[Ōta Saemon-no Taifu Mochisuke wa Uesugi Norimasa(Masazane) no chōshin nari. Takagari ni ide ame ni ai, aru koya ni irite mino wo karan to iu ni, wakaki onna no nan tomo mono woba iwazu shite, yamabuki no hana hito eda orite idashi kereba, "Hana wo motomuru ni arazu" tote ikarite kaerishi ni , kore wo kikishi hito no sore wa, "Nanae yae hana wa sakedomo, yamabuki no mi no(mino) hitotsu da ni naki zo kanashiki" to iu koka no kokoro naru beshi to iu. Mochisuke odorokite sore yori uta ni kokorozashi wo yose keri.]
Ōta Mochisuke is a senior member of Uesugi Norimasa(Masazane)'s family. When he went a falconry and got caught in the rain, he went into a hut to borrow a mino, straw raincoat. A young woman, without saying a word, broke off a branch of yamabuki flowers and offered it to him, then he said, "I did not ask for flowers," and left angrily. Someone who heard this said that (she must have conveyed) the heart of the old waka poem, "Seven and eight flowers bloom, but yamabuki is sad because it does not bear even a single fruit (Another meaning: I am young and look like this, but poor and alone, I sadly do not have even a mino, single straw raincoat. * 身の一つだに[mi no hitotsu da ni] could also mean "I am alone, so...") He was shocked and began to study waka poetry after that.
[Setsugyoku Sanetaka no uta ni, "Ame ni kiru mi no(mino) nashi tote ya yamabuki no tsuyu ni nururu wa kokorozukaji wo", go-shūi waka-shū, "Ogura no ie ni sumi haberu koro ame furi haberi keru hi, mino karu hito no haberi kereba, yamabuki no eda wo orite torase haberi keri. Kokoro mo ede makari sugite", mata no hi "Yamabuki kokoroezaru yoshi" ii okosete haberi keru, kaeshi ni ii tsukawashi keru, Kaneakira-shinnō, "Nanae yae hana wa sakedomo yamabuki no mi no(mino) hitotsu da ni naki zo kanashiki."]
In Sanjōnishi Sanetaka's private collection of poetry, Setsugyoku-shū, "Yamabuki, which has no fruit (no mino, straw raincoat, to wear) in the rain, does not mind getting wet with dew." And in Go-shūi Waka-shū, Later Collection of Gleanings of Waka Poems, "When Prince Kaneakira was living at his house in Ogura, one day it rained and someone came to borrow a mino, straw raincoat, so he broke off a branch of yamabuki and gave it. The person left without understanding why," and on another day (because it was on his mind,) he sent a messenger saying, "I do not understand the meaning of that yamabuki," then Prince Kaneakira responded, "Seven and eight flowers bloom, but Yamabuki is sad because it does not bear even a single fruit (Another meaning: I am a member of the royal family but living in the mountain and poor, so I do not have even a mino, single straw raincoat. * 九重[Kokonoe], ninefold, means the Imperial Palace)
From 常山紀談[Jōzan kidan] by 湯浅 常山[Yuasa Jōzan](1708-1781)
Source: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/908050/1/10
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ōta_Dōkan
山吹[Yamabuki] and 山葺[Yamabuki](葺 means thatch, and this could also be read as an abbreviation for "Poor house in the mountain Ogura"), 蓑一つ[Mino hitotsu](One straw raincoat) and 実の一つ[Mi no hitotsu](Only one fruit) and 身の一つ[Mi no hitotsu](The body alone). Such a technique of expression is called 掛詞[kakekotoba].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakekotoba
Whether this is a true story or not is not certain, but it is a well-known anecdote.
https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cyw/id/351
The double-flowered yamabuki does not bear fruit. However, this is a horticultural variety. I do not know if it existed in the distant past. I think this expression perhaps mean that there are many single-petaled flowers. The single-petaled yamabuki produces inconspicuous fruits, though.
Winter Breathing has 10 known techniques and forms at minimum:
First Form: Immobile Frostbite (Ichi no kata: Fūdō no Tōshō 不動の凍傷)
- The user dashes to their target and within a moment, performs a seemingly singular strike which penetrates a set of short yet precise and accurate swift thrusts resembling a sharp icicle piercing through the air that impales the opponent's vital points (such as the neck, heart, torso, etc.) to render loss/total loss of mobility that lasts depending on the latter's defenses/resistance.
Second Form: Preserved Frost (Ni no kata: Hōzon sareta Shimō 保存された霜)
- The user backflips into the air, simultaneously delivering an overhead slash before somersaulting again to reposition themself to release numerous slashes coming at all directions from afar, overwhelming the opponent.
Third Form: Oscillating Tundra (San no kata: Shindō sūru Tsūndōra 振動するツンドラ)
- The user begins fluctuating to discombobulate the enemy reciprocating snow rolling through tundra, before abruptly kicking off the ground and dashing towards their opponent with speed of sudden translocation, then doing six short, but fleet shallow slashes overlapping one another aiming to blind the opponent, the user then vanishes from view much like a snowflake amidst the snowfall, only to reappear behind their opponent, and performs two stronger helical slashes on top of one another in a rapid succession.
