#takamori town

[pangeen]

“ I Can See The Light “ // ハルマニア

[strangeconnoisseurhologram]

Siobhan and Emily’s episode 9 outfits are so good that we should be billing every cut away

special mentions to Lou’s best sweater and Beardsley “blue eyes” looking particularly puckish in this one sequence

[singular-yike]

The Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine

Today's post won't be on Len'en, like at all, so uhh, nothing for you if you only care about that I suppose~.

Anyways, I went on a family trip to northern Kyushu around a month ago, so I thought to share some of the neat places I've been to! (Not in any particular order though, just whatever I feel like.)

It'll probably just be the shrines and temples and such, since that's what I'm most interested in, but I'd be more than glad to share the rest of my trip if you all would like to see~!

With that preamble out of the way, here's my visit to the Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine.

Below: An image of the shrine road going up the mountain, from the official Takamori Town website.

My Visit to the Shrine

Unlike most places on our trip, this is actually a place I've been before, on my last trip around winter 4 years ago. It was just such a wonderful place that we had to bring my little brothers to as well.

(Though they didn't appreciate it much, on account of how incredibly hot it was. Honestly I don't even blame them, it was around 38°C every single day during the trip, so outdoor activity was, tough, to say the least.)

The Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine (上色見熊野座神社) is Located in Takamori Town, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture, on the foot of Mount Tsukigata (月形山), in a place known as Kami-shikimi (上色見 lit. "upper Shikimi", in contrast with Shikimi, located to the east.)

It's accessed directly from the side of a car road, opposite a post office, so we parked our rental car nearby and started heading up the shrine road: A rather long set of stairs up the mountain.

(As another aside, the pictures here were taken by me during the visit, unless otherwise noted, so you'll have to pardon the quality.)

Below: The entrance of the shrine, marked by a sign with the shrine's name beside it. (I had to take this one from the post office parking lot, on account of the traffic lol.)

The road was very tranquil, barring the occasional tourist/visitor, lined with many stone lanterns and trees with the occasional stone torii gate as well.

Below: A few photos that I took along the stairs.

Upon the gates hang a shimenawa rope, noting the sacred space we're entering, alongside the torii itself of course.

Written on the torii's shingaku (神額 lit. "god/divine frame"), the picture-frame like object on the middle of the gate, are the words Kumano-guu (熊野宮 lit. "palace/shrine of Kumano"), an older, alternate name of the shrine.

Along the hike, we came across this stone, clearly divine in nature somehow, considering the money offerings, its being bound by shimenawa and having an oonusa, a type of ritual wand, next to it.

It's quite peculiar, but we'll circle back to it later.

Below: The curious stone.

At the end of the stairs, we come face to face with the shrine itself, specifically its prayer hall.

Below: The prayer hall. (It's a bit blurry cause I think I was a bit shaky after climbing all those stairs lol.)

This is where visitors would give their offerings and prayers to the gods, as well as where priests and shrine maidens would've carried out their rituals and performances. (There weren't any during our visit though, this isn't a shrine that's manned every day.)

Below: A view of the entire shrine, from this shrine/temple-focused travel website.

As you can see from the picture here, behind the prayer hall are a set of stairs leading to a smaller building, this is the shrine's main hall, where its shintai, a sacred vessel for the gods' spirits, is housed.

Below: A side view of the main hall.

One would normally assume that this is where the shrine ends, but there's actually a site further up the mountain that's also related to the shrine!

It does demand that we take yet another hike up, but thankfully it's not nearly as long this time (though much more overgrown with grass, as this path is not paved like the shrine road is).

As we hike up, we see our goal, a giant blowing cave known as Ugeto-iwa (穿戸岩).

Below: The path up to Ugeto-iwa as well as the hole itself.

Along the path to the cave as well as around and inside it, are many stone stacks, built by visitors to the shrine and the cave.

While these are most commonly known for helping children stuck at Sai no Kawara (賽の河原) finish their punishment and move on to their next life, they actually have a number of other ritual meanings as well, like symbolically leaving ones impurities behind with them.

Below: The stone stacks.

There's no way for me to find out why visitors to this shrine first started stacking stones, but I made my own contribution as well. The top stone you see in the following picture was mine!

I didn't enter the cave myself, since I thought that we weren't allowed to after seeing the shimenawa up top. Though my dad later told me that he saw the locals going in to pray, which led to further research on my part.

This is where I learnt that, the cave itself is sometimes considered a separate shrine of its own, where the mountain in which the cave is found is its shintai. This shrine is known as Ugeto Shrine (穿戸社 lit. "excavated door shrine").

On the left within the cave is its own offering box (which you can kinda see in my picture as well), and in this picture below we can even see sake offered to the god, along with an oonusa again.

Below: The offering box in the cave, from the same travel website previously mentioned.

Thus, with the pinnacle of the shrine reached, we turn around and head back down, moving onto our next destination.

History

Right, with that initial introduction out of the way, we can now get into the history and mythology of the shrine.

First of, its historical origins! Right off the bat, the history of this shrine is not well understood, as its just that old of a shrine.

History as a Ko-shinto Ritual Site

Shinto worship did not always involve these buildings we call shrines, especially in the period prior to the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. This period of the religion is sometimes known as Ko-shintō (古神道 lit. "ancient shinto").

During this period, they had much more simple ritual sites that were often not permanently marked. Thus it's often hard to pin down when a shrine's history truly began, and this is one such case.

It's believed that this site has long been of ritual importance, archaeologists have discovered multiple kofun burial mounds dating back to the 4th to 5th century around the broader Kamishikimi region, in which this modern shrine is found.

And it's believed that the locals at the time often took boulders and blowing caves, a rare type of cave, as objects of worship. Thus it is not a stretch at all to theorise that this cave was one of their sites of worship either.

