September 02, 2008
Shadow of the Moon (notes)
Chapter 01 [1-1] The Catch-22 Youko finds herself in is not uncommon. High school regulations (kousoku) typically regulate the length of girl’s skirts, the length of boy’s hair, prohibit the wearing of jewelry and the coloring of hair. A student with hair that is not naturally black is often suspected of having dyed it, or is labeled a haafu (mixed race).
Chapter 02 [1-2] The difference between public and private high schools in Japan is approximate to the difference between state and private universities in the United States. There is no open enrollment in either case; students gain acceptance primarily based on entrance exam scores. Over a quarter of students in Japan attend private high schools.
Chapter 11 [2-3] Ono is describing a masugata, a simple defensive structure in Japanese castles that forced anyone entering the castle to turn at a right angle immediately upon passing through the gate. This prevented a headlong charge from breaking into the center of the courtyard, even if the outer gate was breached.
Chapter 12 [2-4] Mochi is a rice cake traditionally made by pounding steamed glutinous rice in a wooden mortar. Dried, it resembles hard paraffin; cooked it becomes a sticky, pasta-like starch.
Chapter 26 [4-2] The Setonaikai (Inland Sea) is bounded by Honshu (the main island), and Shikoku and Kyushu islands. Hiroshima, at the southern end of Honshu, is the largest port on the Setonaikai. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. The events that Matsuyama is talking about took place in July.
Japanese emperors are referred to posthumously by the name of their era or nengou. The era name of Emperor Hirohito’s reign (1926-1989) is Showa (“shining peace”), so he is now referred to as the Showa Emperor. The current reign of his son, Akihito, is called Heisei (“achieving peace”), though while living he is simply referred to as Tennou (“Emperor” or Tennou Heika (His Royal Majesty).
Japanese usually have no problem keeping track of the current nengo and the Gregorian year. But referring to a previous nengou can require a bit of calculation, so the Gregorian calendar is increasingly used for older dates. As 1926, the year of Hirohito’s enthronement, counted as Showa 1, subtracting 1925 from the current Gregorian year determines the Showa year. So 1945 –1925 = Showa 20.
Chapter 27 [4-3] The story of Urashima Taro is similar to that of Rip Van Winkle. One day while fishing Urashima Taro rescues a turtle. The turtle, it turns out, is related to the Dragon King. As a reward Urashima is taken to the king’s palace under the sea where he is welcomed by Princess Otohime and bestowed with every luxury a man can imagine. But eventually he grows homesick for his old life. As a going-away present, Otohime gives him a locket and tells him never to open it. When Urashima returns to his village, everything has changed. Although Urashima has been gone for only a few weeks, in the human world three hundred years have passed. Curious, he opens the locket. In a flash, he turns into a very old man, for in the locket had been stored all of his missing three hundred years.
Chapter 31 [4-7] Ono’s more creative expression is satori no youma, or a demon who forces you to realize things about yourself and then feeds off this knowledge while it destroys you.
Chapter 38 [5-4] Taishan or Mount Tai (the suffix shan functions the same in Chinese as san in Japanese). Taishan, also known as the Jade Emperor Peak, is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of China, which are also aligned along the cardinal directions. Except for the Mountain of Wormwood, the English transliterations are the same as Rakushun describes them here.
Yamato is specifically identified with the historical period beginning in the 3rd century and ending with the establishment of the Heian (Kyoto) government in the late 8th century.
The Kunlun Mountains in China run east to west along the northern edge of the Tibetan plateau. In Chinese mythology, the Kunlun Mountains are said to be a Taoist Shangri-La, and home to the Royal Mother of the West.
Han is also pronounced /kan/, as in kanji, or “Chinese character.” It was during the Han Dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD) that China emerged as a world empire equal to that of Rome, with a unified political, military, and economic infrastructure. The Han today constitutes the majority ethnic group within China, to the extent that “Han” is often used as a synonym for “Chinese.”
Chapter 39 [5-5] The characters used to write The Kingdom of En and The Imperial En are different. The En in the former means wild goose; in the latter it is the root of the verb, to prolong.
Chapter 42 [5-8] Although the prefecture (ken) in Japan can be analogized to the American state, prefectural governors in Japan enjoy far less autonomy than U.S. governors. The independence of the individual states, however, is checked by the limits imposed by the U.S. Constitution. That is, state law cannot supersede or annul federal law.
Chapter 47 [6-3] A fender is a section of canvas, wood, rope webbing or old tires lowered over the gunwales to protect a boat from getting damaged when it pulls alongside a pier or another ship. Also known as a “camel.”
Chapter 49 [6-5] “Under-girder” is a literal translation. These are shops built directly under the I-beam trestles that hold up elevated train tracks and roadways. They are common in cities where real estate is at a premium.
