伊弉諾物質～Neo-Traditionalism of Japan. // Izanagi Busshitsu / Izanagi Object

I was beside myself when I heard ZUN was going to continue Renko and Merry’s story at Comic 1☆6, and here we are, not four months later with yet another ZUN CD!

This translation goes through varying levels of strictness and has not undergone a final edit. I might run through it again in the next few days, but if there are any typos or really confusing parts mention them in the comments please so I can fix them (^o^;)

If anything, I’m sorry I couldn’t get this out sooner. Enjoy!

Notes:
(I will attempt to cut as many of these down as possible with edits)

I ignored the line breaks in the dialogue in my translation. The cost is a slight loss of dramatic effect, but it’s easier to manage.

You would normally read 伊弉諾物質 as Izanagi Busshitsu, however throughout the text it has “イザナギオブジェクト” as its reading, i.e. “Izanagi Object”.

“Cell phone coverage” – is more generalized as “electromagnetic waves”. Radio/Television/Satellite/Cellphone etc.

I translate 療養 as “treatment”, but it specifically refers to a sort of “going out into the country until you feel better” kind of treatment for those of a weak or sickly constitution. Given that it takes you away from the polluted air of the cities, it’s not a completely mindless sort of way to get better.

“Zen’kou-ji Temple” is redundant as the “ji” means temple, but I figured it would be less confusing this way.

“…in front of a statue of Yama” – Yama is the Sanskrit and Pali name for “En’ma” I have leaned towards Sanskrit and Pali terms over Japanese equivalents throughout the rest of the translation as well.

“the god that created the Japanese archipelago” – literally it is written as “birth”, but Izanagi is male, and created the islands with Izanami (female), so I used “created” instead of “birthed” to avoid confusion. Although I’ve read the myth before, I forget the details (it’s quite complicated and graphic).

I will not translate youkai. If you don’t know what they are yet, head on over to wikipedia.

“Ame-no-Sakahoko” literally means “Inverted Spear of the Heavens”. (Inverted just to sound cooler – more like “upside down”)

I chose to keep “Izanagi Object” capitalized as a single unit, rather than “Izanagi object”, mainly to keep it emphasized.

Now without further ado, I give you the 6th narrative addition to the Hifuu Club, Izanagi Object, Neo-Traditionalism of Japan!!

Edit (2022-07-14): The original post translated 戸隠 as “Togakure”. However, it is far more likely the intended reading is “Togakushi”, so I have replaced all instances of “Togakure” with “Togakushi”.

—

伊弉諾物質～Neo-Traditionalism of Japan.
Izanagi Busshitsu
Izanagi Object

01.　緑のサナトリウム (Green Sanatorium)
[Midori no Sanatorium]
Sanatorium in Mountain

「退屈しなかった？」
「退屈しない訳が無いわ。こんな電波すら入らない山奥に隔離だなんて」
「隔離って……、療養よ、療養。一応」

“Was it boring?”

“Of course it was boring! I can’t believe they thought they had to quarantine me, and all the way out here in the mountains! You can’t even get cell phone coverage out here!”

“Quarantine…? I’m sure it wasn’t anything like… It was treatment, for your health you know…? Supposedly.”

行き過ぎた環境保護主義は都会を見かけだけの森林に飾り立てた。天然の植物
の無い、まさに絵に描いたジャングルだ。
人間は自然を創造し、全てを管理したつもりでいた。管理外の物の存在を否定
するようになるのも時間の問題だった。病気も大抵治療法が確率していた。絶対
に直せない先天性の物等は病気では無く個性として認められ、社会が適合できる
ように変化していった。
直せない病気は、事実上“存在しない“のだ。

The cityscape was lined with a forest put up just for show, a result of environmentalism gone too far. There was no natural plantlife, just a jungle that looked like it came right out of a picture book.
These days humans would create “nature”, and imagined they had complete control over it. It was only a matter of time before anything outside of this control would be denied outright. Now, there was a highly probable way to cure almost any illness. Things such as some hereditary disorders that just could not be cured were now considered not diseases but rather “traits”, and society had adjusted to this view.
And thus, there was no sickness that could not be cured.

マエリベリー・ハーン（メリー）は鳥船遺跡で怪我を負ってから、原因不明の
病に冒されていた。どうやら地球上には存在しないウイルス性に依る譫妄だと診
断された。
管理外の物を恐れる社会の性質により、メリーは信州のサナトリウムで療養と
いう名の隔離治療をさせられていた。この度、完全に治癒したとの連絡があって、
宇佐美蓮子が迎えに来ていたのだ。

Ever since Maribel Hearn (Merry) was wounded at the Torifune Ruins, she was affected by an unknown illness. At any rate it was determined that she was suffering delusions due to the effects of an extraterrestrial virus.
Given that society tends to fear things it has no control over, Merry was quarantined in the name of “treatment” at the Shin’shuu Sanatorium. Now Usami Renko, having been notified that Merry had completely recovered, had come to pick her up.

