#uchide no kozuchi

[tanuki-kimono]

The takarazukushi 宝尽くし or takaramono 宝物 pattern, chart by Nadeshico Rin. This ancient auspicious pattern represents luck-bringing treasures symbols:

Hôju 宝珠, Cintamani flaming jewel said to fulfill wishes

Chôji 丁字, cloves buds, an expensive spice

Hôyaku 宝鑰, granary or warehouse key

Kinnô 金囊, treasure pouch

Fundo 分銅, counterweight

Hôkan 宝巻, scrolls of knowledge (also called more generally makimono)

Kakuremino 隠れ蓑, robe of invisibility (or also hagoromo 羽衣 the heavenly feathered robe) 

Uchide no Kozuchi 打ち出の小槌, lucky mallet fulfilling wishes

(List of those fantastical treasures is not set, you can also find other artefacts like: shippô  七宝, geometrical shape representing jewels and precious metal, kakuregasa 隠れ笠, the hat of invisibility, etc).

Rin points that takarazukushi was popular pattern used by samurai women in summer. You can see here how this lady has her katabira 帷子 (summer kimono) around her waist in a way called koshimaki 腰巻. Sleeves stay because they are propped up by a specially reinforced sageobi 提帯 belt.

[oldgloryflash]

[s30620]

Chapter 176: Scattering the Bait

Many many things being set up for the next arc this chapter! Seiko meets up with some colleagues to find something to turn Momo big again. The Uchide no Kozuchi is an item from Japanese folklore that can give you whatever you want with a strike, most commonly money and of course, turning someone small, big! It's traditionally in the possession of oni (ogres/monsters) but according to Kashimoto here, it's now possessed by Daikokuten, who is one of the "Seven Lucky Gods". I wonder if the gang will be meeting the other six gods out of these seven?

The new characters Payase and Kashimoto are real-life Youtubers Toshi Boys and they make videos about the occult. Their videos are all in Japanese so I wasn't able to understand them, but it's cool that Tatsu had them make a cameo in his manga like he did with Creepy Nuts!

Seiko also has the location of her quest, the Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine located in Izumo of Shimane Prefecture. Looking at Google Maps, it would be 7.5 hours by public transport or 9.5 hours by car if you're leaving from Tokyo. It's a long journey, maybe the gang will go on a road trip like they did when going to Jiji's cursed house, yet another callback to the beginning. But before we do that, they need to defeat the jiangshi attacking them!

[werehoggin]

I hope they add Sukuna-Hikona in Housamo, since he is like Okuninushi's colleague, the soul within Daikoku's body and I feel like Sukuna would give him the look after realizing about the illegal Transient auction made by Daikoku (or Okuninushi in his eyes)

(Also, when I was thinking about Sukuna, I would feel like Sukuna would possess Issun-bōshi's body, since the interpretation of Issun-bōshi thought to have originated from Sukuna-Hikona, but there is also this thing in the general story of Issun-bōshi, he picks up a magic hammer, the Uchide no kozuchi dropped by an Oni, I was wondering, What happens if both of the same Sacred Artifact exist in Tokyo, whilst having different owners)

I have to reread the story but I don’t think two of the same sacred artifacts can exist or their role. It’s one of the two

[kagayuzen]

The 48th Kaga-Yuzen New Work Competition

Furisode kimono "Kissho Takarazukushi" by Chisato Nishino

"Kissho" stands for prosperity and happiness, and the auspicious patterns of Uchide-no-Kozuchi and Takaramaki are scattered on a background of clouds-covered pine, bamboo, and plum trees.

[rubywolf0201]

Idea:

Amy's hammer isn't actually called "Piko Piko". That's just the name of the seal.

It's actual name is "Uchide no kozuchi (打ち出の小槌, lit. "Tap-Appear Mallet")", and it can make the user's wishes come true when swung. This power was sealed long ago in order to keep the true nature of this hammer from the world, but it could be awakened at any time if the need ever arose...

That’s an interesting thought so far. I like the lore you gave to Amy’s hammer anon!

[irezumiaddicts]

Artist: Horishin I

[hasmashdoneanythingwrong]

There’s no proof that the uchide no kozuchi (often known as the lucky mallet to English speakers, often remembered for making Issun-Boshi regular person sized) wouldn’t work on Kingprotea, so I vote we attempt to summon Issun-Boshi and have him use the mallet on Kingprotea so she can be smaller whenever she wants.

