I work as a yokai exterminator, ask me anything? Part 5

[729] Alright then, let’s get to the main topic Sensei wanted to talk about. That day, Sensei called me over to his place, and I was totally floored by the first thing he said. “I’ve decided to take on another apprentice.”

[733] My face froze in shock. Huh? What’s this all of a sudden? I asked Sensei, and he explained that the person he planned to take on was actually his younger brother’s child. Apparently, due to some complicated family circumstances, he ended up having to take them in as an apprentice. Way too sudden! You should’ve at least talked to me about it, I thought, but well, Sensei deciding things arbitrarily without notice was pretty common. Plus, the “complicated family circumstances” sounded like someone else’s family drama, so I decided not to pry too much. Then, Sensei said he was going back to his hometown in a few days to meet this kid, his first trip back in a long while. I was even more surprised, like, what? Sensei’s going back home?! But then I remembered, this time of year was around when Sensei’s father passed away. I couldn’t recall the exact date, but I remembered hearing his father died near the end of September. It was the year Sensei was taking his university entrance exams. Apparently, to avoid distracting him, they didn’t tell him his father was critically ill, or even that he had passed away, until after the acceptance results were announced. Feeling a bit nervous, I asked Sensei, “How about visiting your father’s grave while you’re there?”

• [734] Here comes the main topic!

[741] Hearing my words, Sensei seemed a little surprised, his eyes widening. Then he replied that he planned to stay for about four days, and maybe he’d go if he felt like it. While nodding along saying, “I see,” I was internally pumping my fist, thinking, “Yes! Four whole days of freedom!” and plotting how to enjoy it. Around that time, Sensei had ordered me to take the High School Equivalency Exam. I took it in the summer and failed, and he’d told me to study more. I was being forced to study for the November exam every day at his place. I’m not exactly the type who enjoys studying, so even a short break from the textbooks Sensei randomly bought at Book Off was a godsend. As if reading my mind, Sensei then said to me, “By the way, I booked your ticket too.”

[742] Not that it matters much, but I just got the news the other day that I passed the second attempt. Does this mean I’m no longer considered a middle school graduate?

• [743] Congratulations!
• [746] Congrats on passing!

[748] Thanks. It wasn’t that it was difficult, more like I just didn’t have nearly enough time. Sensei’s plan was for me to pass in August, take the Center Exam in October, and go to university. I told him I was already 22 and it was too late, but Sensei said, “If you go to university, you’ll regret wasting four years, but if you don’t go, you’ll regret wasting your entire life.” Guess it’s too late to apply for the Center Exam now though… Not that I think I’d get a decent score anyway.

• [749] Glad something good happened for you, 1! Congrats on passing!
• [759] >>742 Seriously, congratulations! Regarding what Sensei meant, I agree with >>757. Rather than just about employment, maybe he wanted you to experience something “normal” in a broader sense. Going to high school at 22 is tough, but university would be fine.

[767] Hey, I’ll write more after I cook some rice. Still got time to think about university.

• [769] 1 is here! Welcome back!

[772] A few days later, Sensei and I headed to his hometown. I won’t specify the place, but it was a small port town in a prefecture facing the sea. I didn’t really resist going. I was somewhat curious about the place where Sensei was born, and it’d be a huge lie to say I wasn’t interested in the person who would become my junior apprentice. However, when Sensei handed me the high school equivalency textbooks again on the Shinkansen, I was seriously fed up. We left early, around 8 AM, and arrived at our destination around 6 PM. Lunch was just two rice balls, so I was pretty hungry. I had faint hopes that since Sensei’s family knew he was coming back, even if their relationship was strained, being a port town, maybe we could get some sushi or something. Of course, those hopes were dashed.

• [773] Been waiting~.

[774] As soon as we arrived, Sensei led me to a deserted area. He started rummaging through his luggage, pulled out a really big nail, and hammered it into the ground where it wasn’t asphalt. Sensei then plucked a strand of his own hair and wrapped it quite intricately around the slightly protruding nail head. Seeing that, I was a bit surprised. This is called “Jōzan,” a sort of ritual in our school’s tradition. If you ever find one of these, please don’t pull it out. It’s something done in pretty dangerous situations, signifying nailing one’s soul, or something like it, to the ground. So, even if a yokai or something tries to take your soul, as long as this nail is hammered in, you’ll be safe. Basically, the person who hammered the nail, called the “Kyōhan,” can move around freely. The person watching over the hammered nail is called the “Johan.” This person needs to constantly watch if the nail is okay. Even though the soul is nailed down, because it’s there, all sorts of bad things are drawn to it. So, the Johan’s role is to protect the nail from those things.

_”Jōzan” (定山) is a ritual from the school depicted in the story. A part of the practitioner’s soul is imbued into a special nail and hammered into the ground to ensure the main body’s safety while venturing into dangerous places. “Kyōhan” (响搬) refers to the practitioner themselves, and “Johan” (助搬) refers to the guardian who watches over the hammered nail, protecting it from malevolent entities.

