#kny nerdery

[demonslayedher]

Sashiko: A Frugal, Prayerful Skill

In Chapter 3, Tanjiro recalls Nezuko repairing an old kimono she's fond of. The first fanbook expands on Nezuko's sewing skills, going so far as to say that this is her hobby and she is so good at it that her work can be sold.

We also know from the second fanbook that she increased the size of Kuwajima's haori so Zenitsu could wear it (including a little dyeing work), and she managed to repair Giyuu's extremely tattered haori. She made it nearly the same as before, despite how much of the fabric was missing. During the time she worked on it, Giyuu was in a coma, and for a time, it looked like he might die. Each day she worked on the haori, she called out for him to come back.

There's a lot that could be said about each of these skills, but I am not a crafty person. Today I just want to focus on a textile technique I always assumed/headcanoned Nezuko was using, especially given the unfinished state of it in the manga panel: sashiko.

Here's the basic idea from the main Wikipedia image:

This style of embroidery is usually seen with thick, multi-strand, cream-colored thread against indigo-dyed fabrics like hemp and cotton, though the multi-strand thread might also be dyed a light blue in many traditional styles. The repeating patterns were both decorative and practical. These stitches were used for repairing clothes by adding patchwork, strengthening clothes before they can tear, and adding extra warmth by filling in the gaps in light (but readily available) fabrics like hemp.

Sashiko is coming back into vogue nowadays for its use of traditional patterns and motifs and environment consciousness. Nowadays it's more of a fashion statement, and because they are so labor intensive, detailed sashiko items tend to be expensive. However, this was a rustic art form born of poverty and necessity. It was intended to strengthen textiles for labor-intensive lifestyles and/or make them last for generations.

Sashiko is especially associated with northern prefectures like Aomori and Yamagata, where cotton could be scarce even during the Edo economic heyday. However, you could find sashiko in plenty of rural places across the country. There are some regional characteristics like the kinds of colors, materials, and shapes that were used, but when it comes to the actual stitching methods and patterns, these were like family recipes. Just like every poor family had to cook, they had to mend.

This means that prior to sashiko's recent fashionable resurgence, it went through a period of rarity. Like how subsistence food loses its appeal as you can afford a more appetizing diet, so too does sashiko lose its appeal. Not only did diets and fashions rapidly change in the Meiji period with influence from the West, but trains made it easier to transport goods like warm fabric across the country. Sashiko as fashion soon felt like millet as diet; it felt like something only the poorest, thriftiest of people would bother with.

And who do we know who is thrifty and talented at textiles? Nezuko.

There are other in-universe reasons I assumed she was doing sashiko in Tanjiro's flashback. Primarily because the asanoha pattern is common in sashiko. For example, here's a dustcloth (my hand included for scale).

The smaller and more detailed a pattern is, the better it accomplishes its job. In earlier Gotouge art, the asanoha pattern on Nezuko's kimono was smaller. Aside from keeping human Nezuko warm up on snowy Mt. Kumotori, this also would have made her kimono better able to stand up to all the abuse it goes through once she becomes a demon.

Other setting details make it feel like this would make sense. For example, the Kamado family's ichimatsu pattern blends well with "boro" patchwork, a clothing mending method often incorporated with sashiko stitching techniques. Urokodaki's seigaiha pattern even seems to be drawn in a way that implies sashiko-style stitching with thick thread (and indeed, that's also a common sashiko pattern).

The thing about embroidery patterns is that even though they are rustic and lovely, they can be really impractical to draw over and over. By the time the anime character designs came out a few years later, the seigaiha lines were smoothed and the asanoha pattern ballooned into having large gaps.

By the time we got live action stage plays and mass-produced cosplay, these lines got thicker and flatter. My next question would be to wonder what other late Meiji methods could be used cheaply enough to make such a stark asanoha pattern, but alas, I am not a textile expert.

That said, people really care about sashiko. Many kimono-making methods are extremely labor intensive, but sashiko wasn't made by artisans. It was made by families, for families. Although sashiko stitches can now be done by machine, some people feel that this can't be called sashiko. Sashiko is in the act, not the result. Even the handkerchief I bought with the asanoha pattern would take far more than an hour to hand stitch.

There's some meditative about hand-stitching. There's something prayerful about it.

Sashiko was worth the effort to keep your family clothed and warm, and often, traditional motifs and geometric patterns had auspicious meanings, or were meant to protect people and ward off misfortune. Even Nezuko's asanoha pattern she wore since she was very small contains a wish for a child to grow strong and healthy, like the hemp plant that inspired it. If Nezuko kept repairing that kimono with sashiko, it's probably a stitch she learned from her mother, just like she'd have learned recipes from her.

