Oct 3, 2019
Pine Scent event in summary
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Pine Scent event in summary
i. School
Before becoming a businessman, Matsutake Dobinmushi lived at a privately owned school (1) in his village.
(1) 私塾 or书塾 [old-style private school; a privately established teaching space, there is no fixed teaching materials or age restrictions for students, usually there’s only one teacher.]
That village relied on harvesting matsutake mushrooms as their livelihood.
Matsutake mushrooms are valuable, but their trading price is not much. Their yearly income is just enough to cover the villagers’ living costs for a year.
The villagers aren’t very concerned with the changes in their country; they only know how to pick the mushrooms on the mountain and only care if they can sell off a bit more mushroom this year.
Of course, the villagers don’t know what kinds of people are purchasing the mushrooms, nor do they know that they could smooth talk customers into a higher and higher sale price.
Aside from that, they don’t have many worries, unlike Matsutake and his Master Attendant.
The village has a very small private school.
Matsutake’s Master is the owner of that school.
His Master is constantly worried about his country’s future.
He came from the imperial capital and used to be a brilliant government official. After he’d resigned from his government duties, he returned to his home town. The villagers respect people like that.
Master Attendant hoped the villagers could lead a better life outside of mushroom picking. Then, for the sake of allowing the children to leave this piece of land, he allowed the villagers to send their children to study at his school during their free time.
Matsutake doesn’t disagree with this simple kind of village life, there’s no need to change it.
But in his view, this sort of life is a bit too boring.
The school’s reputation is esteemed, or as should he say, his Master Attendant’s reputation is esteemed. Even the residents of neighbouring villages, who have a bit of money and status, would all send their children here, requesting him to teach them.
Matsutake would usually accompany them home after class. On the way, he’d also buy some goods only available in bigger villages. If some people needed things brought back to the village, Matsutake would sell it to them at its ‘original price,’ including errand fees, along with his latest poem.
This ‘original price’ refers to the price that they know.
After all, every time he buys something, he asks for a discount to get the lowest price he can.
This whole bargaining process is always so fascinating; Matsutake just can’t refrain from it.
But his Master Attendant didn’t like it. He thought these small spats were not practical.
But at a village like this, how else can Matsutake expand his business? It’s not like he could leave his Master Attendant, who he had to protect, and move to a distant and large city.
End of Part 1
ii. Chances
Master Attendant’s past students would sometimes visit the school for a variety of purposes: to reminisce, to ask for advice, or to invite him to the mountains.
Aside from the students who remained in school to study with him, Master Attendant always let those guests remain only for one night, before asking them to leave.
But they never once felt disheartened. After periods of time, there would come new people.
Some of them are officials from the imperial court, while others are merchants.
But regardless of status, their hearts belonged to this country.
When they came to visit Master Attendant, they would always bring some novelties from the capital; they were all high end goods that a village like this could never have.
These one-of-a-kind items made Matsutake curious about the capital city, his curiosity eventually growing into a sort of yearning.
What was his Master Attendant like in the capital city, when he regards fame and fortune as much?
Matsutake’s curiosity for the capital never ceased until his Master Attendant passed of illness.
During his lifetime, the Master cared deeply for the school, but it was as if he knew Matsutake had an ambition for goals outside their reach. He did not let Matsutake inherit the school, but instead, passed it to one of his students. This allowed him to continue teaching the youth, letting these children not be chained to status or family and one day, even become an official for the country.
Master Attendant’s final words to him were only one sentence, he said:
“Do not wait for others to give you opportunity; you must make it yourself, as that’s the only way you can be sure it won’t slip through. “
At that time, as Matsutake sat next to his Master’s bed and held his hand, he thought, ‘As expected, Master Attendant knows everything’.
After Matsutake finished handling his Master’s affairs, he didn’t leave in a rush. Instead, he stayed in the school, waiting for matsutake mushroom season.
He knew many nobles in the imperial capital loved to eat matsutake mushrooms.
The merchants who came to the village to buy mushrooms sought only to please those nobles.
It was a rare occasion when he’d personally go up the mountains to pick mushrooms.
He also used what little inheritance that Master Attendant left him to buy all matsutake mushrooms that the villagers picked.
When the villagers learned that Matsutake wished to go to the imperial capital, they decided to sell him the mushrooms at a price even lower than the price they sold to the merchants.
It was a good opportunity, but he did not agree.
Matsutake promised the villagers he would purchase the mushrooms at an even higher price, but not now. After he made a profit at the imperial capital, he would make up for the gap for them.
From now on, they won’t need to sell the matsutake mushrooms to those merchants; they can make even more money through Matsutake and live an even better life in the future.
At this time, Matsutake felt that this was a praiseworthy idea, he even wrote a poem about it.
“The mountain is scattered with autumn frost, Ōryōki (1) full of matsutake mushrooms, bartered into gold and silver, joining hands with the monarch.”