[775] The nail is made by melting down a store-bought one, adding blood from one’s ring finger, doing various other things, and finally shaping it. I asked Sensei, “What’s this all of a sudden?” He replied something like, “I’m going to check the place where my older brother died for a bit. Keep watch,” handed me a bottle of sake, and briskly walked off somewhere. I started to say, “Uh, but…” but decided against it. Sensei rarely entrusted the Johan role to me. The reason is simple: he’s probably afraid my weasels hanging around me might cause some mischief. But the fact that he entrusted it to me this time probably meant he was going to face something far scarier than my weasels, I felt.

• [776] Here we go. Supporting.
• [777] Getting exciting.

[778] It was getting chilly around that time of year, and the days were shorter, so it was almost completely dark. As I’ve written before, I’m not much of a drinker, but I took just one sip of the sake Sensei gave me and sprinkled the rest in a circle around the nail. Since I had an empty stomach, the alcohol quickly warmed me up. But I didn’t drink much, so my head didn’t get fuzzy. “Jōzan” can only hold the soul nailed down for about 2-3 hours at most. Any longer, and the soul returns to its body. I took out my phone and set a timer for 3 hours. If Sensei didn’t come back by then, I’d have to pull out the nail and go look for him. Maybe because I was honestly a bit scared, the chorus of a summer festival song started looping endlessly in my head. “Uchiage hanabi~ Uchiage hanabi~ Uchiage hanabi~” (Fireworks~ Fireworks~ Fireworks~) It was probably around the 8th or 9th loop when the warmth from the alcohol suddenly vanished, replaced by a mysterious chill.

• [779] Heart-pounding.

[780] My heart skipped a beat, but I quickly focused on the wet spot from the sake around the nail. This was where the real challenge began. Alcohol dries slightly faster than water. Scientifically, it’s just because it contains alcohol, but people in the old days believed this meant yokai were “drinking” the sake. Yokai generally love alcohol; famous ones like Yamata-no-Orochi are examples. I’ve heard from people with spiritual sensitivity that if you spill alcohol at night, you can feel things like that gathering around it. I don’t know if it’s actually true. So, since I have absolutely no spiritual sensitivity, I sprinkle a little sake like this and judge the danger level by how quickly it dries. In this situation, it could also serve to divert the attention of those things away from the nail.

• [782] Gulp…
• [783] Getting exciting.

[846] Just one post ’cause I’m sleepy. As expected, when I looked at the sake, it was almost completely dry. I quickly sprinkled more sake in the same area. But this was just buying time. The amount of sake was limited, and at this pace, it was obvious I’d run out soon. So I rummaged through my bag and took out a short shimenawa rope. Yokai who like sake are usually the kind you can still talk to. Whether they’re harmful to humans or not, at least they’re often ones you can somehow negotiate with. So, I decided to create a sort of enclosure. To put it in chuunibyou terms, a barrier, but it’s not that impressive. The meaning of “enclosure” here is closer to “territory” (nawabari). In kanji, it’s “縄張り” (rope-stretching). Basically, I was trying to establish an unspoken rule: “I’ll give you guys the land with the sake, but in return, this spot with the nail is mine, so stay out!” There’s an old tale related to this. Once upon a time, there was an old man who loved monkeys. He loved them so much he even abandoned his family and kept dozens of monkeys. But because he kept too many, he ran out of money for feed. So, one morning, the old man said to the monkeys, “Until now, you got 4 chestnuts in the morning and 4 at night, but starting today, could you make do with 3 in the morning and 4 at night?” Hearing this, the monkeys flew into a rage and fiercely protested. Their morning chestnuts were reduced by one! Seeing the furious monkeys, the old man, looking resigned, said, “Alright, alright. Don’t be angry anymore! Let’s do this. I just said 3 in the morning and 4 at night, but okay. As a special treat, I’ll give you 4 in the morning and 3 at night. Are you happy now?” Hearing that, the monkeys thought, “We get 4 in the morning? Okay then,” and agreed to the plan. What about the night? We can worry about that tonight. If it’s only 3, we can just cry and scream again, the monkeys thought. But when night actually came, no matter how much the monkeys cried and screamed, the old man said it was a promise and only gave them 3 chestnuts. Well, he couldn’t give more even if he wanted to, because he had no money. The monkeys had no choice but to accept it. Humans might not be able to laugh at these monkeys, but yokai are even more mercenary than them, and moreover, they absolutely keep promises once made.

A “shimenawa” (しめ縄) is a rope made of rice straw used in Shinto to demarcate sacred spaces or objects. It signifies preventing the entry of impurities or establishing a boundary.

“Chōsanboshi” (朝三暮四) is a proverb originating from a Chinese fable. It refers to the foolishness of being distracted by superficial differences and failing to see that the essence is the same, or to deceiving people with clever words. In the text, it’s used as an analogy for how yokai are easily tempted by immediate benefits.

• [847] He’s here!

[848] Good night.

• [850] Good night.
• [851] It’s kind of amazing they keep promises once made. You’d think powerful ones wouldn’t care about humans and would break promises easily. Maybe it just means they won’t even make a promise unless the deal is good for them.
• [853] Even the greatest demons absolutely keep their promises. It’s only humans who easily break promises and oaths. Humans are the scariest.
• [860] This thread is really interesting. Can’t wait for the continuation!