We know how sincerely Nezuko prayed for Giyuu's recovery. She likely poured that same prayer into every stitch as she repaired his haori, sashiko or not.

Additional reading:

"Sashiko: The Untold Story" by artisan Futatsuya Atsushi. I haven't read it (and it just came out anyway), but I came across the author talking about it and I was like, "Oh yeah, sashiko. I have meant to write a post about that since forever ago." He is now coming up everywhere as I am refreshing myself on this folk art.

Also, here's another post of mine about other practical skills the Kamado family might have had.

[crescent-blades]

What Rank did Michikatsu [Human Kokushibō] Hold as a Samurai?

When we think of a samurai, we often envision a fierce warrior prepared for battle. While this is partly true, we often tend to forget the internal heirarchy among them. Like any military group, samurai had a clear chain of command for smooth operations. However, it's important to note that samurai were a social class rather than a military one. 

These "ranks," or more so, distinctions within the samurai were closely tied to hereditary social status, the extent of land ownership, and titles within the clan, rather than personal skills, which could vary depending on the era.  

In this discussion, we will concentrate on the Sengoku era, as it is relevant to our topic. I will examine Michikatsu's role based on the available canonical information. 

⚠ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠ | Masterlist

⨳ Where His Father stood   

In the image above, Michikatsu talks about his father having a "vassal." A lot could be inferred from this, but it is likely that his father either might be a samurai lord [Sengoku daimyo] or a wealthy, high-ranking samurai who supports smaller samurai. 

[Daimyo (大名): military lords who controlled small, unified areas in which all the land either belonged to themselves or was held in fief by their vassals] [Vassals: subordinates who pledged their loyalty and obligations towards powerful lords] 

So essentially, he was not just an ordinary samurai but rather a figure of considerable importance. His possession of vassals and land suggests that he must be exercising some form of governance, implying that he is possibly some sort of lord having an independent clan. 

As you can see, he seemed to have personal servants:   

And also personal messengers:     

Though it is rather difficult to tell whether he was a powerful lord or not—an actual daimyo who was the direct vassal of the shogun, or just a lesser lord having a smaller land—possibly a heir to the family head or a landowner with a fief.

⨳ Was The Tsugikuni Clan Powerful? 

First, let us understand what was going on during that time:  

"This was the 'Age of Warring States', when scores of minor daimyo seized power for themselves in their immediate localities and fought each other until, during the mid-16th century, a comparative handful of 'super-daimyo' competed with each other on a grand scale before Japan was finally reunified" [source]

From this, it seems logical to assume that the Tsugikuni clan was a smaller one rather than a grand one—also considering Michikatsu's father's rather obsessive nature and his intense determination on getting better heirs, even to the point of being willing to harm his own family due to superstitious beliefs. Better heirs: more likely the clan gets to thrive and gain power.

Also, if we consider these words from Kokushibou:  

Notice how he says this—he doesn't seem to be very surprised to know that his clan's name has died out, which would only solidify the fact that his clan must not be very powerful to begin with. [Considering that many direct descendants of the major clans today still seem to be thriving, with many carrying out their clan names. Muichiro seems to be an exception here]   

So now that we know that his clan was likely not a powerful one, we could also assume that his father was a local lord rather than a full on daimyo for obvious reasons. Not only that, but this would also suggest that their clan must be a retainer family—they would be under a much stronger lord—a powerful daimyo, whom they would had to serve.

⨳ MICHIKATSU'S POSIBBLE RANK [DISTINCTION]  

Before moving on, I would just like to point out that holding a high-ranking position as a samurai—such as leading troops— was a result of personal achievement rather than mere familial ties. If a family did not meet the necessary standards of talent and capability, their members would be assigned to lesser roles based on who they served.

With that being said, let us now try fitting in Michikatsu into all of this and find out what military rank he should have based on his family background:

Initailly, I was rather confused and wondered if Michikatsu could be a Hatamoto. They were the highest ranking samurai, considered the most loyal and skilled, who acted as bodyguards towards their lord. Sounds familiar, right? However, there was one piece of canon information that completely debunked this idea:

Samurai usually had to chop off their enemy’s head as proof of their kills; typically that shouldn't be done by the hatamoto, as they typically stayed close to their lords as a last resort instead of fighting on the front lines like the others. 

Okay.. so he probably isn't a hatamoto. If his first instinct was to bring the head of Ubuyashiki to Muzan, then it suggests he must have done this before. if that's the case, then he must have ranked lower than a hatamoto, more so in a class where he might have been around collecting heads. After looking into what the manga could offer, I reached two conclusions:

1. He was a Taisho (大将)[general]: These ranked officials were the generals in the Daimyo's army, leading groups of soldiers called kumi. Depending on the troops they commanded, they were either referred to as Samurai-taisho or Ashigaru-taisho. They usually oversaw multiple kumi, each consisting of around 50 to 100 men. 

