#horagai

[ulftorio]

【御嶽×お加持×無印認識】 今年の登拝も色んな方との出逢いがあった。 最も印象的だったのは、 御嶽の歴史を感じた下山途中の出来事。 八合目からの道のりで、 90度くらい腰の曲がったご年配の登山者が前も見ずに登ってきた。 どっちによけるのかなぁとドキドキしながら、 右に避けて通り過ぎようと思い 「こんにちは〜」 と声をかけた。 そしたらいきなり 「いまから山頂まで行ってロープウェイに間に合うように下山できるようにお加持してぇ！！」 と叫ばれた。 依頼が具体的過ぎたので一瞬考えてしまい、状況を整理した。 この方が今までもお加持を受けてきた信者さんであることを理解。 こちらがお加持をつかう御嶽行者だと一瞬で見抜いて私に声を掛けてきたらしい。 (なんでわかるの！？)とギョッとした。 お加持はわかりやすくいえば、御嶽の行者が昔から使う加持とあわさった療術だ。 悪いものをとったり、神仏の力を入れたりする。 私の施術もこれがベースにある。 見ず知らずの方にいきなり「お加持をして」といきなり言われたのは実はこれで2回目。 これがまた不思議なもので、わかる人にはわかるらしい。 別におでこに「お加持担当」とか書いてるわけでもないのに。。。 とにかく御嶽行者とみなされたのだから受け給うでしょと思い、 「えぃ！えぃ！」 とお加持をはじめた。 「うちのお祖父さんはもっと凄かったのよ」と回想録がはじまった。 きけばこの方はお祖父様が行者さんで神様になったとか。 これはもう完全に後ろの方からの依頼だろう。 今年はなぜかよその霊神とご縁がある。 あとから振り返ると 連綿と受け継がれてきた 御嶽の信仰の歴史の中に 私も携わらせて頂けたのだと思い、 感慨深いものがありました◎ やってる最中にふわっと聞こえてきたのは "無上霊宝両部神道加持"。 無事にロープウェイ間に合っただろうか... [2022.08.07] #御嶽山 #登拝 #修験道 #両部神道 #加持 #療術 #霊神 #タイムリミット #ontakesan #shrine #horagai #mountains #mountainpilgrim #nature #naturephotography #history (御嶽山) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChO568CJZUv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[honestlyboringperson]

Name: Sylvana Lorenzo

Age: 14

Wish: “We wish to stay together, with nothing to impede our friendship.”

Power: Duplication

Weapon: Horagai

Likes: Milana, Terrariums

Dislikes: The Elderly

Element: Light

Magia: Call of The Leviathan

Teammate(s): Milana

Witch/Doppel: Hungrige

A loud and outspoken girl who who spends most of her time with her best friend. She resents most of the people in her town for trying to separate her from her “other half”. Unlike her friend, she is more open to other people, albeit still distant.

BACKSTORY

Sylvana grew up in a particularly affluent family, with most of her time being spent down at the docks, collecting shells, flowers, coral pieces, and anything shiny. She was isolated from her peers due to coming out too strong and accidentally making them uncomfortable.

One day however, she met Milana, a girl from a more poor family. The two hit it off immediately, bonding over their shared interest in running away and seeing the world. The two friends, when they could meet up would talk for hours about their day and dreams.

However, when Sylvana tried to introduce Milana to her family, they shut it down immediately, and forbid her from meeting her ever. They were particularly classist and saw that because Milana was poor, she was not worth any time.

It didn’t go well with Milana’s family either, and the two had to sneak out to meet each other. One day, her parents decided it would be best for Sylvana to move to an in land city, away from the boonies. This would mean separating from her best friend and the two had one last meeting.

That is when Kyubey approached them. They both wished to stay together, with nothing to impede on their relationship.

They were finally allowed to meet whenever they desired and both made a great tag team in fighting, allowing them to defeat witches and territorial magical girls relatively easy. But Milana was particularly selfless, and always insisted on using the majority of their grief seeds on Sylvana as she used up the most magic to attack.

Milana became a witch and Sylvana was forced to kill her best friend. Her family resumed to have her move away and she only survived a month more, being too depressed to hunt witches. She became a witch, clutching her best friend’s grief seed in her hand.