[864] I blew my breath onto the shimenawa rope with a “haa.” Then, I took the sake bottle, which was about a third full, moved a little further away, and tapped the ground lightly three times with the bottle, kon kon kon. I placed the bottle on the ground as it was, did something like the “two bows, two claps, one bow” you do at a shrine, and finally gave the bottle a light kick, spilling the sake. This should draw the yokai’s attention over here. All that was left was to quickly get back to the nail and enclose myself and the nail with the shimenawa. Feeling slightly relieved, I took two or three steps back towards the spot where the nail was hammered in, but just then… Splat. Something wet grabbed my shoulder. In that instant, my legs felt heavy as lead, and a nasty cold sweat broke out all over my body. I felt something like human breathing near my ear. But of course, it wasn’t warm like a living person’s; it was incredibly cold, a clammy, unpleasant presence. It felt as if my body heat was being sucked away from the spot where I was grabbed. This is bad. I’ve been doing this job for years now, so I can tell the difference between things I shouldn’t mess with and things I can somehow handle. Whatever was behind me then was definitely the dangerous kind. I somehow managed to suppress the intense urge to turn around and desperately tried to walk towards the nail, but strangely, no matter how much I walked, I didn’t get any closer. By then, panic started to set in. And panic quickly turned into fear. Fear grew, consuming my reason.

“Nihai Nihakushu Ippai” (二拝二拍一拝) is one of the basic Shinto worship procedures at shrines. It involves bowing deeply twice before the altar, then clapping twice, and finally bowing deeply once more.

[871] I was on the verge of panicking, but I somehow mustered my last bit of fighting spirit, bent my legs that were stiff with cold, and put my left knee on the ground. Then, I raised my head and looked up at the vast sky. As expected of the countryside. It was pitch black all around, and the starry sky was beautifully visible. Finding the North Star, I made a gun shape with my hand and said “Bang” out loud, pointing at it. It wasn’t some traditional technique or venerable skill. If anything, it was an action from an anime I once watched – can’t even remember the name now – that the cool rival character did before he died. It was a kind of ritual I decided on myself to calm down. The scariest thing during an extermination isn’t the opponent yokai. It’s the fear lurking within your own heart. It’s the same with humans. When negotiating, if you show weakness, the other party gets stronger, and if you act strong, they become weaker. The more you fear, the more insurmountable the opponent becomes. But conversely, if you calm down and feel like you’re with a friend, the other side might open up too. When I get scared, I do this action and remember that anime I saw. Then I look up at the starry sky, and somehow, myself, the yokai, everything feels so small.

[872] Everything in my heart grew calm. It might have looked quite strange from the outside, but I couldn’t care less. From there, I took two or three deep breaths, and I felt even better. I could faintly smell the scent of the sea tide. When this is over, I’ll definitely make Sensei treat me to some good sushi. I even thought about that. Then, something strange happened. The presence of the “something” that had been gripping my shoulder firmly just moments ago suddenly disappeared, and my body could move freely again. I immediately stood up, spat on my palm, and tapped my forehead four times, pon pon pon. Then, this time for real, I headed towards the nail and enclosed myself and the nail with the shimenawa rope. The sake sprinkled around was almost completely dry. I quickly recited a chant along the lines of, “The sake over there and the area outside this circle belong to you guys, but the inside of this circle is mine.”

[873] Ah, the doria is ready. Going to eat.

• [874] Enjoy your meal.
• [875] Whoa, that was scary.
• [876] Enjoy your meal.
• [877] Doria sounds good.
• [879] Whether this is real or fiction, it’s amazing.

[882] Welcome back. Continuing. How much time passed after that? I just stayed still inside the enclosure. Normally, when killing time like this, you’d fiddle with your phone, but I couldn’t do that in this situation. It was to avoid the phone’s screen becoming a mirror and seeing something weird. So, I was quite bored, but maybe because I was much calmer than before, the summer festival melody started looping in my head again. Amidst that, when my phone’s timer suddenly went “pipipipi,” I was quite startled. I thought, “Ah, seriously? It’s been three hours and Sensei isn’t back yet?” This meant something might have happened to Sensei. I started panicking again and tried to pull out the nail stuck in the ground. I had to go find Sensei right now. After finishing a “Jōzan,” the nail could be used as a tool to curse the person who performed it, depending on how it’s used, so there was a rule that it had to be retrieved and properly disposed of. But just as my hand touched the nail, I stopped dead in my tracks. “Uchiage~ ha~nabi~” This was the 78th time. When working, I often need to be mindful of time. Depending on the technique or ritual, the starting time might be strictly determined. However, the time on clocks or phones is just a guideline and can’t be fully trusted. Why? Because you can be “blinded” by yokai and see a wrong time. Usually, time is roughly estimated by the shortness of candles or incense sticks. The next best thing is to use something that can be judged by sound, like this. And if even that isn’t possible, you measure it in your mind. In my case, that’s the chorus part of “Uchiage~ ha~na~bi~”. When measuring in your mind, you might sometimes count faster due to panic, but it rarely happens that you count slower. Isn’t the timer sounding way too early? Remembering the number of times I’d counted, something clicked in my mind. Come to think of it, the phone sound just now didn’t come from my pocket. It came from behind me.