History as a Shinto Shrine

We have a slightly better idea as to when an actual Shinto shrine was built here, with scholars proposing around the late Kamakura period (1185–1333) or early Muromachi period (1336—1573).

The shrine's records claim that it has its origins in Kishū Kumano (紀州熊野), the southern region of the historical Muro District of the Kii Province, which was also called "Kumano".

Presuming that this is true, this shrine likely has its origins with the famous Three Grand Shrines of Kumano (熊野三山), which would make perfect sense, considering that one of the shrine's names clearly mention Kumano.

As for how shrine of the Kumano faith, originating in the modern day Mie and Wakayama Prefectures, came all the way across the sea to Kyushu, it is believed to tie in with the rise of Shugendō.

During the period, Shugendō practitioners started spreading their faith and shrines across Japan, taking the Kumano faith with them. As they held mountains as objects of worship, it's likely that they decided to set up a shrine on this mountain as well, taking note of its curious cave.

Concrete History

Finally, we have two pieces of (almost certainly) concrete history: First is that the shrine is made to be the overall protector shrine of the local area known as Nangou (南郷 lit. "southern country"), the southern parts of the Aso area.

A second bit that absolutely is true, is that the shrine I visited was not the original building, as it burnt down from the flames of war during the Tenshō era (1573—1592) and was abandoned, only returned to and rebuilt during the Kyōhō 7 (1722).

Mythology

That sorts out history, so lets look at the mythological origins of the shrine, as reported by the shrine itself.

The 2 Gods of the Shrine

The shrine enshrines 2 gods, the famous Izanagi-no-Mikoto (伊邪那岐命) and Izanami-no-Mikoto (伊邪那美命). They are the creator gods that literally gave birth to the many islands of Japan, as well as the many of the gods that inhabit it.

Additionally, the shrine also notes a more local name for the two gods, where they are combined as one under the name "Ugeto-gongen" (穿戸権現 lit. "avatar of the excavated door").

These two are likely the gods of this shrine because they are the chief gods of the Three Grand Shrines of Kumano.

Legend of the Cave, Ugeto-iwa

The shrine also passes down a seemingly legend, seemingly older than the shrine itself, that talks of how the shrine came to be.

Long ago, the god known as Aso-daimyoujin (阿蘇大明神 lit. "Great shining god of Aso"), credited in other legends as the creator and god of the volcanic Mount Aso (阿蘇山), really enjoyed archery.

He would shoot his arrow from the top of Mount Aso and have his retainer, Kihachi-boshi (鬼八法師), retrieve the arrows for him.

One time, finding his task extremely annoying, he picked up one of the arrows in the gap between his toes and threw it at his master out of frustration.

Enraged by Kihashi's actions, Aso-daimyoujin took off in a mad chase after him. Kihashi wanted to escape by climbing over the Somma volcano, but his way was blocked by Mount Tsukigata, the very mountain the shrine is found on.

This is when Kihashi kicked open a hole in the mountain, going through it and continuing his escape from his enraged master. This is how Ugeto-iwa came to be.

Ah, and remember that curious boulder that I came across on the way up to the shrine? That's what remains of the chunk of rock Kihashi kicked out!

The cave and the legend is said to represent "being able to achieve one's goals, no matter the difficulty". This thus lends itself to people saying that it grants blessing of success, victory and passing exams.

As a side note, taking other shrine records and legends into account, Kihashi is involved in many more antics.

He would fart 8 times during his escape, giving a location its name; kick open yet another mountain in his escape, and finally even become a vengeful spirit that causes frost to constantly fall once he was finally caught and executed, amongst many other tales. A surprisingly busy character.

Mythological Origins of the Shrine

While we already went into what the realistic historical origins of the shrine would be, the shrine also gives its own, mythologised account of its origin.

The shrine's records relay a separate a legend where Aso-daimyoujin's ara-mitama, the wild and raging aspect of their soul, is known as Iwagimi-shougun (石君将軍 lit. "General Iwagimi").

Iwagami apparently had a kabuto helmet known as the Hachou no Kabuto (八葉の兜 lit. "eight leaves helmet"), from within which emerged two gods, known collectively as Kumano-daimyoujin (熊野大明神 lit. "Great shining god of Kumano").

Of course, as already mentioned in the history section, the Kumano faith is what would bring Izanagi and Izanami to this shrine in the first place, so it only makes sense that these two are tied back to a locally important god like Aso-daimyoujin.

It is said that when people were about to build a shrine in honor of Kumano-daimyoujin. Two great birds came and took the sasaki branches meant as an offering to the god in their mouths.

The people gave chase, and followed the birds until they reached the eastern foot of this mountain, where they stopped where the cave is. And thus, they took this as a sign and built their shrine here instead, naming it the Kumano Ugeto Shrine (熊野穿戸神社).

Third god of the shrine

A much more minor note, while all sources online list only Izanagi and Izanami as the shrine's gods, a poster I found there adds a third god, Iwagimi-daishougun (石君大将軍 lit. "Greal general Iwagimi").

This is of course not too surprising, as Iwagimi is basically what brought forth Kumano-daimyoujin in the first place. (Which curiously kind of makes him the parent god of the parent gods, funnily enough.)

Ending

And that, concludes my little dive into the Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine!

If there's one final note to make, is that I totally recommend looking up pictures of the shrine. Its shrine road is especially famous, with many amazing pictures that really give an ethereal vibe.

Oh also, I don't know if any of y'all are into early 2000s shoujo manga (which is extremely specific now that I type it out lol), but Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light, by the same author as the famous Natsume's Book of Friends, was actually set at this shrine! So that's a fun fact~.

