pick up the lid.

²⁷This is a special feature of the unryū-gama temae: as a result, while the amount of water in an ordinary kama decreases over the course of a temae, in the case of the unryū-gama, it slowly increases after each time hot water is used.

²⁸In Rikyū’s temae, the chakin was used as it was, to dry the bottom, lower side, and upper side of the interior of the bowl, then the front rim and back rim, when wiping the omo-chawan [主茶碗]; it was not draped over the side while the bowl was rotated -- that was done only when drying the kae-chawan [主茶碗] (since doing so is more dangerous).

Thus, in Rikyū’s temae, the chakin was immediately placed on top of the mizusashi, without any need to refold it.

²⁹The reason for adding water to the kama before preparing koicha during the “furo season” is this: once the ambient temperature begins to remain above freezing throughout the day and night, the strength of the stored tea begins to decrease each time the cha-tsubo is opened (as more and more of the volatile components evaporate when the jar is opened to the air). Therefore, the temperature of the water has to be lowered, otherwise the aromatics will dissipate completely before the bowl even reaches the guest.

We are not really so sensitive to this as were the people of Rikyū’s time, and the reason has to do with the way the matcha is processed. Even if you visit a tea plantation and are served a bowl prepared with freshly ground tea, the simple fact is that the machine-operated tea mills heat the leaves too much when they are being ground (the millstones become too hot to touch). Thus, so much of the flavor has already evaporated even before the powdered tea is sealed in its tin (the aroma of grinding tea spreads even out into the parking lot -- that is how much is lost).

In Rikyū’s day, the tea was ground in a hand mill, and when turned by hand (even by the young men of the household to whom this task was usually delegated), the stones do not even become warm to the touch. Thus the tea retained virtually its full strength and aroma until it was finally put into the chawan, and boiling water was poured over it.

Before Jōō created the irori, when the furo was used all year round, this simple rule could not be followed. Rather, from the beginning of winter in the Tenth Month (when the new jars of tea were cut open for the first time) until the end of the Second Month (around the end of March), fully boiling water was used to prepare koicha. From the beginning of the Third Month until the end of the Ninth Month, the kama was brought to a full boil (by closing the lid of the kama during the chasen-tōshi), and then its temperature was reduced appropriately by adding cold water to the kama before dipping out water to make the tea. While one hishaku of cold water would suffice for most of this time, from the end of the rainy season the host had to take especial care -- because even though the weather begins to cool from late August, the tea will have already been so damaged during the intense spell of heat, that it will have been all but ruined. Thus water no hotter than absolutely necessary should be used for the remainder of the year. (That is why Rikyū used a tsutsu-chawan during that season -- so he could cool the kama as much as possible, yet be assured that the tea would not cool further between his hands and those of the guest.)

Chanoyu, especially wabi no chanoyu (where the focus was supposed to be wholly on serving the best possible bowl of tea -- rather than amusing the guests with a room full of expensive utensils*), was a much more involved process than the modern, mechanical, mindless methodology might lead one to conclude. ___________ *Unfortunately, this idea has declined to the point where a majority of the practitioners of chanoyu today do not like koicha, and only endure it because of the utensils and food, despite the fact that most private gatherings take place in what would be described as a wabi small room (which includes the inakama 4.5-mat room).

³⁰According to Rikyū, hot water should be added to the chawan only once -- so the koicha could be offered to the guest as quickly as possible. Pausing to add more hot water (as Jōō did -- not only when preparing koicha, but when making usucha, too) will delay this, meaning that more of the volatile flavor components will have had the chance to evaporate before the bowl actually gets to the guest.

1 note · View note

blogpoppit · 3 years ago

Photo

love live and PuraOre! ~Pride of Orange~ share same seiyuu

soramaru voice nico and Ema Yoshiike

mimorin voice umi and Eri Yamanaka

ainya voice mari and Shino Ukita

mayuchi voice kasumi and Ayaka Mizusawa

6 notes · View notes

britishassistant · 4 years ago

Text

But I Like One Piece (20)

They all turn to stare at him.

“Dear? How do you know that?” Okaa-san says.

Otou-san shakes his head and sits down heavily on the stairs. “The manufacturer for those weapons is in Yukigakure. Just like the incriminating ryo left at the scene of that theft.”

Oh.

Oh sweet Merry.

She mutters, “Shika said—when we were talking about the theft, he said it had to be an inside job, because an outsider couldn’t know anything. But if they were like me—if they’d read the comic based on Konoha in their past life, they would know. They’d know almost everything even if they never set foot here.”

She swallows, throat suddenly dry. “If it was plot-relevant, then they’d know more about what was valuable and how it was defended than people who’d lived here their whole lives. They’d even know the weaknesses of the ninja sent after them, if those ninja were major characters.”

Otou-san nods. “And if he or she needed to finance the manufacture of those weapons, what could be easier than to steal something from here and sell it to another hidden village?”

She sits down heavily on the stairs.

Her heart’s pounding too fast. The side of her head is throbbing in time with the beat.

“Well.” Okaa-san coughs. “That’s mildly terrifying.”

She lets out a humorless chuckle at the understatement.

Horror wars with elation in her brain. Elation at the knowledge that she isn’t alone here.

Horror at the idea of someone knowing everything about this place and deciding to use that knowledge for their own gain. If robbing Konoha wasn’t low for them, would they stoop to manipulating Naruto, Sakura, Uchiha? To hurting them to get their way, change a narrative they don’t like?

“But Iruka-sensei said Yukigakure gave us those guns for less money than they gave them to other villages.” Naruto says suddenly. “Maybe that’s the not-Mayu’s way of making it up to us?”

“You think villains who would commit such an unyouthful action would be capable of feeling guilt?” Lee says doubtfully. “Shouldn’t we tell Gai-sensei about this?”

“We can.” Otou-san sighs. “But I’m not sure how helpful it would be. Nara-san said Yamanaka-san knew about the Yuki connection between both the theft and these “guns”. For all we know, the price reduction could be a concession negotiated between the Hokage and the thief, and we just have a morsel of knowledge about that deal which would endanger Mayu more than it would help the village.”

She fidgets, tracing the scar on her lower lip.

Lee’s brows are furrowed, his mouth pulled down in a frown.

Okaa-san reaches out and smooths a hand over his hair. “Why don’t we get Ichiraku’s and sleep on it? I think Sanji would agree we’ll all make better decisions with some ramen in our bellies.”

Naruto springs to his feet. “Yeah! Ramen’ll fix everything, believe it! C’mon, I’m hungry, let’s go, let’s go!”

It doesn’t quite fix everything, she reflects later as she descales and fillets the pike for the offerings tomorrow. There’s still another reincarnated person who robbed the village, had her father take the fall for their crime, and is now mass-producing the very weapon that killed her past self, which they can do next to nothing about.

But ramen smoothed out the crease in Lee’s brow when they all agreed it was better to tell Gai-sensei than not. It lightened the mood and made everything this day had thrown at them seem a little less important in light of the celebrations planned for tomorrow.

Their small garden is now even smaller thanks to the a large wooden structure that sits next to the back fence.

It’s a bit like a cross between a shed and a greenhouse, if it only had three walls and no doors or windows. The roof is curved and the walls are sturdy, to protect the shrines inside from the elements.

There’s a length of thick white rope fastened with red twine inside the front gable, which is meant to ensure that the shrines are protected from malicious spirits.

Each one of the shrines has a small building that is sealed automatically once the shrine has been assembled, keeping a small object for the deity to inhabit safely locked away from prying eyes. There’s a small recess before this structure, for offerings to be placed, and a little column that puts them above the eye level of a kneeling person.

They’d debated setting aside a space for the shrines in the living room inside the house, to ensure they could be protected and cared for. But she kept getting impulses of outside, of wind and rain, freedom, that eventually they decided it was better than keeping them cooped up inside.

Plus this way, Luffy can’t raid the fridge as easily.

She’s already found certain small cuts of cooked meat have gone missing. If he’s anything like the manga, then she’s not giving him the chance to clean out the entire fridge.

They’ve been working on constructing it and the shrines on weekends and in the mornings during training. According to Gai-sensei, it’s excellent practice for C-rank missions.

Now all that’s left is to paint the structure and the ten shrines housed within.

Working out what to set out as offerings for tomorrow had been a challenge and a half.

For the most part, the Strawhats can be grouped into small sections of what they will and won’t eat.

Nami and Chopper are fruit lovers. Sanji, Zoro, Brook and Usopp are partial to seafood. Luffy, Franky, and Robin are happy with beef and other land-based meats.

However, Zoro, Sanji and Brook like varieties of seafood that are difficult to get in Konoha— octopus, lobster and prawns are expensive and hard to find, while sea king meat just doesn’t exist here. At least Zoro is happy enough with a traditional plate-2-bowls meal with rice.

Robin prefers sandwiches, and she’s not quite sure if the burgers Franky loves fit into that criteria. Chopper can’t stand spicy or bitter foods, but Zoro and Robin dislike sweets.

She’s just thankful that Luffy, Nami Usopp, and Merry are so easy to feed. Pike’s one of the few fish that Konoha doesn’t need to import, so it and tangerines relatively inexpensive.

There’s no chance of combining all their preferences into one dish. Her head hurts just imagining the clash of flavors.

So she had to somehow come up with a way of creating a meal that would (hopefully) make each of the pirates she idolizes happy.

No pressure.

Chouji ended up being her savior in this respect.

And maybe Uchiha did as well, but only a teeny tiny bit.

She’d been brainstorming different versions of meals she could try making that would satisfy everyone, but kept coming up short.

The added tension from Sakura’s friendly-again-but-still-not-quite-sitting-back-at-their-table thing at this time wasn’t exactly helping her think either.

“I’ve got cola, coffee, tea, heck even sake, but still no idea on what to pair any of them with.” She complained, tapping her pencil against the list in front of her.

Chouji had leaned over, a thoughtful look on his face. “Why not make them lunchboxes? That way you can make lots of things in smaller amounts and personalize each lunchbox for each of them.”

“Hm. That is a good idea.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “Only downside is working out when I can cook what and how much time the preparation of each portion is going so everything in the bentos is relatively fresh for when it’s offered... how much d’you think eleven more lunchboxes would cost?”

She’d just begun sketching out lines for a tentative timetable when Uchiha complained, “Why do you think you’ve gotta do everything on your own?”

She looked up, a little offended. “I’m not praying for help with this, are you mad? That’d be like asking someone to bake their own birthday cake.”

“What Sasuke means,” Chouji intervened. “Is that we could always split the work three-ways between us, and bring it to your house on the day?”

She blinked. “You...you guys would help me like that?”

Chouji smiled, then made a squeak of surprise when she lunged over the table to hug him tightly. “Thank you.”

“I have lunchboxes to spare.” Uchiha drawled. “Plus someone’s got to make sure you don’t mess up.”

She had then let Chouji go so she could boot Uchiha in the shin.

As a result of this arrangement, when she wakes up on The Day, all she has to worry about is preparing the pasta for Sanji, Nami and Usopp’s lunchboxes after training with Gai-sensei.

She’s almost worried that her timining be a little delayed because Gai-sensei grabs her in a bone-creaking hug when she arrives at training and spends about three minutes weeping over how youthful she is.

He then makes them run fifty times around the village balancing the paint pots they’ll be using later to ensure that the paint is agitated enough “so its most YOUTHFUL colors will shine through!!”

They nearly lose the purple when Naruto fumbles slightly over a root.

She bolts down her food at breakfast.

She puts on more rice again in preparation for the sesame onigiri, and pulls out a pot to fill with water that’s set to boil and a pan to gently heat some oil on the stove.

She smashes a clove of garlic and drops it in when the oil has begun to smoke gently, deseeding and dicing up some chilis and tossing them in as well for flavor.

She can’t help her grin when the heady spicy-savory scent fills the air, finely chopping capers and anchovies to toss in once she’s fished out the smashed garlic.

The scent mellows somewhat when the diced pike hits the pan as well, and she pushes it around until the fish is almost-but-not-quite cooked through.

Then in with a generous glug of wine and the heat is turned down to a gentle simmer to let the alcohol cook off.

Just in time for the rice to have cooked and cooled enough to begin mixing with yellow and black sesame seeds and begin forming into ten onigiri.

They don’t have any fillings other than the sesame, because they’re designed to take the edge off the stronger flavors of the pasta (her) and the takoyaki (Chouji), as well as serve as a substitute for a sesame topped bun accompanying the hamburger steaks (Uchiha).

The others begin to arrive at around ten.

Sakura and the Harunos arrive first alongside Ino and her dad.

She shouts a hello as Naruto and Lee lead Ino and Sakura through the kitchen to the back garden, nails orange with peeled tangerine.

Ino darts forward and steals two slices, chortling in response to her indignant “Oi!” and passing one to Sakura, who grins as she nibbles on their way out.

Yamanaka-san is totally at home chatting with Gai-sensei and Otou-san, but he snickers when Nara-san immediately gravitates towards him when he arrives. Shikamaru gives her a nod as he follows the adults outside and she puts the pasta on to boil.

She’s set aside two extra tangerines for when Shino and his father arrive. After all, she, Chouji and Uchiha are making enough to feed eleven deities and many many people, so shouldn’t their insects also be able to eat as well?

Shino’s dad stares at her inscrutably when she explains her reasoning, before accepting the fruit with a nod and a “thank you” barely audible over a loud buzzing.

Shino shifts from one foot to the other during this exchange before gently tugging his father’s sleeve. It occurs to her as she drains the pot-full pasta and adds the sauce alongside a cup of boiling water to emulsify everything that this might be the closest she’s ever seen him to being embarrassed.

Chouji and his dad arrive as she’s sprinkling in some parsley as a finishing touch.

They’re both carrying huge containers full of takoyaki and cooked spring greens, and she spares a small moment to be envious of all the amazing things Chouji’s family can afford to do.

Then she launches Chouji another hug to thank him for all his help once he’s set his cargo down.

He squeaks like he did last time and Akimichi-san laughs loudly, for some reason.

Iruka-sensei and Uchiha arrive with eleven lunchboxes, two dogs, Kiba and his mum, and Hinata in tow.

Uchiha keeps sneaking what appear to be morsels of meat to Akamaru and Kuromaru.

There’s also a pale-eyed frowning boy who Iruka-sensei introduces as Hyuuga Neji, Hinata’s cousin who’d been sent along to act as her chaperone.

The boy sniffs disdainfully when they greet him and goes to stand in a corner of the garden near Mebuki, completely ignoring Lee when he waves to him.

She doesn’t think she likes Hinata’s cousin very much.

The lunchboxes Uchiha brought are black lacquer decorated with gold and red tomoe, much fancier than anything she’d been expecting.

When questioned, he just shrugs and says, “It’s just old stuff from New Year’s. It’s just taking up space at home, so it’s better off here.”

She knows better than to say anything like “sorry”, so she just pats his shoulder and says “No, that compartment’s too small for the onigiri, put it in this one.”

“That’s way too big, it looks tiny in that one.” Uchiha snaps, but with a bit less bite than usual.

Iruka-sensei looks mildly overwhelmed by all the people in the back garden. Okaa-san comes along, hands him a drink, pats his shoulder and says “They’re in my house,” in a sympathetic tone.

Iruka-sensei gives her a pitying look and knocks the sake back in one go.

Adults here can be weird.

Finally they’ve finished serving and she calls out “Food’s up!”

The adults come in to help take the larger platters of food outside, a huge plate of pasta, several smaller hamburger steaks in the style of what they’d call “sliders” in her world, and mound upon mound of takoyaki and spring greens and tangerines.

There’s a clamor outside as people begin getting their portions.

She, Chouji and Uchiha are each balancing either three or four lunchboxes per person as they take them outside.

Sakura is helping Kiba paint a pattern of cherry blossoms across Chopper’s already vibrantly pink shrine. Evidence of her handiwork on Robin’s shrine is clear is the decoration of swirling petals and the streaks of matching purple paint all over her forehead.

Ino and Naruto obviously have had a battle over the orange judging by the splashes on their hands and clothing. On the plus side Nami and Luffy’s shrines are looking particularly colorful.

Shikamaru and Hinata are splotched with green, light blue and black-and-white. Lee is smudged with brown, cyan and white paint and beaming proudly.