[886] My movements stopped right there. I took my phone out of my pocket and, trying my best not to look directly at the screen, checked only the time. It hadn’t even been two hours yet. I had wondered why things seemed strangely quiet until then, but imitating my phone’s sound – this pattern was definitely them, I thought. I had no particular proof, but we’d known each other a long time, and I somehow felt certain this was the weasels’ prank. That was a pretty close call. If I had really pulled out the nail and something had happened to Sensei, it would have hit me hard emotionally. Well, that was probably the weasels’ aim. As I pulled my hand away from the nail, I heard a “Tch” sound, like someone clicking their tongue, from somewhere.

• [887] It’s 1! It’s 1! I chuckled a bit at the boredom part.

[890] Sensei returned about 30 minutes later. He looked quite exhausted. I asked, “How did it go?” but he just shook his head saying, “Nothing happened,” and without another word, retrieved the nail and started walking silently towards our original destination. Well, he looked like he was dealing with complex stuff, so I didn’t ask anything either. After a while, we arrived at Sensei’s family home. It was a reasonably large temple. I’ll omit specific details because it would easily reveal the school and such. We were greeted by Sensei’s younger brother, his wife, and Sensei’s mother. Apparently, the younger brother had taken over the temple. His mother teared up, saying things like “You’ve grown so big” to Sensei. I was hoping for dinner, but the atmosphere wasn’t really like that, or rather, I didn’t have the courage to ask people I’d just met, “Is there food?” The brother’s wife showed me to a guest room where I’d be staying, and then I was just left there. Sensei, probably having much to catch up on, disappeared somewhere in the house with his brother and mother. I spent two or three hours trying to distract myself from hunger by browsing threads on 2chan on my phone. Then Sensei came to the room and said, “Come here for a second.” Sensei was with his younger brother. The brother wore glasses, referred to himself as “boku” (a polite male pronoun), and seemed like a very polite person, but he looked somewhat anxious. I followed the two of them through the house until we stopped at a certain room. The brother knocked on the door and asked, “May I come in?” A female voice answered from inside, “Please do.” When we entered, there was a girl who looked about 13 or 14, maybe middle school age. The room was age-appropriate, the kind that makes you think, “Ah, this is a girl’s room,” with some kind of calligraphy award certificate prominently displayed.

[891] So sleepy, so sleepy. Eyes popping open.

• [892] Really looking forward to the rest, but please don’t push yourself, get some sleep.
• [893] >>891 Curious about the rest, but prioritize your physical and mental well-being.

[894] Thanks. I’ll sleep then. Might not be able to come online this weekend due to some work.

• [895] >>894 It’s getting cold morning and night, please take care of yourself, body and mind. Wishing you success in your work and happiness for you, 1.

[908] Guess I’ll try to finish this thread today. Continuing. The girl was sitting up halfway on her bed, looking surprised by the presence of strangers, and observing us somewhat suspiciously. The brother introduced Sensei, saying something like, “This is the person I mentioned before,” and Sensei and the girl exchanged light bows. Then, just as I was about to be introduced next, I made eye contact with the girl. Suddenly, for some reason, the girl covered her mouth with her hand. Her face turned incredibly pale almost instantly, and then she threw up. Seeing this, the brother quickly called for his wife. The wife came with Sensei’s mother, and they started hurriedly cleaning up the mess around the girl, asking her things like, “Are you okay?”. I was confused, not understanding the situation, but Sensei exchanged a few words in a low voice with the brother, then told me, “Follow me,” and moved to a nearby room. It was a Japanese-style room, apparently the one Sensei was staying in. The three of us sat down on zabuton cushions, and I asked Sensei, “Who’s that girl?” Sensei replied, “She’s the one who will become your junior apprentice.” I was shocked. I really didn’t expect it to be a girl. After all, while our school doesn’t have a rule against admitting women, there’s still a tendency to avoid them. Why? Because women are more easily possessed by strange things than men. That can be useful in the sense of Itako mediums, but frankly, with our methods, it just makes them a liability.

“Itako” (イタコ) are a type of female shaman found in the Tohoku region of Japan. They are believed to possess the ability to channel the spirits of the dead and speak their words, a practice known as “kuchiyose.”

• [909] Maybe she’s exceptionally sensitive?

[910] “Why a woman now?” I asked, but Sensei replied, “That girl is in a bit of danger.” Then, he turned to the brother and asked something like, “Has it gotten worse again?” The brother seemed reluctant to speak but answered, “It just keeps getting worse and worse.” Hearing that, Sensei looked at me and muttered, “Well, can’t be helped then.” I still couldn’t grasp the situation well, but seeing the girl’s reaction earlier and this exchange, something clicked, and I asked Sensei, “Could it be that girl has spiritual sensitivity?” Sensei nodded, “Ah, yes. And it seems she sees things quite clearly.” In my line of work, I occasionally interact with people who claim to have spiritual sensitivity (though who knows if it’s true…), and they often give me nasty looks. Apparently, they see lots of pitch-black somethings grinning behind me. Well, I already know exactly what those are. But this was the first time someone vomited just from making eye contact. The brother started talking about how the girl had apparently been able to see strange things slightly since she was little, but it only got really bad after an incident two months ago.

• [912] If something bad enough to make you vomit just by seeing it clearly is always attached to 1, that sounds tough for both the girl who might work with him and for 1 himself.