WITCH DESCRIPTION

HUNGRIGE PUMPE

The witches of ancient seas. They have a gregarious nature. Two witches, both connected at the hip make up one powerful witch. Both dread being apart and cannot stand the idea of being alone. One witch can pump the other full of water to expand the other and the second witch can split themselves into countless copies of themselves. The tendrils that trail off the witch can inject a soul gem filled with curses, so it’s best to simply avoid this witch unless you have a ranged weapon. Only through camaraderie can one defeat these witches.

Doppel Description

“Milana, why did you do it?”

The doppel of protection. It takes the form of deep seas. The master of this emotion simply wishes to stay with her best friend forevermore, and as such this doppel can only emerge if it’s sister doppel emerges as well. The doppel is similar to an eel or sea snake, able to freely dislocate her jaw to devour anything that might hurt her more fragile friend. Within her gut, boiling acid is found and she can freely spit it up and the acid itself is powerful enough to dissolve skyscrapers in seconds. Both doppels, when united become an undefeated force of nature, lashing at their target with poisonous tentacles and a gullet filled with acid.

[frogizzhc]

Dr. Stone Headcanon: Instrument(s) Edition! part 1

(They don't necessarily have to play all three, just predictions on what they might use)

Senku: Triangle, Harmonica, Trumpet

Gen: Grand Piano, Voice, Harp

Chrome: Drum set, Xylophone, Bongos

Ukyo: Flute, Voice, Violin

Ryusui: French horn, saxophone

Taiju: Trombone, Alto Horn, Cymbals

Yuzuriha: Bass guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Guzheng

Kohaku: Boomwhacker, Voice, Piccolo

Ruri: Harp, Voice, Horagai

Suika: Pan flute, Piccolo, Xylophone

Hyoga: Shime-daiko, Koto, Tuba

Yo: Saxophone, Clarinet, Drum set

Francois: French horn, Grand Piano, Melphone

Magma: Taiko, Rhaita, Trumpet

Kinro: Violin, Mandola, Acoustic Guitar

Ginro: Lute, Harmonica, Voice

[garden-eel-draws]

Hora, the Southwestern Great Fairy of mainland Hyrule in my fic. She’s 1,000 years old and the youngest of six sisters spread out across Hyrule (4 on the mainland, 2 in the islands). Bubbly and naive, she’s curious about the little mortals who occasionally visit her and would love to go people-watching if she were just a bit smaller than her 45-foot height. Her name comes from horagai (法螺貝), Japanese for “conch shell”, and her hair is inspired by a Joseon Korean gisaeng style.

[exasperated-unrelated-research]

People were repeatedly impressed with my lung power today.

I am more proud myself for not making a "Breath of Horagai, First Form" joke.

[redsamuraiii]

Star Wars Movie Realization Ashigaru Stormtroopers

One of my hobbies is to collect Star Wars figurines. Been a Star Wars fan since childhood and became more fascinated by it when I learnt how much the Japanese Classic Samurai films influenced the saga. 

I love Movie Realization interpretations of the Star Wars character in Feudal Japan, with the stormtroopers re-imagined as Ashigaru or foot soldier. The amount of detail is astounding, from the patterns of the armor to the weaponry and even the Horagai, that the Yamabushi used to signal their presence to one another across the mountains. 

These exquisite figures has been master crafted by Japan’s top sculpting talent and features hybrid material use for dynamic posing possibilities. 

[floraleda]

Suonando #conchiglie #horagai #shell #trumpet #soundhealing #shanka #helmetshell #blonde #redhair #sound https://www.instagram.com/p/CCA68LvlTeI/?igshid=1kkey6o5qa2jx

[robo-milky]

Damn it Chris- not another one-

(A/N: Even as a Chinese person myself— I too find the blending of Chinese with Japanese in Ranma 1/2 wack- but I do adore the series to death. I can’t believe I’m at the point of crossing over such an obscure fandom with TWST- what?)

蜜甜红/mì tían hóng

ミ・テアン・ホン

[Ramshackle Dorm]

Grade: Freshman

Birthday: August 8

Height: 160 cm

Dominant hand: Ambidextrous

Homeland: Joketsuzoku

Club: Mountain Lovers Club

Best Subject: Potionology

Hobbies: Silk embroidery

Pet Peeves: Being wasteful

Favourite Food: Candied Hawthorne

Least Favourite Food: Fried food

Talent: Flexability

-*-*-*-

An energetic yet patient girl who cares more for the well being of others than herself. As polite as she may be, she is surprisingly blunt and at times shock people with her shamelessness.