Anywho, that's really all I have now, for real this time. As usual, I hope you enjoyed, even if it's not quite what I usually do~! :)

[animemakeblog]

“Jashin-chan Dropkick” The Gets Special Episode

The Jashin-chan Dropkick (Dropkick on my Devil!) anime series' official website announced a special episode. The episode, which has the working title Seikimatsu-hen (Apocalypse Arc), is being made by the animation studio Makaria and will make its television debut on BS NTV this winter. In cooperation with the Kumamoto Prefecture's Takamori town, this episode is being produced.

[rndyounghowze]

Review 532: Tsugaru Lacquer Girl

Written By:

Kensaku Kojima, Miyuki Takamori, Keiko Tsuruoka

Directed By:

Keiko Tsuruoka

Presented By: Japan Society

@jsfilmnyc tinyurl.com/JS-Family-Flux-Tix

Ricky’s grandfather used to pour concrete. There wasn’t a driveway in their small town or a sidewalk at their university that didn’t have his fingerprints on it. He had intense pride in his work and he never left a job without making sure that it was perfect. It was that same look of serenity when he was doing a job that Ricky and Dana saw in the main characters of this film. The serenity of a job that brings you joy and connects you to a community.

Keiko Tsuruoka

This is a film that had a deep respect for the craft that it was showing, Tsugaru lacquer work. You could tell that Tsuruoka had taken the time to get to know every step in the process. She also wasn’t afraid to let the imagery take center stage. There are several sequences where we are watching the characters work without dialogue. Yet we can still feel the story through how they use a brush, how they watch each other work, or how tired they look when they finish a piece. The camera doesn’t skimp on these details just as they wouldn’t skimp on their craft.

We love that this is a love story between an artisan and her craft. The piano is a perfect expression of this love story. This is the instrument that her mother never let her learn to play and the art form that her father never thought that she would be able to master. The piano becomes an intersection of passion and her history. It’s her statement to the world that she will live her life by her own rules.

This is a film that relies heavily on location. The cramped environment of the workshop with her Dad Seishiro or the widespread yet desolate nature of the neighborhood. Each place feels closed off and Miyako feels like a visitor in her hometown. Sadly very many of us could say the same. We latch onto Miyako’s story because we all hope to one day find something that will fulfill us as much as her art did for her. All of us crave acceptance, expression, and a sense of belonging. Miyako’s story reminds us that sometimes we have to listen to that inner voice that tells us to keep trying even when the world doesn’t understand.

[houseofreflectingshadows]

the silver grain sparkle

of glistening marigolds

carved in ancient ash wood

adorning a shrine

of spiritual peace

~Storm©RMW

--- In the town of Takamori-machi, in the Kumamoto Prefecture of Japan, lies a forest shrine known as Kamishikimikumano.

[itsmarjudgelove]

Takamori (高森町, Takamori-machi) is a town located in Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. It's at the foot of Mount Aso, located southwest of the huge caldera. It has been on the list of the most beautiful villages in Japan since 2013.

{Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine.

The spiritual depth of this shinto shrine is amazing - buried in the heart of a cypress forest, you must climb the 260 steps of a stone staircase to access it. A path dotted with a hundred toro, stone lanterns covered with green moss, helps create a mythical atmosphere, mysterious and calm, to help you find inner peace.

The area inspired the animated film Hotarubi no mori e (literally "Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light"). You will also find the Hogetoiwa/Ugetoiwa - a huge rock with a 10 meter-large natural hole, it's an iwakura, a sacred rock and believed to bring success as you approach its entry.

[aberfaeth]

tagged by @laiqualaurelote to post the last lines of my WIPs (all of yours look fantastic by the way) so here we go :3 i picked the ones i’ve worked on most recently! bonus points to guess the two niche video game fandoms lol

1.

The priest standing over Fred’s coffin is saying something about the resurrection and the life—Nancy tries to listen but doesn’t quite manage to sort the words into coherent sentiments, noise washed out by the low buzz at the back of her head. Her fingers twitch for a pen, for her k-frame, something to hold. Another hand, maybe. She settles for her own, squeezing so tight her knuckles ache.

2.

Malorn didn’t seem offended, though. He chuckled lightly. “If you’re looking for a Death Professor, I guess I’m your guy,” he said. 

“Oh!” I blinked, reevaluating my assessment of his age. If he was old enough to be a professor— “Are you, like, a vampire?” 

You know, how you talk to hot people.

3.

Vickie’s sitting on the porch when the earthquake hits.

There’s no lead-up, no tremors, nothing in the forecast that would suggest the town of Hawkins is about to be ripped apart. No moment of watching the glassware shake on the shelves and wondering if they’d actually tip over, how fast she’d have to dive to catch them. The only warning she gets is the whisper of a breeze, colder than physics should allow this late in April, wind like a dozen tiny spider-legs across the back of her neck. And then the ground beneath them crumbles.

4.

Dustin turns to Will, looking for all the world like someone who’s just been told that they’ve stopped making Indiana Jones movies. “But what if they sell out?”

And there’s something about his crushed expression that makes Steve’s heart do all kinds of unsanctioned gymnastics. Suddenly, Steve’s thinking about the other times Dustin has worn that kind of sadness, had to bare his teeth, set his shoulders, and carry it. Not just the people they’ve lost, the things they’ve seen, but—mundane stuff. Missing out on days at the arcade to save the world. And when Steve thinks about that, it’s like this age old chasm of a wound opens in his chest, and he just wants to give Dustin and Will and the other kids every good thing he possibly can.

Which is probably what Dustin wanted to happen. The little shit. 

5.