[913] When the girl was younger, she used to mention seeing strange things sometimes, but by this point, she hadn’t said anything like that for a while and seemed like a normal kid. That day was a weekend, and the girl had gone to school for club activities, telling her family she’d be home a bit late. But no matter how much time passed, she didn’t return. Around 10 PM, the brother’s family naturally started to worry. They called her friends and contacted the school, only to find out that the girl hadn’t even gone to her club activity. For the time being, they decided to search for her themselves until midnight, and if they still couldn’t find her, they’d report it to the police. They went around asking neighbors about the girl’s whereabouts. Hearing she was missing, the neighbors also helped search, covering quite a bit of the town. But the girl was nowhere to be found. Just as the searchers started to panic, thinking something really bad might have happened, someone found her school uniform, with her name tag still on it, in a grassy area near the town. The searchers quickly intensified their search in that vicinity and found her bag a short distance away, then further off, her skirt, shoes, and so on, progressively leading towards the sea cliffs on the outskirts of town.

[914] The adults headed in that direction. Thinking this might be a crime, someone also contacted the police. When they arrived at the location, it was, of course, pitch black, so they searched for clues using flashlight beams. Then, they saw a figure on a large rock near the cliff edge. As they approached and shone the light, they saw the girl. She was almost naked, holding something in both hands, and muttering something cheerfully. Seeing this, the brother rushed towards her, but he was stunned when he saw what she was holding. The girl held a small twig in one hand like chopsticks, and in the other hand, she held a stone covered with a large number of earthworms. Looking as if she was savoring them, the girl picked up an earthworm with the twig, popped it into her mouth, chewed once, twice, and swallowed. Gulp. She was slurping down live earthworms. The bizarre sight froze the brother, but he gestured for the other adults to stay back. After all, the girl was naked. All the while, the girl kept talking incessantly to something, as if someone were right in front of her. He couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. The brother seemed to have some knowledge himself; swallowing hard, he turned off his flashlight once, blew his breath onto the glass part where the light comes out, flicked the light on for just an instant towards the spot the girl was talking to, and immediately turned it off again. In that split second, the brother saw it. In the spot where nothing should have been, there was something like an animal.

• [915] Hmm hmm.

[916] The brother was terrified, but his desire to save his daughter gave him resolve. Gripping his prayer beads, he shouted Buddhist sutras at the top of his lungs while running towards the girl and knocked the earthworms out of her hand. Instantly, the girl’s expression became blank, and she just stared fixedly at her father. The brother draped some clothes over her and somehow managed to pull her towards where the other adults were. By that time, the police had also arrived, and they all rushed her to the hospital. At some point, the girl had lost consciousness and only woke up two days later, apparently with no memory of the time she was missing. Wanting to avoid upsetting her unnecessarily, the brother kept silent about how she was found, so she still didn’t know what had happened to her. Hearing this story, it suddenly occurred to me: could this be “Tenmei Morashi”!? If so, the girl was indeed in a pretty dangerous situation.

“Tenmei Morashi” (天命漏らし), literally “leaking heavenly mandate/fate,” refers to a taboo or phenomenon in fields like Japanese divination where clearly stating a future event shortens the lifespan (tenmei) of both the speaker and the listener.

• [917] First time encountering this for real. Creepy story, the brother must have been horrified when he found his daughter.

[918] “Tenmei Morashi” is something you have to be careful about in the fortune-telling world. It happens when you clearly tell someone the future. Well, regardless of whether fortune-tellers actually divine the future or just make things up, the reason they all speak vaguely is because of this. If you clearly tell someone the future, the lifespan equivalent to the time until that future event occurs gets shortened for both the listener and the teller. Because knowing something that’s supposed to happen in the future now is unnatural, so you age that much, is maybe how to understand it? This is something you can understand from the kanji too. Tenmei (天命) means fate or destiny, but the meaning of the character “寿” (ju, meaning longevity or congratulations) is also said to originally come from “Tenmei.” So, “Tenmei Morashi” directly connects to “Ju Morashi” (leaking longevity). That’s why, even in daily life, if you have a prophetic dream or something, it’s better not to tell others too much. It shortens your lifespan. Also, the reason why great prophets write their prophecies in incomprehensible language is because they fear this. And while yokai can’t know the future through things like divination themselves, they can deceive humans and force them to reveal it through people. When yokai entertain humans like this and engage them in conversation, it’s often because they’re controlling the human to perform divination or similar acts to extract their Tenmei. Yokai don’t really care much about lifespan, but for the human involved, it’s unbearable. There are cases where people die from leaking too much. When I told Sensei what I thought, he replied that he agreed.

• [919] The weather looks ominous. Watching with excitement.

[920] Going offline around here. If the thread looks like it’s about to fill up, could someone start a new one? If no one does, I’ll give up.

• [921] Thanks for your hard work, 1! Learned a lot about Tenmei Morashi…
• [922] This time it was chilling too… I’d heard you shouldn’t talk about lifespan, but I didn’t know the proper name or reason.