-*-*-*-

Alias:

Mimi/Mi (Almost the whole cast)

Conch/Horagai-chan (Floyd)

Mademoiselle Abeille à Miel (Rook)

-*-*-*-

Backstory:

Lived a somewhat rural life in the mountains where her family ran a famous medicinal clinic. Mitian was raised to take over the clinic from a young age, from running errands like gathering ingredients to treating patients. She eventually fell in love with one of the village girls but because girls were forbidden to wed, Mitian willingly went to Jusenkyo to find the Spring of the Drowned Boy but slipped into the Spring of the Drowned Bee by mistake. From then on, she’s cursed into the form of a bee whenever she’s splashed with cold water but will return to her human body when she touches hot water.

Current Situation:

Remodelled the Ramshackle Dorm into a medicinal/acupuncture/massage clinic over time. Her secret/curse is kept a hidden until chapter 3.

Trivia:

- Arrived at NCR with a bag her supplies and uniform (like Yuuken)

- Sewed the collar of her vest so it could be worn by itself

- Wears pants when she’s off duty

- Seen as a business rival by Azul (why would they sign a crazy contract for back pain relief when there’s a cheaper option right there)

- Vibes with Jade- The two can bond over mushrooms and foraging together

- At one point hired then trained Ruggie to work part-time in her clinic after Grim’s complaint about being understaffed

- Business boomed because Savannaclaw students dared each other to get acupuncture treatment as a test of courage but stayed after finding out it does wonders for the body

- She may not know a single thing about Animal Linguistics but you can bet your ass she speaks Bee

[ions-in-the-ether]

Créations Horagai

[catcall-tower]

Happy Year of the Ox!

This year is the Year of the Ox - in Okami, each Celestial Brush God is represented by an animal of the East Asian Zodiac, and the Ox is represented by Itegami, Celestial Brush God of the Blizzard technique!

Itegami’s name is derived from iteru (凍てる, to freeze) and gami ( 神 ,god). 

The latter is a suffix for all Celestial Brush Gods outside of:

Shiranui (whose name is derived from a natural phenomenon known as shiranui) 

Amaterasu (who is a pre-existing deity in Shinto religion) and 

Chibiterasu (whose name is in turn derived from Amaterasu’s)

Itegami uses a horagai, an instrument that uses the conch shell of a large type of sea snail that can reach up to 2 feet in size.

Horagai were introduced to Japan and China around 800 CE, and were commonly used by Yamabushi, mountainous Buddhist hermits who used horagai for signalling, rituals, and protection. Itegami’s use of the conch shell is likely inspired by Yamabushi due to their association with cold weather.

[ulftorio]

【満行×積み重ね×勉強×修行×終わりなし】 先月で年間通してお連れした方が満行、 毎月の行が一区切り。 特に怪我などトラブルもなく 終わったことは 何よりで有難い。 毎月というのは思っていたより それなりにかなり大変なものだが、 (師や先輩の苦労を少し体感した) なんやかんやで滝前になると 別案件が舞い込んだりしたので、 結果的に私も行けて良かった ケースが多々。 今年はもう少しマイペースで いけると嬉しいなと思いつつ、 ひとまず来月ははずせない。 令和になってから恒例にした 来月の皐月一日も今年は朔日での行。 東欧も今月が山場っぽいし、 荒れる予感しかないが どうなるか。。。 今年は日取りもフレキシブルにできるのでもし必要な方がいらっしゃれば随時お連れ&指導いたします◎ #神仏習合 #修験道 #滝行 #山と法螺貝 #祈祷 #shugendo #horagai #山伏 #龍神 #祈り #shrine #shinto #mountain #mountainpilgrim #waterfall #ryujin #一生勉強 #一生修行 #令和 #天狗 #積み重ね #ukraine https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb7sIt4pQVL/?utm_medium=tumblr

[picturesofanpanman]