[marshmallowgoop]

nah the post was good, sorry i made it too board for you to undersatnd that, i was just curious of the whole show because i found mixed views of it on tumblr... and while i only watch a few clips AFTER it finished(the OVA didnt come out yet) i was curious about it and its problems. im one of those people who can go into somethign with spoilers anyway

while looking for KLK fics to read later, i find they arent many AUs of the show, especily since the show doesnt have as many fans as it used to. some of them are either incompleted or just one chapter and i dont know any dounjinshis. ya know any AU doujinshis and/or fanfics, if not you know any neat AU ideas/headcanons of the show i can write/draw about(i dont do crossovers sry)

reading your posts you have mention your fairytale AU you wanted to write about, you still doing that or you stop long ago? if you have more plotpoitns abotu it care to share(i'm curious abou your backstory for ragyo)

I'd describe my feelings on the show as "mixed," too. This post probably sums up my thoughts best.

Regarding AUs for the show, I think it's worth noting that regardless of Kill la Kill's popularity, its English-language fic scene has always seemed relatively quiet—at least, from my perspective, anyway. (I remember a popular fic writer once published a Kill la Kill piece, and it did very well for a Kill la Kill piece, but the author found the low engagement to be incredibly discouraging.)

The doujinshi scene seems to be much more happening, but unfortunately, I'm not very well versed in that area and don't think I can personally recommend any AUs, sorry!

But for English-language AUs, there have been some lovely ones over the years. I compiled a rec list here that includes a few. It's true that a lot of fics are incomplete, but incomplete works still deserve love and attention. After all, many works become incomplete because of a lack of interest.

As for my own fairytale AU... I'm sorry to say that it may never happen. I tried to continue it as my National Novel Writing Month project last year, but I only got a few thousand words in before switching gears to an "original" piece instead.

Thank you very much for the interest, though! Ragyo's backstory has changed a bit over the drafts, but I think the basis has always been one of the Indian tales from the Konjaku Monogatari, called "About King Prasenajit's Daughter Ugly Adamantina" in Marian Ury's Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-Two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection. The story describes a princess born so ugly that she's hidden away from the world in a small hut. It turns out that her ugliness is because of a sin in her past life, but once she repents, she becomes spectacularly beautiful. Ragyo's story is similar, except her ugliness comes from a wicked woman's heart, and she becomes beautiful in a different way, a way that maybe has something to do with the Uchide-no-Kozuchi, or wish-granting mallet, quality of the demons in the AU....

[siverfanweedo]

Issun Boshi but she is santa!  a ill bit of xmas art! drew one of my fate ocs ( Issun Boshi ) but as a santa. Her class would be assassin and she will bonk you with the Uchide no kozuchi  Also i very rarely do shading on my icons and such cuz i am lazy but since this is a bit of a specials piece i spent a bit more time with it  happy xmas to those with celebrate it and a over all have a great day to everyone. The year isnt over yet but it will be soon and i hope in 2021 i can make even more art!

[tanuki-kimono]

Disrepaired antique obi with a fantastic colorful takarazukushi (luck-bringing treasures) among bamboo over a cloudy black ground. The treasures featured here are:

uchide no kozuchi (lucky mallet)

kinnô (treasure pouch)

magatama (comma-shaped jewel)

sango (coral)

chôji (stylized clove)

hôkan ("precious scrolls")

This one would need a lot of work (mold stains+gold thread couching in a mess) to be restored to its former glory, but that pattern and colors would be so worthy of the extra work!

[littleeyesofpallas]

Bleach  -Name Games

I did Rose’s sword because it’s super cool and elaborate, but I figure I can’t leave the other Visored out to dry, even if most of them don’t have a lot going on with their zanpakutou.

In general I tried to go over the Visored’s personal names already a while back.  (I actually feel like I did a disservice by trying to cram them all into one, and looking back on it it was a sloppy assessment, but oh well...) And I’ve covered Shinji’s Sakanade in that old post and Hiyori’s KubikiriOrochi recently...  Mashiro and Hacchi never even released their swords... So, that really only leaves Love, Kensei, and Risa...

In Kensei’s case it couldn’t be more straight forward Tachikaze(断地風) is written as  断:”Sever” 地:”Ground” 風:”Wind,” and Viz rightly translates it as “Earth-Severing wind.’   The release call, Futtobase(吹っ飛ばせ) means to “Blow off” as in “to Blow on + to Scatter,” Viz called this “Blast away” which is a little off base, but has a certain double play that I’m actually super surprised they caught,  because Futtobase(ふっとばせ) and Buttobase(ぶっとばせ) are super close and Buttobase(打っ飛ばせ) is “to send flying” or “to knock down/off (their) feet” which is in line with Kensei’s brawler delinquent demeanor.  But this way “Blast off” sounds both like wind scattering something like dust, as well as a blast knocking someone off their feet.

So, the name can be taken pretty literally, but as far as references that Kubo might have been making; Tachikaze was a class of naval Destroyer in operation during the 1970s (Vietnam War), as well as the name of a specific Minekaze class Destroyer operating the 1930s(Sino-Japanese war).  In general Destroyers are typically fast moving and used as escort ships for larger, slower ships as part of a convoy.  In the case of these ships, and in the case of other media that have used the name, typically Tachikaze(太刀風) is actually written  太: “thick” 刀:”Sword” 風:”Wind,” where Tachi(太刀) is also a specific type of Japanese sword.  The name evokes a great cutting wind like a gale or a hurricane.