[1] Q. Yokai don’t exist. This is a made-up story, right? A. Maybe they do exist. Whether you believe the stories or not, I just want you to know a little about the world of yokai. Q. Do you have spiritual sensitivity? How do you exterminate them? A. I don’t have spiritual sensitivity, so I can’t use amazing spells or emit light. It’s more like I use folk remedies developed over time, without really understanding the principles. Q. 1 isn’t showing up. A. Please be patient just for that part. Q. How often should the thread be bumped? A. Apparently, once or twice a day is fine.

• [2] Thanks for starting the thread!

[127] Huh. Is this the right place? Kinda funny how everyone seems to be fighting invisible enemies.

• [128] Welcome back!
• [131] Welcome back. Managed to catch this in real-time while doing a big clean.
• [129] Been waiting!
• [132] Welcome back, 1. Things are a bit messy here, so maybe for now, just stick to telling your story without answering questions?

[136] >>132 Sorry~ Had a little alcohol. Not really in the mood to continue the story today. But something reminded me of a little anecdote about being popular or not, understood or not. It’s also from the Analects. One day, one of Confucius’s disciples asked him, “Suppose I go to a certain village. And I become liked by every single villager there. What kind of state is this relationship in?” Confucius replied, “That’s still not good enough.” The disciple was a bit puzzled but hesitantly asked, “Then, what about being disliked by every single villager there? What state is that relationship in?” Hearing this, Confucius shook his head again. “That’s also still not good enough.” The disciple, hearing these answers, asked, “Huh? If both are ‘not good enough,’ then what state is the best for human relationships?” Confucius said, “To be liked by the people you like, and disliked by the people you dislike. There is no better human relationship than this.” Check out the trending article online!

[137] It’s obvious when you think about it, right? What’s the point of sucking up to people you dislike, trying to get them to understand you, and be liked by them? But often, people want to be liked by everyone around them, and they worry and get stressed about it. Of course, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I remember learning in school long ago, “A person of virtue will never be isolated. Someone will surely become their ally.” Virtue here means something like justice, righteousness, that kind of thing. But this is wrong. Because even if you keep doing the right thing, it’s not guaranteed you’ll make friends; even an elementary school kid knows that’s not how reality works. Originally, the character for virtue (徳, toku), as you can see from its shape, means “to act, according to one’s heart/mind.” Combining this with “道” (dō, way/path) gives you “道徳” (dōtoku, morality). In other words, it means setting a certain standard within your own heart and acting according to that standard. If you set a standard for your actions, clearly liking what you like and disliking what you dislike, you’ll surely meet people who share your values and quickly become close.

[138] My Sensei was honestly bad at that. He was someone who always acted by balancing things out with others. Well, given that Sensei was more interested in knowing his own thoughts than whether others liked him, he probably acted that way for that reason. Many responses say it was terrible that Sensei “sold me out,” but in our line of work, you rarely make friends. Well, there’s the possibility of having weaknesses exploited, I guess. For example, in the case of Wan-san (the old man), he could have slipped Sensei Kodoku poison anytime. But he wouldn’t do that, and Sensei trusted that he wouldn’t be poisoned. Even though they hadn’t met in years, the moment they did, they couldn’t stop talking. I think Sensei and Wan-san were truly what you’d call best friends. If your best friend asked you for a “once-in-a-lifetime favor,” what would you do? One is your best friend, the other is your apprentice. The choice Sensei made was “to help neither.” At least, that’s how I understand it. Because if I were truly “sold out,” Sensei probably wouldn’t hesitate to try and kill me. I don’t know if it was right or wrong, but that’s what Sensei did. So, regarding that incident, I can understand why Sensei did what he did. Though, whether I can forgive it… from my personal perspective, I can’t forgive him. Crap, what am I even saying? I’ve lost track of what I wanted to say initially.

[139] In the end, the issue isn’t about right or wrong, but whether you like the action or find it disagreeable when measured against your own heart’s standards. That’s what it comes down to. Going to sleep. Good night.

• [145] >>139 I totally get this. I think when you dig down to the reason for actions, this is all that’s left. That’s why I think you can choose paths that leave fewer regrets.
• [141] Interesting.
• [143] Did you drink after a work celebration or something? Thanks for your hard work, 1. The story was interesting. Tell us more sometime. Good night.
• [144] This is a good thread.
• [272] 1, hope you have a Happy New Year!

[274] Happy New Year, everyone.

• [275] Oh, Happy New Year!
• [276] Wow, Happy New Year!

[277] Since New Year’s Day is almost here, just one short story. I think there was a question before about “whether there’s interaction with other schools, since there seem to be various ones.” Usually, we don’t have much contact. However, about once every five years, several schools gather to play a game called ‘Onikakushi’ (Demon Hiding).

[280] The origin, I believe, is that long, long ago, back when techniques and such were commonly usable, several schools joined forces to seal an incredibly strong, human-eating Great Yokai called ‘Nonoshiro’. So, once every five years, they secretly play ‘Onikakushi,’ a game resembling the sealing method used back then, as a form of appeasement? The rules for Onikakushi require starting with exactly nine people. It absolutely won’t start unless there are nine. All nine people must completely cover their bodies with black cloth, wear slightly heavy, distinctive masks, and wear gloves so that absolutely no skin is visible. Maybe like a pitch-black version of Namahage? Then, they head to the starting place in that attire. The first person to arrive at the game location takes the prepared talismans of Oni (Demon), Uma (Horse), Semi (Cicada), Yama (Mountain), Usu (Mortar), Fune (Boat), Shika (Deer), Hi (Fire), and Hito (Person), in order from left to right. They also each take one talisman with a picture of a dead leaf. The game begins once all nine are gathered. Of course, no one knows who the others are, and naturally, during the game, participants must absolutely not show any skin. Talking or writing notes is also forbidden.