Horagai Danshaku is a conch shell baron who, despite all the trouble it causes him, is constantly telling fibs about himself. He claims to have remarkable strength, the ability to talk to animals and trees, be a better bread baker than Uncle Jam and to own numerous rare and magical artifacts. Any time he’s needed to actually substantiate these claims, he fails utterly. Though one would expect his status as a baron was also a lie, he really is a member of royalty, and he lives in a seashell palace along with a shell princess who is also prone to telling fibs. The only notable ability he seems to actually have (other than concocting falsities) is that he can retract his body into his conch shell head when he’s in danger. His personality is based on a pun of the Japanese words for boasting and for a conch (both ‘hora’)

[verdantspringcourtyard]

Land of Gagaku Event

Yet another long "tower" type event that coincides with Kinnara's release. The event format doesn't share many similarities to other events, but the actual activities are like most multiple stage/boss clearing events that have happened this year. Consists of 3 major parts; Sonata, Recalling Voices and Night Aratama boss. During this event, Kinnara will have a buff for damage dealt and damage reduction.

Sonata

Upon starting this part of the event, you must select 1 of the 4 chapters and 1 of 3 musical instruments but can change them at any time. At first only chapter 1 will be unlocked, the rest will be gradually unlocked. Each chapter has 3 instruments that provide buffs, the buffs can be viewed in one of the below sections.

When the server collects certain amounts of sheet music, rewards for the entire server will be unlocked. Sheet music is obtained by defeating bosses or by purchasing with jade. Buying sheet music can reward you with items like event AP, event currency, blue summon tickets, black daruma shards, gold, etc.

To fight a boss you must pick 1 of 5 "notes" on the music bar, which one you pick will not affect the difficulty or your rewards. However, if you pick 1 of the 3 "notes" with a ball of light in the same column as it, a bar next to the button used to switch difficulties will slowly fill up. When the bar is filled up, you won't have to fight a boss plus you'll get event currency and sheet music. Costs 6 event AP to challenge bosses (solo only), may cost more if you need multiple attempts. Cannot switch difficulty after picking a "note". Can be done on auto.

Sonata will not be accessible on the last day of the event. So please make sure you have maxed out the "Ray of Hope" stat boosts and has unlocked the bonus effects before then.

Ray of Hope

"Rays of Hope” are really important for Sonata and the Night Aratama boss. They are obtained by defeating bosses in Sonata. There are stat boosts and bonus effects for having certain amounts of them, which are listed below.

Stat boosts:

Gain +2% ATK and +2% HP per 1 (max +80%)

After gaining 40, gain +1 SPD and +1% Crit per 1 (max +40 and +40%)

After gaining 80, gain +2% DEF and +2% Crit DMG per 1 (max +80% and +40%)

After gaining 120, gain +1 HIT +1% RES per 1 (max +40% and +40%)

Bonus Effects:

21: Gain 20% HP Steal.

41: If Crit exceeds 100% then every excess 1% is converted in Crit DMG, when dealing damage also have a 30% base chance to inflict freeze and when receiving damage the attacker's SPD is reduced by 30.

61: Can negate 1 lethal attack and recover HP by 10%, only works once per battle.

81: Damage dealt to enemies inflicted with control effects is increased by 15%.

Although it isn't mentioned ingame, the bonus effects act as additional soul effects. So when dealing damage the icons for Nightwing, Snow Spirit and House Imp will pop-up above your shiki in battle.

Musical Instruments

Chapter 1

Koto: When dealing ST (and random target) damage, also deal 60% splash damage.

Gakubiwa: Skills cost -1 onibi.

Kagurabue: Indirect damage is increased by 40%.

Chapter 2

Miko Suzu: Indirect damage is increased by 40%.

Shakuhachi: Enemy DEF is decreased by 50%. 

Tsuzumi: The shiki with the highest ATK has an 80% chance to gain a new turn.

Chapter 3

Ekiro: Enemy DEF is decreased by 50%.

Shami: Crit for normal attacks is increased by 20% and if the normal attacks crit, damage is increased by 50%.

Dadaiko: Damage dealt outside of turn is increased by 50%.

Chapter 4

Shinrei: Crit for normal attacks is increased by 20% and if the normal attacks crit, damage is increased by 50%. 

Doura: When dealing ST (and random target) damage, also deal 60% splash damage.

Horagai: Skills cost -1 onibi.

If you’re unfamiliar with the jp names of the listed instruments and would prefer images of them, please refer to the wiki version of this guide.

The rewards for the total accumulated sheet music collected by the entire-server are; 2 red daruma, 10 orochi scales, 5000 event currency, 2 demon parade tickets, 10000 event currency. These rewards can be unlocked for every instrument.