(1) 钵[a small earthenware basin; it also refers to a set of nested bowls that Buddhist monks use for eating.]
Not too shabby of a poem, right?
End of Part 2
v. Matsutake Dobinmushi
Ever since Matsutake Dobinmushi came into being, there was never a time where he had the same burning desire to wholeheartedly serve the country like his Master Attendant.
This may be because he was summoned in the wild mountains; his heart contains only himself, his Master Attendant, this land, and the people living on the land.
Matsutake considers himself a cosmopolitan Food Soul, but in reality, his pursuit of fame and fortune was more about more interest than ambition.
It doesn’t matter what he does, the more difficult it is to achieve, the more interesting he thinks it is, motivating him more to do it.
His perseverance for poetry was perhaps because not everyone deemed his poetry good.
If one were to say Matsutake was born to do business, then his insight must’ve come from his Master Attendant. Matsutake’s Master understood his Food Soul all too well, just as he did with every one of his students. He knew which road was most suited for them.
He was never explicitly opposed to Matsutake’s little actions, and he knew that Matsutake could do it bigger, better. But as long as he’s still around, Matsutake can only be cooped up in this small village, doing this small scale commerce.
Matsutake’s resolute decision making in business is not the same towards personal relations. He finds it difficult letting go of his close ones, as he has no intention of abandoning them.
He thought that the bond with his Master was only because of his responsibility as a Food Soul.
He even thought that his concern for Junmai Daiginjo was just because of his interest in Daiginjo’s true self, hidden underneath his mask.
But just like how his continuing curiosity turned into desire, a budding friendship could become kinship. This sort of feeling always happens when one least expects it, and yet, the changes are predictable. You can only wait for the other party to one day become aware of the shifts.
What a shame that with the cycle of time, a new dynasty emerged (1). It’s only after Matsutake wandered across every corner of Sakurajima that he finally understood his own inner heart.
(1) 江山易主 [end of a dynasty and the rise of a new one]
But at that time, everything had already been locked.
In the end, Matsutake did not remain anywhere, but he would often return and stay at the capital city.
After the brothel was destroyed in a fire, he invested in the reconstruction of a Kabukicho (2), providing a new place for destitute and homeless humans or Food Souls to go. It would also push his reputation in the capital to new heights.
(2) 歌舞伎町[Kabukicho; An entertainment and red light district that exists irl in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Here it likely just means your general entertainment district.]
End of Part 5
iii. Fame And Fortune
It’s difficult to obtain your desires in this world. The mushrooms that Matsutake brought to the capital city did not sell like how he wanted.
Even though his prices were lower than those of other merchants’, the mushrooms couldn’t catch even the slightest glance from the imperial nobles. Because they had no beautiful packaging, they even suspected he was passing off shoddy goods as delicacies instead.
Business in the capital had long been monopolized by a certain breed of entrepreneurs; they spent their entire days trying to please nobles, understanding all too well the life of a noble, and catering to their tastes
Matsutake, who came alone to the capital city, did not know any of this. Naturally, he kept hitting dead ends.
For a time, he was angered, yet saw no alternatives.
Since there were no opportunities, he would have to create them and seize the chance.
Luckily, he still had some savings on him.
He used up all the savings he had, putting all of his hopes on this venture, and collected information on the nobles. Then, he acquired a completely new outlook on those mushrooms laying inside the wooden boxes.
He found a student of Master’s in the capital city and requested him to form connections for Matsutake, allowing Matsutake to personally promote his mushrooms.
Everything after that went smoothly.
Elaborate and delicate packaging, expensive prices, clever words, strikingly vivid descriptions of mountains and forests. These all made the nobles believe Matsutake that these mushrooms were grown on a mountain abundant with water and rich soil.
These are the most nutritious, most valuable mushrooms that they can get nowhere else.
When Matsutake first brought his goods to the capital, the hubbub and magnitude could definitely be breath taking and dazzling. However, it made Matsutake feel that the capital city was nothing more than that.
The initial novelty and curiosity gradually disappeared after many days of admiring, but this journey let him to find a new direction.
How can he earn even more money?
Aside from matsutake mushrooms, what other business can he do? Aside from the capital city, where else can he go?
The same good in a different place, can they still be sold at such a price?
His next destination, will he be able to make even more?
In the process, how much enjoyment can he acquire?
He couldn’t help but want to travel to Sakurajima.
To travel everywhere, to understand each place’s specialty, then his business could flourish everywhere.
He wanted people who lived in different regions to understand what was happening elsewhere through the goods they receive, to understand local customs that are completely different from their own.
The fame and fortune Master Attendant generously doled out (and was subsequently praised for), was a key to upper class society in the capital, causing many to scramble for it.
But Matsutake only hoped to succeed in using this fame and fortune to reach his own goal.
What’s more, the path to achieving his goal must be filled with elation.
End of Part 3
May I please please request junmai and matsutake?? Thank you so much!!!
Not a problem! I hope you like it~