Shino has yellow paint on the end of his nose and is looking at the detailed illustrations of insects on the sides with pride.

The only shrines that aren’t quite done are Sanji’s, which has a blue overcoat but no decoration, and Zoro’s which doesn’t have half its roof painted yet.

“We were waiting,” Naruto says, holding out two buckets of green paint and blue respectively, “For you guys to add your bits.”

She beams at him.

Of course, Uchiha has to ruin it by immediately grabbing the green.

“What?” He says, offloading his three lunchboxes onto Kiba. “I’ll give it back once I’m finished with it.”

Ino rolls her eyes and shoulders her paintbrush, adding another orange splotch to her outfit. “Ugh. I’ll help Mayu-chan, it’s better to get it done quickly. Let’s go before the food gets cold.”

Orange, red, and yellow fish on the blue background are much more vibrant and eye-catching than green, though Uchiha does “help” by flicking the paintbrush at her while she’s distracted.

In thanks, she smears yellow on the back of his neck.

After the extra decorations are finished, Lee, Sakura and Kiba redistribute the lunchboxes to make their offerings.

The only problem is there’s eleven of them and ten lunchboxes.

“You all go ahead.” She steps back. “I’ll do the next bit.”

Each one of them place the pirate lunchboxes down in front of the shrines and step back.

For some reason, she feels like traditional prayers and chants appropriated from the sage guy won’t really be all that welcoming to them.

But then, what? What could help them feel at home at these shrines, so far from the sea?

Her gaze falls on Brook’s shrine.

Oh.

Oh, well it’s obvious when it’s put like that, isn’t it?

She just hopes she remembers the words correctly. She doesn’t want to butcher them on accident.

“Yohohoho, yohohoho~ Yohohoho, yohohoho~”

Her voice sounds frail and quiet, and she can feel everyone’s eyes on her. Still, she stumbles through the last two refrains of yohohoho’s to the first verse.

“Binksu no sake wo, todokei ni yuku yo, umikaze, kimakase, namimakase~ Shio no mukou de, yuhi wo sawagu, sora nya, wao kaku tori no uta~”

Naruto joins in on the next verse, singing along slightly out of tune and mixing up some of the words.

His cheeks look as flushed as hers feel, and it’s hard not to giggle when they catch each other’s eyes. Somehow they both manage to keep singing.

Gai-sensei and Lee boisterously shout DON alongside them as they join as well, Gai-sensei’s voice strong and sure, while Lee’s volume makes up for any deficiencies in wording. She almost can’t hear Okaa-san’s melodious voice and Otou-san’s decidedly tone-deaf one join in on the second set of Yohohoho’s over their noise.

Sakura and Ino’s voices are both high-pitched, but they carry the tune well enough. So does Kiba, though he’s pitching up to a falsetto for some reason. Hinata’s voice is soft, but she’s genuinely singing, unlike Shikamaru and Sasuke who’re mumbling through all the bits apart from the yohohoho’s. Shino is monotone if precise and enthusiastic, while Chouji has a surprising set of pipes on him.

Akamaru is just howling to the beat. And with that accompaniment, how could anyone stop themselves from singing along?

It feels like more people than could possibly fit into their house and garden are bellowing Bink’s Sake together by the time they’ve reached the third set of Yohohoho’s.

It can’t exactly be called “harmonious”. Everyone’s a little out of tune, a little off beat.

But the mixing of all the voices of her family and friends feels so right, it makes her voice stronger, lets her sing louder.

She opens her eyes and nearly chokes on the next note.

Hovering in front of the brightly painted shrines, slightly faded but gaining color and substance with every passing moment, They stand.

Merry appears in all her glory, as if in mid- sail. Brook is playing his violin, a foot tapping to the beat. Franky is winding up for his SUPA pose, grinning broadly. Robin is resting a hand on Chopper’s hat. Chopper himself is peeking at them the wrong way round from Robin’s leg.

Sanji’s tapping out his cigarette with a grin and giving a small salute. Usopp is waving to them, like a captain would to his 8,000 followers. Nami’s blowing a kiss as if to adoring fans.

Zoro...is climbing over the garden fence and jogging to take his place in front his shrine next to the others. Nami shoots him a Look while Luffy laughs at him, sitting in mid air and clapping his feet together.

The Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates then turns to her and gives her a wide grin.

She blinks away tears as he and his crew fade away with the last notes of the song.

The food in the lunchboxes is gone.

The food on Naruto’s plate is also gone.

In fact, all the food in the immediate vicinity appears to be gone.

It’s just that Naruto looks down at his plate and yells in indignation first.

She lets out a wet laugh. “Darn it Luffy.”

18 notes · View notes

anybnight · 5 years ago

Photo

#First Love Story #Hatsukoi Signal #Favary #Asuka Kiyomiya #Sou Kagaya #Keiichi Minami #Arata Momose #Chitose Moriwaka #Shino Sakuraba #Asahi Nagamine #Mayu Handa #Akira Fujieda #meme #firstlovestory #fls

77 notes · View notes

imasallstars · 6 years ago

Photo

「 Wish Granting Sweet&Dream 」St@rt!!

The Platinum Audition Gacha has been updated with the limited「 Sweet&Dream」gacha set for February 2019!! The limited cards of this set features the usual theme of [ Valentines ]

The two new limited SSRs are of the COOL-type Haru Yuuki and the CUTE-type Mayu Sakuma. While the two new SRs feature the limited PASSION-type Shizuku Oikawa, and the COOL-type Shino Hiiragi

[ Note: The three limited cards will ONLY be available until February 8th 2019, 14.59 JST and may return after some time ]

#derestage #starlight stage #idolm@ster cinderella girls starlight stage #gacha #valentine 2019 #haru yuuki #yuuki haru #mayu sakuma #sakuma mayu #shizuku oikawa #oikawa shizuku #shino hiiragi #hiiragi shino

12 notes · View notes

calicocatcorner · 3 years ago

Text

Shoujo Manga with Physical English releases List

The Manga series english title (The japanese title - the author (firstname lastname) /artist) extra info

13th Boy (SangEun Lee ) out of print? Has digital release as well

@ Full Moon (Sanami Matoh)

A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai - Megumi Morino)

A Devil and Her Love Song (Akuma to Love Song - Miyoshi Toumori)

A Drunken Dream and Other Short Stories (Various)

A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren - suu Morishita)

Absolute Boyfriend (Zettai Kareshi - Yuu Watase)

Aishiteruze Baby ★★ (Youko Maki)

Alice 19th (Yuu Watase)

Alice in Murderland (Kakei no Alice - Kaori Yuki)

Alice in the Country of Hearts (Heart no kuni no Alice: Wonderful Wonder World (Author Quinrose art Soumei Hoshino)

Angel Sanctuary (Tenshi Kinryouku - Kaori Yuki)

Ani-Imo (Ani ga Imouto ga Ani de - Haruko Kurumatani)

Anonymous Noise (Fukumenkei Noise - Ryoco Fukuyama)

Antique Bakery (Seiyou Kottou Yougashiten - Fumi Yoshinaga)

Ao Haru Ride (Io Sakisaka)

Arisa (Natsumi Ando)

Aron’s Absurd Armada (Aronui Mujeokhamdae - MiSun Kim)

Ascendance of a Bookworm (Honzuki no Gekokujou - Author Miya Kazuki Artist Suzuka)

Baby & Me (Akachan to Boku - Marimo Ragawa)

Banana Fish (Akimi Yoshida)

Basara (Yumi Tamura) out of print/available digitally

Beast Master ( Kyousuke Motomi)

Beasts of Abigaile (Abigaile no Kemono-tachi - Ringo Naki)

Beauty Pop (Kiyoko Aria) out of print / available digitally

Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost (Kaori Yuki)

Beauty is the Beast (Bijo ga Yajuu - Tomo Matsumoto)

Black Bird (Kanoko Sakurakouji)

Black Rose Alice (Kuro Bara Alice - Setona Mizushiro) out of print/no digital release

Bloody Kiss (Kazuko Furumiya) out of print/no digital release

Bloody†Mary (Akaza Samamiya)

Bride of the Water God (Mi-Kyung Yoon) Out of print/not available digitally

Cardcaptor Sakura + Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (CLAMP)

Ceres: Celestial Legend (Ayashi no Ceres - Yuu Watase)

Cheeky Brat (Namaikizakari - Mitsubachi Miyuki)

Children of the Whales (Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau - Abi Umeda)

Claudine (Riyoko Ikeda)

Clover (CLAMP)

Cowboy Bebop (Authors Shinichiro Watanabe/Hajime Yatate Art yutaka Nanten)

Crimson Hero (Beniiro Hero -Mitsuba Takanashi) out of print /never completed series/ no digital

Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecillia Sylvie (Akuyaku Reijou, Cecilia Sylvie wa Shinitakunai node Dansou suru Koto ni Shita - Athor Hiroro Akizakura Art Shino Akiyama) Originally a LN / also licenced

Cutie and the Beast (Pujo to Yajuu: JK ga Akuyaku Wrestler ni Koi Shita Hanashi - Yuhi Azumi)

D.N Angel (Yukiru Sugisaki) Out of print but can get series digitally

Daily Report About My Witch Senpai (Maka Mochida)

Dawn of the Arcana (Reimei no Arcana - Rei Touma)

Daytime Shooting Star (Hirunaka no Ryuusei - Mika Yamamori

Demon From Afar (liki no Ki - Kaori Yuki)

Demon Love Spell (Ayakashi Koi Emaki - Mayu Shinjou)

Dengeki Daisy (Kyousuke Motom)

Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei - Yoko Matsushita)

Disney manga series (quite a few are shoujo)

Doubt!! (Kaneyoshi Izumi)

Dragon★Girl (Toru Fujieda)

Dreamin’ Sun (Yumemiru Taiyou - Ichigo Takano)

Fairy Cube (Kaori Yuki)

Fiance of the Wizard (Mahoutsukai no Konyakusha - Author Syuri Nakamura Artist Masaki Kazuka / Keiko Sakano)

Flower in a Storm (Hana ni Arashi - Shigeyoshi Takagi)

Flower of Life (Fumi Yoshinaga)

Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Fuwa♥Fuwa Cinnamon Yumi Tsukirino)

Fragments of Horror (Ma no Kakera - Junji Itou)

Fruits basket + Fruits basket Another (Natsuki Takaya)

Full Moon wo Sagashite (Arina Tanemura)

Fushigi Yuugi (Yuu Watase)

Gaba Kawa (Rie Takada)

Gakuen Alice (Tachibana Higuchi) Out of print /unfinished/no digital release

Ghost Hunt (Story/Art Shiho Inada Story Fuyumi Ono) Out of print/no digital release

God Child (Kaori Yuki)

Golden Japanesque: A Splendid Yokohama Romance (Kiniro Japanesque - Kaho Miyasaki)

Goong (So Hee Park) /out of print? Has digital copies

Grand Guignol Orchestra (Guignol Kyuutei Gakudan - Kaori Yuki)

Hana-Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - Hisaya Nakajo)

Hatsu*Haru (Shizuki Fujisawa)

Heaven’s Will (Satoru Takamiya)

High School Debut (Koukou Debut - Kazune Kawahara)

Himeyuka & Rozione’s Story (Natsukashi Machi no Rozione - Sumomo Yumeka)

Honey Hunt (Miki Aihara)

Honey So Sweet (Amu Meguro)

Hot Gimmick (Miki Aihara)

I Am Here (Koko ni lru yo! - Ema Toyama)

I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess in an OtomeGame but the Boys Love me Anyway! (Akuyaku Reijou desu ga Kouryaku Taishou no Yousu ga Ijousugiru - Ataki / Sou Inaida)

I.O.N (Ariana Tanemura)

Idol Dreams (31☆Idreams - Arina Tanemura)

Ima Koi Now I am in Love (Ayuko Hatta)

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss (Akuyaku Reijou nanodo Last Boss wo Kattemimashita - Author Sarasa Nagase Art Anko Yuzu) originally LN; also translated

Immortal Rain (Meteor Methuselah - Kaori Ozaki)

Kageki Shojo!! (Kumiko Saiki)

Kaiju Girl Caramelise (Otome Kaijū Carameliser - Spica Aoki)

Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari - Novala Takemoto/Yukio Kanesada)

Kamisama Kiss (Karisama Hajimemashita - Julietta Suzuki)

Karakuri Odette (Julietta Suzuki) Out of print? / no digital release

Kare Kano his and her circumstances (Masami Tsuda) out of print/no digital release

Karneval (Kaanibbaru - TouyaMikanagi)

Kase-san series (Hiromi Takashima)

Kigurumi Guardians (Lily Hoshino)

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You (Karuho Shiina)

Kiss Him, Not me (Watashi ga Motete Dousunda - Junko)

Kiss Me At the Stroke of Midnight (Gozen 0-ji, Kiss shi ni Kite yo - Rin Mikimoto)

Kiss of the Rose Princess (Barajou no Kiss - Aya Shouoto)

Kitchen Princess (Kitchen no Ohimesama - atsumi Ando; Story by Miyuki Kobayashi)

Kodocha: Sana's Stage (Kodomo no Omocha - Miho Obana )Out of print/ No digital release

Komomo Confiserie (Maki Minami)

Last Game (Shinobu Amano)

Laughing Under the Clouds (Donten ni Warau - KarakaraKemuri)

Lets Dance a Waltz (Waltz no Ojikan - Natsumi Ando)

Let’s Kiss in Secret Tomorrow (Ashita, Naisho no Kiss Shiyou - Uri Sugata)

Like a Butterfly (Hibi Chouchou - Suu Morishita

Liselotte & the Witch’s Forest (Liselotte to Majo no Mori - Natsuki Takaya) Story discontinued by Author

Living-room Matsunaga-san (Living no Matsunaga-san - Keiko Iwashita)

Love In Focus (Renzu-sou no Sankaku - Youko Nogiri)

Love me, Love me not (Omoi, Omoware, Furi, Furare - Io Sakisaka)

Love of Kill (Koroshi Ai - Fe)

Lovely★Complex (Aya Nakahara)

Lovesick Ellie (Koiwasurai no Ellie - Fujimomo)

L♥DK (Ayu Watanabe)

Magical Knight Rayearth (CLAMP)

Maid-sama (Kaichou wa Maid-sama! - Hiro Fujiwara)

Manga Dogs (GDGD-DOGS - Ema Toyama)

Manhwa Novella Collection

Marmalade Boy (Wataru Yoshizumi) Out of print/not digitally available

Mermaid Boys ( Sarachiyomi )

MeruPuri: Märchen☆Prince (Merupuri Matsuri hino)

Meteor Prince (Otome to Meteor Meca Tanaka)

Mint Chocolate (Mami Orikasa)

Missions of Love (Watashi ni xx Shinasai! - Ema Toyama)

Mistress Fortune (Zettai Kakusei Tenshi Mistress☆Fortune - Ariana Tanemura)

Moon Child (Tsuki no Ko - Reiko Shimizu) Out of print/not available digitally

My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Fijoshi Kanajo - By (author) Pentabu, By (artist) Rize Shinba) /originally a novel

My Girlfriend’s Child (Ano Ko no Kodomo - Mamoru Aoi)

My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun - Robico)

My Love Mix-Up! (Kieta Hatsukoi - Author Wataru Hinekure Art Aruko)

My Love Story (Ore Monogatari!! - Author Kazune Kawahara Artist Aruko)

My Special One (Kimi ga Tokubetsu - Momoko Koda)

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (Hamefura - Author Satoru Yamaguchi Artist Nami Hidaka) Originally a LN / also licenced

NG Life (Mizuho Kusanagi) Out of print/ no digital release

Nana (Ai Yazawa)

Natsume’s Book of Friends (Natsume Yuujinchou - Yuki Midorikawa)

Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun (Yumekui Kenbun - Shin Mashiba)

No. 6 (Story by Atsuko Asano, Art by Hinoki Kino )

No Longer Heroine (Heroine Shikkaku - Momoko Koda)

Not Your Idol (Sayonara Miniskirt - Aoi Makino)

Of the Red, the Light and the Ayakashi (Aka ya Akashi ya Ayakashi no - Author HaccaWorks* Artist Nanao)

Orange (Ichigo Takano)

Oresama Teacher (Izumi Tsubaki)

Otherworld Barbara (Barbara Ikai - Moto Hagio)

Otomen (Aya Kanno)

Ouran Highschool Host Club (Ouran Koukou Host Club - Bisco Hatori)

Penguin Revolution (Sakura Tsukuba) Out of print/ no digital release

Phantom Dream (Genei Musou -Natsuki Takaya) Out of print/ no digital release

Phantom Thief Jeanne (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne - Ariana Tanemura)

Pig Bride (KookHwa Huh/SuJin Kim) out of print?

