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kenkaodoll · 1 year

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Kamiya Dojo Monogatari Tale 63 (JUMP SQ 23/03)

About Kamiya Dojo Monogatari:

Tales of Kamiya dojo is written by Kaoru Kurosaki and published along with the “Rurouni Kenshin Hokkaido” arc in JUMPSQ. The tale involves the Rurouni Kenshin character in daily life that takes time between Kenshin and Kaoru marriage until the epilogue chapter in the original manga before the Hokkaido Arc. Until this month (March 2023) there are a total 64 chapters in Tales of Kamiya dojo. This is an unofficial translation.

Previous Story: https://www.tumblr.com/kenkaodoll/706523661597835264/kamiya-dojo-monogatari-tale-62-jump-sq-2302

・

“If the people at Hanami party are dancing, they’ll have less time to drink, and thus be less likely to get drunk and out of control?”, Miyako asked.

“Huh? What’s that?”

Everyone, including Yahiko, turned their heads at Miyako's suggestion.

“Is it like *Bon Odori dancing, that it is?”

Kenshin used Bon Odori as an example to ensure what Miyako meant with "People dance at Hanami".

However…

“Bon odori? What's that?”

Yahiko seemed to have never heard of Bon Odori.

“It's Bon Odori. During the *Obon Festival, everyone in the village dances together.”

“?”

Yahiko looked at Megumi with oddly eyes.

“What? Usually you dance during Obon, don't you?”

Yahiko immediately shook his head at Megumi's words.

“We don’t dance..”

“Eeeh!” Megumi was truly surprised.

“What is that? In Tokyo, they don't even have Bon Odori because of the Europeanization policy? Not only have all the men changed from *chonmage to short haircut, but they also have to switch from Bon Odori to ballroom dances? Is it like a conspiracy by the Meiji government?”

”This is probably not related to Europeanization policy or a conspiracy or anything like that.”

Kaoru answers Megumi's question.

“Bon Odori had been banned under Edo Castle since long ago. I'm sure it's because it would be unsafe when too many people get too excited. So I don't think the Meiji government had anything to do with it.”

“We do it in Kyoto! You know, the one where they set up a portable shrine and dance around it?”

Megumi looked happy with what Misao said and replied, “Yes, that's it!”.

“Um…”

Tsubame timidly interrupted.

“My father served the Nagaoka family, they had Bon Odori, but we didn't have such events at the Edo residence.”

“Is that right?”

Yahiko replied Tsubame.

“I have wandered in many places, but I had never thought about Bon Odori. There are different ways of spending Obon in different regions, aren't there?”

Kenshin was deeply affected.

“Ah, but that doesn't mean there aren't any events during Obon, like offering *kyuri no uma (cucumber horses) or *nasu no ushi (eggplant cows).”

Kaoru added.

“So, are we going to do something like that Bon Odori dance at Hanami?”

Yahiko asked Miyako.

“Yeah, but if we do it the way Misao said, 'set up a shrine and dance around it,' it will really be a Bon Odori. I was thinking of something different.”

“What did you have in mind?”

I was thinking of having a stage for *Mikagura on the shrine grounds, so the dancers would go up there and everyone would dance together while watching the dancers. Those who are not good at dancing can join in by waving hand fans.”

“It’s going to look like an eel restaurant.”

“No,no! We cheer them on with our cute hand fans. Then… for example… when someone on stage claps his hands, everyone claps along with her.”

“How could that possibly work?"

Yahiko was skeptical of Miyako's idea.

“I wonder if the guests at Hanami want to participate in such an event.”

“We'll just have to give it a try, won't we?”

Misao said optimistically.

“If the village is divided in half, why don't we just get the people who are in favor of Hanami on our side and get everyone to actively participate in the dance?”

Kaoru gave her opinion.

“Struggling alone won't solve the problem, that it won't. As Kaoru-dono said, it would be a good idea to find an influential person who will join our side.”

Kenshin agreed.

“I wonder if dancing is enough to prevent the guests from getting drunk at Hanami.”

Megumi was a little skeptical, like Yahiko.