At the bottom of the screen for Sonata is a progress bar. When it reaches 100%, the current instrument you're using will become "cleared" and you'll get a special kekkai/realm card as a reward.

Recalling Voices

Spirit Fragments

Collect spirit fragments to unlock short sentences of story. Fragments are obtained by defeating bosses in Sonata. There are a total of 83. Only 20-21 fragments can be obtained per chapters.

Recalling the Story

Can reread the event’s daily story dialogue.

Ancient Nocturne

Can rewatch the event CG videos.

Night Aratama Boss

At top of main event page, there is a music bar with a boss icon / multiple boss icons with a timer under it. When the timer ends, the boss/es can be fought. Costs 3 AP to challenge, battles have a 3-minute timer and "Rays of Hope" are also applied here. There are 5 types of bosses, each one has its own ranking. Ranking rewards are the same for each boss.

 Opening Note (Boss)

Can be challenged within an 8-hour time period.

Has 5 difficulties.

Format is similar to vanquish or boss challenges, ie goal is to KO the boss as fast as possible.

Boss has 2 phases, has 2 skills and nuribotoke in phase 1 and gains 2 more skills in phase 2.

Summons waves of minions.

There are 1st time clear rewards for each difficulty.

There's ranking. Ranking rewards include; black daruma, white daruma, blue summon tickets, gold and event currency.

Broken Song & Hurried Music (Netherworld Gate)

Can be challenged within a 24-hour time period.

It's kind of like Netherworld Gate.

Clear up to 150 stages of bosses.

Can change teams inbetween stages.

Enemies change every 10 stages.

Which enemies can be fought per 10 stages can be viewed on the boss page.

Enemies gradually become tankier as you progress through more stages.

Total rewards for the 1st 50 stages of Broken Song are; 60000 gold, 50000 event currency, and some white daruma.

Total rewards for the 1st 50 stages of Hurried Music are; 55000 event currency, and some white daruma.

There's ranking. Ranking rewards include; black daruma, white daruma, blue summon tickets, gold and event currency.

Sound Spirit: Wish & Curse (Boss Netherworld Gate)

Becomes accessible on the last day of the event. (at 12 noon & 4PM)

It's like Broken Song and Hurried Music, but if they were server-wide and the enemies had crazy high HP.

There are 10 stages.

Enemy HP seems to be shared server-wide.

Enemies don't hit very hard.

Shares the damage rewards with The Final Note.

Night Aratama (Boss)

Becomes accessible on the last day of the event. (at 8AM)

It's a server-wide boss.

Boss has 2 phases, has 3 skills and nuribotoke in phase 1 and gains 1 more skill in phase 2.

Summons waves of minions.

Shares the damage rewards with The Final Note.

The Final Note:

Becomes accessible on the last day of the event. (at 8PM)

Can be challenged within a 2-hour time period.

Requires special event AP to challenge the boss.

When you run of special AP, you can use another's team to challenge the boss.

Format is like the Sealand Defense part of Battle of Mt Oe, ie the boss will not take any damage and endless waves of minions will be summoned.

Enemy HP is shared across the server.

Total rewards for dealing 10-100mil damage are; 160000 gold, 20 demon souls, a 2* special kekkai/realm card and 13 black daruma shards.

Recommend newbies to ignore Night Aratama and Sound Spirits and unlock the damage rewards via this instead.

Exchange Shop

The most notable items are: 2 event icon frames, ? loading screen illustrations, new Kinnara skin, random SSR/SP, random SSN (frog N shiki), black daruma, 3-4-5* white daruma, 2 blue summon tickets, orochi scales, demon souls, AP, mochi, gold, evo and soul boosts, 5 event packs, etc. The icon frames are the exact same, one is still and one is animated.

Like always, the more appealing items like the random SSR/SP and new skin are locked by a requirement. In this event the requirements are event points, however, they are not obtained as drops or rewards for doing anything. Instead, event points simply represent your total accumulated event currency.