Please Save My Earth (Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte - Saki Hiwatari)

Primitive Boyfriend (Genshijin Kareshi - Yoshineko Kitafuku)

Prince Freya (Itsuwari no Freja - Keiko Ishihara)

Princess Ai (Princess Ai Monogatari - Author Courtny Love Art Misaho Kujiradou)

Princess Knight the Twin Knights (Futago no Kishi - Osamu Tezuka)

QQ Sweeper / / Queen’s Quality (Kyousuke Motomi)

Rainbow Days (Nijiiro Days - Minami Mizuno)

Real Girl (Mao Nanami)

Red River (Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori - Chie Shinohara) Out of Print/ has digital release

Requiem of the Rose King (Baraou no Souretsu - Aya Kanno)

Revolutionary Girl Utena (Shoujo Kakumei Utena - Be-Papas// Chiho Saitou)

Rose of Versailles (Versailles no Bara - Riyoko Ikeda)

Rosen Blood (Rosen Blood: Haitoku no Meikan - Kachiru Ishizue)

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts (Niehime to Kemono no Ou -Yu Tomofuji)

Sailor moon + Codename Sailor V (Naoko Takeuchi)

Saint Tail (Kaitou Saint Tail - Megum Tachikawa) Out of print/no digital release

Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (Sakura-hime Kaden - Ariana Tanemura)

Sand Chronicles (Sunadokei - Hinako Ashihara)

Say I Love You (Suki tte li na yo - Kanae Hazuki)

Shinobi life (Shoko Konami) /out of print; also has digital

Short Cake Cake (Suu Morishita)

Short-Tempered Melancholic and Other Stories (Kanshakudama no Yuutsu - Ariana

Shugo Chara! (PeachPit)

Shuriken and Pleats (Shuriken to Pleats - Matsuri Hino)

Skip Beat (Yoshiki Nakamura)

Skull-faced Bookseller Honda-san (Gaikotsu Shotenin Holda-san - * Honda)

Snow White with the Red Hair (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime - Sorata Akizuki)

So Cute It Hurts!! (Kobayashi ga Kawai sugite Tsurai!! - Go Ikeyamada)

Special A (Maki Minami)

St.♥Dragon Girl (Sei♥Dragon Girl - Natsumi Matsumoto)

Star⇄Crossed (Wota⇄Doru: Oshi ga Watashi de Watashi ga Oshi de - Junko)

Stepping on Roses (Hadashi de Bara wo Fume - Rinko Ueda)

Strobe Edge (Io Sakisaka)

Stupid Love Comedy (Love Comedy no Baka - ShuShuShu Sakurai) (has more vol.s digitally tho)

Sugar Princess: Skating to win (Hisiya Nakamura)

Sweet Rein (Yoroshiku Master - Sakura Tsukuba)

Tail of the Moon (Tsuki no Shippo - Rinko Ueda)

Takane & Hana (Yuki Shiwasu)

Tanemura)

That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! (Watashi no Ookami-kun - Yoko Nogiri)

The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life (Usata Nonohara, Guru Mizoguchi, ox )

The Betrayal Know My Name (Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo SHitteiru - Hotaru Odagiri)

The Cain Series (Hakushaku Cain Series - Kaori Yuka)

The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess (Tensei Akujo no Kuro Rekishi - Akiharu Touka)

The Demon Prince of Momochi House (Momochi-san Chi no Ayakashi Ouji - Aya Shouoto)

The Devil Does Exist (Akuma de sourou - Mitsuba Takanashi) out of print / no digital

The Earl and The Fairy (Hakushaku to Yousei - Author Mizue Tani Art Ayuko) Originally a LN series (which is not licenced)

The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross (Shinshi Doumei Cross - Ariana Tanemura)

The Heiress and the Chauffeur (Ojousama no Untenshu - Keiko Ishihara)

The Poe Clan (Poe no Ichizoku - Moto Hagio)

The Prince and His Dark Days (Ouji-sama to Haiiro no Hibi - Hico Yamanaka)

The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent ( Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou Desu - Author Yuka Tachibana Artist Fujiazuki) Originally a LN / also licenced

The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World (Author Kyouka Izumi / Oumiya Artist Reiko Sakurada) Originally a LN / also licenced

The Secret Sakura Shares (Sakura no Himegoto - Akira Hagio)

The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions (Kyuuketsuki to Yukai na Nakama-tachi - Author Narise Konohara Artist Marimo Ragawa)

The Wallflower (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge♥ - Tomoko Hayakawa)

The Water Dragon’s Bride (Suijin no Hanayome - Rei Touma)

The White Cat's Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King's Lap (Fukushuu wo chikatta shironeko wa ryuuou no hiza no jou de damin wo musaboru - Author Aki /Kureha Artist Yamigo) Originally a LN / also licenced

The Wind Shines (Kaze Hikaru - Taeko Watanabe)

They were 11 (11-nin Iru! - Moto Hagio)

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys (Amakunai no Nichijou wa - Yoko Nogiri)

Those Summer Days (Ano Natsu - Chika)

Time Stranger Kyoko (Ariana Tanemura)

Tokyo Babylon (CLAMP)

Tokyo Boys & Girls (Miki Aihara)

Tokyo Mew Mew & Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode (Story by Reiko Yoshida; Art by Mia Ikumi)

Tomie (Junji Ito)

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet (Mika Yamamori)

Twinkle Stars (Hoshi wa Utau - Natsuki Takaya)

Usotoki Rhetoric (Ritsu Miyako)

V.B Rose (Banri Hidaka) Publisher became Defunct

Vampire Dormitory (Ema Toyama)

Vampire Knight (Matsuri Hino)

Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy (Seiyuu Ka! - Maki Minami)

Waiting for spring (Harumatsu Bokura - ANASHIN)

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty (Ohayou, Ibarahime - Megumi Morino)

Wanted (Matsuri Hino)

We Were There (Bokura ga Ita - Yuuki Obata)

Wolf Girl and Black Prince (Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji - Ayuko Hatta)

X (CLAMP)

Yakuza Lover (Koi to Dangan - Nozomi Mino)

Yona of the Dawn (Akatsuki no Yona - Mizuho Kusanagi)

Yukarism (Chika Shiomi)

Yuzu the Pet Vet (Mingo Ito)

#Shoujo #Shoujo Manga #Localized Shoujo manga #Localized manga #Manga

36 notes · View notes

recentanimenews · 3 years ago

Text

Blue Period TV Anime Reveals New Collaboration Visual and More Cast Members

A brand new visual for the upcoming TV anime Blue Period was released today on the official Twitter account for the series alongside the character art and voice actors for some of the additional characters of the upcoming adaptation of Tsubasa Yamaguchi's coming-of-age manga series. The visual was drawn by staff members at anime studio Seven Arcs in collaboration with Japanese artist Meguru Yamaguchi.

????#ブルーピリオド第2弾キービジュアル公開???? 第2弾キービジュアルは Seven Arcs　×　美術家・山口歴によるコラボレーションが実現✨ 山口歴さんの作品を背景に、躍動感のある八虎達が描かれた豪華ビジュアルです❗ ????TVアニメ 2021年10月放送開始https://t.co/gzMx7NQMhA pic.twitter.com/IUJufECaXk

— 『ブルーピリオド』公式 ???? 10月よりTVアニメ放送開始 (@blueperiod_PR) August 6, 2021

Joining the rest of the already announced cast members are:

Mayu Aoyagi as Maru Mori

Fumi Hirano (Lum in Urusei Yatsura) as Masako Saeki

Masaya Fukunishi (Liu in MEGALOBOX 2: NOMAD) as Sumida

Shinichirō Kamio (Nobutaka Ban as Burning Kabaddi) in Koigabuko

Tatsumaru Tachibana (Jin Mori in The God of High School) as Utashima

Miku Hiratsuka as Umino

Ikumi Hasegawa as Shirai

Yuna Nemoto as Shirota

Aoi Koga (Aki Shino in Remake Our Life!) as Yamamoto

Kouji Masunari (Kamichu!, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic) serves as the general director, alongside director Katsuya Asano (Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS), series composition/scenario writer Reiko Yoshida (Girls und Panzer), and character designer Tomoyuki Shitaya (Shokugeki no Soma). Seven Arcs (TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You) works on animation production.

The manga has been serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon since June 2017, with its English language edition has been published by Kodansha USA since October 2020. Here's the official synopsis:

Yatora is the perfect high school student, with good grades and lots of friends. It’s an effortless performance, and, ultimately…a dull one. But he wanders into the art room one day, and a lone painting captures his eye, awakening him to a kind of beauty he never knew. Compelled and consumed, he dives in headfirst — and he’s about to learn how savage and unforgiving art can be!

Previously released trailer:

youtube

Blue Period is scheduled to start in October 2021.

Sources: Blue Period on Twitter, Crunchyroll News German

----

Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.

By: Daryl Harding

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

0 notes

fourthfallcn-moving-blog · 8 years ago

Text

“Quick check: who here has pets? There’s... a bug going around for the animals and it affects some systems and not others. it’s mostly affecting dogs and cats- Aoi, Aika, Shino, and Mayu are all fine, while Hibiki and Kai... not so much.”

#ic;

3 notes · View notes

hiibowxkgp · 8 years ago

Photo

タグ付け失礼します🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻 . いよいよ、今夜は我々のホームCLUB‼️ CLUB SOUTH BBC足利の22周年パーティー🎉 是非お祝いがてら、遊びに来て下さい😊🙌 . 僕らはCandy Crewとして DJ Daichiと出演させて頂きます🙏 . 詳細はこちら👇 . BBC CLUB since 1995 22周年 Anniversary Party . 年に一度特別な想いと感謝を込めてお届けするアニバーサリーパーティー . いつもCULB SOUTH BBCをご利用頂きまして、誠に有難うございます。おかげさまで22周年を迎えます。これも皆様の温かいご支援のお陰と本当に感謝の気持ちでいっぱいです。日頃の感謝の気持ちを込めまして、3月11日(土）アニバーサリーパーティを開催いたします。レギュラーイベントDJ達によるスペシャルな選曲、そしてライブパフォーマンスをお楽しみいただけます。心地の良い音楽を楽しめる空間を目指していきたいと思っておりますので、今後ともどうぞよろしくお願い致します。 . 2017/3/11(SAT) OPEN 24:00〜 . TODAY ¥3,000/1D GUEST ¥2,000/1D👈👈👈 ※ヒーボーのゲストで最安値🉐🈹 . ■SPECIAL GUEST DJ 松崎夕 (From TOKYO) https://twitter.com/ddddjyou?lang=ja . YU-RI (DJ CITY JAPAN) https://twitter.com/yu_ri1119?lang=ja . ■SPECIAL GUEST GOGO DANCER BEBE (From TOKYO) https://twitter.com/bebe__mizuho . MAYU (From TOKYO) https://twitter.com/mayurorutime . ■DJ'S hiibow (Candy/KGP)👈👈👈 YUUMA☆ (Adventure/SHANDY) SOUTA (Adventure/SHANDY) Okaji (OveR DosE) SHIN (NEWRIZE) YOSHIMATSU (DRUNKER) KITASHIMA (DRUNKER) Daichi (Candy/KGP) AYATO (WAAGUWAAAN!?) SHINO (DRUNKER) . ■LIVE MAKA 1R . ■Special Thanks DJ CITY JAPAN . タイムテーブル🎵 ■1F 00:00〜00:30 DJ Okaji 00:30〜01:00 DJ SOUTA 01:00～01:15 1R 01:15～01:30 MAKA 01:30～02:00 DJ YOSHIMATSU（GOGO） 02:00〜02:45 DJ 松崎夕（GOGO） 02:45〜03:30 DJ YU-RI（GOGO） 03:30〜04:00 DJ YUUMA☆（GOGO） 04:00〜04:30 DJ hiibow 04:30〜05:00 DJ SHIN . ■2F 01:00～01:40 DJ Daichi 01:40〜02:20 DJ AYATO 02:20〜03:00 DJ KITASHIMA 03:40〜04:20 DJ SHINO . ※GOGOと記載してある部分はダンサーが入ります👯 . #djhiibow #clubsouthbbc #southbbc #bbc #club #anniversary #anniversaryparty #22ndanniversary #djlife #djfriends #dj #party #music #dj松崎夕 #djyu_ri #bebe #mayu #gogodancer #instagood #like4like (CLUB South BBC)

0 notes

chanoyu-to-wa · 7 years ago

Text

Rikyū Chanoyu Sho, Book 5 (Part 4): Transcripts of Rikyū's Secret Teachings.

16) The preparation of the furo for [the laying of] the charcoal, when compared with that of the ro, is much more difficult¹.

And there is even the case where the mae-kawarake [前かわらけ]² is not inserted [into the hai-gata].

During lord Katagiri Iwami-no-kami's [片桐石見守]³ retirement, on an occasion when chanoyu was given using the furo, Yabunouchi Jōchi [薮内紹知]⁴ and Kameya Sōfu [龜屋宗不]⁵ both appeared and, in consequence, joined [in the gathering together with Katagiri Sekishū, who was naturally the shōkyaku]. The lord commented: “if the teishu is regarded to be the person who ‘comes and goes⁶,’ his intentions should be focused on being considerate⁷ and thoughtful.”

After looking at the interior of the furo, [Sekishū] turned to Jōchi and said “[the hai-gata] is just round [like the furo]⁸: the ash has been badly done. Though [I] have visited in Kyō[to] again and again, [I] must say that this is the first time that I have ever seen the ashes arranged in this way.”

“On one side of Nijō [Avenue in Kyōto], there [lives] a certain teacher of chanoyu, [and, when this was mentioned to him, his response was] to wonder whether it was even possible to do something like that!” This, too, the lord repeated -- through his laughter.

Be that as it may, the appearance of something [that has been made by] a person of ability is completely different from that [produced] by a person of limited vision⁹.

17) There is even the case of [what is known as] the kokoro-kawarake [こころかわらけ]¹⁰.

18) The kasane-kawarake [かさねかわらけ]¹¹: depending on [the size of] the furo [the mae-gawarake] may be placed like this¹².

19) There is the case where [a person] is [invited] to come for tea by a nobleman¹³. In this case, the way that [the guest] enters the roji¹⁴, and everything else, is different from the usual [way these things are done].

It is most common for chanoyu to be performed among our own acquaintances¹⁵, and with [people] who are [our social] equals¹⁶. However, it is no longer the case that the people [involved with chanoyu] are all specialists¹⁷ -- since “specialists” who do not recognize the serious flaws [in propriety] should be ashamed of the time when these were [first] incorporated [into the practice]¹⁸. It is always best, when modifications are introduced [into the way the gathering is conducted], that they be carefully thought through first.

20) Speaking of the most renowned chanoyu-sha [茶湯者] from ancient times [to the present]¹⁹:

◦ the fourth-generation descendant of Lord Takauji, [who is known as] Lord Roku-on-in [尊氏公四代の孫鹿薗院殿]²⁰;

◦ Shōkō-in dono [勝光院殿]²¹

◦ Jishō-in dono [慈照院殿]²²

◦ Nōami [能阿彌]

◦ Matsumoto [松本]²³

◦ Dōtei [道貞]²⁴

◦ Sōgo [宗語]²⁵

◦ Shino [志野]²⁶

◦ Shun Kōkei (?) [░光慶]²⁷

◦ Jōō [紹鷗]

◦ Rikyū [利休]

◦ Oribe [織部]

◦ Sōho [宗甫]²⁸

_________________________

¹Furo no sumi koshirae, ro no naka yori naka-naka muzukashii-mono nari [風呂の炭拵、爐の中より中々むつかしきものなり].