“Namahage” (なまはげ) are folk deities, resembling demons or ogres, featured in a ritual tradition from the Oga Peninsula of Akita Prefecture, Japan. On New Year’s Eve, men dressed as Namahage visit houses to admonish loafers, ward off calamities, and bring good fortune for harvests and fishing.

[284] All participants scatter into the forest. They then wander freely within a certain area. When they encounter another participant, they take out their two talismans without letting the other person see what’s written on them, and simultaneously draw one talisman from each other. In essence, they exchange talismans. At this point, if the remaining talismans in someone’s hand are two “Dead Leaves,” they are disqualified from the game. They must leave the forest immediately without a word. The game ultimately ends when someone collects both the “Oni” and “Hito” talismans. If the person holding “Oni” manages to acquire “Hito” without having “Oni” taken from them, the Oni wins alone. If the person holding “Hito” manages to acquire “Oni” without having “Hito” taken from them, everyone except the Oni wins. If the Human side wins, they remove their masks right there, gather the remaining players, and disband. Usually, the remaining people go for Hatsumōde (first shrine visit of the year) or go drinking together. If the Oni wins – which apparently has never happened before – Nonoshiro emerges and eats all the participants.

“Hatsumōde” (初詣) is the Japanese custom of making the first visit to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple in the New Year. People offer thanks for the past year and pray for blessings such as good health and family safety in the year ahead.

• [286] Scary!
• [287] Playing with your life on the line. Anyway, Happy New Year, everyone.

[288] By the way, there’s also the rule that disqualified players must leave the forest quietly. But there’s no way to know if they actually leave the forest. One theory suggests they might get eaten by Nonoshiro-sama.

[289] So, that’s the kind of game ‘Onikakushi’ is, played in the middle of the night on New Year’s Day every five years. You might wonder, given the rules where participants can’t interact at all and exchange talismans without seeing them, making it seem like a game of luck, how come the Oni has never won? Well, there’s actually a guaranteed winning strategy for this game: marking is not forbidden. This means you can, for example, slightly fold the corner of a talisman to figure out who holds the Oni. So, ultimately, the game is adjusted so that the Human side wins. However, to avoid confusion, there’s an unspoken rule that only the “Oni” player is allowed to mark their talisman. Therefore, disqualifications still happen normally.

[290] I only participated once, and that time too, the Human side won as usual. But when we finally gathered at the end, there were only seven people left in the forest. That was the first time I met people from other schools, and we all went to a bar together afterwards. However, one thing still bothers me: the other two participants. I wonder if those two made it back safely.

[292] Since you have no idea who anyone is when you gather, there’s no way to check.

[293] Maybe they tricked Nonoshiro like this back when they sealed it long ago. Well, I’ll leave it here for today. A bit early, but Happy New Year.

• [296] >>1, Happy New Year! Have a great year.
• [297] It’s interesting and informative. Looking forward to more next year. Happy New Year.
• [405] Might be slightly off-topic, but maybe as a short break. Everyone here should find this interesting. It’s a bit long (gets really interesting around 8:23?).
• [409] >>405 That was a good video, thanks.
• [411] Wow, glad you liked it! Thought I’d get heavily criticized. Thank you too.
• [134] Please continue from the previous thread.

[552] Forgot exactly where I left off, but maybe it was around the continuation of the Tenmei Morashi talk? What ultimately happens to a human who has completely leaked their Tenmei is that they “cease to exist.” Lifespan in the human sense refers to the time a person is alive and their brain is functioning, but in the context of Tenmei, lifespan refers to the time from before birth until after death, until even the corpse completely disappears without a trace. In other words, something that has completely lost its lifespan “ceases to exist.” Apart from physical disappearances in the ordinary sense, this is a very common reason for things like Kamikakushi (being spirited away). That’s why it’s often said that once you’ve experienced Kamikakushi, you’re more likely to experience it again; well yeah, you’ve lost a large portion of your lifespan. It wouldn’t be strange to vanish at any moment when your Tenmei runs out. Therefore, if someone survives a Tenmei Morashi incident, they don’t necessarily come back having aged abnormally. Depending on the amount taken, they might just age normally and die, and then their corpse disappears faster than usual, or things like that might happen.

“Kamikakushi” (神隠し) is a Japanese folk belief and legend referring to the sudden, inexplicable disappearance of a person, especially a child. It was traditionally believed that they were abducted or hidden by supernatural entities like gods, tengu, or foxes.

• [561] >>552 Does this include stories about going to another world?
• [553] Oh, it’s >>1.
• [554] Watching.
• [578]
• [579]

[580] Fell asleep last time. Sorry. Setsubun is coming up soon, I wonder if everyone does Mamemaki (bean scattering)? If you do, I think it’s better to look up the proper etiquette first. It’s kinda embarrassing if you do it living alone though. I’ll have some free time starting tomorrow night, so I’ll come again. Good night.

