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rosenritterCutting it a little close this time in my goal of having a chapter a month! But even though a bunch of non-internet stress hit me earlier this month, I still made it!
So this was the first interlude in the story. There is at least one more. I say "at least" because although I have one that is planned and I know exactly where it's going in the broader context of the story (right smack after what is probably the biggest turning point), it's very possible that another one might sneak in elsewhere.
Noboribetsu and More Eldritch Location Claptrap
In this interlude, I got to use my experience living in northern Japan for a couple of years. The town Hannibal visits here, Noboribetsu, is a real place in southern Hokkaido. It's a very fun little city. I lived a few hours north, so I didn't go there as often as I would have liked. The Hell Festival is also real and although I didn't write about it in the story, it features this big robotic float featuring Enma Daioh, the King of Hell, that drives along the main road of the onsen town and stops to yell and shake his arms along the way. Very much my aesthetic.
Jigokudani is also a real place! Obviously it's not a creepy, esoteric magic zone where the human soul can't tread, but it still kind of feels like it while you're there. Here is a website with some great pictures of the area. You can really see the very dramatic demarcation between the lush foliage and the volcanic land.
The creature that the Witches catch within Jigokudani is a mountain-type nekomata. Because most people can't set foot in areas like Jigokudani or Hell Valley, I like to think that all sorts of weird mythical creatures lurk about in them. But that's just me indulging my brand again.
On Specific Daemons/Characters
Shimamura Kiyoko/Daisuke - The kanji of her name would be 島村 清子. With these kanji, Shimamura is a surname that means "island village" and Kiyoko means "pure child". Her pug daemon Daisuke (大輔) has a common male Japanese name that would translate to "big help".
Shimamura Haruka/Shiramba - As shown by her craft work, Haruka is of Ainu descent. Her daemon's name comes from one of the Ainu kamuy (gods) whose dominion covers wood and other forms of plantlife. His shape is that of an Akita dog. Haruka as a name can have a a TON of different kanji associated with it with a bunch of different meanings, but for her it's 春香, which would mean "spring fragrance". Kiyoko and Haruka's young daughter, Mika, would use 美香 as the kanji for her name, which in this instance means "beautiful fragrance".
Murasaki/Fujiwara - It has always, ALWAYS bothered me that Lady Murasaki in Hannibal Rising seems to just have her name plucked from Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji. So to reconcile that for myself, I decided that as a very long-lived Witch, this is not her real name and she's just adopted the name of the famous author for herself. This extends to her green pheasant daemon Fujiwara, who is named for what is theorized to be Murasaki Shikibu's birth surname.
Chiyoh/Fukuda - Now that there was a theme in place of Murasaki stealing not just Witch babies but the names of famous Japanese authors, it gave me carte blanche to connect Chiyoh's name with that of the famous haiku poet Kaga no Chiyo. As a result, her daemon's name also comes from that poet's surname.
So this was the first interlude in the story. There is at least one more. I say "at least" because although I have one that is planned and I know exactly where it's going in the broader context of the story (right smack after what is probably the biggest turning point), it's very possible that another one might sneak in elsewhere.
Noboribetsu and More Eldritch Location Claptrap
In this interlude, I got to use my experience living in northern Japan for a couple of years. The town Hannibal visits here, Noboribetsu, is a real place in southern Hokkaido. It's a very fun little city. I lived a few hours north, so I didn't go there as often as I would have liked. The Hell Festival is also real and although I didn't write about it in the story, it features this big robotic float featuring Enma Daioh, the King of Hell, that drives along the main road of the onsen town and stops to yell and shake his arms along the way. Very much my aesthetic.
Jigokudani is also a real place! Obviously it's not a creepy, esoteric magic zone where the human soul can't tread, but it still kind of feels like it while you're there. Here is a website with some great pictures of the area. You can really see the very dramatic demarcation between the lush foliage and the volcanic land.
The creature that the Witches catch within Jigokudani is a mountain-type nekomata. Because most people can't set foot in areas like Jigokudani or Hell Valley, I like to think that all sorts of weird mythical creatures lurk about in them. But that's just me indulging my brand again.
On Specific Daemons/Characters
Shimamura Kiyoko/Daisuke - The kanji of her name would be 島村 清子. With these kanji, Shimamura is a surname that means "island village" and Kiyoko means "pure child". Her pug daemon Daisuke (大輔) has a common male Japanese name that would translate to "big help".
Shimamura Haruka/Shiramba - As shown by her craft work, Haruka is of Ainu descent. Her daemon's name comes from one of the Ainu kamuy (gods) whose dominion covers wood and other forms of plantlife. His shape is that of an Akita dog. Haruka as a name can have a a TON of different kanji associated with it with a bunch of different meanings, but for her it's 春香, which would mean "spring fragrance". Kiyoko and Haruka's young daughter, Mika, would use 美香 as the kanji for her name, which in this instance means "beautiful fragrance".
Murasaki/Fujiwara - It has always, ALWAYS bothered me that Lady Murasaki in Hannibal Rising seems to just have her name plucked from Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji. So to reconcile that for myself, I decided that as a very long-lived Witch, this is not her real name and she's just adopted the name of the famous author for herself. This extends to her green pheasant daemon Fujiwara, who is named for what is theorized to be Murasaki Shikibu's birth surname.
Chiyoh/Fukuda - Now that there was a theme in place of Murasaki stealing not just Witch babies but the names of famous Japanese authors, it gave me carte blanche to connect Chiyoh's name with that of the famous haiku poet Kaga no Chiyo. As a result, her daemon's name also comes from that poet's surname.