The word written furo [風呂]* (which actually means a bathtub) should be understood to mean furo [風爐].

Koshirae [拵] means to make or prepare. Here it refers to the process of preparing the inside the furo to receive the charcoal -- orienting the gotoku, shaping the ash, inserting the mae-kawarake [前土器]† -- see the next footnote. __________ *It might have been better for this word to have been transcribed furo [風ろ], since the second character is actually a hentai-gana representing the sound ro [ろ].

†A concave tile (shown below) that is partly buried in the hai-gata between the fire and the hi-mado [火窓] (the opening in the front of a furo -- in the case of the kimen-buro and the like, there is a second hi-mado on the back side, and a second mae-kawarake was supposed to be placed on that side as well, though most modern schools have long forgotten about doing so) to prevent sparks from shooting out of the burning charcoal and starting a fire. (The sparks are generally the result of charcoal dust suddenly catching fire, which is why the charcoal used for chanoyu is supposed to be rubbed with a stiff-bristled scrub brush and then rinsed carefully with flowing water.)

²Mae-kawarake [前かわらけ = 前土器].

A sort of concave tile, originally made from a low-fired sake saucer* (that was made when offering a libation to a Shintō God) by cutting off part of the rim on one side, as seen in the photo, below. These saucers came in different sizes, and so the host selected one that would be appropriate for the furo that he was going to use.

Originally the mae-kawarake was made by the host himself, as part of his preparations†.

The reason the saucer has one edge cut off is because, in the early days‡, the furo was used all year round. The mae-kawarake was oriented with the round side uppermost during the warm months, and then it was turned over, so that the flat side was uppermost, when the weather was cold**.

When kyara [伽羅] incense was going to be appreciated in a hand-held censer during the sho-za (usually shortly after the sumi-temae), Jōō said that the mae-kawarake should not be inserted into the hai-gata at all, to facilitate the host's removal of the tadon [炭團]†† through the himado (making it unnecessary for him to remove the kama). __________ *Since ancient times these low-fired saucers have been made from red and white clay.

†Originally the host used whichever color he personally preferred (white was considered pure; red, festive). But in the Edo period the schools decreed the type of tile that should be used with each type of furo (the most commonly taught rule is that white mae-kawarake should be used in furo made of bronze or ceramic, while red mae-kawarake should be used in iron furo). Nevertheless, even in schools that adhere to this rule, there are occasional exceptions (usually as a result of one Iemoto preferring to use the opposite color in a special furo that he favored).

The low-fired clay from which the saucers were made is easy to cut with a hand-saw, and it may have been this that gave Sen no Dōan the idea for cutting away the broken mayu from a furo that he found in the trash, since clay furo were made from the same kind of clay (and fired to a similar temperature).

‡I.e., before Jōō introduced the use of the ro, during his middle period. Prior to that time, the furo was the only way that water could be heated for chanoyu.

**In addition to stopping sparks from shooting out, the mae-kawarake also keeps hot air from blowing toward the host's seat. In winter, of course, this is appreciated, so the tile is arranged with the flat edge projecting just 5-bu or so above the surface of the hai-gata when the weather is chilly.

††Tadon [炭團] are small cylindrical charcoal briquettes made from high-quality powdered charcoal, that are used to heat the censer. They were frequently coated with a thin leaf of silver foil on the outside (to prevent charcoal dust from falling off, or from soiling the host's hands).

Two or three tadon were usually added to the furo along with the ordinary charcoal during the sumi-temae (they were inserted near the front of the set of charcoal, so that they could be reached with hibashi through the hi-mado). And they would usually have begun to burn by the time the host had removed the charcoal utensils and brought the kiki-kōro [聞き香爐] (a censer that is held in the hand) and other incense things out from the katte.

³Katagiri Iwami-no-kami [片桐石見守]: the daimyō Katagiri Sadamasa [片桐貞昌; 1605 ~ 1673], who is more commonly known by the sobriquet Katagiri Sekishū [片桐石州] in matters related to chanoyu.

See footnote 11 in the previous post (Rikyū Chanoyu Sho, Book 5 (Part 3): Transcripts of Rikyū's Secret Teachings) for various details about this master.

After Katagiri Sekishū retired from public life he gave himself up to the study of the chanoyu of Jōō and Rikyū, creating reconstructions of the kinds of rooms that these masters used in his hermitage, the Jiko-in [慈光院], which he built in Kanbun 3 [寬文三年] (1663), in Nara.

The episode recounted in this entry took place sometime between 1663 and Sadamasa's death in 1673.

⁴Yabunouchi Jōchi [薮内紹知].

Perhaps the name Yabunouchi Jōchi [薮内紹智] is what was intended here. However, as this is the hereditary name of the Iemoto of the Yabunouchi school of chanoyu, it does not really indicate who is intended.

Since the episode being discussed in this entry occurred sometime between 1663 and 1673, the most likely candidate is the third generation Jōchi, who is known as Ken-ō [劍翁; 1599 ~ 1674].

⁵Kameya Sōfu [龜屋宗不].

Perhaps the man otherwise known as Kameya Gentarō [亀屋源太郎; dates unknown], who was active in machi-shū chanoyu circles during late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. His family had been based in Kyōto since the Momoyama period (some accounts hold that his ancestor, Kameya Einin [龜屋榮任; dates unknown], moved the family from Sakai to Kyōto in 1582, during the immediate aftermath of Nobunaga's death in the Honnō-ji).

⁶Teishu wa shutsu-nyū no hito nareba [亭主ハ出入の人なれば].

Shutsu-nyū [出入], “comes and goes,” refers to the host's exertions on behalf of his guests.

It is similar in meaning to the expression chisō [馳走], "running about" in the service of ones guests, that is also used in chanoyu.

⁷Kokoro-yasashii [心易].

The expression kokoro-yasashii [心易しい] means things like kind, tender-hearted, thoughtful, compassionate. That is, the host is thinking carefully about the guests, and trying to anticipate their needs.

The word is usually written kokoro-yasashii [心優しい] today.

⁸Kayō ni maruku-bakari itashi-sōrō [かやうに丸くバかりいたし候].

Katagiri Sekishū is saying that the round hai-gata mirrors the round shape of the furo, and so (by implication) is redundant*. This, to him, suggests that the host was performing mindlessly, rather than mindfully exerting himself on behalf of his guests (this refers back to his initial statement in this entry, regarding the host's "comings and goings").

According to the Three Hundred Lines of Chanoyu, the appropriate hai-gata for an ordinary furo (something like a Dōan-buro, or a mayu-buro with straight sides) is flattened across the front, and then curves around the sides and back†. The other hai-gata created for use with the other classical types of furo are also shown in the above sketches. (The letter “a” indicates the mae-kawarake. Note that furo with two hi-mado are also provided with two mae-kawarake – this is something that has been forgotten by most schools in recent years.)

However, it is important to recognize that Sekishū's words kayō ni maruku-bakari itashi-sōrō may also reveal a completely different turn of mind. Taken literally, this statement may actually be (an uninformed) rejection of the classical way of shaping the ash (as shown in the sketches above, and in the sub-note, below): to someone whose entire life-experience‡ had consisted of seeing the ash shaped like mountains or waves, the classical shapes would have seemed boring and uninspired, a simple, mindless aping of the round sides of the furo**, and this might be the point of Sekishū's (inappropriate) criticism††.

And yet there is even a third possibility: that the hai-gata lacked a mae-gawarake, and it was this omission that seemed strange to Lord Sadamasa‡‡. __________ *This would seem to be what is known as the maru-bai [丸灰] hai-gata today.

Some schools continue to use this hai-gata (and presumably also did so at the time when this incident occurred) in things like the kimen-buro and Nara-buro; but in this entry, the kind of furo is not specified. (At that time, however, furo of the several shapes that are based on the Dōan-buro were by far the most commonly employed during ordinary chanoyu gatherings -- the other kinds of furo being reserved for when the daisu or naga-ita was being used.)

†Modern-day hai-gata, in addition to deviating from the teachings of Jōō and Rikyū, are often ill conceived. This is especially true regarding the so-called ni-mon-ji [二文字] shape – since the absence of a wall of ash on the left and right sides of the hai-gata focuses the heat of the fire onto the left and right sides of the furo, and if it is a lacquered clay furo, the lacquer will begin to crack after just a few uses -- and to a lesser extent with respect to the several tō-yama [遠山] shapes. Both the ni-mon-ji shape, and the various tō-yama shapes (which move the mountains around the interior of the furo, depending on the season), were originally created by the machi-shū, and popularized by the Sen families and their followers (though the daimyō Kobori Masakazu -- Enshū -- was also a leading proponent of the artistry of the hai-gata, responsible for creating many of the special effects that remain popular today; Enshū was also Sekishū’s teacher, and his influence may be behind Sadamasa’s thinking in this entry).

The classical hai-gata (shown in the series of sketches, above), however, protect the furo, while focusing the heat on the underside of the kama.

Note that when shaping the ash, according to Jōō one was supposed to begin in the front, working from the right toward the left, and then continue around the sides, as indicated by the red arrows; the sides were supposed to be of uniform height, and sloping smoothly toward the peak that was supposed to be located on the outer sides of the legs of the gotoku. (Since the gotoku was still being used with the ring uppermost in Jōō‘s day, the distance between the upper edge of the hai-gata and the bottom of the ring was supposed to be between 1-sun and 5-bu; this was later changed to be the distance between the top edge of the hai-gata and the bottom of the kama; and later modified again to reflect the distance between the top of the mae-kawarake and the bottom of the kama.) Sekishū’s remarks in this entry could suggest that he was viewing a hai-gata that was created in just this manner.

‡Katagiri Sadamasa (Sekishū) was born in 1605, so his entire experience of chanoyu was confined to the practice as it existed during the first half century of the Edo period, which was based exclusively on the machi-shū tea espoused by Sōtan and his followers. (While the bakufu was consolidating power around the shōgunate, Sōtan's way of doing chanoyu was law, so deviation from his style was technically treasonous -- though I am not aware of anyone having ever been prosecuted for this sort of breach: given the many other ways that high-profile people could all too easily run afoul of the law, failing to refold the fukusa again and again over the course of ones temae in and of itself would more likely have been perceived as a symptom of smoldering discontent, rather than open rebellion, setting the censors to a review of the culprit's other actions and associates.)

The machi-shū had been experimenting with the hai-gata even during Rikyū's lifetime -- the creation of the Dōan-buro (which renders the hai-gata visible to the eyes of the guests in a way that had never been available before) having spurred them on to new heights of creativity in this direction (since now the host's efforts were easily seen even when the kama was resting on the gotoku), and by the early Edo period two main styles of hai-gata for the furo had been fixed upon: one representing a pair of incoming waves (what is now referred to as the ni-mon-ji [二文字] hai-gata), and the other representing hills (in the foreground, supporting the mae-kawarake) and mountains (along the back of the furo), in what is called the tō-yama [遠山] hai-gata.

Consequently, the classical ash-shape (where the ashes are shaped into a bowl, with uniformly high sides, defined by the gotoku) would not only have taken Katagiri Sadamasa and his contemporaries by surprise, but struck them as being distinctly boring and uninspired (since it was purely functional, and lacked any element that could be described as decorative). And by the 1670s, it was very unlikely that anyone remained alive who would have recognized this hai-gata for what it was.

**The purpose of the classical hai-gata was to concentrate the heat of the fire and direct it at the underside of the kama, while also protecting the furo from getting too hot.

In the early days of chanoyu in Japan, lacquered clay furo had to be specially ordered, and these were not only expensive, but ordering one entailed a waiting period of many months. By the Edo period, however, the tea-utensil business had already been established along relatively modern lines, so that if the lacquer was found to be cracked, the furo could be easily (if not necessarily inexpensively) replaced on short notice. The standardization of the sizes and shapes of both the kama and the furo (the latter originally had been custom made for each individual kama -- each of which was, in itself, also unique from all others) also made replacement easier.

††By the middle 1660s there would have been no one living who had had experience of the classical styles of hai-gata, hence the surprise and derision evinced by Sadamasa's interlocutor.

Sekishū's criticism is inappropriate because he prided himself on being an exponent and champion of the chanoyu practiced by Jōō and Rikyū. However, we must remember that Sadamasa could be no more than a product of his generation, and so perhaps it is inappropriate for us to expect him to transgress the limits imposed on his understanding by the chanoyu of his day.

If we look at Katagiri Sadamasa's attempt at recreating the gokushin temae, we find his narrative riddled with references to “secret” ways to refold the fukusa before wiping the different utensils (replete with recommendations -- since Sekishū was, naturally, unable to discover the details himself -- that the reader avail himself of his teacher's knowledge of these points) -- even though refolding the fukusa during the temae only started with Oribe (perhaps not becoming usual even for him until after Rikyū's death), while the elaborations (including the shi-hō-sabaki/yo-hō-sabaki, and the subsequent variations on that action) only began to appear with Sōtan.

In the early days (meaning before Rikyū's return from the continent -- from where he may have brought the custom of waiting to fold the fukusa until the beginning of the temae), the fukusa was folded (only) once, in the katte, immediately before the host entered the room for the temae. And it was kept in the futokoro of his kimono until needed, after which it was immediately returned to the futokoro without further ado. Consequently, Sekishū's failure to uncover these “secrets” would have been expected -- by anyone familiar with the actual history and practice of the gokushin temae -- since nothing existed for him to discover.

‡‡In Jōō's middle period, he often included the appreciation of incense during the sho-za of his gatherings (both because his guests were mostly drawn from among his fellow frequenters of the Shino family's kō-kai [香會]; and because he was trying to reduce the amount of food served at the kaiseki -- since overeating is a bad preparation for the drinking of koicha -- and yet had to do something to use up the time while the large kama that he favored slowly came to a boil).

When incense will be included a mae-kawarake is not placed in the furo, so that the host can remove the tadon (the small charcoal briquette that provides the heat in the kōro) through the hi-mado of the furo without having to take the kama off again (we must remember that the Dōan-buro -- whose large hi-mado might have made this omission unnecessary -- would not appear until years after Jōō's death).

But it seems that certain machi-shū conflated this situation with the case where the mae-kawarake is all but buried in the ash (the kokoro-kawarake that was the topic of the previous entry), and so taught that the mae-kawarake should not be used in winter (or when the weather is cold). It is possible that Sadamasa's host was an adherent to this machi-shū school of thought. But, again, the details that would support this interpretation are likewise lacking (the text reads furo-no-chanoyu [風爐の茶湯], but this does not necessarily mean that the season was summer; and, according to the Three Hundred Lines of Chanoyu, something approaching a hybrid between the usages associated with the furo and those generally restricted to the ro was occasionally employed during the chilly days of the rainy season). Thus the mae-kawarake may have been missing, but not for any reason that Sekishū understood.

Nevertheless, without further details of what was done during the gathering, it is impossible to try to interpret this entry accurately, or conclude whether Sekishū’s was based on contemporary prejudices or the result of his study of the teachings of Jōō and Rikyū.

⁹I no naka no kawazu [井の中の蛙].

Literally, a frog in a well. This expression describes someone of limited vision or experience.

¹⁰Kokoro-kawarake [こころかわらけ = 心土器].

The name means “heart tile.”

In the Three Hundred Lines of Chanoyu, Jōō refers to two “kinds” of mae-kawarake: the tachi-kawarake [立ち土器] and the wari-kawarake [割り土器]. These names, however, actually refer to the same object.

◦ Tachi-kawarake means that the mae-kawarake is oriented with the round side uppermost (the red line in the photo, below, shows the place below which the kawarake is buried in the ash*).

There is usually no special name used for this arrangement today -- and, indeed, most chajin do not understand that it can be oriented differently (or why the bottom edge of the kawarake is cut off the way it is -- most assume that this is done so that the mae-kawarake can sit on top of the soko-kawarake [底土器], the round tile that is placed in the bottom of the furo, and on top of which the gotoku usually sits†).

◦ Wari-kawarake, on the other hand, refers to the tile being buried in the ash with the cut-off edge protruding above the ash (in other words, it is as if the rounded part had been sliced off of this side of the tile 5-bu above the surface of the ash). The height of the ash, in this case, is shown by the dashed red line in the photo below.