I think, if anything, the name might be a nod the 1970s Destroyer class ship, because of Kensei’s initial outfit having a vaguely modern miltiary style about it: Combat boots, tactical cargo pants, short cropped hair, and his sword even having a rubber grip and finger loop like a combat knife rather than any kind of traditional Japanese weapon --even though he later swerved more toward a bosozoku gimmick.  He also has a move identified in the UNMASKED databook as Bakudan(爆弾突き),  爆弾:”Bomb” 突き:”Thrust” which has a bit of a military weaponry vibe.

I also tie it to the Vietnam war in particular because in general the Visored all had specific outdated styles of dress when first introduced, which seemed super deliberate on Kubo’s part but never really got elaborated on.

Shinji’s Brit mod look, Kensei’s Vietnam War fatigues, Mashiro’s Himitsu Goranger tights, and Rose’s shoujo bishonen look all tie them to the 1970s. I’m not super sure about Hacchi’s look... He almost looks like a host?  A tacky lounge singer?? a bad prom tux???  And Risa’s sailor-fuku is kind of broadly attributable to anywhere from the 1920s to modern day. (although sailor-fuku as school uniforms have seen substantial decline as school uniforms since the open sexual fetishization of them in the 1980s.)  Also both Love and Hiyori just have a kind of slacker/mountain hick sweatsuit/tracksuit aesthetics, which aren’t exactly era specific...  Although if we assume Love’s afro is actually a punch perm that was very much a 70s-80s trend.

Anyway... that was a big tangent, but the point was that maybe Kensei’s sword is a reference to a Vietnam War destroyer ship because of the 1970s.  Kensei’s bankai adds Tekken(鐡拳) to the name, and just like the videogame series it means “Iron Fist.”  There’s really not a lot to that one.

Love’s sword is a simple yet weird one.  The name Tengumaru(天狗丸) is just Tengu(天狗) and the suffix -maru(丸) which really just serves the function of making it a name.  I would imagine the Tengu is a pretty well recognized bit of Japanese mythology, even outside of Japan by now.  There’s a neat history to them and how they got their name, and the way they look in art, and their shifting role in folk lore and mythology from antagonistic bringers of war to benevolent, if still dangerous, protectors of the mountains and nature, as well as their association with the Japanese religion of Shugendo in particular...  But none of that seems to be referenced here.  In fact there doesn’t appear to be any actual reference to the Tengu at work at all....

Love’s mask is a pretty stock and standard Oni or devil mask, and the giant iron bludgeon weapon is a stylized kanabou(金棒) which is also associated with oni imagery, but not Tengu.  If anything, the general shape and size of his giant club might be a play on the shape of a humanoid Tengu’s iconic long nose, while the long nosed Tengu’s red face might be the influence for the fire powers, but the Tengu itself doesn’t have any particularly strong direct associations with fire...  and moreover neither the tengu nor the oni seem to have anything to do with Love’s whole “love” theme in his name.

His release call is uchikudake(打ち砕け) which is just a pretty straight forward action for an iron club, “Crush.”  He uses a technique called Hifuki no Kozuchi(火吹の小槌): “Little-Mallet/Gavel of Fire-Breathing” but I feel like the “Little Mallet” bit is a reference to the Uchide-no-Kozuchi(打ち出の小槌).  In the Issun-boshi myth, where the little hero retrieves it from an oni he defeats; the magic hammer allows him to grow to regular human size.  Similarly in the myth of Momotaro, the hero obtains the mallet from the oni-island.  I only get this impression because if it’s not a reference, then it feels really weird to call a massive club “little-hammer“ as if that were a literal description.

On second thought, I forgot that tengu nose is pretty commonly used as phallic image, so it’s entirely possible that that’s the link to the “Love” theme.

Lisa’s is a real weird one though...  Her shikai is called Hagurotonbo(鉄漿蜻蛉), which is the name of the Calopteryx atrata damselfly.  And I guess the generally bodyshape of a dragonfly could be seen as reflected in the shikai being a polearm, but that feels kind of weak...  The specific kanji used here for Haguro(鉄漿) means “Iron Drink” and refers to Haguro(歯黒) “Tooth-Blackening” which was a kind of fashion trend in Japan prior the the Meiji restoration, primarily among married women of some courtly status, although it did eventually spread into general public style as well.  The "Tooth”+”Black” writing is fairly obvious, but the “Iron”+”Drink” form refers to the fact that the tooth dying concoction included dissolved iron powder.