The type of items that can be obtained from the 5 event packs are all the same, items include; gold, AP, guild feats, demon souls, orochi scales, bio affection items, evo/soul/gold/EXP boosts, daruma shards, full daruma, 3-5* white daruma, EXP souls, etc. For every pack bought you'll get 1 random 6* soul, so if you buy 20 you'll get 20 random 6* souls. The types (2-set effects) of souls obtained are determined by the pack;

"Do" Pack 1: Crit%

"Re" Pack 2: ATK%

"Mi" Pack 3: HP%

"So" Pack 4: DEF%

"La" Pack 5: HIT% and RES%

Each pack can be bought a max of 300 times. The pack names should match the names of the musical notes in Kinnara’s skill 2.

Just so it's extra clear - the types of souls obtained refers to the 2-set effects, not the main stats.

Music from the Past

The unlabeled button in the top right corner of the main event page will become accessible. Here you will be able to listen to some BGM from past events and songs from CG or recent animated memory scroll videos. Can also create a small playlist so you can listen to your favourite songs while doing the event (doesn't work in battles).

Unsure if this will be a CN only feature.

Recommended Teams

Reminder - Kinnara has a buff for damage dealt and damage reduction for this event. So if you're lucky enough to get her and have enough materials to 6* her, then please use her in the event to take advantage of the buff. 

Sonata

2 AOE Multi-hit attackers + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi

2 Random Target attackers + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi 

2 Random Target attackers + SP Kiyohime + Kiyohime + Enmusubi

SP Ootengu + Kinnara + Kiyohime + Aoandon + Enmusubi

Takiyasha + Ryoumen + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi 

Ryoumen + Menreiki + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi

Double Shuten + Shiranui + Enmusubi + Ushi

Double Shuten + Shiranui + Enmusubi + Kiyohime

Recommended random target attackers are; SP Ootengu, SP Tamamo, Kinnara, Kisei, etc. Best combos are; double SP Ootengu, double Kinnara or 1 of both SP Ootengu and Kinnara. Recommended AOE multi-hit attackers are; Takiyasha, Ryomen, Ootengu, Ubume. If you don't have Enmusubi, the alternatives to her in this event are Ushi, Kosode or even Shoyou.

By default, Kiyo should always have snow spirit equipped even outside of events. However, after you unlock the 2nd bonus effect for "Rays of Hope", you should either swap her soul set to something else like seductress or fortune cat.

You should try using multiple teams to take full advantage of the buffs provided by the instruments. There are a couple of other teams that can be used but they require targeting, so I personally don’t recommend using them.

The Night Aratama

Boss:

SP Iba + Oitsuki + Ushi + Enmusubi + Aoandon

SP Iba + Oitsuki + Ushi + Enmusubi + Shoyou

SP Iba + Kinnara + Oitsuki + Ushi + Shoyou

Netherworld Gate:

2 AOE Multi-hit attackers + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi 

Takiyasha + Ushi + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi

Ryoumen + Ushi + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi

Takiyasha + Kinnara + Ushi + Oitsuki + Enmusubi

Boss Netherworld Gate 

2 AOE Multi-hit attackers + Kiyohime + Oitsuki + Enmusubi 

The Final Note

2 AOE Multi-hit attackers + Ushi + Oitsuki + Kiyohime

Takiyasha + Kinnara + Ushi + Oitsuki + Enmusubi

For Opening Note and Night Aratama (boss), the same teams are used for it.

For Takiyasha in the Netherworld Gate type stuff, she can use the following soul sets; seductress + songstress, hyousube + tsuchigumo, house imp + tsuchigumo, tsuchigumo + gashadokuro + songstress/namazu. So use whatever set you have or works best for you.

Hurried Music is a bit easier than Broken Song, so Kiyo and her def shred aren't really needed for it.

For The Final Note, recommend newbies to use up all your special event AP and borrow another player's team. By doing this you’ll be able to quickly boost your total damage and unlock all the total damage rewards. If you can’t play when this boss is available, then fight the Sound Spirits instead.

[itcouldbemine]

Horagai shell

[aic-asian]

A Man Shooting with a Blowpipe, illustration for the Conch Shell (Horagai), from the series "A Matching Game with Genroku-period Poem Shells (Genroku kasen kai awase)", Katsushika Hokusai, 1821, Art Institute of Chicago: Asian Art

Restricted gift of Louise Lutz Size: 19.3 x 17.1 cm Medium: Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/104484/

[redsamuraiii]

The instruments which I kept hearing watching Taiga Dramas, Samurai Films and Documentaries but had no idea what they were until now.