“But you can't start something until you've tried it.”

“Daaah!”

Kenji followed Megumi and spoke up to join the conversation.

“Do you think so too Kenji?”

Kaoru picked up her son.

“Look, he says, ‘I'm up for the challenge.’”

“He's babbling.”

“Does Kenji want to dance too?”

Misao takes Kenji's hand and makes him clap his hands and dance in a strange way.

“So cute!”

The ladies shouted.

“Huh?”

Misao suddenly uttered a question.

“So, who dances on the Mikagura stage? Who does the choreography? The *shamisen player?”

“I haven't thought about it yet,” Miyako answered immediately, “because it's just an idea that just came to me.”

“I know, right?”

Misao nodded.

“After I played with Kenji and made him dance, I realized that if an amateur dancer were to do the choreography, it would only result in a weird dance. The reason this was so cute was because Kenji was a baby.”

“Indeed.”

Miyako nodded.

“How about we ask Tae about that. It would be good for her business to open a stall and the waitresses have a dance performance as their advertisement.”

Yahiko's idea brought a smile to Miyako's face.

“That’s really good!”

“Drinking on an empty stomach can lead to drunken frenzy and tend to act violently. I think opening an Akabeko stall is a good idea from a health standpoint.”

Megumi gave her approval.

・

The next day.

First, they had to talk to the Shinto priest about borrowing the stage for the Mikagura performance. So Yahiko, Miyako, and Misao immediately went to the shrine.

Even before they entered the shrine office, they heard a man yelling. There was something disturbing about this.

“I, Jūyūemon, let me be in charge of the Hanami’s seating.”

“No, no, no. The village council has decided to hold a lottery to determine fair seating for this year's Hanami.”

“What's this council meeting? Why don't we just go on as usual?”

Hearing the loud voices from outside, Miyako whispered to Yahiko and Misao.

“Jūyūemon-san is one of the troublesome ones who had been quiet for a while after being beaten to a pulp by Zanza before.”

The loud voices in the shrine office could still be heard outside.

“We don't want people to get drunk and swing their wakizashi around as usual. Just cut down the cherry tree!”

Miyako whispered again.

“That voice is Yosaku-san. There's a quarrel between Jūyūemon-san, who wants to view the cherry blossoms, and Yosaku-san, who wants to cut them down.”

The "dispute that split the village in two" that was mentioned earlier seems to be the quarrel between Jūyūemon and Yosaku.

“Don't be silly! How much time and effort do you think it takes for a cherry tree to grow so beautifully and bloom?”

"What are you talking about? How about *Hana yori dango? You've always been on a drunken rampage and didn’t enjoy the cherry blossom at all.”

“What! My sakura love is not like that, it's real!”

“Ha! Sakura love! Are you stupid?”

“You're so extreme! You're willing to let the cherry blossoms disappear just because you can't do the village play anymore.”

“I'm just trying to keep the peace.”

“Bullshit!”

Rattle, rattle, rattle! A loud noise rang out.

“Hey, stop!”

“Calm down!”

“No violence!”

As Yahiko, Miyako, and Misao trudged into the shrine office, the large man was holding the slender man’s chest. The slender man was flailing his hands in an attempt to get away from him, and the Shinto priests were moving left and right, trying to separate the two men. On the floor, hail from the tea ceremony was strewn all over the floor. It hurt when someone stepped on it with his bare feet.

Jūyūemon was a large man and it looked as if he was in charge in this area. However, such a large man with a rough atmosphere was talking about his love for Sakura trees. There was a big gap between what he looked like and what he said.

“What is this, Miyako? What are those little guys doing here!”

Juyuemon glared at Yahiko and the others without releasing his grip on Yosaku's chest.

“This year there will be no village play, so we've suggested other events!”

Yahiko shouted out.

“What? A stranger is replacing the village play?”

Yosaku looked at Yahiko,while his chest was still being held.

“I want you to lend us the Mikagura stage!”

Juyuemon finally released Yosaku at Yahiko’s words.

“Let's hear what you think you're doing.”

“If it's something stupid, I'll get you for it!”