「誰とも会わせて貰えないし、そもそも日本に身寄りがいないし」
「まあまあ、ところでどんな病気だったの？」
「何か、熱に浮かされて寝ながら歩いたり別世界の幻覚を見たりしたわ」
「ん？　それってメリーにとってはいつもの事じゃあ……」

“They wouldn’t let anyone see me, and I don’t have any relatives in Japan to begin with.”
“At least it’s over now… But, what kind of sickness did you have anyway?”
“Well… I would get feverish and sleepwalk and have visions of other worlds and such.”
“Huh? But isn’t that just what’s normal for you?”

02.　牛に引かれて善光寺参り (Visit to the Zenkou Shrine, Led by Cattle)
[Ushi ni Hikarete Zenkouji Mairi]
Goslings Lead the Geese to Water.

「ほら、本堂の柱が土台から随分とずれているでしょ？」
「これが地震柱？」

“See how that pillar at the main temple is way out of alignment from the rest of the foundation?”
“So this is that ‘Earthquake Pillar’?”

退院ついでに信州観光を行う事にした二人は、まず日本最古の仏像を祀るとい
う善光寺に立ち寄った。
観光客がごった返す仲見世通りには目新しさは無い。お土産屋は伝統に縛られ
たまま、百年以上は時が止まっているようだ。

After Merry was discharged and while they were in the area, Renko and Merry decided to go sightseeing through Shin’shuu. Their first stop was at the Zen’kou-ji temple, where they planned on visiting Japan’s oldest image of the Buddha.
There was nothing new about the main shopping street that ran through the shrine, packed as it was with visitors. As the world of souvenirs was bound by tradition, it was like time had been stopped there for over a hundred years.

「これが善光寺地震の爪痕と言う事になっているわ」

“It’s supposedly one of the remaining after effects of the Zen’kou-ji Earthquake.”

ーー善光寺地震。弘化四年、信州北部を襲った地震である。
善光寺は七年に一度だけ秘仏を公開する事で有名で、その時は全国から人が集
まり非常に混雑する。善光寺地震は、その御開帳の真っ最中に起きたため、死者
数千人とも言われる甚大な被害をもたらした。

–The Zen’kou-ji Earthquake struck the northern districts of Shin’shuu in the fourth year of Kouka’s reign (1847).
The Zen’kou-ji temple was famous for showing it’s hidden image of the Buddha only once every seven years, and during that time the temple would be flooded with people from all over the country. Since the Zen’kou-ji earthquake struck right in the middle of the ceremonial unveiling, the damages dealt by that powerful earthquake were catastrophic, and it is said that the dead numbered in the thousands.

「地震で柱だけがずれたって言うの？　そんな事あるのかしら」
「本当はね、これは柱が時間が経って乾燥して捻れた物だって判ったの。
でも、それより地震柱と呼んだ方が地震の恐ろしさを後生に伝えられるって
みんな判断して、正式名称になったのよ」

“Are they trying to say that just this one pillar shifted in the earthquake? Is that even possible?”
“Well, the truth is that the pillar dried out and twisted that way over time. However, everyone decided that in order to convey the frightening power of earthquakes to later generations, they should call it the ‘Earthquake Pillar’, and now that has become its proper name.”

メリーには見えていた。柱が歪むような恐ろしい地震の光景が。

But Merry had seen it, the landscape wrought by a frightening earthquake that would easily have twisted that pillar.

03.　ハートフェルトファンシー
Heartfelt Fancy

「どうしたの？　何か顔色が良くないみたいだけど、
まだ病み上がりで調子が悪いの？」
「あ、ああ、そんな事ないわ。むしろ絶好調みたいで……」
「？」

“Is anything wrong? You look a little pale.. are you still not feeling that well?”
“Ah? Oh.. No, it’s nothing like that at all. Actually, I feel spectacular…”
“Hm?”

メリーは最近、結界の切れ目だけで無く、異世界の風景を見ているようだ。
さらに夢の中だけで無く、実際に移動したりする事があるようで気になっている。

Lately, Merry was not just seeing gaps in the boundaries of worlds, but seeing beyond them into the worlds themselves. And it wasn’t just in dreams anymore, there were cases where she actually went to the places she saw, and that was making her a little worried.