Oscillating Tundra, Luminous Hail (転がるツンドラ、光る雹 Shindō sūru Tsūndōra, Hikaru Hyō) - An improved version of Third Form: Rolling Tundra. The user instead flaunts the enemy continuously, while subsequently releasing flurries of hail-like slashes, each strike twisting and curving resembling the frozen shards of a hailstorm, striking their opponent from unexpected angles.
Fourth Form: Dancing Glacier Tundra, Northern Gale (Shi no kata: Odōru Hyōga Tsūndōra, Kitakaze 踊る氷河ツンドラ、北風)
- The user bends their blade in a swift glacial motion alongside their body in unison, dancing gracefully in a waltz-snowflake pattern concurrently shredding everything in its path fluidly during the dance-esque state to pulverize everything within a vast range.
Fifth Form: Distant Snow, Devouring Ice (Go no kata: Tōku no Yuki, Mūsaboru kōri 遠い雪、貪る氷)
- The user leaps up, adjusting their footwork in a way that allows them to move freely even without any solid foothold before releasing innumerable, rapid whirling slashes in front/around them as they pass to obliterate multiple opponents at once aerially.
- The user spins and twists their upper body in a circular motion which unleashes a flurry of five-layered cyclonic slashes on top of the other in a quick succession that freezes the air around it to numb the opponent's limbs and impedes their movements.
Seventh Form: Gale Dragon's Thunderclap (Shichi no kata: Hayate Ryū no Gōrai 疾風竜の轟雷)
- The user advances to their target at blistering speeds that accelerate over time as they primarily focus their strength to their legs to perform this at a vigorous rate of speed while simultaneously releasing flurries of dozen gyrating slashes that annihilates everything obstructing its path and is significantly enhanced by the momentum of their speed.
Kuraokami Ryūjin (闇龗 龍神, Shichi no kata: Kuraokami Ryūjin, lit: Seventh Form: Gale Dragon's Thunderclap) - An extension of Seventh Form: Gale Dragon's Thunderclap created by Akari Fuyutsuki. The user performs Gale Dragon’s Thunderclap while drastically augmenting its speed overtime, allowing the user to travel faster than the speed of light for no more than 2 seconds to the point where user's silhouette phantasms a blue dragon.
Eighth Form: Eternal Sleetstorm (Hachi no Kata: Eien no Mizōre Arashi 永遠のみぞれ嵐)
- The user somersaults into the air, kicking off the ground with a great amount of force to enhance the released barrage of rapid downcast slashes from afar that ends with a more powerful one symbolizing an array of ice pellets, capable of deflecting projectiles. Versatile as it may serve as either offense or defense.
Perpetual Hailstorm (永久のあられ嵐 Eikyū no Arare Arashi) - An alternate variation of Eighth Form: Eternal Sleetstorm created by Akari Fuyutsuki. The user hurriedly unleashes dozens of downcast slashes on top of one another raining down on the opponent much like a hailstorm to defend from all incoming attacks and to overwhelm the opponent. Often used during urgently critical situations to parry midair, especially when foothold is elusive.
Ninth Form: Hypothermic Winter Gale (Ku no Kata: Teitaionshō no Fuyu no arashi 低体温の冬の嵐)
- The user flutters their blade swiftly in a flowing manner as they rush around their opponent at speeds that formulates a frigid blizzard that meddles with the opponent's senses over time, making their movements considerably slower and sluggish, rendering their attacks weaker and predictable. Typically, instantaneously followed/accompanied by another attack.
- The user appears stagnant while executing a series of delayed-barrages of impeccable slashes that almost eradicates all incoming attacks resulting in a powerful shockwave emitting from the sheer speed which typically conjures a blizzard that obscures the user's whereabouts and makes their following movements unreadable. However, the technique's effectiveness is limited, as faster and resilient attacks can break through the process leading to the limited duration of the blizzard.
yes, I thought of all this back then.
the translations may, or may not be correct.
nonetheless, feel free to use this. but please credit me, thank you!
It grows up to about twenty meters for the larger ones. Sometimes, still early spring, in a deep, cold forest, it is breathtaking to come across a kobushi with white flowers blooming in profusion on its branches as if it was covered with snow only there.
The following is a scene of Kiso, Nagano Prefecture, in spring from the train on the novelist 堀 辰雄[Hori Tatsuo] and his wife's way to Nara to see the flowers of Asebi.
[Boku wa mō kannen shite, shibaraku jitto me wo awasete ita. Tōtō kono me de mirare nakatta, yukiguni no haru ni massaki ni saku to iu sono kobushi no hana ga, ima, dokozo no yama no ha ni kukkiri to tatte iru sugata wo, tada, kokoro no uchi ni ukabete mite ita. Sono masshiroi hana kara wa, imasigata no yuki ga toke nagara, sono hana no shizuku no yō ni pota-pota to ochite iru ni chigai nakatta. ......]
I gave up and was closing my eyes for a while. The flowers of Kobushi to be said the first to bloom in the spring in snowy regions that I could not see with my own eyes at last, in the eyes of my mind I could just picture them (the tree) standing clearly on the edge of a mountain somewhere. From those pure white flowers, the snow that had fallen just a few moments ago must have dripped as it melted, as if they were drops of those flowers. ......
From 辛夷の花[Kobushi no hana]
Source: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1133550/1/29 (ja)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuo_Hori
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhHoCnRg1Yw