Shakuhachi

A bamboo flute which used to be played by monks (called komuso) of the fuke school of Zen Buddhism in Edo era (1603-1868). It was used as a form of meditation and there were religious unique solo pieces. 

It was later played by others than monks after the Meiji Restoration in 1871 after the fuke school died out. Kinko Kurosawa (1701-1771) collected religious pieces played by monks and improved the shakuhachi music. After fuke school was discontinued, the main scene of shakuhachi became sankyoku gassou (ensemble with shamisen and sou). It became Kinko school. Tozan Nakao (1876-1956) developed shakuhachi music by creating new piece and music notation affected by western music. It became Tozan school. It's used for sankyoku gassou (ensemble with shamisen and sou) and solo performance. 

I love it as it has that spiritual and calming effect that when you listen it you feel yourself slowing down for quick breather from the fast paced of life. Every time I listen to this, I felt myself at ease, imagining myself in one of those Japanese Garden or somewhere on the mountains facing the lake or sea.

Horagai

Horagai is a shell-conch flute of Japan. The origin is not clear but it's said that priest brought back to Japan from tang dynasty of China. It's often used by shugenja, practitioner of the Japanese religion of the shugendo for chanting and sending signals. Or, it's played as communication tool in middle ages. 

I saw this from those historical films where the Samurai would blow this as a signal to the different part of the army, whether to move out or alert them from an incoming enemy. So every time I hear this, the first thing that comes to mind is those Samurai bracing themselves for whatever that is coming for them.

Shamisen

A three-stringed lute. Although it's a string instrument, sometimes it's played like percussion by hitting the skin with a plectrum. 

The origin of the shamisen is sanxian of China. It is said that sanxian was introduced from China to Okinawa and it became sanshin. Sanshin was introduced from Okinawa into Sakai of Osaka In Eiroku era (1558-1570) and it became shamisen. Shamisen is developed by Biwa Hoshi (Lute Priests) to change the size, skin, shape of bachi, and sawari part. 

There are many types of shamisen used in various scenes. It's used for kabuki theater, ningyo joruri puppet show, geisha music, and folk song. Shamisen is often played with a vocal accompaniment. Singing method differs depending on the genre of music and the best shamisen to the vocal accompaniment is selected. So, some makes light sound and others make strong sound. 

The instrument which I noticed is often played every time a tension arises or a conflict erupted between Samurais in the films and dramas when they are fighting or dueling each other. 

Sou (Koto)

Koto is a general term of the Japanese string instruments and nowadays it means sou, a Japanese zither. It is said that it was introduced into Japan from tang dynasty of China. It was 13 strings type of zither. It was played in gagaku (Japanese Court music).

Kengyo Yatsuhashi (1614-1685) started modern sou music and it's called zokusou. It became zokusou played today. Kengyo Ikuta (1656-1715) affiliated jiuta of shamisen music and it became Ikuta school. Later, Kengyo Yamada (1757-1817) play the uta joururi music popular in Edo (old Tokyo) and started Yamada school. Gakuso, a type of sou is used for gagaku (Japanese court music) and zokuso is used for sankyoku gassou (ensemble with shamisen and shakuhachi). 

The type of instrument which I often see being used in Courts for ceremonies.

Taiko 

A word "taiko" is a general term for drums that have a skin stretched over the body in Japanese (except for tsuzumi). It is said that it's been used in Japan for a long time from ancient times. It is used for festivals, kagura, and other performing arts. 

Probably my favorite instrument of all, it has that rousing effect that makes you wake up from your slumber and motivate you. I can understand why these were used as war drums during that Samurai period to motivate the soldiers.

Tsuzumi

It was originally introduced as one of the instruments for gagaku (Japanese court music and dance). From drums called ikko, niko, sanko, shiko, it is said that niko was played by miko (shrine maiden) in Heian period. It is said that it was introduced into noh play through kusemai dance and became otsuzumi after it was used by shirabyoshi (female dancers). It is used for noh play, kabuki theater, folk performing arts. 

Often heard in dramas as intermission before the commercials starts playing or when the show is resumed from the commercials. Or when something suspenseful is about to happen or a tension is brewing.

Kagura Suzu

A a Japanese hand bell used for kagura dance performed by local people and miko (shrine maiden). In miko kagura (kagura dance performed by shrine maiden), miko holds it on her right hand and shake bells over her head.