The word kokoro-kawarake refers to the second situation, where the tile is mostly buried in the ash (as the heart is in the chest)‡. __________ *Some schools, however, prefer the tile to be deeper in the ash, so this line would be higher. Other schools regulate the depth according to the season (the tile is deeper during cooler weather, and higher when the weather is hot).

†In fact, after the gotoku was turned over so that the ring was on the bottom, the soki-kawarake [底土器] rested completely within the ring of the gotoku. This is necessary when the mae-kawarake is arranged as a wari-kawarake (which may account for the virtual disappearance of the wari-kawarake orientation in modern-day chanoyu).

The soko-kawarake is there to absorb the heat (so it will not scorch the shiki-ita), not elevate the gotoku. If the gotoku needs to be raised, small tiles known as gotoku-sue [五徳据え], shown above, should be used. (Originally both the furo and the gotoku were made to match the kama, with the ring of the gotoku resting firmly on the bottom of the furo. Problems arose only with the advent of the modern one-size-fits-all approach -- where as little money is spent on things that “nobody sees” as possible.)

‡Certain commentators opine that the kokoro-kawarake should be entirely buried in the ash, with none of it protruding above the top of the ash at all. However, this is usually impossible, due to the limited depth of the ash in the furo. (While extremely small mae-kawarake are available nowadays, it must be kept in mind that originally they were made by the host from the sake saucers sold at shrines, and there is a lower limit for the size of the saucers available there -- since each must hold a minimum of approximately one shot-glass-full of sake, so as to make a proper libation. Some say that the sake being absorbed into the clay is a sign that the God is drinking the libation.)

¹¹Kasane-kawarake [かさねかわらけ = 重土器].

The name means overlapping kawarake. It refers to the case where two mae-kawarake are used, rather than just one.

¹²Furo ni yorite oki-koto nari [風爐によりて置事也].

Certain versions of the Dōan-buro have extremely wide hi-mado in front -- in some cases, the hi-mado may encompass nearly a third of the circumference of the furo*. In such cases, the commonly available mae-kawarake might simply be too small† to protect the host from the heat emanating from the fire‡. In which case, two kawarake are used, placed side by side so that they overlap by about a third.

The tile on the side closest to the guests should be in front, while the other should be located behind, as shown in the sketch above. The left edge of the left tile and right edge of the right tile should also be aligned (as if they were actually the left and right sides of a single tile), and parallel to the front edge of the hai-gata**.

Note that the clarity (provided by the glosses) in the translation is totally absent in the text as given in the Rikyū Chanoyu Sho††. __________ *These originally resulted from attempting to reuse an old Dōan-buro whose hi-mado had become chipped around the edges again and again -- by repeatedly sanding away the chipped area, a practice that eventually resulted in an exaggeratedly large hi-mado. (But, of course, once a certain Iemoto “liked” this furo, copies were made that perpetuated the enlarged hi-mado even though the piece itself was brand-new.)

I would like to add that in my nearly 40 years of experience with chanoyu, I can not say that I have ever seen a chipped hi-mado -- or chipped rim, or cracked mayu, for that matter.

People of the early days must have been absolutely brutal with their utensils! Or (and this is the more likely scenario, actually), they did chanoyu much more frequently than anyone ever does today (and with much smaller collections of utensils that meant that they used the same furo for seven months of the year). But even so -- repairing the furo not just once, but several times, enlarging the hi-mado each time, really strikes me as something bordering on abuse.

†While the original sake saucers were available in sizes up to 6-sun in diameter (people who had experienced a great good fortune would want to share the happiness by giving the God an extra big drink of sake), who makes their own mae-kawarake today? And commercial potters generally only make them in the sizes that will sell on a large scale. It used to be possible to special-order extra-large sized mae-kawarake, but nowadays everybody is a “master” and the price of their “special work” is so prohibitive that they usually refuse to even quote it (which is another way of saying that they do not want to be bothered).

‡Or sparks shooting out and setting the tatami on fire. This was the original reason for the mae-kawarake in the first place -- the host's personal comfort being a distant second to concerns about safety.

**Some schools hold that the back side of the mae-kawarake should be located at the very peak of the hai-gata, while other schools prefer the tiles to be 5-bu (or even slightly more, up to 8-bu) forward of the peak (so that the peak continues in an unbroken line behind the kawarake).

Also, while some schools prefer to shape the hai-gata around the mae-kawarake (that is, the mae-kawarake is put into the furo immediately after the host has roughed out the shape of his hai-gata, but before he starts to smooth out the surface), other schools finish the entire hai-gata first, and then cut a hole in the front into which the kawarake is/are inserted (only retouching the hai-gata to smooth it around the tiles afterward).

††In the original (as in the previous section that dealt with the kokoro-kawarake, where little more than the name was given) it is impossible to guess to what this entry is referring -- there is nothing to even suggest that it is addressing a special way to use the mae-kawarake (it could be talking about any of the various tiles that are used in chanoyu), and the verb kasaneru can also mean to stack things up -- unless one already understands to what the expression kasane-kawarake refers.

The same is true for other sections of this book as well. So it might be possible for us to forgive some of the early readers (who apparently paid out a king's ransom for a copy of the Rikyū Chanoyu Sho) for ultimately founding the different schools of tea based on contradictory (or irrelevant) readings of passages from this work.

¹³Kijin yori o-cha kudasare-beki tote mairi-sōrō koto aru [貴人より御茶可被下とて参候事有].

Kudasare-beki [可被下]* means something is handed down, given, or sent from someone of a higher status to a recipient of a lower status.

The language indicates that the person who is invited for chanoyu is of a lower social status than the nobleman who has invited him. __________ *The verb kudasareru [被下る] is usually written kudasareru [下される] today.

In chanoyu we occasionally use the expression kudasai [下さい] when asking for something even today.

¹⁴Roro-iri [爐路入].

Perhaps roji-iri [路地入] -- entering the roji -- is the expression that was intended here.

The first kanji ro [爐 or 炉] was probably being used as a hentai-gana; but this unusual form threw the copyist off, so that instead of writing ji [地] (ground), he “translated” ro [爐] into the kanji that it was intended to represent, ro [路] (path)*.

The entry is saying that from the beginning of the gathering (from the time when the guests enter the roji), everything is done differently from usual -- because the host is a nobleman†. __________ *In Rikyū's day, roji was written roji [路地], which literally means a small parcel of land that is used as a path (in other words, that lead around the side of the house to the back, where the sukiya was usually located). The expression roji [露地] (dewy ground) that is preferred today, and which was taken from the Parable of the Burning House in the Lotus Sūtra, did not come into use until much later in the Edo period.

Rikyū generally did not pave the roji with stepping stones, preferring to confine these to areas that were usually damp (at the entrance from the street, in the koshi-kake, and the area under the genkan, which are usually sprinkled with water as a welcoming sign for the guests; and the area in front of the chōzu-bachi, where the guests crouch down while washing their hands). The rest of the ground was usually covered with turf grass (or gravel, where the lack of sunlight prevented grass from growing).

†And the guests are his social inferiors.

When two nobles of equal status met for chanoyu, they could behave as felt best (if they were intimates, then the gathering could be completely casual; and if they were strangers, then they would comport themselves equally with restraint and decorum).

For example, the nobleman-host did not usually go out into the roji to invite the guests to enter. Neither did he serve the meal to them with his own hands -- and frequently, the only thing that the nobleman actually did was prepare the koicha.

At the end of the gathering, the guests were ushered into the formal reception room (a large room with an elevated dais at one end, on which the nobleman sat) for an audience with the host, to express their thanks for the invitation.

¹⁵ Warera to [我等と].

Literally, "among ourselves*." In other words, among the members of ones own group (however that is defined). __________ *Warera [我等] means we, us, you (referring to a group of ones equals -- perhaps also including ones social inferiors).

¹⁶Hitoshiki-yakara to [等しき輩と].

Hitoshiki [等しき] means equality, equals, equivalent (to), and also alike, similar; yakara [輩] means a group of people (it can mean the members of ones clan or family; but it can also be used more generally to mean a group -- unrelated individuals, but usually individuals of the same social status).

Hitoshiki-yakara [等しき輩], then, means a group of people who are similar to oneself (in other words, ones social equals).

¹⁷Chanoyu-sha [茶湯者].

Originally this expression meant a person highly versed in chanoyu*, but from the Edo period it included a nuance of professionality -- that is, a professional teacher of chanoyu (in the modern sense of the word). __________ *This, and the other terms used to categorize practitioners of chanoyu, were defined by Yamanoue Sōji in his eponymous Yamanoue Sōji Ki [山上宗二記] (from where I am translating the following -- note that certain particulars are different from the published translations of this document, since the usual translations are skewed in support of the modern Iemoto system):

◦ tai-mei no chanoyu [大名茶湯]:

- This kind of chanoyu was focused on the use of both ancient and recent utensils that had been imported from the continent (karamono [唐物]), and the display of meibutsu [名物] pieces.

◦ Chanoyu-sha [茶湯者] was supposed to be:

- someone who practices chanoyu based on his expertise in recognizing suitable utensils (mei-kiki [目聞き = 目利き] means to be able to distinguish the quality and suitability -- this latter is connected with the teachings of kane-wari -- of a given utensil by sight alone);

- a person who is possessed of superior abilities (jōzu [上手] means to surpass, excel, be superior, be gifted, be talented, skillful and proficient); and,

- someone who is recognized by the whole [tea] world as a master of suki [数奇] (suki being the ability to make the guests feel at home, a suki no shishō [数奇ノ師匠], is someone who is a master of this skill, often interpreted to mean he is a teacher of suki: however, this does not mean that the person gave weekly tea lessons or some such thing, since that is an Edo period concept; rather, he was an authority to whom others had recourse for clarity in matters of usage and precedent, and usually was the nucleus around whom a group of followers coalesced -- with the public reputation of the group enhancing the reputation of their shishō; the suki no shishō was much closer to the traditional “iemoto” -- the authority figure who acts as a repository of the school’s teachings -- rather than an active teacher, though this notion would have violated Edo period sensibilities).

◦ Wabi-sukisha [ワビ数奇者] (the extant versions of the Yamanoue Sōji Ki are all copies, and incorporate Sōtan's word for wabi [佗] in this name):

- a person who does not own even a single thing (that could be considered a "utensil" according to the definition of the kinds of things that were used for tai-mei no chanoyu); nevertheless,

- a person who has prepared his whole being for this moment (mune [胸] means the breast, and so the seat of the heart, mind, emotions, and so forth; mune no kakugo [胸の覚悟] means he has prepared himself for whatever comes -- the concept of indifference to life or death);

- someone whose creativity is focused (tsukuri-wake [作分]: tsukuri-wake [作分] refers to ones spontaneous creative impulse; his whole life's training and experience are focused on bringing into being the present);

- a person whose deeds are worthy of merit (te-gara [手柄] means an exploit or meritorious deed: these remarkable achievements are described by the words of P'ang Yün [龐蘊; 740 ~ 808; he is more commonly known as P'ang Chü-shih, 龐居士, or Hō Koji in Japanese] shéntōng-bìng miào yòng, yùn-shuǐ jí pán-chái [神通並妙用・運水及槃柴], "god-like and wondrous actions: carrying water and hauling [bundles of] firewood!"; this point refers to a person who performs such worthy deeds in the service of others).

A person who meets all of these three criteria is [a wabi-sukisha].

◦ Mei-nin [名仁]:

- in addition to possessing karamono (which implies an understanding of the secrets of their use), being able to discern the quality and suitability of utensils, and possessing superior abilities with respect to chanoyu, added to these three (which were the defining characteristics of the chanoyu-sha) a deep resolve and dedication to just this Way, such a one is called a mei-nin.

¹⁸Dai-kizu wo shiranu chanoyu-sha wa ka-yō no toki hajikaku koto nari [大傷をしらぬ茶湯者ハ加樣の時はぢかく事なり].

The “flaw” that is being considered here is that both the nobleman-host and his guests are behaving as if they are equals, when that is not actually the case. These kinds of distinctions were being re-emphasized in the Edo period.

This statement may be taken as a veiled threat at the way the leaders in the world of tea were practicing chanoyu in the early Edo period.

At the time when the Rikyū Chanoyu Sho was being prepared for publication, people were becoming aware of the fact that many things had changed between Rikyū's death and the middle of the seventeenth century, and that most of these changes were the result of the leadership of chanoyu having been given into the hands of the machi-shū through Sōtan. While in the early days, there were special rules governing cases where noblemen participated in a chanoyu gathering, these had by now largely fallen by the wayside.

This entry may be seen as a warning to the chanoyu community, to be constantly mindful of propriety when planning and participating in a gathering.

¹⁹Mukashi yori no na-takai chanoyu-sha to mōsu wa [昔よりの名たかき茶湯者と申ハ].

Na-takai [名高い] means things like celebrated, renowned, illustrious. The source of this (occasionally curious) list is unknown.

²⁰Takauji-kō yon-dai no mago Roku-on-in dono [尊氏公四代の孫鹿薗院殿].

Takauji-kō [尊氏公] refers to the first Ashikaga shōgun, Ashikaga Takauji [足利尊氏; 1305 ~ 1358]. Yon-dai no mago [四代の孫] means a grandchild of the fourth generation* (from Takauji).

This refers to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu [足利義満; 1358 ~ 1408], Roku-on-in [鹿薗院] being the name he used in retirement (after taking the tonsure). However, there is nothing to indicate that Yoshimitsu every studied chanoyu.

Tea was served to him (on behalf of Emperor Go-komatsu [後小松天皇; 1377 ~ 1433]), according to some accounts by Akamatsu Sadamura [赤松貞村; ? ~ 1443] (some sources say this youth was Yoshimitsu's page and lover), on the 18th day of the Sixth Lunar Month of Meitoku 4 [明德四年] (1403), ostensibly because Yoshimitsu was suffering from gastrointestinal complaints caused by overindulgence in alcohol (he had retired from his offices in 1395, took the tonsure, and relocated to his newly constructed Kitayama-dono [北山殿] -- wherein the Kinkaku-shariden [金閣舎利殿], usually known as the Golden Pavilion or Kinkaku-ji in English writings -- is located; he seems to have spent much of his time indulging in pleasures of the flesh and palate). This is the first mention of chanoyu (as an institution distinct from the service of usucha using the o-chanoyu-dana†) in Japan, and contemporary accounts unambiguously state that everyone who witnessed the performance -- from the highest to the lowest -- were totally amazed and awed, having never seen anything of the like before (which clearly implies that chanoyu appeared suddenly, without any sort of preamble or native development at all).

In fact, scholars generally conclude that the Imperial solicitude was primarily an attempt to incite a return gift (of much-needed cash), since the tea was accompanied by the gift of four great treasures: the seiji unryu-mizusashi [青磁雲龍水指], the Kazan-temmoku [花山天目], the Kamakura-nasu chaire [鎌倉茄子茶入], and the hoya [ホヤ]. (In the year before his death, Yoshimitsu was petitioning the Imperial Court for the title of dajō-tenno [太上天皇] -- which would have involved a substantial donation to the Imperial coffers if the deal had gone through -- which would have made him equivalent to a retired emperor; though negotiations were ended prematurely following the Roku-on-in dono's sudden death.) __________ *The precise meaning of yon-dai no mago [四代の孫] in this context is not clear (it may actually be a mistake on the part of whomever compiled this list). The expression literally means someone who is in the fourth-generation from the figure who is considered the progenitor of the house (the “ancestral grandfather” or first ancestor).

Yoshimitsu, however, was the oldest surviving son of Ashikaga Yoshiakira, the second Ashikaga shōgun, who was himself Ashikaga Takauji's son. Thus Yoshimitsu was Takauji's grandson -- according to both Western and Japanese-traditional ways of thinking.

†The o-chanoyu-dana was located in a 2-mat anteroom attached to a shoin or reception room. Tea was prepared there by a monk (or a servant with a shaven head who was dressed as a monk), and carried from him to the guest (who was seated in the shoin) by a page.