“Mamemaki” (豆まき) is a traditional Japanese ritual performed on Setsubun (the day before the start of spring) to drive away evil spirits. People scatter roasted soybeans inside and outside their homes while chanting “Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi” (“Demons out, Fortune in”).

• [584] There’s an etiquette for it? Didn’t know.
• [586] Searching it up, it looks quite complicated.
• [588] Isn’t eating sushi rolls enough? Anyway, Setsubun beans are delicious.

[589] You can generally find the etiquette for Mamemaki by searching online. Just as there’s etiquette between humans, etiquette is also necessary with those invisible types. For example, greeting someone is a very good thing in itself, but if someone’s way of greeting was slapping you, what would you think of that person? It’s kind of like that. It might feel late to mention this now, but when people go to shrines for Hatsumōde (first visit of the year), everyone makes wishes, right? But originally, you didn’t go to make requests; you went to express gratitude. Something like, “Thank you for allowing me to live happily as usual this past year. I ask for your continued favor next year.” Whether gods actually exist or not, maybe being grateful for everyday life is what’s important.

[590] Continuing. So, the person who experienced Tenmei Morashi doesn’t remember the leaked Tenmei itself. It’s unclear whether the yokai makes them forget, or if it’s like a divine punishment where they’re forced to forget because it’s unnatural to retain knowledge of things they shouldn’t know. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but why can humans know Tenmei in the first place? In almost any religion or regional mythology, it’s recorded that humans were created by gods. These gods aren’t the cheap kind that became enshrined yokai, but the class of gods who created heaven and earth. In Japanese mythology, humans are called descendants of the gods. In other countries, they were made from God’s breath, or from God’s nipples, various things. But humans were once a part of God. Meaning, although the quantity is small, qualitatively, humans and gods are almost the same, apparently. This is also one reason why humans find it much easier to train compared to animals. It might be the reason why, in common folktales, a monk who trained for just a few decades can seal a yokai that struggled for thousands of years. Well, I got sidetracked, but because of this, humans can perform Tenmei Morashi. Moreover, afterwards, the part of them that was divine gets stimulated for a while, making them sensitive to things normally unseen. Sensei’s niece is exactly in this state.

• [591] Supporting.

[592] Well, regarding Tenmei Morashi, that was just a story I was taught long ago, and I didn’t bring it up there with Sensei and his brother. Sensei told the brother that the spiritual sensitivity wouldn’t be a major issue. Apparently, it’s severe now because she’s seeing too much, but it will eventually calm down. Of course, some after-effects will likely remain. Hearing that, the brother seemed a bit relieved. However, the problem is that her lifespan might have been considerably shortened, Sensei continued. The brother was shocked and asked Sensei if anything could be done. Sensei thought for a moment, then, with a difficult expression, said, “There are three methods.” Not this again. I felt complicated.

• [595] Tenmei Morashi is scary!
• [596] Is it like Chuzenji Akihiko (from the Kyogokudo series)?

[597] Regarding yokai-related methods to recover lifespan shortened by Tenmei Morashi, well, there are various ways, but most involve summoning the yokai and having them forget the prophecy they extracted. We talked about the human thirst for knowledge; the more humans try to forget something, the more that knowledge sticks in their minds, making it impossible to forget voluntarily. But yokai are different. They can apparently forget things instantly if they want to. And they remember things they want to remember forever. That’s why a yokai’s grudge continues forever unless the yokai itself is satisfied, and once satisfied, they forget it immediately, and that’s the end of it. They seem to forget everything from the past except for important matters. Asking them to forget is the first step. Next, even if the yokai forgets, the lost lifespan doesn’t just come back. It needs to be restored somehow. And finally, preventing the lifespan from being stolen further. This is also quite difficult. Just like a sticker that’s been peeled off becomes easier to peel off again, lifespan also tends to leak out more readily on its own. This needed to be addressed somehow.

• [598] This is informative~. The story is well-structured.
• [599] Your lifespan shortens, and it becomes easier to shorten… Doesn’t that make being a fortune-teller seriously dangerous?
• [603] Unless it’s on the level of prophecy, it should be fine, right? Fortune-telling is hit or miss.
• [601] Does “making it harder to steal” become difficult because you’ve become closer to the divine state?
• [604] Saying humans and gods are almost equal implies humans are number one among other living beings? That’s arrogant.

[613] >>604 It doesn’t mean humans are the greatest. Ease of training and greatness are different things, aren’t they? Because humans accumulate merit easily, evil also grows easily within them.

• [606] Thinking about the lives of cows and pigs makes me feel empty. It’s a fact we use them for food, but I wish they were equal on a soul level.
• [607] If you read the Rokkon Shōjō Ōharae purification prayer, you might understand. “My body is~ of the same soul as the gods of heaven and earth.”

[614] Spaced out and now it’s this late. Continuation tomorrow. Good night.

• [616] Glad to hear your story again after a while. Looking forward to tomorrow too. Good night.
• [623] Some people have prophetic dreams, does that also count as knowing Tenmei? You hear about people experiencing the exact same thing as their dream a few days later…