2. He was a Kumigashira (組頭) [captain/platoon commander]: These officers controlled and led a single kumi of troops and were called samurai-kumigashira or ashigaru-kumigashira based on the type of troops in their kumi; which, often consisted upto 15-30 men each.

-> By those conical hats (jingasa) those men are wearing, I'm pretty sure they are depicted as Ashigaru foot soldiers. [This explains why he refers to them as his subordinates, as ashigaru were considered lower than samurai.]

Looking at the image, I doubt there are 50-100 men present there, and it seems more likely there are about 15-30. Therefore, we can conclude that he must be an Ashigaru-kumigashira.   

Also, when people talk about Ashigaru, they usually think of peasants taken out of their farms. This is a misconception. Even though they were lower in class, ashigaru were generally treated as full on warriors. Not only were they as capable as their samurai counterparts, some were even stronger than them.The men under Michikatsu's command were fully capable and skilled swordsmen.

⨳ Michikatsu's Troops and His Role:    

A general overview of the make up of the sengoku era army

—In short, the troops were reorganised in Sonae, which had between 300 to 800 men. Each Sonae included various types of troops. They were split into smaller units called Kumi, based on their weapons. These included archers, gun squads, cavalry, spear squads, and standard bearers.

By looking at these images, I see no one holding weapons, just a few casual swords thrown in here and there, which I find to be very odd.. 

Perhaps Michikatsu had set up his base further from his soldiers and gathered them up for a speech about the next day's plans just before they went to sleep? This could explain why they were caught off guard by the demon and didn’t have their weapons ready. After all, it’s strange not to have your weapons out when you are being attacked.   

Regardless of the situation, his troops should be either a spear unit [Yari-gumi (長柄組)] or an archer unit [Yumi-gumi (弓組)].

These troops Consisted of: 1 samurai commander/katana samurai, 2-4 servants, ~20-30 foot soldiers, 3 labourers, 1 cavalry horse, and 2 packhorses.

Why you ask? This is because, firstly; guns weren't introduced until the mid sengoku period in 1543 [Michikatsu is theorised to be born around 1432] In the cavalry unit, the troops consisted of samurai rather than ashigaru, and bannermen did not engage in battle. 

MICHIKATSU'S ROLE: Although there is not much provided anywhere about these commanders, from everything I have gathered: These commanding officers used to lead a unit of ashigaru soldiers. They were ranked below the sodaisho and samurai daisho (commanders) and an ashigaru taisho.

He would be assigned to train them, discipline the foot soldiers, and turn uneducated common men into reliable warriors. He would command and lead them, ensuring everyone followed his commands and maintained order within the ranks, and not disrupt the hierarchy. Hmm that sounds familiar doesn't it?

[I might actually make a detailed post about the military formation with Michikatsu if any of you are interested.]   

Final thoughts: 

[A/n: Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post. No, I haven't abandoned my blogs. I just took a short break last week. Now I'm back and eager to share a theory with you all! Which I will be posting more of, both here and on my other blog, @gilded-sunrays. Please feel free to share your insights!]  

And if you've made it through all of this, then I thank you wholeheartedly!

[gilded-sunrays]

How fast is Yoriichi Tsugikuni? || Calculating his minimum speed

Yoriichi Tsugikuni is regarded as the most powerful character in Demon Slayer, with him being able to rival and overpower the demon king himself, Muzan Kibutsuji. He is renowned for his exceptional speed and agility; however, the true extent of his speed remains uncertain due to the lack of comparable benchmarks. 

Therefore, today I will make an effort to clarify some of the confusion by applying some of my knowledge to estimate the average speed of this character. From here, you are free to interpret and use this information as you see fit. 

NOTE: SIGNIFICANT FIGURES UPTO 3 DIGITS AFTER THE DECIMAL POINT 

⚠ SPOILER WARNING ⚠

⨳ Muzan's Explosion: Detonation or Deflagration?

To begin, let us examine this image. If we want to determine Yoriichi's speed, then we obviously have to know the relative speed of some other body that we can compare it with. In this case, we will consider Muzan's explosion. [Not using NLM or COLM as it doesn't consider the huge amount of force being exerted]

In an explosion, an internal impulse (force per unit time) acts in order to propel the parts of a given mass into many fragments in different directions. After the explosion, the individual parts of the system have momentum. Obviously, if a body has momentum, it would mean it has a velocity as well, as momentum (p) ∝ v. 