I have spent too long alone, her voice echoes. And now loneliness is all I can look forward to, thanks to you. His research, his self-importance, his blindness, his fault. Fane grasps weakly at the cold, thin fabric of Aetera’s coat, and notes, with a sort of detached air, that his hands are trembling. Breath he doesn’t need shoots in through his mouth, disperses frigid and wet around the inside of his chest. He should have been better. He should have been smarter, he should have known, he should have let Aetera put him down for the horrors he put her through—

6.

There’s a noise that might be “come in” and might be a growl, which Markus takes as the okay to inch the door open and peek his head inside. Maggie is lying on her bed, one leg propped up against the wall. “Hi, Markus,” she says, without glancing away from her phone.

7.

Norman Takamori wakes into consciousness with the violent, thrashing gasp of someone breaking the surface of water after drowning for rigons. 

i tag @grasslandgirl @swissarmywife @boasamishipper @steveharrington @waveridden @strangetorpedos @cauldronoflove and anyone else who wants to !!!

[nihonutsukushi]

Takamori Town - Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan

[bonguri]

20220723 Fudoutaki 3 by Bong Grit いい湿り具合の岩肌。 @Fudodtaki waterfall, Takamori town, Shimo-Ina district, Nagano pref. （長野県下伊那郡高森町 不動滝） https://flic.kr/p/2nBQt54

[ainosenshifansub]

Un plein d’infos sur la prochaine saison “Precure” après “Tropical-Rouge! Precure”

Le site officiel s’est mis à jour, il est temps d’en apprendre plus sur nos chères Precure qui arrivent en ce début 2022!

Si vous voulez en savoir plus avant le début de la saison, c’est après il suffit de cliquer!

Cette nouvelle saison qui a pour thème la nourriture, la gratitude et le partage va s’appeler “Delicious Party ♥ Precure”! Elle commence le 6 Février 2022!

Le Staff:

Directeur - Fukasawa Toshinori (”Precure Miracle Leap”) Écriture -  Hirabayashi Sawako (5 épisodes de “HealinGood Precure”) CharaDesign - Yufu Kyoko (Quelques Key Animations dans “Huggto! Precure” et “HealinGood Precure”) Musiques - Terada Shiho (Les musiques depuis “HealinGood Precure”)

OP: “Cheers! Delicious Party♡Precure” chanté par Machico

ED: “ DELICIOUS HAPPY DAYS♪ “ chanté par Yoshitake Chihaya

L’histoire:

Le CooKingdom est un délicieux et joyeux royaume régît par la cuisine. Mais un jour, le grand Livre des Recettes se fait voler par les cambrioleurs du Bundoru Gang voulant monopoliser les recettes du monde entier! Et on dirait bien que leur prochaine cible sont les Fées des Recettes, les Recippis!!

A la recherche du grand Livre des Recettes à Oishiina Town, 3 Fées Energy vont rencontrer 3 jeunes filles et vont faire d’elles des Precure! Ces jeunes filles maintenant transformées, elle vont aider à récupérer le grand Livre des Recettes, protéger les sourires de tout le monde et vaincre le Bundoru Gang!

Les personnages:

Nos trois nouvelles héroïnes non-transformées.

Et maintenant, de gauche à droite...

Nagomi Yui - Cure Precious (Doublée par Hishikawa Hana)

Yui est une jeune collégienne de 2ème année détendue, franche et énergique. Sa famille, dont elle est l’unique enfant, tient un restaurant. Elle a de l’énergie à revendre mais son ventre crie très vite famine. Ses catchphrases: "DeliciouSmile~!" et "J’ai faim~!". Elle adore les légumes frais et est très attachée à la devise de sa grand-mère “La nourriture donne le sourire.” Grâce à Kome-Kome, elle se transforme en Cure Precious en se présentant ainsi: Débordante d’énergie grâce à du riz bien chaud! Cure Precious! (Atsuatsu Gohan de, Minagiru Pawaa! Cure Precious!)

Kome-Kome (Doublée par Takamori Natsumi)

Kome-Kome, une petite renarde blanche, est la Fée Energy du Riz. Elle est plus jeune, innocente et énergique que les deux autres. Lorsque Yui se transforme, Kome-Kome prend une forme d’onigiri. Elle termine ses phrases par "~kome".

Hanamichi Ran - Cure Yum-Yum (Doublée par Iguchi Yuuka)

Ran est une mignonne petite collégienne de deuxième année qui adore parler. Sa famille tient un restaurant de ramen. Elle a une petite sœur et un petite frère. Elle s’intéresse beaucoup à tout ce qui touche à la nourriture. Lorsque quelque chose l’intéresse, elle ne s’arrête plus de parler. Elle poste plein de choses sur le riz en secret sur “CureSta”. Grâce à Mem-Mem, elle se transforme en Cure Yum-Yum en se présentant ainsi: La brillante Noodle Emotion! Cure Yum-Yum! (Kirameku Noodle Emotion! Cure Yum-Yum!)

Mem-Mem (Doublé par Tomoe Hanba)

Mem-Mem, un petit dragon mâle, est la Fée Energy des Nouilles. Âgé d'à-peu-près 4-5 en âge humain, il est très calme et ne s’énerve jamais. Il est impressionné par la passion dont fait preuve Ran. Lorsque que Ran se transforme, il prend la forme d’un bol de ramen. Il termine ses phrases par "~men".

Fuwa Kokone - Cure Spicy (Doublée par Shimizu Risa)

Kokone est une très élégante et belle collégienne de 2ème année qui adore le maquillage et les choses mignonnes. Sa famille, dont elle est l’unique enfant, tient un restaurant chic. Elle est surnommée La Fleur de Takamine. Elle préfère rester seule et ne parle pas beaucoup. Ses pains préférés sont le Pain au Curry et un pain en forme de coeur. Grâce à Pam-Pam, elle se transforme en Cure Spicy en se présentant ainsi: Un sandwich moelleux pour un cœur plein d'épices! Cure Spicy! (Fuwafuwa Sando de Kokoro ni Supaisu! Cure Spicy!)

