(If you haven't yet, make sure to read the intro.)
Hakuro, part 1: All the flowers in the garden are autumn-blooming. In particular, bush clover, valerian, and kudzu are some of the "seven flowers of autumn"; kudzu, again, is also a symbol of kitsune.
A "deer-scarer" fountain (shishi-odoshi in Japanese) is a clever little thing common in Japanese gardens; it's basically a tube of hollow bamboo, with one closed end, on a hinge. As water fills the tube the center of gravity changes and the tube tips over, dumping the water out, and the bamboo flips back to its normal position. When it does this, it hits a rock or another bit of bamboo, making a very pleasant "thunk". You can see one in action here. By changing the length and size of the tube, you can alter its frequency and tone.
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| Bamboo shishi-odoshi |
Hakuro, part 2: Horses were not used much for long-distance travel in ancient Japan (Riding horses were primarily restricted to the samurai class, and roads were generally not set up for horse travel), but that doesn't mean that people didn't ride them! Samurai often rode horses during battle and other times, and that included female samurai. During the Edo period, this was changing somewhat as women's role became more defined by wife- and motherhood, but it would not be unheard of for a female of a samurai family to know how to ride (and quite possibly fight, using the naginata polearm). The usual wear was a light kimono and umanori hakama, or pleated trousers split for riding.
Japanese cuisine includes some absolutely wonderful travel food. Our two protagonists are feasting on onigiri, rice shaped into balls, often with something inside such as plum or flaked salmon, and wrapped in toasted seaweed, and inarizushi, which is vinegared sushi rice balls wrapped in sweet fried tofu. This tofu, abura-age, is thought to be a favorite food of foxes, which is why the sushi using it is named after Inari, the kami of foxes. Abura-age is also added to noodle soup dishes like kitsune udon.
Autumn symbols in this chapter: chrysanthemums and bush clover are symbols of autumn, as are persimmons.
Krillin's village, by the way, is inspired pretty much entirely by Kusa Village from the PS2 game Ōkami (one of my all-time favorites—if you think there's lots of Japanese folklore in this story, this game is jam-packed with it!)
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| Kusa Village - Ōkami |
Hakuro, part 3: I have so many notes this time I think I’m going to have to save some of them for a future chapter. So sorry, you won’t get lessons on the proper application of makeup this time. Instead, I’m going to talk about Japanese etiquette.
You may already know that Japanese culture places a great deal on proper etiquette, from the right way to bow to someone to which words you chose to address them. There is a ton of subtlety involved, way more than I can possibly even understand, let alone address in a blog post. But in this chapter, I’ve tried to show a few things that indicate the social importance of Frieza’s visit. I most likely have gotten some things wrong, even in this blog, but I’ve done my best!
Because of Frieza’s position, the meal is presented in the formal kaiseki style, where each individual has their own tray of food rather than sharing a common table. There would be many different courses prepared in different manners, each one on its own separate dishware. Both the type of food and the dishes used would be selected with care to complement each other and the season, and highlight the beauty of the presentation. The diners would be seated on the floor in the proper seiza position; kneeling on the floor and sitting on the heels, with the tops of the feet facing downward. If you haven’t tried this, it’s…not super comfortable when you aren’t used to it.
Entering the room requires proper etiquette as well. Because everyone is seated, it would be rude to walk in as you would be forcing others to look up at you. Instead, the proper procedure is to kneel before opening the door, which would be sliding rather than on hinges. Bulma, being raised as a noblewoman, would open it in the most polite fashion—placing the fingers of the hand near where the door and wall meet on the doorframe, sliding it open a few inches, then switching to the other hand to complete the action. She would then move in a kneeling position (a difficult movement known as shikkō) until she was fully in the room, then repeat the motion in reverse to close the door.
One last clue about the status of Frieza’s visit can be found on his haori, or kimono jacket. On formal occasions, a family crest or kamon would be worn on the clothing. The more formal the event, the more prominent the crest. The fact that Frieza has chosen to wear a three-crested haori or mitsu mon, which is a moderately formal garment, shows that despite what he says this is not a simple spur-of-the-moment visit of a parent to his child.
Symbols this chapter: Samma, or Pacific saury, is a fish commonly served in autumn. The chrysanthemum in Bulma’s hair ornament and the cosmos on the mysterious box are two of the “seven autumn flowers”, and the crimson of Bulma’s kimono and brown of Jūhachigō’s both reflect the color of autumn leaves.