Explosions can be further classified into detonations and delafegations:

[Defragrations: Energy released is in the form of heat like in a flash fire. It requires fuel an external oxidizing agent, rely on the external pressure and are considerably more stable.] [Detonations: Energy is released in the form of high pressure (force). Does not require a fuel and doesn't depend on the external pressure, and involves chemicaly unstable molecules, which instantaneously split that recombine into different products.]

[Defragrations VS Detonations] You can refer to this link for more information. However, to keep this post concise, I will outline a straightforward distinction between the two

⇒ Muzan's explosion is more likely that of a Detonation, rather than a deflagration.

⨳ Muzan's Detonating Speed:

Detonation velocity depends on a number of factors, such as density, it's state, charge diameter and temperature. For solids and liquids, these velocities usually range from 4000 m/s-10300 m/s. Muzan's density is likely similar to that of a human, around 1000 kg/m³ or 1g/cm³. .. Let's compare this density to that of regular explosives:

link here

Although, we can see the closest explosives to Muzan's density are 1.___ ones. However, we can also see even then these velocities aren't propotional to their ascending order of densities, but it does give us some insight.

Though, we cannot determine his charge diameter and temperature [although his flesh appears very red]. Plus, there also seems to be one compound in the given table [ansu] which only has a detonation velocity of a mere 3400m/s. So.. it is very difficult to make assumptions here. So to remain neutral, we will just use the lowest speed value, ie 4000 m/s.

⇒ Hence, we can safely conclude, that muzan likely detonates with the minimum speed of 4000m/s.

⨳ Yoriichi's Attack Range and the Time Needed For Him to Cut All the Peices of Muzan

To evaluate Yoriichi's speed, we will first calculate the total time it would take for him to react and effectively cut all of Muzan's pieces [excluding the 300 pieces, which we will discuss later] before he has the chance to escape.  

So for that, first, we need to determine Yoriichi's attack range by measuring his arm length. Instead of making an estimation using measurements of an average male arm, I decided to accurately measure this out myself:

We know Yoriichi is approximately 6.3 feet tall, which is about 2.6 times the length of his arms. Based on this, we can conclude his arm to be around 73.07 cm. (190/2.6) + sword length (we'll take the average of 65 cm)   

ie = 1.381 m So, the maximum time needed for him to cut down muzan would be: ∴ 1.381 ÷ 4000

⇒ ~0.000345 seconds

⨳ Distance Covered By Yoriichi:

 [I think if you know a bit about physics, you might see where I'm headed.] We know that speed = distance/time. We have already determined the time, and now we need to find the distance to calculate the speed. How can we do that? We can begin by figuring out the total distance Yoriichi's arms cover while swinging the sword:

 To do this, let's refer to the image above. If we examine it closely, we can see that Yoriichi creates arcs with his sword, forming almost a complete circle

Please excuse my silly drawing, but this is my idea of the sword arc. I imagine it as two-thirds of a circle instead of a semi-circle.     

To find the arc length, we will use 2πr × 2/3 Radius: Yoriichi's arms and sword  ∴ 2 × 22/7 × 1.381 × 2/3

= 5.786 m is the length of each slash

⨳ How Many Slashes Did Yoriichi Make?

To finalise, we will check how many slashes he made to cut muzan. Clearly, he wasn't making just one slash for each cut, as that would be very impractical. So, let's see how much work he is doing here: 

Once again, in the image above, we can see that he cuts multiple pieces of Muzan with each slash. On average, let's say he cuts about 2.5 pieces per slash. The picture shows him cutting 4 pieces with one slash and only 1 with another, with one piece just hovering, so the average:

(4 + 1) ÷ 2 = 2.5.  

Now, he also mentions that he cut around 1500 pieces of Muzan, so we can divide to find the total number of slashes he made. That is:

1500 ÷ 2.5

⇒ ie; He made 600 slashes during that time. 

⨳ Yoriichi's Average Striking Speed

Finally, for the moment we all have been waiting for. The speed by which Yoriichi is moving his arms would be: 

n(number of slashes)×distance covered by Yoriichi/max. time frame  = (600×5.786)/0.000345

~10,062,608.696 m/s

For Comparison: this is about 29,337 times faster than sound. ▪︎Have you guys ever played fruit ninja before? If you have, just picture Yoriichi taking on that game in real life; Number of slashes/frequency [1/T]= striking speed/ distance covered (gonna take 1/3 of the circumference of his slashes) Ie n= 10,062,608.696 ÷ (1/3 × 2 × 3.141 × 5.786) ∴ Slashes per second= ~ 831,361 So, if you were to toss about 8 hundred and 31 thousand fruits into the air, Yoriichi would be able to slice through them all in just one second! Meanwhile, I’m here taking like two entire minutes to chop an apple.