Pam-Pam (Doublée par Hioka Natsumi)

Pam-Pam, une petite chienne, est la Fée Energy du Pain. Elle a 4-5 ans en années humaines et adore être complimentée. Elle adore Kokone. Lorsque que Kokone se transforme, elle prend la forme d’un sandwich. Elle termine ses phrases par "~pamu".

Rosemary (Doublé par Maeno Tomoaki)

Rosemary arrive du CooKingdom à la recherche du grand Livre des Recettes. Il est très strict en matière de beauté et est calé en cosmétologie. Il est très émotif et pleure souvent.

Shinada Takumi (Doublé par Uchida Yuuma)

Takumi, un collégien de 3ème année, est l’ami d’enfance de Yui. Il est très franc et direct mais prend soin des autres. Sa famille tient une maison d’hôte.

Gentle (Doublée par Kayano Ai)

Une cambrioleuse du Bundoru Gang. Tous les membres étant très mystérieux, on ne sait que peu de choses à son sujet.

(Sûrement la 4ème Precure de mi-saison, mais je dis rien...)

Outils de transformations, attaques, etc...:

On ne sait pas grand choses, mais d’après ce que l’on peut voir sur les différentes images et celle-ci... Elles ont des sortes de verres à pied et des outils qui font très pistolets XD Puis il va y avoir une nouvelles histoire de fées, etc... Ce sera la surprise pour plus tard.

___

C’est tout, j’espère n’avoir rien oublié! Comme d’habitude certaines choses sont susceptibles de changer avec le 1er épisode, mais au moins ça permet d’avoir une bonne base!

On termine avec un petit Trailer pour l’épisode 01:

[royal-hair]

Empress Masako of Japan making an online visits to elementary and junior high schools in Takamori Town, Kumamoto and Takeshima, Mishima Village, Kagoshima - 12.05.21

[prancing-uboot]

Satsuma Dads Timeline

You know how Golden Kamuy is an awesome manga full of amazing (and super-hot) characters and a great main storyline? So what do I do with it? Naturally I obsess over those two old gremlins: Koito Heiji and Hanazawa Koujirou the fathers of Second Lieutenant Koito and Ogata.

It's probably the most niche pairing ever, and I thought it was just me fixating on that one panel where Tsurumi mentioned they were close friends from Satsuma. But the more I read about the history of Satsuma and the times they lived in, the more I’m becoming convinced that there’s so much of their story written between the lines and that their relationship and tumultuous past is what actually caused and keeps together most of the GK plot. But nobody else seems to see it!

So what do I do with that? I spent my nights in front of my crazywall of historical research, trying to recreate an entire universe of events 50-years before the gold plot starts, just to be able to present to you:

The Satsuma Dads Timeline 

or

Why you Should Care for Heiji and Koujirou

~1850

Koujirou and Heiji* were born around 1850** in Kagoshima.

Heiji might have been older then Koujirou, but not more then 5 years. They were both sons of high ranking samurai (noble bloodline), serving the Shimazu clan.

* Most likely they went by other names in their youth and then changed them a bazillion times to make stuff confusing, but let's skip that.

** That would make them around the same age as Tougou Heihachiro and Nogi Maresuke ** - the chief players in the Russo-Japanese war for the navy and army. Both share a lot of biographical motives with Koujirou and Heiji and Noda might have modeled them a bit after them so I'll include the parallels where possible. I'm not sure Nogi even exists in the GK universe or was he replaced by Koujirou completely. Tougou was recently confirmed to exist. He was also a Kagoshima-boy, and grew up in the same circles so it's impossible that he and Heiji didn't know each other from childhood. 

1856-65

Koujirou and Heiji train in the same gochu in Kajiya-cho*. Gochu was a Satsuma-specific education system, relying on small neighborhood study groups in which the older samurai spent a part of their time teaching the younger everything they knew. Starting from penmanship and Confucian doctrines and ending with swordsmanship, and the unstoppable Jigen-ryu.

Teenage Heiji develops a Koito-crush*. on Saigo Takamori (20 years his senior) and follows him around like a lost puppy. Koujirou makes fun of him, but in reality he feels a bit jealous.

* Kajya-cho was a Kagoshima district known now as "Home town of Revitalization" as most of the influential Satsuma leaders of the Meiji Revolution came from there. That also meant that they directly taught the younger generations as part of the gochu. For example Tougou also came from that area. I'm not that sure Heiji and Koujirou were actually from Kajiya-cho, but it being 3km downhill from the Nanshu Cemetary would fit in nicely to the place where Tsurumi and Otonoshin first met so it's likely.

** Gochu was a completely male oriented environment, so homoerotic relations bloomed and were even encouraged (think ancient Greece), hence the term "Satsuma habit" was later used as the synonym of homosexuality in Japan. But for them then it was just a natural thing they sometimes did, and not really an orientation. Koito Otonoshin crushing on Tsurumi might be a bit old fashioned but it's just a Satsuma thing, so of course his dad is cool with that.

1866-67

Both go to Kyoto to serve Hisamitsu Shimazu and there they experience the tension of the Bakumatsu period first hand. They soak up the patriotic moods of the Sonno-Joi fraction, they hear of the the assassinations by the Shinsengumi, they feel a revolution brewing. Being a hot-headed youth in those times made keeping out of trouble very difficult.

1868-69

The Boshin War breaks out. Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa fight to abolish the Tokugawa shogunate. Heiji and Koujirou join up and dispite their young age are given officer commissions*. Coming from a long line of Satsuma’s military commanders it is what they were raised up to do. This war however is nothing like the stories they grew up on. Instead of swords it relies more on modern weapons guns and artillery. What was supposed to be a short battle with the Shogun's forces, turns into a lengthy nationwide campaign of crashing shogunate loyalists long after the Shogun himself resigned. Koujiro and Heiji fight side by side and survive all the way to see the end of it in Hakodate. 