According to the Nampō Roku, the offering of tea to Yoshimitsu was performed in a six-mat reception room, using a shin-daisu that was set up on one side of the room itself, with Yoshimitsu seated on a mi-chōdai [御帳臺] (curtained seat of estate). His court (which was of modest size, since Yoshimitsu was now retired) was assembled before him in the six-mat room. According to the Nampō Roku, people of all ranks viewed this spectacle (some from the outside, looking in through the cracks between the shōji), and none of them (regardless of how high their rank) had ever seen anything like this before. This clearly and without ambiguity indicates that chanoyu had no previous history in Japan at all -- yet the gokushin-temae performed on this occasion was not the original temae, but a variation apparently conceived for this specific occasion, which incorporated the three precious utensils that had been presented to Yoshimitsu by the Emperor along with the powdered tea that was served to the retired shōgun on this occasion. (Of especial note: this was apparently the first time -- in all history -- that a ceramic mizusashi was used: prior to this occasion, the mizusashi had always been made of bronze, like the rest of the kaigu that were arranged for the formal nanatsu-kazari [七ツ飾].)

²¹Shōkō-in dono [勝光院殿].

This person has not been identified.

There is a temple in the Setagaya Ward of Tōkyō called the Shōkō-in [勝光院] that was built in 1375, though neither it, nor any of its former historical inhabitants, seems to have had any connection with chanoyu.

Since this reference appears between those of the Roku-on-in dono [鹿薗院殿] (Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shōgun) and the Jishō-in dono [慈照院殿] (Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the seventh shōgun), perhaps the intended reference was to Ashikaga Yoshinori [足利義教; 1394 ~ 1441 ] (the sixth Ashikaga shōgun). However, Yoshinori used the name Fukō-in [普廣院] (dono) in his retirement.

²²Jishō-in dono [慈照院殿].

This seems to be one of the names used by Ashikaga Yoshimasa [足利義政; 1436 ~ 1490] during his retirement.

²³Matsumoto [松本].

This seems to refer to the person known as Matsumoto Shuhō [松本珠報; dates unknown].

He was a Muromachi period chajin, and the original owner of the ō-meibutsu Matsumoto katatsuki [松本肩衝]*, shown above. According to some sources he was a samurai, while others suggest he was a member of the machi-shū†. His tea-name Shuhō [珠報] suggests that he was either one of Shukō's [珠光] disciples, or that he was at least a follower of Shukō's “school‡” of chanoyu.

It is odd that Shukō's name has not been included in this list (given the fact that Jōō considered Shukō to be the ultimate authority). Perhaps the omission was a publisher's error. __________ *This chaire has been known as the Matsuya katatsuki [松屋肩衝] since the Edo period, though the tsutsu for the chashaku (which had been made for it by Rikyū) was inscribed by Kobori Enshū with the name Matsumoto [松本], as seen below (the writing on the tube reads Matsumoto [松本], and below, Rikyū saku [利休作]).

Note that this chashaku has an extremely flat stem, typical of Rikyū's chashaku made for chaire that were accompanied by a lacquered tray (and so always used on the tray).

†The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Many of the machi-shū fought for the various daimyō during the sengoku-jidai [戦国時代].

‡Which, in this period, would have meant the group of chajin who had congregated around Shukō, and which probably held together even after the master's death (that being the period when the original immigrants from the continent were beginning to die off, and so the survivors tended to huddle together rather than branching off on their own).

²⁴Dōtei [道貞].

Unknown. Apparently a disciple of Araki (Kitamuki) Dōchin [荒木(北向)道陳] (from his tea-name*). This person should not be confused with Tachibana Michisada [橘道貞], whose personal name was written with the same kanji.

The name could also be pronounced Dōjō [道貞]. __________ *The followers of a given teacher generally took the first kanji of the teacher's name for their own name, as a sign of respect and affiliation. (Names beginning with the kanji Sō [宗], however, were religious names -- received from ones Zen master after completing a certain level of training. Nevertheless, they were also used as professional names by people associated with things like chanoyu.)

²⁵ Sōgo [宗語].

This refers to the chajin known as Jūshiya Sōgo [十四屋宗伍; dates unknown]*.

He was the owner of the meibutsu Sōgo nasu [宗伍茄子], shown above.

He was one of Shukō's disciples, and also Jōō's teacher for the rules of making tea†. His family name was Matsumoto, though the nature of the connection between Sōgo and Matsumoto Shuhō (if any) has not been established. __________ *His name is also written Sōgo [宗悟] in some documents.

†Chahō [茶法]: the kinds of teachings contained in the Hundred Poems of Chanoyu.

²⁶Shino [志野].

This is the family name of one of the two main houses of kōdo [香道] (incense appreciation). From the arrival of the first generation Shino Sōshin [志野宗信], who appeared in Japan around the same time that Shukō immigrated from the continent, until the time of Rikyū, the family was involved with chanoyu just as much as they were with kōdo. (It was the style of kō-kai [香會] hosted by the Shino family that was the immediate inspiration for Jōō's cha-kai [茶會] -- indeed, Jōō's early gatherings were virtually identical to those hosted by the Shino family, with the only difference being slightly less time given for the appreciation of incense during the sho-za, and a greater emphasis on the service of tea, though this had also been the business of the go-za in the Shino's kō-kai as well.)

The creater of the Shino-dana [志野棚] (which was the prototype on which Jōō based his fukuro-dana [袋棚]*) is given as Shino Sōshin [志野宗信]†, though whether this is the person whose name is intended here (or whether another member of the family was in the editors' mind) is not known. __________ *The Shino-dana differs from Jōō's fukuro-dana in only one real respect: the Shino-dana has a pair of hinged doors (that can be locked) enclosing the ji-fukuro, while the fukuro-dana has a lift-out door that performs the same function (by eliminating the hinged doors, Jōō increased the size of the aperture -- which allowed it to accommodate the larger trays that Jōō was using for chanoyu -- and while the Shino-dana was locked to protect the host's precious collection of kyara [伽羅] incense wood, Jōō's fukuro-dana’s door was easily opened, and doing so became part of the guests' etiquette, since they were expected to inspect the contents of the ji-fukuro before and after each of the za of the gathering).

†The name Shino Soshin [志野宗信] was used by both the founding father of the family (who emigrated from Korea during the second half of the fifteenth century; he died in 1480), and by his son (who accompanied his father to Japan; his dates are given as 1442 or 1445 ~ 1523).

The other generations of the original family were Sō-on [宗温; 1477 ~ 1557] (he was the first member of the family born in Japan), and Shōha [省巴; 1502 ~ 1571] (Sō-on's son, and Rikyū's friend).

The family has continued through the Hachiya [蜂谷家] line until the present; but the reference in the Rikyū Chanoyu Sho is probably to one of the members of the original (Korean) lineage.

²⁷Shun Kōkei (?) [░光慶].

The first kanji is illegible in the original*. The editors of the Rikyū Daijiten suggest a possible kanji rendering that does not exist in fact; the closest actual kanji to what they have proposed seems to be either shun [狻] or shun [竣] (hence my reading).

However, whether this series of three kanji should be read as a single word, Shunkōkei [狻光慶 or 竣光慶], or whether this is a Chinese/Korean style surname Shun [狻] or Shun [竣]† and a personal name composed of the two kanji Kōkei [光慶] (as I have represented it) can not be known. In any case, there is no record of such a person‡. __________ *However the phonetic element (shun [夋], which is derived from the Chinese phonetic element pronounced in [允] in Japanese) in the (non-existent) kanji suggested by the editors of the Rikyū Daijiten (the above shun, with the hō [方] radical on the left [方+夋]: 方+允+夂) belongs to the series that is pronounced “shun.”

Two of the kanji pronounced shun -- shun [狻] and shun [竣] -- could appear very similar in handwritten cursive script, hence my own suggestions (much of the Rikyū Chanoyu Sho was printed from blocks that were cut to imitate handwriting, as seen above in this fragment of the text from the conclusion of the postscript -- which adds to the difficulty of reading this document immensely).

†There, however, is no record of such a surname in either China or Korea. Which does not mean it is impossible, just incredibly rare.

‡Kōkei [光慶] as a personal name, is found occasionally in both Japan and on the continent. The son of Akechi Mitsuhide (who died along with his father at the battle of Yamazaki) was one person to bear this name. However, none of the people with this name are noted to have been involved with chanoyu (and this entry is concerned with enumerating the greatest of the great teachers of chanoyu from the earliest days to the middle of the seventeenth century); nor are any individuals with this name mentioned in the histories or social commentaries from the Muromachi or Sengoku periods.

²⁸Sōho [宗甫].

Sōho was the tea-name of Kobori Masakazu [小堀正一; 1579 ~ 1647]*, who is usually known as Kobori Enshū [小堀遠州] (from his court title). __________ *While the Kobori family gives his name as Kobori Masakazu [小堀正一], other sources (including contemporary documents) use the kanji Masakazu [政一] for his personal name.

◎ The question must arise as to why these thirteen people have been singled out for inclusion in this list, while many, many others of equal (or even greater) significance to the development of chanoyu have been overlooked. The reason seems to be one that is rather peculiar, in its dimensions, to East Asia.

Perhaps a parallel case will make it easier to understand. Since the rise of Chinese Zen in the Tang period, there have been countless significant monks whose names and deeds have been passed down in the lore of this sect. Yet if we look at the scrolls that were treasured in Japan, we find very, very few (if any) that were actually written by any of these renowned monks. Rather, what we find is that almost all of them were written by monks about whom not a trace of evidence exists -- except for the scroll in Japan. Many of these scrolls contain wonderful teachings and admonitions, to be sure; but these words are neither unique to these documents, nor to the monks who penned them. Rather, they are simply one more example of what we might describe as “the genre,” one more iteration of teachings that had been bandied about since the closing days of the Tang dynasty. So why were these scrolls renowned and treasured by the tea masters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? Simply, because they happened to be the scrolls that those chajin owned.

History in China, Korea, and Japan, is much like that. The names we know are often “famous,” not necessarily because the person was in fact such a paragon, but because we happen to know their name. (And because we know their names, we want to believe that they were important people, and so we generate mythologies about them that confirm our hopes.) As fir the names we do not know, they are not worth a mention -- not because they did nothing of any significance, but simply because we do not know them. From such disarticulated fragments has the history of chanoyu -- and the history of East Asia -- been constructed.

0 notes

britishassistant · 4 years ago

Text

But I Like One Piece (19)

She opens her eyes.

There are insects on her face.

Oh Luffy, there are so many insects on her face.

It’s only years of practice and the knowledge of how upset Shino will be with her that prevents her from swatting wildly.

“Why are there insects on my face.” She mumbles, moving her lips as little as possible and lifting a hand to her cheek so some of them can scuttle off and onto her fingers.

She doesn’t want any falling into her mouth on accident.

“Because my kikaichū are capable of injecting small doses of chakra into your system, which restores your reserves and helps return the body to homeostasis.” Shino extends his hand and the remaining insects begin flitting off her face back up his sleeves.

Her confusion must show on her face, because he sighs. “Chakra injections to help you wake up.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

Shino inclines his head as he retracts his arm, all insects safely retrieved.

She struggles to sit up. One side of her head throbs a little.

“How are you feeling, Ketsugi-chan?” Iruka-sensei asks. “Do you feel dizzy or nauseous at all?”

She shakes her head. “No, Iruka-sensei.”

He purses his lips and tilts her head to the side, before pulling a small flashlight out of his jacket pocket and shining it in her eyes. “No bumps, and your pupils seem normal...what caused you to collapse, Ketsugi-chan? Can you remember?”

Her breath stutters in her throat at the thought.

“I don’t. Like them. The g— them. Those.”

Iruka-sensei blinks. “The weapons? They upset you?”

She nods mutely.

“Seriously?” Uchiha mutters. “First chakra and now this?”

“Sasuke-kun!” Iruka-sensei scolds, though his tone is slightly exasperated. “Well, if you feel bad again, be sure to let me know, okay Ketsugi-chan?”

Her mind won’t stop racing, even after they return to the classroom.

How, how, how, how can those—those things be here?!

This world is supposed be a ninja story, where people use taijutsu and chakra and kunai and katana to fight.

She’s pretty certain none of the flame wars in her past life ever talked about any characters bringing shitty g-firearms to the mix.

And not just any firearms either.

Nothing like the older models found in One Piece and museums of her old world, where the bullet and gunpowder needed to be inserted separately into the barrel of the g— of the weapon before firing.

The existence of that older type of weapon here might make a small amount of sense at least.

No, those were high-tech, modern firearms, the kind with cartridges that are inserted at the bottom of the handle, with bullets that have gunpowder built into the casing, that are pointed so they can pierce—

She only narrowly keeps herself from retching.

Naruto keeps shooting her worried glances as the day goes on.

He’s resorted to scribbling what happened?? on the edges of her notebook by the time the last lesson of the day draws to a close.

She does her best to placate him with weak smiles and shaking her head discreetly, but that seems to have the opposite effect judging by the way his brows furrow.

Shikamaru keeps staring at her as well.

However, it’s not the same as the concerned looks that Chouji, Ino, Hinata, Sakura, Shino and even Kiba keep giving her.

He’s staring at her like he knows something isn’t right.

Like he suspects something.

She does her best to avoid his gaze when they leave the classroom.

Lee meets them outside the Academy.

His greeting trails off as Naruto grabs his hand and drags the pair of them over to the tree swingset.

“Naruto-kun, what’s going on?” He asks, brows furrowing.

“Mayu passed out when she saw the weapons from Yuki.” Naruto accuses, arms crossed over his chest and brows furrowed. “And don’t say it’s nothing, ‘cause you’re still pale and shaky. Not even chakra has ever done that to you, believe it.”

She glances down at her trembling hands. She squeezes them together to try and make the tremors stop.

“Mayu-chan.” She looks up when Lee claps his hands on her shoulders, staring her dead in the eyes. “Are you okay?”

She starts to nod.

Lee raises an eyebrow.

She doesn’t end up shaking her head but it’s a near thing.

“I’m—” She cuts herself off. “I’m not alright, but. It’s not something I ca-need to talk about. Can we just go?”

Naruto’s brow furrows even further and he makes a face. It’s the same face he made when confronting Ami over bullying Sakura, or confiding his worries about Uchiha’s diet in her. It’s his “I’m not happy and going to do something about it” face.

Lee’s frowning too, now gripping her hands tight. “You can talk to us about anything, Mayu-chan. You know that, right?”

Unseen stares from the surrounding trees bore into her as she nods. She very carefully does not look up.

She flounders for something, anything to make them understand.

“It’s a Tamara thing.” She hisses quietly.

It takes them a moment, but then sweet, merciful understanding flashes across Naruto and Lee’s faces, the pair of them stiffening like they’ve been pricked with pins.

“Ah! Is that so!” Lee’s laugh is too loud, too boisterous to anyone who knows him well. She prays to Robin that the masks don’t. “Well thank Luffy it’s nothing to worry about, right Naruto-kun?”

“Y-Yeah!” Naruto agrees, hesitating a fraction of a second too long for comfort. “You shoulda told us that’s all it was earlier, Mayu-chan, I was worried over nothing, believe it!”

She feels an eyebrow twitch, but tries to contort her expression into an apologetic smile. “Sorry, it’s just a little embarrassing, you know,” She fakes a laugh. “Girl problems and all that.”

“I see! Girl problems! Of course!” Lee says, clearly not understanding at all.

She takes a moment to wonder what exactly the boys do while the girls are in kunoichi classes.

Naruto loops an arm around her shoulders. “Yosh! Let’s get home then! Oka— Mayu’s okaa-san will be waiting for us, believe it!”

“Well said Naruto-kun!” Lee loops an arm around her other shoulder. “Yosh! Onwards!”

The three of them frogmarch home, chattering loudly about nothing.

They could not be more conspicuous if they were dressed in animal costumes and singing a musical number.

The unseen stares following them now have an added side of judgement which she does not appreciate.

She’s already racing upstairs to grab her coats and yukata when they all tumble through the front door.

“Welcome ba—” Okaa-san gives her an odd look when she clatters back down the stairs, clothes in her arms. “—Mayu? What’s going on?”

“We’re home Chie-oba-san! Nothing happened at all!” Lee proclaims in the same breath as Naruto blurts, “Mayu passed out!”

Okaa-san blinks, then grabs her shoulder as she makes for the front door. “Not your nice yukata, young lady, I just finished ironing it again. Go get your towel instead. Then you’re all going to sit down here and tell me exactly what happened calmly. Understand?”