⨳ Yoriichi's Average Running Speed

So we have found out Yoriichi's striking speed; however, that doesn't tell us anything about how fast he can run. Since we're already looking into Yoriichi's speed, why not find out about his running speed as well? 

"In an average person, the legs are able to push roughly four times as much weight as the arms can pull. What's more, the legs have an even better advantage when it comes to endurance." 

Although there is no relationship between strength and speed, let us just try finding it ourselves.  

 Fleg-mg= ma (force exerted to lift your leg. Could have used the work formula, but then I realised that you're probably not doing any work when it's your own body. The same could be said for the force, however. Though this is an idealised situation and it really doesn't matter because:) ∴ Fleg∝a a∝v Let force required to push your arm be be f⁰ & leg be f Since f⁰ and f = 1:4 => f⁰/f=v⁰/v = v⁰/v= 1:4

This would mean the legs must also be 4 times faster than the arms.

Ie: 10,062,608.696 m/s ×4

= 40,250,434.784 m/s

For comparison: The speed of light, 299,792,458 m/s is only about 7× faster than Yoriichi's running speed. ▪︎If Yoriichi were to complete a journey around the entire Earth, traversing its full circumference, the time required for this would be: Earth's circumference: 40,075,000 meters Calculation: 40,075,000 ÷ 40,250,434.784 = 0.996 seconds [Wow.. now that's fast o-o] So imagine, if you ever find yourself missing a flight and in desperate need to get somewhere, all you have to do is call Yoriichi. He’ll have you zooming off faster than you can say “I missed my flight"!

poor muzan..

-> The distance between two countries [say, Japan to brazil] would be about 17,371 km (pretty sure it's not the road distance, so lets just just imagine Yoriichi can run on water) Time=d/s = 17371000/40,250,434.784 ...0.4 seconds to reach there.

▪︎But instead of a circumference; what about him covering the entire surface area of the earth? [not the area, but the entire outer surface, covering eacg and every path possible. Just visualize unfolding the entire earth into a flat ground.] So: 4πr² [csa/tsa] =4×3.141×6,371,000× 6,371,000 =509,805,890,960,000 m So the time: 509,805,890,960,000/40,250,434.784 12,665,848.050 seconds Which is about 3,518 hours Which is about 4 months I know now this looks kind of slow, but trust me- this is extremely fast. This pace equates to covering the entire circumference of the Earth approximately 29,348,102 times.. (29 million times)

⨳ Final Thoughts:

A/N: I tried my best to keep this entire post simple and concise as possible. For some reason though, I still feel like it might be more technical than I intended. I’m not sure this post will get much attention because of that. It doesnt matter though, I really enjoyed putting all of this together. I truly hope it proves helpful to someone out there who might find this interesting.

And to anyone who made it till here, I thank you wholeheartedly!! You’re amazing for sticking with all this. And if you think that I may have made any mistakes, then feel free to correct me!

Sources:

Leg Strength as a Limiting Factor, climbstrong Detonation velocity, wikipedia Table of explosive detonation velocities

[demonslayedher]

Those Who Only Want Things Have Nothing

Today I would like to lightly analyze Kaigaku and Zenitsu through the lens of contextual interpretation and folk tales. This going to be a little dive into the words Yushiro says to Kaigaku in Chapter 146.

"Those who were not provided anything from people go on to not receive anything from people. Those who simply want things, in the end, are the same as those who have nothing, because they cannot create anything on their own."

Yushiro, where did this come from? Where did you even come from, I'm sure Kaigaku wondered. He must have spent his final moments in utter befuddlement.

I'll bet that official translators in various languages might have felt somewhat befuddled about what to do with these lines too, since Japanese is a very high-content language. Yushiro does not make his meaning and its connection to Kaigaku explicit, so when translating into a low-context language, a lot of what you inevitably get is the translator's interpretation. They can stay close to literal meaning of the text and leave readers a little confused, or they can add context based on broader understanding of the plot and characters, although it runs the risk of not being what the original writer explicitly meant. (I am not dunking on translators; I am stating a reality of translation. Also, I'm using my own translations in this post since I only have the Japanese versions of this manga.)

Part of why Yushiro's commentary might feel sudden to a reader is because readers have followed along inside both Zenitsu and Kaigaku's heads, and therefore seen many more layers than only what they actually say aloud to each other. Zenitsu and Kaigaku also have shared history of being raised in a martial tradition and they both understand the pride and prestige of it, which Yushiro doesn't care about.

If we instead look at what Yushiro has witnessed about their exchange, it (in paraphrase) boils down to:

"I stick with those who assess my worth accurately! That stupid old man didn't make me his successor!"