* Only the oficers wore the super cool Satsuma black koguma wigs and I definitely do need fanart of that.

1870

Heiji and Koujiro come out of the war victorious. Most of the positions in the new government are taken by Satsuma and Choshu men, so practically any career path is open to them. Koujiro stays with the Imperial Guard while Heiji joins the Imperial Naval Academy in Tsukiji, Tokyo. They compete for the most ridiculous facial hair* and spend their off nights “drinking green liqueurs under red lanterns”

Ogata's grandfather fought** on the other side for the Mito clan (the last shogun was from the Mito-Tokugawa branch). After the defeat his family falls into poverty. They sell their daughter to an okiya because they cannot support her ***.

* The Haitourei edict from 1871 allowed samurai to cut of their chonmage and encouraged them to experiment with western haircuts.

** I’m guessing he was active in the Boshin by the fact that he had an old gun lying around.

*** This "Ogata's mom comes from a fallen samurai family" theory has been going around but I'm not super sure about the time frame here. Usually maiko get promoted to geisha when they're 20-21. That means to already be a geisha when she gave birth to Hyakunosuke she must have been at least 12 when she was sold. That's quite late for a geisha to start her education. Or I might be wrong about Hyakunosuke's birth date, but I'd really like it to be 1879, so I'm in a pickle here.

1873

Heiji finally finds the guts to propose to Yuki, his Kagoshima sweetheart. They marry and a son is born to them - Heinojou *.

Koujirou's family chooses a wife for him **. She's from a good family, likely Choshu to have some useful connections. Heiji comes to their wedding in his fancy navy uniform to congratulate them and say goodbye. He'll be going to study abroad in the France ***. Koujirou feels like it's his funeral wake.

* Heinojou's birthdate is the first solid date we have for them from the canon, so I'm basing the whole “born in the 1850s” on the fact that the expected age of a man to marry was their early 20s.

** Arranged marriage was the most commonplace in Japan then. The families picked the brides because they were most likely to spend more time with her then the husband, taking care of the house and such. 

*** In 1871 Tougou went to study abroad with 14 other cadets to Greenwich Naval Collage and that would fit so nicely. The problem is that they went 1871-1878 and Heinojou was born in 1873 *shakes fist*. There were also individual exchange programs though and since in canon Heiji is mentioned to have some french friends I figured he was sent to France.

~1876

Koujirou is stationed in Tokyo, while his wife stays in Kagoshima, taking care of the family home. He begins an affair* with Tome**, a geisha from Asaskusa. With Heiji gone she's the only person he can open his heart to.

After abolisment of the clan system and privileges of the samurai, the dissatisfied Satsuma samurai quit the Imperial Guard en-masse and go back to Kagoshima to gather around Saigo Takamori and brew a rebelion. Koujiro - by then a major - is faced with a choice: to go back with his childhood friends, or to stay loyal to the government. He chooses his career.  

* I'm guessing he must have been married already when the thing started, because marrying a geisha wasn't that unheard of and wouldn't really cause a scandal or hinder his career. All three of the Meiji prime ministers Hirobumi Ito, Taro Katsura and Yamagata Aritomo ended up marrying geisha. So Tome being a geisha was not a problem - Koujiro already having a wife was.

** Tome is a random name that Ogata used in his Sugimoto self insert fic. I love the headcanon that it's his mom's name. Because of course he makes everything personal.

1877

In January the Seinan War breaks out. Koujirou fights against his clansmen and his former war comrades *. By September most of them are dead. He is there at Shiroyama where Saigo makes his last stand. Heiji is never going to forgive him that.

When he comes back to Tokyo, Tome doesn't ask, she understands and prepares him angler nabe while he sulks.

* Koujirou's situation is by no means an unusual one. Many of the Satsuma samurai landed lucrative jobs under the new administration and didn't share the dissatisfaction of their disenfranchised clansmen. Even Saigo's own younger brother Judo stayed as a lieutenant-general in the Imperial Guard.

1878

In May, Okubou Toshimichi, the lord of home affairs, who took personal command of surpressing  Saigo's rebelion is assasinated, branded in Satsuma as traitor.

Koujiro is not welcome in Kagoshima anymore*. His wife moves to Tokyo to avoid harassment. Keeping his affair with Tome is becoming more difficult. Especially when he learns that Tome is pregnant **

In December Heiji comes back to pick up the pieces.

* Both Okubo and Saigo Judo moved their families to Tokyo because of this situation, so I'm guessing that was a thing. They received some backlash from their compatriots but eventually things normalized (for Judo at least, because Okubo was, you know, slashed up dead in an alley). By 1898 Saigo was acknowledged by the government as a tragic hero and bygones were bygones. Yet Heiji still talks with the Satsuma dialect, while Koujiro doesn’t even have a trace of it left.I wonder if he still used it when talking to Heiji.

** Geisha were not supposed to have sex with their patrons. The fact that she chose to give birth to Koujirou's son tells that she dared to hope that he'll at least acknowledge him.

1879

In January Hyakunosuke is born*

* Ogata's birthdate is a shot in the dark. He could be anywhere between 1878 and 1883. I just really like the idea that he was born right into the middle of such a chaos.

EDIT: GoldenKamuyHunting pointed out that Ogata had to be born after 1881, since Noda placed him as Older than Usami. This ruins the timeline a bit, and I’ll have to think of the way to reorder it to fit. For now, treat the 1879 as canon-defying :(

~1881

After pressure from his parents and from Heiji, Koujirou comes clean and learns to make his official family work. Koujirou's legitimate son, Yuusaku is born*. 