So in Lisa’s case it’s kind of weird...  Is it just a reference to the species of black-winged damselfly?  Is it some kind of evocation of the old fashion of a married noble woman?  Her shikai is a strange blade shape that could be either an exaggeratedly broad yari spear, or some variation the Chinese Monk’s spade.  And her mask is a diamond with a cross slit that doesn’t appear to be related to the shikai form or name at all...(if anything it just kind of randomly looks like the head piece of the Zeon mobile suit, Gyan)  her release call is tsubuse(潰せ):”to crush/flatten,” which also doesn’t seem related to anything other than paddling something with the broad end of her spear.

In fact if there’s anything that actually seems to suggest a real theme it’s the random technique she has named Nijuuichijou Tonbokudari (二十一条蜻蛉下り): “21 Clauses Dargonfly Descent,” which she technically used fighting Gerard Valkyrie, but we barely really saw.  It looks like a super specific direct reference to Taika Nijuuikkajou Youkyuu(対華21ヶ条要求): generally known in English as “The 21 Demands” referring to the terms of surrender Japan made of China in their conquest of Manchuria during World War 1.  The demands were ultimately negotiated down to more favorable terms for China, minimizing Japanese expansionist gains, but the signing resulted in massive distrust between Japan and America, Japan and Britain, and of course Japan and China.

But all together these elements don’t seem to have any kind of cohesive theme behind them all...

Anyway, that’s the Visored swords, it’s really weird to think that Kubo basically had to come up with all of these names and designs at basically the same time yet the level of thought and investment in them seems to be all over the place.

[missmyloko]

Hi MissMyloko! I wonder if you could break down the motifs of Kotsuru's kuromontsuki. Tomoko-san called them "Uchide no Kozuchi" but there are so many of them that I don't understand which of the motifs she refers to specifically. Thank you!

They’re filled with the treasures of the Shichifukujin, which I’ve covered before here ^^

[soraniyan]

a cutout picture (using a Japanese paper )

mice (2020 lucky motive in Japan)with Uchide no Kozuchi (Mallet of Luck)

*

切り絵 / 習作

打ち出の小槌とねずみたち

[miodas-dr-imagines]

Hiyoko x Reader Circus AU

The person who requested this sent it through my messages instead of my inbox and they wished to remain anonymous, so I won’t include a screenshot of their request. But they requested Hiyoko and the reader performing at a travelling circus, and I thought their idea was so cute! I had a bunch of ideas for this while brainstorming, but I settled on this one!

I should also probably update my rules to let people know I’ll write short fics, too.

-Mod Ibuki <3

   Sometimes, performing at a travelling circus wasn’t easy. Especially when you were meant to be the human cannonball. That sudden rush of adrenaline you got once you were shot out of the cannon...you could barely even begin to describe it.

   The whole operation had a gorgeous traditional Japanese aesthetic, but your favorite aspect was the performers’ outfits, specifically your coworker and close friend Hiyoko’s. Her attire was adorned with fireworks and ribbons so colorful it was almost overwhelming. The most notable part of her outfit, however, was a large rocket shaped firework on her back with the fuse trailing behind her.

   Right now, it was almost time for your act, the human cannonball. The spotlight shone on you, and you waved to the crowd with a smile on your face. Hiyoko jumped and danced around to hype you up, carrying a large mallet that resembled the Uchide no Kozuchi. How a girl as small as her was able to wield something like that, you didn’t know.

   You were just about to enter the cannon, but your eyes widened as you looked towards Hiyoko. It could have been a discarded cigarette that was responsible, maybe a lit candle, perhaps someone had even done it on purpose, but the fuse on the firework on her back was sparking, and it was looking awfully short.

   Before Hiyoko knew it, she was thrust into the air with a loud boom. The audience gazed upward in awe, not realizing that this wasn’t part of the show. As she started falling, you ran towards her hoping to catch her, and she luckily landed in your arms unharmed, clutching her mallet so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

   Cue the awkward silence as you held her, though you eventually spoke up. “Well, Hiyoko, I think it’s safe to say that you just...fell for me?”

   She puffed up her cheeks and glared at you, pretending to be angry. Hiyoko hopped out of your arms and swung her mallet at you with all her might, causing you to be launched into the sky and comically disappear with a twinkle.

   “They’re fine, they’re fine!” she assured the onlookers. She leaned on her mallet and gazed up towards the area you flew to, quietly giggling to herself. She knew you’d find your way back, you always did.

   But now that you were somewhere off in the night sky, who was she going to convince to be shot out of the cannon?

[koikishu]

Koikishu’s Fantasy Kimono Tansu: Haori - Tomesode

Motifs: Kikkou, Hanabishi, Uchide no Kozuchi, Botan, Kiku, Tachibana

Seasonality: Seasonless

Sleeve Length: 48.5 cm

Background Color: HTML code (F0C5CA)

Source: http://www.ichiroya.com/item/list2/397464/