"Jiichan didn't have a good successor because we both suck. I can only use the First Form and that's the one you can't use."

"Don't put me in the same category as you! You and that old geezer should both just die!"

"Seems you ate a lot of people. You have no way of telling apart right and wrong, do you?"

"I can tell them apart. Those who assess my worth accurately are righteous! Those who assess me too low are wrong!!"

(At which point, Yushiro is probably rolling his eyes about how Kaigaku totally lacks a dictionary-level understanding of 善 and 悪.)

"How's my Blood Technique Breath combo? (Blah blah blah, something-something about the details of how it works)"

(Yushiro was probably so underwhelmed. Stupid demon was practically born yesterday.)

"I'm special. I'm not like you. I'm different from both* of you!"

(And then a big boom. Yushiro sees his moment to step in and intervene now that this annoying demon is dealt with.) *(This plural could also be translated as "all of you," like Kaigaku is saying he's different from all the Demon Slayer Corp, but because the context of the conversation is that he was only ever talking smack about Zenitsu and Kuwajima, I've gone with "both." Just a small example of how translators constantly make decisions that inevitably make text more explicit.)

"Damn it! I knew that old man was playing favorites with you! He had something he only taught you and never taught me!"

"No. Jiichan wasn't the kind of person to do that. This is my own form. One that I thought up myself, that only I can do. With this, I wanted to stand and fight at your side, as your equal."

Even if Yushiro was only there to hear the last bit, his comments can be better understand in context as replying directly to those final lines. The following rewrite of Yushiro's lines is a level of interpretation that strays from the text since I have added "specialness" for context:

If people didn't provide you with a way to feel special, you probably weren't going to receive anything like that anyway. If you simply desire being special, that's the same as not having been special in the first place, because you couldn't make yourself special on your own.

Or to add another level of interpretation, which strays even more from the literal text by adding even more context:

So what if your master didn't teach you that. You sure wouldn't have been receptive to it anyway, huh?* All you wanted was for him to make you feel special, but wanting that feeling so badly goes to show you never had anything special in you in the first place. After all, you sure didn't make your own sword form like that guy did, did you?

That phrasing would make the subtext a lot clearer: Of course the two of you aren't the same. That guy is better than you; you only ever selfishly wanted what he had because you totally lacked it.

Although it would be too meta for Yushiro to point it out, there is subtext which comes across loud and clear if you read this in a language with kanji: There is a difference between right (善) and wrong (悪). Zenitsu recognizes that his path and Kaigaku's path have diverged.

And Zenitsu, who has 善 in his name, is the one on the righteous path.

--

NOW!! WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY!! Here's the point that inspired this post.

In Japanese folk tales, there is a very common story setup with two similar characters, but one is right (善) and the other is wrong (悪). Rather than being worded so strongly, one is usually doing things out of pure motives, and the other does things out of jealousy and wanting the good fortune that the pure one has. In the end, the jealous, selfish person tries the same thing that the pure-hearted person did, but it has a disastrous result. Instant karma.

Quite often, the characters are old men, like in the stories Kobutori Jiisan and Hanasaka Jiisan. They are two sides of the same coin, like the cover of Chapter 145.

There are also folk tales in which someone receives a miraculous boon, but they must be careful not to selfishly overuse it, lest they lose it or suffer some terrible fate worse than where they started. For example, in some versions of Kasa Jizo, the story goes on to show how the kind old man (or his selfish wife) turn avaricious after receiving a gift in exchange for their simple kindness, and they wind up losing everything. In contrast, in some versions of Issun-boshi, the heroic oni slayer is able to use a magic hammer to grant a deeply-held wish, as well as to give himself a practical amount of money and food for his journey. However, he is wise and careful not to use it for any more than that.

If we were to plug Zenitsu and Kaigaku into these stories, it would be easy to see what roles they fall into. Zenitsu, despite his proclivity to an easy life and over-eating and over-spending, values the gift of swordsmanship and Jiichan's time and efforts spent on him, and his intentions for how to use this gift are pure. Kaigaku's are not, which is why his selfishness causes this gift to backfire.

Yushiro probably would have had passing familiarity with folk tales like these. They are moral tales intended for children, to show the difference between two paths, right (善) and wrong (悪). That's probably why instead of saying something so direct as "Those who can't tell the difference between right and wrong," he instead framed it as "those who simply want things."

In other words, "You're really stupid and need this dumbed-down to a childhood folk tale level. You got yourself into this mess due to your own selfishness. It is sure is miserable to die alone, isn't it?"

[demonslayedher]

Name Analysis: Kuwajima Jigoro

Back with one of these kinds of nerdy posts, and some stupid, crappy comics to go along with it!