From now on he effectively ghosts Tome. Her mental health** begins to waver. Tome quits being a geisha and moves back to her parents in Ibaraki ***. 

* Also a shot in the dark. This would make him 23 when he died and 2 years younger than Ogata.

** Before the 20th century the white makeup geisha wore was made out of lead, making them more likely to develop lead poisoning, the first symptom of which is the decline of intelectual ability. Fun fact: lead gets passed down in breastmilk in quantities super-harmful for the baby, so if we go with the theory "Tome went crazy because of lead poisoning" than that would explain so much about Ogata...

*** This is likely due to her health, not due to giving birth. She could have just sent Hyakunosuke to her parents and kept working. God knows how they made ends meet after that. Before they were be so poor that they had to sell their daughter. Now they were much older, she was sick and unable to work, and her child was another mouth to feed. Not to mention the cost geisha education was worse then US collage loans so she most likely had a large debt she barely started to repay. Was Koujiro at least decent enough to pay child-support? Oh god *realises* it was Heiji who was paying them, wasn’t it? *heart breaks*

1886

Heiji and Yuki's second son, Otonoshin is born, 13 years after the first. What's up with that, Heiji?

1887

Koujirou goes to Germany* to study military tactics.

Hyakunosuke (8) feeds his mother rat poison. Koujirou doesn't come to the funeral.

As a result Hyakunosuke is brought up by his grandparents alone. He likes his grandma. They might instill in him the same kind of dislike for the new government as in the case of Kadokura. They definitely install a dislike for his deadbeat dad.

* Japan sent most of the promising officers abroad to soak up the knowledge how to run a modern nation. The army was mostly modeled after Germany (the Japanese were impressed by their recent victory against France) so it's the safest bet that Koujirou went to study there sometime in his life. In 1887-88 Nogi and Soroku Kawakami were sent to Germany. So it still depends if Nogi exists in GK universe and Koujirou just tagged along with them, or are they completely interchangeable.

1888

A new division is formed in Hokkaido. Tasked with guarding the north and developing the land.

1889

Heinojou (16) passes the Naval Academy entry exams with highest marks, determined to follow the footsteps of his father.

1894-95

The first Sino-Japanese war breaks out.

Heiji and Heinojou take part in the Battle of Yalu River. Heinojou is stationed on the flagship Matsushima under admiral Ito Sukeyuki. Matsushima gets badly damaged. 57 men die (including three officers) and 54 more are wounded.

Heiji silently watches his son burning from his ship. Comes back a wreck of a man. Gets awarded a title of Baron under the kazoku system *.

No clue what Koujirou could have been doing then. It’s likely that he was part of the army that conquered Port Arthur (back than still called Lushunkou) the first time around in only 3 days **.

* I need to double-check that with the raws since I'm not sure Tsurumi calling him "lord" is meant to imply he had a noble title, or if it's just a honorific. Many of admirals had titles so it would be highly likely someone with a lineage and a service record like Heiji also got one.

** this experiance would make him a pefect choice for later leading the operation in 1904 so this would make a lot of sense, but it would also be a pretty heavy take, since that would mean he was present during the Port Arthur masacre. And as a senior officer too, so it’s hard to find any excuses for him if that was the case. Did witnessing the atrocities there influence his later opposition to the Japanese expansion into Manchuria? Was his instruction for Yuusaku not to kill anyone motivated by trying to protect his son from sharing his guilt?

1895

Tsurumi comes back from the war and joins the 7th (actually more like he’s demoted out of the 2nd). By then Koujirou is the head of the division *

* I’m guessing Tsurumi had to have enough time to work on him, to be able to learn all about the Koito family troubles and come up with the plan how to use them. Did he get into Koujirou’s confidence? Or was he just reading his private letters?

1900

Heiji stays in Kagoshima and spoils/neglects his second son. Tsurumi "accidentally" meets Otonoshin and they visit Saigo's and Heinojou's graves.

Later that year the whole Koito family moves to Hakodate and Heiji takes control of the Ominato torpedo division *.

* The Ikazuki was a new class of light destroyers specifically made not to repeat the tragedy of too large and too slow Matsushima. No wonder Heiji was willing to move across the country for that.There were 6 of them made in total. Cool factoid: One of those destroyers sunk after a crash with a civilian steamship off the coast of Hokkaido in 1909.

1902

Ogata (24) joins the army and specifically volunteers for the 7th division planning god-knows-what. By conscription he would have landed in the 2nd (Kantou region). 

Koujirou doesn't acknowledge him. Tsurumi does.

The Great Hakodate kidnapping takes place. Koujiro sends his best intelligence officer from Tsukisappu to help his friend and keep things discreet. Afterwards Heiji learns to appreciate the son he has left.

Later that year Otonoshin passes the exam to join the Army acedemy.

Fresh out of the academy Yuusaku (21) joins the 7th division. His father, plagued with guilt and bad life choices instructs him not to kill people and not to sleep around.

Yuusaku meets Hyakunosuke. Hyakunosuke tries to get him to kill people and sleep around.

1904-05

The Russo-Japanese war.

In February the war starts with Japan launching night torpedo attacks on the Russian fleet stationed inside Port Arthur. Heiji leads the third destroyer squadron aboard the Sazanami*. They continue the attacks over the next months trying to impose a blockade. After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the victorious Japanese Combined Fleet effectively traps the remaining Russian warships inside Port Arthur. The Russians can't get out, the Japanese can't get in. Heiji can only wait and watch as the Japanese Army struggles to capture Port Arthur by land.