“Yes, okaa-san.” They chorus meekly

Naruto calls dibs on telling his side of the story first.

She begins to regret letting him a few moments after he opens his mouth and launches into an embellished retelling of how she made a wheezing noise at the mere sight of the weapons and dropped to the ground like a broken mast, startling everyone and interrupting Uchiha.

He’s tearing up as he continues, “An’, an’ Mayu just wouldn’t wake up, no matter what, even when I shook her an’ everythin’ believe it, an’ Iruka-sensei yelled at me because he said I mighta’ hurt you worse, an’ then Shino did his bug thing an’ you woke up but you were still so pale an’ shaky an’ scared but you wouldn’ say anything, an’, an’—”

Okaa-san pulls him into a hug as he trails off into frustrated hiccoughs, rubbing his back soothingly.

Lee’s grip on her hand is so tight it’s beginning to hurt a bit.

“Well, Mayu?” Okaa-san says, voice slightly strained. “Was that what happened?”

“K-kind of?” She shifts forward so she can give Naruto a one-armed hug. “Sorry I scared you, I was just...just really, really freaked out. I never meant to scare you too.”

“...s’okay.” He mutters into her hair. “Dun’ do it ‘gain, kay?”

She nuzzles into his shoulder, “I’ll try. Promise.”

Lee gives a cough behind her. “So...what alarmed you about those weapons, Mayu-chan?”

She stiffens, drawing back out of the hug.

“They— they aren’t right.” Her head throbs. “Maybe if it was earlier, a prototype model, maybe. But that kind of g—of weapon shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t even exist.”

Okaa-san’s brow furrows. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean it shouldn’t exist!” She snaps. “This place prizes ch-chakra too much for their existence to make sense! You lot place a premium on throwing projectiles and close combat because chakra allows you to compensate. The existence of those kind of g— of firearm doesn’t make any sense, because there’s not a need for that kind here like there was in my world, it just, it just doesn’t make any sense, why is it here, why is it here?!”

Her breathing is ragged.

Her head hurts.

Everything’s so blurry she can barely see.

“Mayu-chan?” Lee’s voice sounds very small. “Does that mean those weapons are from your world?”

“I don’t wanna get shot again.” She chokes out. “I don—I—it hurt so much last time.”

Lee hugs like he’s trying to both squeeze the pain out of her and shield her from it ever returning.

It’s almost painful how tight his arms are around her shoulders, but it does help ground her somewhat.

Then there’s softness pressing against her side and Okaa-san’s arm is curling around Lee’s shoulders to pull them both to her, burying her face in the crown of Mayu’s head.

Naruto reaches over and threads his fingers with hers from where he’s curled into Okaa-san’s other side, squeezing as hard as he can.

They stay like that for a long time.

They startle when the front door snags on her winter coat when it opens.

“I’m baaa-ah? Darling, is the door broken?” Otou-san asks, poking his head through the small gap at the threshold.

“Welcome home Jirou-oji-san!” Lee waves.

“Otou-san! It’s coat and stair time!” Naruto yells. “You gotta come in right now, believe it!”

“Hang on, I need to get the door unstuck first!” Otou-san replies. “Hm...maybe if I unscrewed the hinges...”

Okaa-san gives a weak chuckle. “Mayu-chan, go pick up your coat before it rips or your father dismantles the front door.”

Otou-san smiles at her when she opens the door properly, coat in hand. “I’m home, Mayu.”

“Welcome back, Otou-san.”

The smile drops slightly when he gets a good look at her, and he reaches out to brush a thumb over her temple. “Ouch. How’d this happen?”

She winces slightly at the pressure. “I fainted at the Academy. It’s...a long story.”

Otou-san gives her a searching look, then turns that stare on the interior of the front hall, where her raincoat and towel block the entrances to the kitchen and the living room.

He closes the front door behind him and lays her winter coat back at the bottom of the threshold. “Well, I’d better hear it sooner rather than later, hadn’t I?”

She’s a little proud that she’s able to say, “I freaked out at the sight of the weapon that killed me in my past life” on the third try without blubbering.

Much.

Okaa-san drums her fingers on her arm. “How can you be sure that these weapons are from your world? After all, your world had katana and kunai and other weapons that are found here— maybe it’s just that our technology is beginning to catch up to yours.”

She shrugs in Otou-san’s hug. “I’d believe that if they weren’t so...so modern. This world relies on c-chakra a lot, which makes bladed weapons and thrown projectiles much more viable than they are in mine. We haven’t even been taught about the existence of g-firearms at the Academy before today. Yet, despite that, those things are just as if not more advanced than the ones from my world, with no precedent.”

“Yeah!” Naruto nods decisively. “What’s a preceden?”

“It’s when certain things have to happen first for something to exist.” Okaa-san explains. “Like you need to have eggs if you want to make omelette rice.”

Otou-san hums. “You’ve never spoken to anyone else about your past life, have you Mayu?”

She shakes her head. “Only you lot and Gai-sensei. And I wouldn’t tell anyone about...those things.”

“Where is Gai-sensei, anyway?” Naruto asks.

“He has a mission today.” Okaa-san says. “He dropped by earlier to say he would be back in time for training tomorrow morning.”

Lee nods, smile small and happy.

Then he leans against Okaa-san, arms crossed. “So if the guns are from Mayu’s past life, but Mayu-chan didn’t have anything to do with their creation, how did they get from that world to here?”

She purses her lips. She’d like to know that herself.

Naruto closes his eyes and tilts his head from side to side, like a dog trying to listen to something. “Hmmm...a wizard...no, a mindreader...Iwa nin...hmm...Mayu’s evil twin...magic teleporting frog...”

She snorts and opens her mouth—

Then freezes.

“Naruto, what did you just say?”

Naruto blinks. “Magic teleporting frog?”

“Wh-no! Before that!” She says, mind whirring a million miles a minute.

There’s a moment as Naruto’s lips work soundlessly, going back through what he said.

Then his eyes widen and he rears back. “What the heck?! Mayu—you—you have an evil twin and never told me?!”

“You think I would’ve noticed if that was the case.” Okaa-san mutters.

“Kaa-san!” She yelps, flustered. “And no I don’t have an evil twin—that’s not the point!”

“What is it?” Lee leans around Okaa-san to stare curiously at her.

“It’s just an idea, I don’t have any proof for it or anything,” She gently digs her teeth into her lower lip. “But when Naruto said ‘evil twin’, it made me think what if—what if there is someone out there who was like me? What if I’m not the only one who was reborn into this world from mine?”

The room goes still.

“If such a person did exist, why would they do this?” Otou-san asks carefully. “Why manufacture and export these weapons, if there’s no real need for them here?”

She shrugs. “Money? Power, maybe? I-I don’t know, I have no idea. It’s just— nothing else makes sense, does it?”

There’s a sharp rap at the front door.

They all freeze.

“Dear. Gai said he wouldn’t be back from his mission today until tomorrow morning, didn’t he.” Okaa-san says.

Otou-san stands, one hand on his bokken. “Yes. He did.”

He moves towards the door, while Okaa-sama pushes them behind her, hissing, “Go upstairs to the door of our bedroom. Do not come down until we call you.”

After a moment, her towel and coats are lobbed up after them.

The zip on her winter coat smacks her in the lip.

She pulls it off her head in time to hear her father faintly say, “...Nara-sama! What an unexpected surprise!”

“Geez, Nara-sama’s such a drag. Nara-san will do just fine.” The lazy drawl floats up to them as Naruto leans forward to try and get a glimpse of Shikamaru’s dad, towel wrapped around his shoulders like a cape.

“Thank you very much, Nara-san. Would you like to come in?” Okaa-sama asks as Lee fidgets with the zipper on her raincoat.

“Nah, we’ll be quick. Shikamaru here just wanted to check with your kid, see if this whole shrine thing tomorrow is still going on.”

“Oh! Well we haven’t discussed that with her yet, so we’ll call her down.” She only gets a brief moment to panic before Okaa-san is raising her voice. “Mayu-chan! It’s one of your friends from the Academy for you!”

She shoves the coat behind her and traipses down the stairs.

“Hello Nara-san,” She says, a fake smile plastered across her face. “Hey Shika.”

“Yo.” Shikamaru replies.

His eyes still have that assessing quality from earlier.

He knows nothing, she tells herself. He hasn’t figured out you’re reincarnated, he doesn’t know there’s anything to figure out, please, please Sanji don’t let him figure anything out.

“So,” Shikamaru says suddenly, startling her. “How’s the head? It’d be troublesome if you woke up tomorrow too hurt to fix up the shrines.”

She touches the bruised area. “It’s a little sore, but I should be fine for tomorrow!”

“Are you sure, Mayu?” Okaa-san squeezes her shoulders. “We could always reschedule for next weekend if you aren’t up for it.”

“But Okaaa-saaan,” There’s a series of thumps as Naruto slides down the stairs one step at a time. “We’ve been waiting ages for this! Oh, hi Shika!”

“Hey Naruto.” Shikamaru raises a hand.

“I’m sure,” She nods her head. “Plus I think they’re eager for the shrines to finally be done too.”

Okaa-san’s expression goes tight and unamused, like it always does when they interact with her without it being an emergency, or Mayu asking permission first.

It’s not quite fair because Mayu suspects they can’t really help it, and it’s not really anything too direct, just flashes of emotion that are a little too intense to be her own.

She’s just glad they’re excited about the shrines too.

Then Shikamaru says, almost too casually, “The guns really spooked you earlier, huh?”

She can’t help it. She flinches.

Otou-san lays a hand over one of Okaa-san’s on her shoulder. “Ah, that...we were just discussing it with Mayu. We’re sorry for any worry her behavior caused, but...well...”

“But what?” Nara-san asks, one eyebrow raised.

Otou-san looks down, face twisted as if contemplating a difficult memory. “We don’t...enjoy talking about the journey from our homeland to Konohagakure. The...trials...we all had to weather. We’re just thankful we all made it here in one piece.”

Okaa-san nods and returns Otou-san’s doting smile, pretending to discreetly dab away tears with the sleeves of her kimono.

Shikamaru’s eyes widen slightly and he shifts, scratching his cheek and looking away.

It’s all she can do to not gape at the scene.

Are they—are they insinuating that her reaction to those things stems from their escape from Iron to hide her reincarnation? To the Jounin Squad Leader of Konoha and his son, no less?

She gives silent thanks to Franky and Robin.

She has the best parents in this world. The best.

“So the fact that the manufacturer of these weapons is based in Yukigakure comes as no surprise to you?” Nara-san says.

Otou-san jolts behind her.

Then after a moment, he sags, scrubbing one hand over his face. “You know, it really doesn’t. Does Yamanaka-san know?”

“He knows.” Nara-san nods, seemingly disinterested. He does a much better job of faking it compared to Shikamaru.

She glances back and forth between them, but there’s nothing on either man’s face that gives away any meaning to these non-sequiturs.

At least Shikamaru’s calculating look isn’t directed at her anymore.

Instead, he squints at Naruto. “Why are you wearing a towel?”

“Uh.” Naruto says, eyes darting to her.

Usopp help.

“We...were deconstructing a pillow fort! In my room.” She lies.

“A pillow what?” Shikamaru asks, eyes...oddly bright.

“A pillow fort! It’s where you take a whole load of pillows and blankets and towels and stuff and you create a fort using chairs and tables, or a chair and your bed if you have a raised one.” She explains.

Shikamaru nods, like this is only logical, though his expression has gotten even more weirdly intense for some reason. “Is that so? What do you do once you’ve built it?”

She shrugs. “It depends. You can just hang out in it and tell stories? Or nap?”

A slow, almost vicious smile spreads across Shikamaru’s face. He turns it upwards towards his father, who’s gone a worrying shade of grey and is staring at her like she’s pronounced a curse on his clan.

“Why.” Nara-san says, tone despairing. “Why would you tell him something like that exists?”

She shuffles so she’s partially hidden behind Otou-san. “...Sorry.”

Nara-san sighs, tugging gently on Shikamaru’s ponytail. “C’mon you. Let’s get going before you get any more ideas.”

“Actually, Nara-san, I have a quick question.” Okaa-san steps forward. “Would it—would it be acceptable for me to write to my relatives in Water Country? Perhaps inviting one or two of them over?”

She blinks up at her mother. She knows she has relatives in Water, but this is the first she’s heard about potentially meeting them.

Nara-san cocks his head to the side. “Writing a letter isn’t a crime. Inviting them here, to this village, for a visit...that’s more dicey.”

Okaa-san nods, chewing on her lower lip. “I suspected as much. Is that the same for all of Fire Country, or...? Ideally, we wouldn’t want to travel very far from Konoha.”

“Ideally.” Nara-san sighs again. “There are some villages nearby that might suit your needs. For now, I’d just put in a request for mail delivery at the mission desk. They can help you with any questions you have from there.”

“Thank you very much, Nara-san.” Okaa-san bows at the waist. “I hope you and Shikamaru-kun have a pleasant afternoon.”

“You too.” Nara-san bobs his head and takes Shikamaru by the shoulder. “C'mon, say goodbye.”

“See ya.” Shikamaru says, inclining his head like his father before the pair of them begin to walk away.

“See you tomorrow, Shika!” Naruto calls.

“Remember to wear clothes you don’t mind getting paint on!” She yells after him.

Shikamaru raises a hand in acknowledgement, before turning back to say something to his father.

Otou-san lets out a heavy sigh once the door is closed. “Right. Lee, could you bring the coats down with you?”

Lee obligingly comes down the stairs with both coats in his arms. “Are your relatives coming to stay, Chie-oba-san?”

“Maybe not to stay.” Okaa-san says. “But hopefully my brother Ikei and cousin Mei will get to meet you all.”

“All? You mean me, an’ Lee an’ Gai-sensei get to come with?” Naruto pipes up as he finishes setting down the towel, a huge grin spreading across his face.

Okaa-san beams and gathers the two of them into a hug. “Of course. I can’t let them leave without introducing them to three of my four favorite boys, can I?”

Lee’s eyes are shining and Naruto’s grinning and giggling. Otou-san leans over Okaa-san’s shoulder, pouting playfully. “Then what am I?”

“You’re the fourth favorite, of course.” Okaa-san teases, planting a kiss on Otou-san’s cheek.

Her mother turns and shoots her a small smile. “I also thought we could ask them it they’d met anyone who behaves...well, like you do. We’re a large merchant family spread all over, so it’s not unlikely that one of them has met someone in your circumstances without knowing it.”

“It’s not a bad idea, considering there’s likely one in Yukigakure.” Otou-san says glumly.

#my writing #naruto #one piece #but i like one piece #naruto uzumaki #rock lee #nara shikamaru #shikaku nara #shino aburame #iruka umino #sasuke uchiha #ketsugi mayu #ketsugi jirou #ketsugi chie #guns #usopp #straw hat pirates

17 notes · View notes

britishassistant · 4 years ago

Text

But I Like One Piece (18)

Something’s got to give eventually.

She just never expected it would be her.

It’s lunchtime, and they’re trying to navigate the strange, new dynamics that come from Ino trying to gain Sakura’s attention rather than the other way round.

She’s noticed that, despite bringing her normal lunchbox, Sakura has been picking at her food recently. As though she somehow finds it all somehow unappetizing.

It’s beginning to get a little worrying, so she brought something she knows the pink haired girl enjoys, just to make sure her blood sugar stays up at least.

She wordlessly holds out a skewer of dango to the pink-haired girl.

“Oh, no thank you.” Sakura says. “I’m on a diet—got to watch my figure you know!”

What.

“What?” Ino asks.

The wooden dango stick splinters in her fingers.

“What.” She says.

Over the blood rushing in her ears, she faintly hears someone go “oh no”.

“What do you mean, diet?” Her voice is as calm as she can make it.

Sakura flinches back, so she wasn’t as successful as she hoped she’d be.

Her tone is clipped when she replies, “You know, it’s not attractive to eat so much food, especially not unhealthy stuff. I’m working on fixing that. You should too, Mayu-chan, Ino-chan! We could be so pretty if we just lost a teeny bit of weight!”

No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend yet Tamara, the way you scoff down food like a pig.