I had never thought much about Jiichan's name, aside from that "goro-goro" is sound effect for thunder. However, I recently learned that in Japanese folklore, mulberry (kuwa), a plant used for anything from making paper to making medicine, is also said to ward off lightning.

Now before you go thinking that standing under a mulberry tree will keep you safe, let me tell you that is more along the lines of chanting "mulberry field, mulberry field, make the thunder go away" like "rain, rain, go away, come again some other day." There are a few ideas where this lore came from, like lightning getting trapped in a well in a field of mulberry bushses (and the lightning not wanting to make that mistake again) or reminding the vengeful spirit Sugawara no Michizane that he used to lived in a place called Kuwabara ("mulberry field") so that maybe he'll take mercy as he reins down his thunderous wrath.

The "-jima" of Kuwajima's name is not in reference to a field, but an island, like a lone mulberry tree.

As for his personal name, with kanji that is perhaps a nod to the care he showed for his boys, I wonder if that might be in reference to a folktale: "Gengoro Ascends to the Sky."

In it, a boy climbs up above the clouds and meets the Thunder God who causes rain. There are many versions of this story (or the general setup of this story), but we will focus on the Gengoro version that has a mulberry tree.

To help you with my sloppy handwriting: Gengoro climbs a peach tree (in some versions) and goes above the clouds, to the grand dwelling of a white-haired old man and his daughters. He is treated with hospitality until the old man must go to work, and he transforms into Raijin, the thunder god. Raijin beats seven drums and has his daughters flash mirrors, and rain begins to fall down below. However, the waving causes the girls' kimonos to become loose, and while Gengoro is surprised by that sight, he loses his footing and falls through the clouds and back down to earth. He winds up hanging from a mulberry tree. The girls feel sorry for him, so Raijin spares the mulberry tree from lightning.

So... yeah, you catch my drift?

[demonslayedher]

A Japanese colleague of mine was mentioning how some of her grandparents weren't actually entirely sure of their date of birth and sort of picked a date for the heck of it or something that was more or less around that time or something convenient to be the age they wanted to be.

Some also did not know or abide by their own legal name, or at least how it was written in the family registry. One grandmother always wrote her name with "-ko" added to the end, but that's not how it was in the registry, while another always wrote her name in katakana because she couldn't remember what kanji her parents picked. Official records just didn't matter than much to the average person.

#JustTaishoThings💖

More on Taisho names here, especially as it relates to Butterfly Mansion girls

More on Taisho birth dates here, and birthdays here

More on the Taisho period in general here

[demonslayedher]

I love it when other people impose their fandom upon their research. Just came across an example of a botany study that considered the question of how realistic Nezuko's bamboo muzzle is based on lengths of internodes in different bamboo species relative to average sizes of women's faces, with Taisho era prevalence of different bamboo species in mind. In conclusion, Nezuko's muzzle is unlikely to exist in real life. According to this Japanese fandom-related article, rather than being a criticism of the manga, Prof. Inoue of Kindai University hopes that this sort of popular-culture-related study shall help bridge the gap between scientific research and the general public.

[demonslayedher]

Sanka: Mountain-dwellers not integrated into society

“What’s the shape of that cloud?” Not something that seems very important at a Hashira meeting, but perhaps something Muichiro used to know and pay close attention to. After all, not taking nature seriously enough can have dire consequences when you live and work in the mountains.

I’d like to dive a little into what it meant for the Tokito twins to have grown up in the mountains, keeping to themselves. These sorts of people, who were not integrated into society and may not have kept up with newfangled Meiji and Taisho societal regulations, were often called “sanka” by the people who lived in mountain villages and knew of them. The kanji used might vary from region to region, and their relationships to the sanka might vary depending on location and time period. After all, it was often people ostracized from society who had no choice but to live apart from it.

The "satoyama" areas

To back up a bit, many people lived in mountains. Depending on how you define it, two-thirds to three-fourths of Japan’s land is mountainous. Many of those mountains are too steep or treacherous to be hospitable to humans, but wherever they could, people made do.

Thus, you often found the rural areas split up into different zones: the villages people inhabited (hitozato), the deep mountains (okuyama), and the crossover zone between them, the satoyama. Literally, “village mountain.” These were the areas where people would venture into the mountains to collect from the bounty of the mountain.

Nowadays, “satoyama” is an important term when it comes to both retaining traditional culture and managing natural resources (and many, many organizations throughout Japan are dedicated to helping people learn about and experience satoyama practices). The Japanese Ministry of the Environment defines satoyama as areas consisting of farmlands, irrigation ponds, secondary forest, plantation forest, and grasslands around human settlements, but that does not quite capture the human element. Like in other places around the world, people who rely on mountains have developed knowledge of the natural world and used that to collect supplies like food, medicine, and timber, and they have managed the forest to maximize these benefits. There are entire habitats that other species would lose if humans were to stop managing those places now.