Koujirou leaves the 7th division behind when he is promoted to a member of staff of General Nogi’s 3rd Army. They land in Incheon in April and reach Port Arthur in August to start the siege. It is a drawn out blood bath. After wasting tons of lives in pointless assaults, the Japanese realize quite late that the key to victory lies in capturing the 203 Hill overlooking the harbor. Koujirou is made chief of staff for this operation.

In October they get the news that the Russian Baltic Fleet has left Tallinn and is on its way to reinforce the besieged Pacific Fleet. The race starts. If Koujirou fails to capture the hill before the Baltic Fleet arrives, the Japanese Fleet will be annihilated, and Heiji along with it.

In November the 7th division arrives in Port Arthur. They don’t get special treatment from their former commander and they’re sent head first to the 203 Hill. They capture it on 5th December, only after the artillery stopped caring weather they hit their own or not**. From their new position they destroy the whole Pacific fleet.

The death toll is 80 000 soldiers. More than half of the 7th is gone. Among the fallen are second lieutenants Hanazawa Yuusaku and Nogi Yasusuke - general Nogi's only remaining son (the first one died earlier in the same war).***

Hyakunosuke thinks that the losses wouldn't have to be this high if they just had more snipers like him. But nobody listened.

*  All of the Ikazuki-class destroyers were quite active during the war. I placed Heiji on the Sazanami just because there’s the most info about what she did and when.

** The winning strategy was implemented by Kodama Gentarou. He was sent to Port Arthur with the authority to replace Nogi. He had enough guts to sacrifice soldiers falling to friendly fire in one coordinated assault instead of bleeding them out by continuous suicidal frontal assaults. He didn't officially replace Nogi though, and he let him take the credit for the victory, because they were friends. It's a really cool story.

*** Interesingly enough Yasusuke, was also shot in the back of his head. His father when he saw his body asked only “Was it after he had completed his task, or was it before?”

1905

The 7th move on to Mukden. Koujirou and Nogi along with them. 

In May the Baltic Fleet arrives. Without Port Arthur, they try to get to Vladivostok to resupply. Tougou's fleet intercepts them in the Tsushima strait and despite their smaller number, crushes them decisively. Heiji's destroyer Sazanami, captures the destroyer Buyini with the wounded admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky **. 

In September the Treaty of Portsmouth is signed. The Trans-Manchurian Railway gets handed off to the Japanese. Later Koujirou strongly opposes the plan to develop it ***.

** Heiji's torpedo division was also responsible to delivering the finishing blow to the flagship Knyaz Suarov. Later this was written on Knyaz Suarov's last moments "While she had a gun above water she fired, and not a man survived her of all that crew, to whose stubborn gallantry no words can do justice. If there is immortality in naval memory it is hers and theirs". Gives me the chills.

*** Did he see that it would lead to more war? Mantetsu was the reason behind the Manchurian Incident in 1931 and later for the breakout of the second Sino-Japanese war, where a really ugly face of Japanese imperialism saw the light of day. So, was Koujirou a good guy all along? This I hope will be explained in the manga.

1906

In January Nogi returns to give a victory report to the Emperor *.

Koujirou "commits seppuku" by his son's hand. "Writes" a sappy goodbye letter to Heiji (probably also by Ogata's hand).

Heiji gets seduced by his son's dashing young commander and does some stupid-treasonous things for him, convinced that Central Command was to blame for pushing Koujirou to suicide.

In November Mantetsu is established.

* Nogi breaks down while making the report and asks to be allowed to commit seppuku for allowing such high casualties. The Emperor forbids him. Nogi waits 7 years until the Emperor dies and commits seppuku on the day of his funeral.

Disclaimers

I would say half of this consists of what already is in GK canon (even if it’s written between the lines) or history. The other half are my free guesses for what I personally think would make a better story ;)

I tried and tried to do thorough research, but in the end I’m just a humble fangirl, and not a historian, so if there’s something I got wrong, missed or misinterpreted please correct me - learning history is a never-ending story.

Sorry for linking directly to the scanlations. Support the manga by buying the volumes if you can.

This list will most likely be growing since I will eventually figure out what Koujirou did during the Sino-Japanese war, and I’m only starting digging in to the details of the Boshin War, so I’m sure I’ll expand upon that.

If anyone ever wants to use this information for a fic, please do. Copy it all if you want to. I don’t mind the slightest. I’ll love you to pieces for writing anything for them at all!

[chuck-clenney]

#tbt to eating Dengaku cuisine at Takamori Dengaku no Sato in Kumamoto. Dengaku is an ancient style of cooking and it is said that people in Takamori Town began cooking when villagers from the area who left on pilgrimages across the country around 250 years ago returned having eaten tofu dengaku in Kyoto and applied the same charcoal/miso style with the local specialty of taro (a root vegetable). They served us this set with 3 different styles of miso and it took about 30 minutes to slowly fully cook everything. Afterwards, we took a trip into the hills to Takamori's Senbonzakura 高森峠の千本桜, a hillside with over a thousand cherry blossom trees. #熊本 #高森町 #千本桜 #桜 #花見 #田楽 #味噌 #伝統 #料理 #美味しい #牛 #風景 #japan #japanesefood #food #kumamoto #takamori #dengaku #charcoal #grill #cherryblossom #flowers #tree #trees #delicious #deliciousfood #fish #tofu #crab (at 高森田楽の里) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPGTgCqlIz8/?utm_medium=tumblr

[primordialsoundmeditation]

In the town of Takamori in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, there is a forest shrine known as Kishigishi Kumano.

Ancient Forest

[redsamuraiii]

Kamishikimi Kumanoza Shrine, Kyushu 

The shrine is hidden in the dense forests surrounding the small town of Takamori in the Kumamoto Prefecture. As you climb the ancient stairs and approach the shrine you can feel the highly spiritual atomosphere of this sacred place.⁣