She stands up, chair skittering away from her. She doesn’t grab Sakura’s collar, but it’s a near thing.

“Do you know when it’s acceptable to be on a diet?” She hears herself asking. “If you have food restrictions that it will kill you to violate, like diabetes or lactose intolerance. If your religion has foods that it’s not acceptable to eat, like pork or beef or animal products. If you want to improve your health by eating food to supplement an increase in activity, to build up protein for your muscles and iron in your blood. But thinking it’ll improve your looks...”

She hisses, “Open your mouth.”

“Wh-what?” Sakura leans away, hand coming up to try and cover the mentioned body part.

“M-Mayu-chan, hold on—” Naruto tries to caution.

She grabs Sakura’s hand, yanking her forward.

At this distance, her teeth don’t seem discolored and her breath doesn’t smell like bile...

“At least you’re not «bulimic».” She grumbles, dropping the limb. “So it’s just «anorexia» we’ve got to deal with. Shit.”

“W-what are you talking about, Mayu-chan?!” The pink-haired girl demands. “Those—those words, wh-what do they even mean?”

“They’re shitty eating disorders.” She tries to keep ahold of her temper. If she doesn’t know any better, it’s okay. She can be taught, she can be helped. “«Bulimia» is where you compulsively overeat and then throw up the meal. «Anorexia» is denying yourself food altogether. Both are symptoms of mental disorder, and done under the delusion that shitty starving will somehow lead to beauty. So why are you wasting food for this shitty delusion?”

Sakura flinches at the words “mental disorder”.

“T-th-that all sounds made up!” She blusters. “E-everyone knows that boys like thin girls best! My mom and Ino’s mom and all of Ino’s mom’s magazines say so!”

She throws her hands up. “What are you even talking about?! What boys?!”

Sakura’s eyes glance to Uchiha and away.

“Oh. Oh Sakura, no.” She says, despairing. “You’re—”

“What?!” Sakura cuts her off. “Do you not think I’m good enough?! Is the sidekick too presumptuous for trying to catch up to the heroine and the rival?!”

Okay, now she’s just completely lost.

“Sidekick?” Ino says, hands held up placatingly. “What do you mean, sidekick?”

Sakura laughs, a high and shrill sound. “Don’t pretend you don’t know! That’s all I’ve ever been to you! Just-just following you around, with no strength of my own! If it weren’t for you, nobody would even notice if I disappeared! Nobody would care! They’re all your friends, not mine!”

Ino shrinks back. “That’s-that’s not true Sa—”

“DON’T LIE TO ME!” The pink-haired girl’s chest heaves for a moment before the all rage in her expression and posture just...vanishes. Like she’s slipped on a mask.

It’s more than slightly disturbing.

Sakura exhales, a sweet smile on her lips. “I’m going to be a strong, ladylike kunoichi heroine on my own terms. Strong enough to beat all of you. If any of you have a problem with that, you can just keep your stupid mouths shut.”

So saying, she picks up her things and flounces to an empty table at the back of the room.

She pulls out a chair and resolutely turns her back to the rest of them.

There’s a moment of silence where they all stare at each other.

“...What just happened?” Naruto asks in a hoarse whisper.

She shrugs. It started out with vile words about diets and beauty that still set her teeth on edge, then went to Sakura’s awful taste in boys, then something about her not having friends?

That last one stings, honestly.

Ino curls into herself, looking miserable.

“She’s not a sidekick, she’s my friend, my best friend, but why, why—” The blonde girl looks up, pupil-less eyes lost and sad. “Am I a bad friend?”

“Nah.” Shikamaru says. “You’re fine. She’s just being troublesome.”

Chouji nods, reaching over the table to squeeze Ino’s hand and making gentle hushing noises as Ino’s shoulders hitch with sobs.

Sakura’s back twitches.

So she’s listening in then.

“I don’t get it.” Kiba complains, hugging Akamaru to his chest. “Why wouldn’t we want Billboard Brow to be strong? Isn’t she already strong anyway?”

“Ask Uchiha.” Shino says, stabbing a straw into his juicebox. “Why? Because he has repeatedly expressed disdain for Haruno’s abilities on the basis of her civilian status.”

“I have not!” Uchiha snaps. “It’s not my fault that civilians aren’t as prepared as clan ninja!”

“I rest my case.” Shino mumbles around his straw.

She massages the bridge of her nose. “Look, playing the blame game is not what we need right now. Not when our friend’s so intent on starving herself to death.”

“Is she?” Shikamaru asks, almost carelessly. “Our friend, I mean.”

There’s a quiet inhale around the table.

Sakura’s posture is tenser than a set tripwire.

“Of course she is!” Naruto slams his hands down on the table. “What kinda question is that?!”

“A rough patch is nothing to jump ship over.” She scoffs, biting into the spurned dango. “Usopp and Nami and Robin all had them, didn’t they?”

“And they all literally jumped ship.” Shikamaru mutters, though with less heat behind it.

“Gi-give her time.” Hinata murmurs diplomatically. “It’s-it’s awful, to be ho-hounded. Let her ha-have room to breathe.”

Ino blows her nose noisily on a napkin. Her eyes are bloodshot.

“Anything.” The blonde says shakily. “Anything she needs.”

Chouji leans over the table to give her a hug.

“Anything she needs” turns out to be close to two weeks of pointed silences and increasing misery.

Poor Lee has it bad, because he wasn’t even there for the big blowup. Sakura will at least be civil towards him, but the tension between his crush and Naruto and her with no remedy in sight upsets him, though he does his best not to show it.

At least they’ve finally found a store that will sell them the materials and instructions on how to build twelve smallish shrines that can withstand the elements, so silver linings.

They just need to buy the right colors of waterproof paint and some offerings and it’ll all be ready.

Just in time too.

Now at lunchtime, she feels increasingly keyed up at the sight of Sakura’s steadily diminishing portions, getting more and more agitated until digging her nails into her legs is the only thing stopping her from marching over there and— and—

And at this point she’d almost be more worried if this was all her than if it wasn’t.

It gets to the point where she pours it all out to Gai-sensei one morning during training, while Naruto and Lee are busy sparring.

Gai-sensei’s eyebrows furrow, and he’s quiet for a long time.

“Sometimes,” He says eventually. “My most cool and hip rival does not feel very youthful. There are days where he is fighting many battles in his head. So many that plenty of tasks become like perilous trials in his already burdened state. Do you know what I do?”

She shakes her head

He smiles. “I try to see what he needs. Some days, he needs privacy and time, so I give that to him. Others, he needs a reminder of the present, that the battles in his mind need not impede the Springtime of our Youth, so we undertake most youthful challenges together.”

He claps a hand on her shoulder. “Your rival is trying her best to blossom as you and Naruto and Lee have done. You merely need to be there as best you can for her, to judge whether it is prudent to give her time or to test her mettle against yours. Do not try to force it. A rival is an equal, someone who you trust to stand alongside you rather than someone you need to protect.”

“I’m not sure if Sakura’s my rival.” She admits, rubbing the back of her neck. “...but I thought we were equals. I just don’t know why she thinks that I don’t think she’s my friend.”

“You did say that her attempts to improve herself, however ill-advised, meant she was insane.” Gai-sensei points out.

What?

Oh.

“I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” She says miserably.

Gai-sensei ruffles her hair. “Not to worry, Mayu-chan! Admitting you have a problem is the first step to being able to rectify it!”

She thunks her head against her knees and groans.

So she’s made mistakes and needs to make up for them.

The only problem now is working out how.

It’s something she puzzles over for most of breakfast, and on their walk to the Academy.

Gai-sensei said to let Sakura “test her mettle” if she’d had enough time to herself.

And those terms she keeps using—sidekick, heroine, rival—sound like something out of a comic book or cheesy novel.

Wait.

Narrative roles.

The part of her that’s been trained to break down literature and rebuild it into a coherent thesis begins ticking over the possibilities.

She cautiously grins to herself. “I think I know how to help Sakura.”

Naruto and Lee look at her with naked hope in their eyes.

It’s like her favorite quote says: The value in fairy tales isn’t that they tell us dragons exist—but that dragons can be beaten.

Fortunately for her, today is a sparring day.

Even more fortunately, her first opponent is Shikamaru.

He can see she’s up to something so he forfeits in record time.

When Sakura stands opposite her, she gives her best innocent smile while they lock fingers.

“Y’know, I still don’t get why you’re even interested in that guy. You’re about a million times prettier than him, you know.”

So that’s what pink hair looks like against a red face and thERE is a punch.

It’s wimpy compared to what she’s previously seen, no real force or form behind it.

“A-are your eyes working?” Sakura sputters, trying to regain her composure. “Of course he’s prettier!”

She grins, making no move to fight back beyond blocking or dodging. “Eh, you’re a ten out of ten, he’s a five on a good day.”

She thinks she hears Uchiha screech from the sidelines as Sakura tries to force her emotions back under the mask. She darts in and pokes her opponent’s cheek before darting away again.

The pink-haired girl makes a sound not unlike a whistling kettle and begins to chase her around the ring.

“You honestly think you can beat me as you are now?” She taunts, mentally cringing at the line. “You can’t win if you keep half-assing it. You’re better than this Sakura, I know you are.”

“No. I’m. Not.” The next kick actually whistles past her ear. “I need to get stronger so he’ll look at me. I need to get stronger so you and Ino-chan don’t get hurt again!”

She darts forward to flick her opponent’s arm. “And this is the best way? Constantly putting yourself down, starving yourself, playing weak to look “ladylike”? Could you even protect Akamaru by hiding your strength like this?”

A growl emerges from Sakura’s throat. “You wanna see strength? I’ll show you strength, shannaro!!”

She spreads out her arms, grinning. “Finally. C’mon heroine. Stop holding back and show me what you really can do!”

Sakura’s punch connects so hard stars burst behind her eyelids.

She stumbles back a step or two and spits the excess blood into her palm.

She blinks at the small white things that come with it, poking experimentally around her mouth with her tongue.

Chopper’s Rumble Balls.

Sakura’s actually knocked her front teeth out.

They’re only baby teeth, but still. She can’t really help her burst of slightly incredulous laughter.

And this—this bubblegum bruiser thinks she’s just the sidekick.

Whispery boisterous laughter echoes in her ears.

She feels like her grin is going to split her face in two.

The pink-haired girl is babbling, horror clear on her face. “Oh my gosh, Mayu-chan, are you okay?! I’m so—”

She holds up a warning finger. “Don’t. Don’t you dare apologize for that, Haruno. If you do, I’ll kick your ass, I swear to Luffy.”

Haruno Sakura stares at her, bewilderment, guilt and irritation flashing across her face.

Then she squares her shoulders.

“As if you could.”

Iruka-sensei calls off the match then and there before they can really get into it, unfortunately.

He sends her inside to wash the blood out of her mouth once he’s reassured that it was only her baby teeth she’s lost.

He seems perturbed when she mentions putting the teeth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Telling him that the Tooth Fairy gives good children money for more than one tooth doesn’t appear to help matters.

She gets back outside in time to see Sakura rush at Ino with a grin that bares all her teeth.

Ino, for her part, stares at her friend with something like amazed awe in her eyes, and only very narrowly dodges a black eye at the last second.

Their fight can only be called “dance-like” in the sheer synchronization of throwing blows. Otherwise it’s nothing that can be called elegant, or Nami, Robin and Vivi forbid, dainty.

It’s one of the most beautiful things she’s ever seen. She thinks they might even surpass Naruto and Uchiha’s fights in terms of passion.

And now she sounds like Gai-sensei.

Maybe time to quit her musings while she’s ahead.

She sidles up to Naruto. “How‘s Sakura?” She lisps quietly.

“So awesome.” Naruto breathes almost without realizing it, transfixed on the girl in the ring.

She pokes him in the side. He jumps and scowls at her.

“Kaa-san’s gonna ban you from cooking again, believe it.” He informs her.

“Not if you don’t tell she won’t.” She replies, doing her best imitation of his puppy-eyes.

“I’m gonna tell.” Naruto says immediately, the traitor. “And I’mma tell Tou-san and Gai-sensei that you stood there and let Sakura-chan hit you.”

She breaks out in a cold sweat at the thought of all the extra kata her father and Gai-sensei will put her through when they hear that she was messing around in a spar.

She flops forward at the waist. “Ugh.”

Naruto snickers.

She straightens up when Sakura and Ino begin screaming at each other about protection and supporting even really bad romantic endeavors and what sounds like the plot of a romance novel and standing side-by-side instead of in front or maybe in front is okay if they fight for it?

She doesn’t quite get what they’re saying.

Judging by their faces, neither do most of the Lunchtime Group, the rest of their class, or Iruka-sensei.

Well, even if it doesn’t quite make sense to her, Sakura looks a lot happier, if bruised and bloody.

That’s more than worth losing her front teeth and a week of cooking over, no matter how much the latter pains her.

She fiddles with the teeth in her palm, running her thumb over the root. They’re always so much smaller than it feels like they should be.

“Did people of your world really believe there’s a fairy that collects teeth?” Naruto mutters to her as Sakura lands the decisive blow.

“Kids were taught to.” She lisps back, doing a bit of mental math as the pink-haired girl throws herself into the arms of her downed opponent, the pair of them sobbing their eyes out. “You’d get, like, one ryō for three teeth.”

Naruto pulls a face that manages to be disgusted and delighted at the same time. “Your world is so weird, Mayu-chan.”

She tilts her head to the side and nods, as Ino and Sakura limp out of the ring and Kiba takes some of her weight as they head to the nurse’s office. “That’s fair.”

Sakura doesn’t join them for lunch that day, but she does move one table closer from the back.

The next day it’s two tables closer, despite the grumbles from some of the other boys in class as she perches at the end.

It continues in this pattern until Sakura’s sitting at the table behind them, pretending badly that she’s not interested.

She doesn’t quite understand why. The way Shino tells it, Kiba apparently broke Sakura’s window the evening after the spars by throwing a first aid kit through it.

Sakura’s parents thought it was a sweet gesture. His Ma was Not Happy.

Despite that, the pair of them came to school the next morning looking happier than they had for weeks. Ino and Sakura have been walking home together too.

Hinata turns around. “U-um, Sakura-chan?”

Sakura cocks her head, but no more than that. “Hm?”

“I-if it’s not too much trouble, w-would you like to si-sit with us for lunch?” Hinata says.

There’s a tense silence as Sakura tilts her head, considering.

The pink-haired girl exhales gustily. “Yes please, Hinata-chan.”

Naruto cheers as she gathers her things and sits back down in between Hinata and Ino.

“Hey, hey, Sakura-chan, do you wanna come over to Mayu’s this weekend? We’re gonna be painting shrines for the StrawHats, it’ll be really fun, believe it!” He asks eagerly.

Sakura’s brow furrows, but the smile she gives to Naruto is genuine. “I-I’d love to. Thank you for inviting me, even after...I-I’m really sorry I said...”

Naruto just beams at her. “S’okay! You’re our friend after all!”

She grins into her cherries as Sakura gets up to give him a great big hug.

That afternoon, they don’t have their usual lecture.

Instead, Iruka-sensei leads the class down the hall for a sneak peek at a new addition to the Academy curriculum that would be implemented next year.

“Now this comes from a new company based in Yukigakure.” He lectures. “They were kind enough to sell these weapons to Konoha at half the price they were selling to other hidden villages.”

There’s several large wooden crate, with heavily stylized kanji and a logo of four thin diamonds arranged in a strange pattern printed on its sides.

The kanji reads: Tsuruku Industries.

She’s not sure if that’s supposed to be a pun or not.

Iruka-sensei carefully lifts the lid off of the crate, and pulls out some of the packaging covering what’s inside as everyone crowds around.

“The Council has decreed that all Academy students from next year onwards need to be at least proficient in these as they are in kunai and shuriken to graduate. You all will still be on the old graduation plan, so your jounin-sensei will probably be the ones teaching you how to use them.” He explains.

Uchiha asks him something, but she can’t hear what it is.

She’s frozen at the sight of rows of gleaming black handguns and clear cases of bullets neatly packed into the styrofoam, all decorated with four thin diamonds.

She doesn’t think she can breathe.

«What the fuck.» She wheezes, before the world goes wobbly and sideways.

8 notes · View notes