To place it in perspective, the Kamado family lived in, relied on, and managed the forest so that they could have a steady supply of their livelihood: charcoal. They fed themselves with fish from the river and edible mountain plants, but they also relied on the village below, whom they were economically and socially intertwined with. They lived a satoyama lifestyle.

But would we call them sanka?

Who were sanka, and how many were there?

Because sanka removed themselves from society, they did not impact a lot of Japanese history and culture. Hence, there is not much information to go on.

Way back in history, there were always people relegated to the mountains because they did not accept the rule of the Yamato clan (aka, the source of the imperial lineage). Many of these people became the sources of oni legends too, demonized by those who left a more tangible impact on Japanese culture. However, as the centuries went on, there were also rumors about, say, samurai who lost big wars, or who left their samurai lives behind and had nowhere to go but the mountains if they wanted to be left in peace.

There are even rumors that after the fall of the samurai in the Meiji Restoration, many of them became sanka. This was well over three decades before Yuichiro and Muichiro were born, so it’s possible that their grandfather was the most recent samurai of their family. If we consider generational trauma, it’s not a far stretch that this urgency to hide away from society might have led Yuichiro to be especially worried for their safety and disillusioned with the expectations of warriors.

However, it is hard to say for sure. Because they did not register themselves and their families like law-abiding citizens did, and because they were not a big topic of cultural study, it is hard to say anything for sure, but according to Professor Owada’s estimate in “Japanese History of Demon Slayers” (a book that is not officially tied to Kimetsu no Yaiba but rode on the tails of its success), there were maybe 200,000 sanka throughout Japan in the Meiji period (1968-1912), and by about the 1940s, there may have been about 10,000. They almost entirely disappeared within about ten years after that.

If we compare those numbers back to the Kimetsu no Yaiba timeline (with the majority of the plot having most likely taken place in 1915), that means there were plenty of mountain-dwelling, not-exactly-following-all-the-newfangled-law characters, and if Tanjiro only lived until the age of 25, he could theoretically have not had any reason to leave his humble mountain abode the whole time. However, at some point his descendants quit making charcoal and moved to the city.

Among sanka, there was likely a lot of variety, both in terms of how much they interacted with human settlements and in what sort of work they specialized in. For example, many people are familiar with the term “matagi.” They are sometimes referred to as hunters, especially for bears (like Yae and her father in the Tomioka Gaiden, or Urokodaki’s friend who was mentioned in a fanbook for having found Giyuu and introduced him to Urokodaki), but matagi could be just as well-versed in plants and medicine. Other people, like “kijishi,” were skilled in making everyday ideas out of materials from the mountains, and they would exchange their wares for what they needed from people in settlements.

Then we have “somabito,” who collected and delivered wood. This is where the Tokito family found their niche.

It is probably thanks to these activities that they procured, say, the kitchen knife that Yuichiro used for cutting daikon. But as for how warmly the nearby village treated them, who knows. Yuichiro’s attitude was probably to go to the village, do only as much business as necessary, and then leave, for he may have felt that their family was distrusted because they were sanka.

Mt. Kagenobu: The Tokito family home

According to the first fanbook, Muichiro is from Mt. Kagenobu, a 727-meter mountain on the border of what would now be called Tokyo Prefecture and Kanagawa Prefecture. It is not a mountain I have been to, but as I understand, it’s not that bad of a climb for beginners (but you should still be adequately prepared). Depending on your course, it can take about 60-80 minutes to climb to the top. Even if they did live near the top, that’s not too bad of a trip for Amane-sama to take several times. However, even a satoyama area still has mountain dangers. Oni, for example. And places where you can slip and fall to your death, rain or no rain.

These are things that are probably engrained in Muichiro, whether he consciously remembers them or not. Plants, weather, animals, searching for and preparing food; somewhere inside of him, even at his foggiest, he probably still knew how to do all this.

And, maybe somewhere in how Yuichiro influenced him, he felt distanced from other people.

However, that’s not the only reason a warrior might wish to run away to the mountains, is it? After all, that is where they and their loved ones might live in peace and be happy.

Two more quick facts:

There is a tea house on Mt. Kagenobu that posts photos of the Mt. Kagenobu landscape, which might be very handy for fic writers, or just plain nice for Muichiro fans to check out! Yes, they are totally aware of Muichiro and love having that connection.

There is a kind of cherry blossom on that mountain called “kasumizakura.” Yes!!! “Mist” sakura!!!!!!!