Yahiko was pressed by Juyuemon and Yosaku, and began to talk about their plan.

・

Meanwhile, Tsubame was at Akabeko. She did her usual job as waitress and she also must tell Tae about their plan to open the stall.

But Tsubame was so nervous to talk with Tae on her own.

“Well, you know... Um, well... Tae-san.”

There are two things she had to tell her. One, they would like to have a stall at the Hanami party, and the other is that they would like to have the waitresses singing and dancing at the Mikagura performance.

“What is it?”

Tae sensed that Tsubame was fidgeting and held her words.

“Well, I would like to perform on the shrine's Mikagura stage…”

Tsubame spun the words as hard as she could.

“Oh my!" Tsubame, you want to do an offering to Mikagura? I think it's good that you are religious.”

“Well, not that, but I'd like to perform the song and dance we've been practicing to promote Akabeko at the Hanami party.”

“Oh! I didn't think Tsubame-chan would be so active in promoting Akabeko through singing and dancing. I'm so happy.”

No... I'm not that aggressive.

Tsubame exclaimed in her mind. But there was no way she could actually say it out loud.

“I see. Tsubame-chan is a shy girl, so I thought she might not like this kind of thing, but I'm glad to hear that she seems to be pleased with it!”

Tae was in a good mood.

“I'd like to dance with everyone, is that okay?”

“Of course, yes. It would be good publicity for Akabeko. We can have any number of dances, so let's have Ichiwaka-neesan think of one where Tsubame-chan plays the leading role!”

Tae left in high spirits.

“Leading... role…”

Afterwards, Tsubame was left with an unexpectedly large role to play.

Notes: *Hanami: Literally flower viewing, when people gathering to see cherry blossom

*)Bon Odori: "Bon-Odori," as the name suggests, refers to a dance (odori) held during Obon. One of the folk arts held dear by Japanese, there are various explanations, but the dance is performed all over Japan in order to receive spirits and send them off again.At the present day, the religious aspect of the event has been mostly lost, and the dance is held as an event to liven up summer festivals and so on.

*)Obon : Festival of the dead. Obon (お盆) is an annual event in Japan for commemorating one's ancestors, whose spirits are believed to temporarily return to this world in order to visit their relatives during Obon.

*) Chonmage: Samurai traditional hairstyle

*)kyuri no uma (cucumber horses) or nasu no ushi (eggplant cows): cucumber carved like horses and eggplants carved as cows meant to carry the ancestors’ spirits to and from our earthly realm.

*)Mikagura: Mikagura is a form of Japanese ceremonial music and dance which originated in rituals first conducted more than 1,000 years ago by Shinto shrine priests for the Imperial Court of Japan.

*shamisen: Three stringed traditional instrument

*)wakizashi: Short sword

*)Hana yori dango: friendship is more important than flower

.…..to be continued in chapter 64…… https://www.tumblr.com/kenkaodoll/711955324274458624/kamiya-dojo-monogatari-tale-64-jump-sq-2304

TLnote(1): translating Japanese is so hard because the sentence structure is very different compared with English. Also the style of writing is different, plus there’s a lot of figurative, poetic language and things that don't make sense if it’s directly translated into english. So forgive me if this is very weird to read, and please tell me if you want to give corrections.

TLnote(2) I will provide the original Japanese text for correction if any of you who read have better knowledge of the Japanese language. Just dm and I’ll send the file.

TLnote(3) Dtninja had translated some earlier chapters on his website. You can go and check on there

Read the rest of the story here: https://www.tumblr.com/kenkaodoll/686193523858538496/rurouni-kenshin-tales-of-kamiya-dojo?source=share

#Kamiya Dojo Monogatari #Tales of Kamiya Dojo #Rurouni Kenshin #Ruroken #Himura Kenshin #Kamiya Kaoru #Himura Kaoru #Himura Kenji #Takani Megumi #Makimachi Misao #Myoujin Yahiko #Sanjo Tsubame #Himura Family #unofficial translation #Kaoru Kurosaki #Kurosaki Kaoru #kenkao

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