reading demon slayer: chapter 8 name breakdown
in this chapter, there are no names of people or places or weapons to go over. instead, we will be covering the demon slayer ranking system, which is introduced by kiriya (the black-haired twin at final selection). from highest to lowest, demon slayers are ranked as follows:
甲・乙・丙・丁・戊・己・庚・辛・壬・癸
which in english simply translates to first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth in rank. the official english version chose to transliterate these names instead of translating them.
there is another layer to these names beyond their usage as ordinal numbers, however. the set of characters used here are a part of the traditional chinese calendar system known as the heavenly stems. the heavenly stems are used in combination with the earthly branches, an ordering system related to the chinese zodiac, to form a 60-year calendar cycle.
you might protest that there are 10 stems and 12 zodiac signs, which multiplies to 120, not 60. it's better to think of the stems as 5 pairs (you'll see why below), and 5 times 12 is indeed 60.
so what do the stems represent? well, each stem has its own alignment to a few basic concepts of traditional chinese philosophy--yin and yang, the five elements*, and the cardinal directions. the five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. each element is associated with a cardinal direction--wood is east, fire is south, earth is middle, metal is west, and water is north. here's how it all works out:
甲 (きのえ) - yang, wood, east
乙 (きのと) - yin, wood, east
丙 (ひのえ) - yang, fire, south
丁 (ひのと) - yin, fire, south
戊 (つちのえ) - yang, earth, middle
己 (つちのと) - yin, earth, middle
庚 (かのえ) - yang, metal, west
辛 (かのと) - yin, metal, west
壬 (みずのえ) - yang, water, north
癸 (みずのと) - yin, water, north
as you can see, the stems are 5 yin-yang pairs, one for each of the five elements/cardinal directions. this is where the names for the stems in japanese come from, and these are the names you're probably familiar with from reading or watching demon slayer in english. the first part of the name is the native japanese pronunciation for the associated element: き, like 木, for wood; ひ, like 火, for fire; つち, like 土, for earth; か, like 金, for metal; and みず, like 水, for water. next is の, which connects the first part to the last, and the last part is either え or と--え like in 上, meaning older, and と like in 弟 or 乙, meaning younger.
like i said earlier, these names really have no bearing on how they're used in demon slayer (i.e. as ordinal numbers). the demon slayer ranks are straightforwardly named first through tenth. the heavenly stem names and meanings do not need to be taken into account at all. i just thought it was something interesting to talk about :)
that's all i have for this chapter's name breakdown. it's a bit of a long one, so thank you very much to anyone who read this far! if you're interested in chinese philosophy or astrology, i recommend doing that research on your own, because i'm already a bit out of my depth just summarizing the basics. thanks again for reading, and please look forward to the next posts! 読んでくれてありがとう!次の投稿を楽しみにしてください!
*"five elements" is a bit of a misnomer, since they're not really equivalent to the four elements of western philosophy. it's the most well-known term for them, though, so that's what i went with.
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赤鬼と青鬼
熊本の伝承
熊本県の伝承における赤鬼・青鬼の物語は、子供たちの教訓や友情をテーマにした民話の一つです。この物語は、日本各地で様々なバージョンが存在しますが、熊本県のものは以下のような特徴があります。
物語の主要なキャラクターは、赤鬼と青鬼の2人組です。彼らは山の中に住んでおり、人里離れた場所で静かに過ごしていますが、ある日、彼らは人間の子供たちと出会います。
最初は赤鬼と青鬼は子供たちに対して警戒心を持ちますが、子供たちが彼らと仲良くなりたいと願い、友情を深めようとする姿勢に感動します。赤鬼と青鬼は次第に子供たちと仲良くなり、一緒に遊んだり、冒険したりするようになります。
しかし、物語には試練や困難も含まれています。赤鬼と青鬼は人間とは異なる存在であり、彼らの力や考え方が人々とは異なることが災いし、しばしば誤解やトラブルが生じます。それでも、子供たちとの友情を大切にし、困難を乗り越えようとする姿勢が物語の中心となります。
この物語は、異なるもの同士が友情を育むことの大切さや、困難に立ち向かう勇気、そして相互理解の重要性を伝えるために語り継がれています。
♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶♪♫♬🎤🎹🎶
red demon and blue demon
Kumamoto folklore
The story of Red Demon and Blue Demon in Kumamoto prefecture folklore is one of the folk tales that focuses on lessons for children and friendship. There are various versions of this story across Japan, but the version from Kumamoto Prefecture has the following characteristics:
The main characters in the story are Aka Oni and Ao Oni. They live in the mountains and stay quiet in a secluded place, but one day they meet human children.
At first, the Red Oni and Blue Oni are wary of the children, but are moved by the children's desire to become friends with them and their efforts to deepen their friendship. Red Oni and Blue Oni gradually become friends with the children and begin to play and have adventures together.
But the story also includes trials and tribulations. Red demons and blue demons are different from humans, and the fact that their powers and ways of thinking are different from people's is a misfortune, and misunderstandings and troubles often occur. Even so, the story centers around her valuing her friendships with her children and her willingness to overcome hardships.
This story is passed down to convey the importance of fostering friendships between people of different backgrounds, the courage to face difficulties, and the importance of mutual understanding.
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reading demon slayer: chapter 16 name breakdown
the last chapter of volume 2 has 2 names--how fitting. i don't believe the other demons that tanjirou has fought up to this point have had names, so this is a special occasion!
first we are given the name of the male demon,
矢琶羽
read as やはば. 矢 (や) means arrow, obviously a nod to yahaba's blood demon art. 琶 (は) is mostly found in words relating to the 琵琶 (びわ), which is a type of japanese string instrument. i think the inclusion of this kanji is a reference to the 琵琶法師 (びわほうし) of old. they were street performers, often blind, who played the biwa and recited poetry to make money. they also frequently dressed in buddhist garb.
yahaba isn't blind, per se, since his eyes are usually just on his hands, but he certainly looks the part. and his chunky necklace reminds me of buddhist mala, or prayer beads. many websites say yahaba's necklace is just a pearl necklace. however, i have not found a source to back up that claim, so i think i can speculate here.
i will note that mala usually have 108 beads, and yahaba's necklace is never pictured with more than 10 beads. but sometimes mala can be smaller. these smaller versions typically use factors of 108 as the total number of beads, and a factor of 108 is 12. with this knowledge i believe it is safe to assume that yahaba's necklace is meant to have 12 beads (perhaps plus one more, the mother bead) and the remaining beads are simply not drawn because they are obscured by his neck.
a 12-bead necklace would also be symbolic of the twelve demon moons, of which yahaba and susamaru claim to be members. if there is indeed a 13th mother bead, that could symbolise kibutsuji himself, as the father of all demons. but i digress.
the third character in yahaba's name, 羽 (ば), can mean feather or wing. it is also used as a counter for certain small animals (e.g. birds and rabbits). when paired with 矢, as in 矢羽 (やばね), we get a word meaning arrow feathers. this is probably the reference the author intended to make.
unfortunately yahaba's name doesn't make a neat sentence or phrase, but it does convey his powers and has a historical reference, so that's cool too.
after yahaba, we are given the name of the female demon,
朱紗丸
read as すさまる. you might already recognize the third kanji, but hold on! we'll get there in a minute. the first character 朱 (す) generally means red. it can specifically refer to a cinnabar, vermilion, or scarlet color. susamaru's orange eyes, kimono, and red-orange tipped hair reflect this part of her name.
紗 (さ) means silk gauze, and shows up in words regarding delicate fabrics like silk or gauze. it is also used as ateji in words about thicker fabrics like felt, chintz, and wool. 丸 (まる) means circle. if you recognized it from the start, nice! traditional temari are said to be made of fabric scraps from kimono and other household items, so a temari could be thought of as a fabric ball--a 紗丸.
that means susamaru's name is literally scarlet fabric ball. and i mean, her temari do have red on them. her and yahaba's names are very similar in that they both allude to their powers and parts of their designs. i expect we'll see this pattern repeated in the naming of future demons, but i may be surprised.
i believe that's all for this chapter's name breakdown! i especially enjoyed researching and writing the part about yahaba's necklace. i hope you did too. thanks for reading, and please look forward to the next posts! 読んでくれてありがとう!次の投稿を楽しみにしてください!
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『久しぶりに、旅へ②(岐阜県高山市方面)』
新潟県妙高市関温泉の朝は、幸いにも大雨が通り過ぎ、雲や霧はあるものの穏やかな様相を見せた。
旅の2日目は、ここ妙高市から岐阜県高山市迄の下道ドライブ。大雨が無ければ、新潟県から長野県へのアクセスをフラットダートの林道で小谷村へ抜ける予定だったが、路面状況が読めない為、信濃信州新線(県道36号線)から、長野県戸隠(旧戸隠村)を通り、白馬へ抜けるルートに切り替えた。
道中の鬼無里村を走る頃には、時折青空を見せてくれて、この先のロケーションに気持ちが高まる。
国道を避け、白馬岳大町線(長野県道325号)に入り、素朴で実りある風景を抜けて行く。
その道中、ポツンと食堂が���そこの蕎麦が、これまた美味だったのでご紹介。『おらほの味 蕎麦処 しみず』旨味香りも良く、喉越し良く。お勧めです。
昼を終え、上高地方面へ。
渓谷と、時折見せる青空が美しい。国道158号線は、いつ通っても裏切らない美しさを見せてくれる。この天気に期待して、さらに安房峠(旧158号線)を目指す事にした。峠の登りでは、この先に期待を持たせる風景が、チラリチラリと。
…しかし、そこは残念ながら深い霧に包まれ、晴れていれば観られたはずの焼岳はお預けとなった。ともあれ、走り抜ける道はいずれも素晴らしく、久しぶりの旅に、印象深い記憶を残してくれた。
この日の宿のある『福地温泉』には、穏やかな露天風呂あり、泊り客のみの風情ある足湯もあり、何度か通っている。奥飛騨温泉郷も幾度か出掛けているが、近年はやや素朴な、こちらに来る機会が増えた。
この足湯の為だけの、贅沢な建屋が一軒。囲炉裏があり、宿だけの出会いではなく、福地温泉に来たお客さん全体への出逢いを演出するところが、なんとも心地よい。
さて、この日は何キロ走っただろう。
この次の日は、もう少し楽な旅路になる…はず(笑)
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