先日の鳥船遺跡の時もそうだ。蓮子にとってはただの夢かも知れないが、彼女
にとっては現実と変わらない。だから、彼女だけが怪我をしたのだ。
サナトリウムに行った理由も、精神異常と判断された、と言うのが正しいのだ
ろう。無論そんな事はないが、社会は不思議な者を受け入れないのだ。
だから、彼女の能力はオカルトな物として秘密にしなければならない。

Then there was that time at the Torifune Ruins, just a few days before. It might have been just a dream to Renko, but it was real for Merry. After all, she was the only one who was wounded.
The real reason she was put in the sanatorium was probably because it was determined she had some kind of psychological anamoly. Of course that wasn’t the case, but society just isn’t receptive to strange persons.
Therefore, Merry must keep her ability secret, as some element of the occult.

「私は、メリーが不思議な力を持っているのは判っているわ。
でも、その力っていつも神社仏閣が関係しているのよね」
「そうだっけ？」
「ええ、だからここに来てみたんだけど、まだ体調が優れないのかしら？」
「だから、平気だって。
ただ、少し調子が良すぎてねぇ、なんか余計な物まで見えて」
「余計な物？」
「地獄とかね」

“Merry, I know that you have some kind of mysterious power, but I also know that that power is somehow related to shrines and temples.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons we came here, but are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
“I already told you, I’m fine. It’s just… maybe I feel -too- fine. Like I’m able to see more than I should.”
“More than you should? Like what?”
“Like Hell.”

04.　六十年目の東方裁判 (Judgement of the East on the Sixtieth Year)
[Rokujuunenme no Touhou Saiban]
Fate of Sixty Years

「うわー、これはちょっと」
「随分とファンニーな顔をしているわね」

“Uwah… This really is just a little…”
“It’s got a really ‘funny’ face doesn’t it?”

二人は善光寺の閻魔像の前にいた。閻魔像は顔を真っ赤にして怒りを
表しているようだが、二人にはただの酔っ払いオヤジにしか見えていない。

Renko and Merry were standing in front of a statue of Yama. Its face was depicted bright red and in anger, but to them the statue just looked like a random old drunk.

「ねえ、メリー。さっきの話だけど、地獄って本当にあるの？」
「うーんと地獄はね、
地下４万由旬に存在すると言われているの」

“Hey Merry. Back to what we were talking about before. Does Hell really exist?”
“Well… It’s said that Hell exists forty thousand ‘yojana’ underground.”

「由旬って長さの単位？」
「そう、古代インドの長さの単位で１由旬はおよそ７キロ。
つまり、４万由旬はおよそ２８万キロくらいね。
地球の直径が１万２千キロちょっとだから、地球も通り過ぎちゃうわ」

“And ‘yojana’ is a measure of distance?”
“Yes, It’s a unit of length used in ancient India where one yojana is about seven kilometers. So forty thousand yojana would be about two hundred eighty thousand kilometers. The diameter of the earth is just a little over twelve thousand kilometers so the distance goes through the earth.”

「２８万キロじゃ、地球を通り越して月の方が近いくらいね。
つまりは存在しないのかな」
「んー、そうとも言えないんだけど」

“At two hundred eighty thousand kilometers, that puts the moon closer than Hell, even if you start by going through the earth. In other words, I guess that means it doens’t exist.”
“Well… I wouldn’t be quite so sure about that…”

地下４万由旬に存在するのは地獄の底である。
実際には地獄はそこから３万９千由旬の高さがある。つまり地獄の
天井はずっと近く、地上からそこまでの距離は１千由旬しかない。キロに換算
すると地下７千キロ。これは地球の中心近くに地獄がある事を意味している。

What lies forty thousand yojana underground is the bottom of Hell. Actually, Hell is about thirty nine thousand yojana high. That means that Hell’s ceiling is far closer, just a thousand yojana from the surface. Converting to metric puts that at about seven thousand kilometers underground. In other words, close to the center of the earth.

メリーには地球内部の事まではよく判らない。もし自分が地獄が存在すると
信じたら、いつか必ず行く事になるのでは無いか、そんな不安が頭をよぎる。
彼女は今、そう感じさせる物を持っているのだ。
不安を誤魔化すべく話を続ける。

Merry didn’t know that much about the inside of the earth, but if she were to believe that Hell really exists, the anxiety that surely one day she would find herself there crossed her mind. After all, Merry was carrying with her something that made her feel that way. Merry continued the conversation, trying to conceal her anxiety.

「それでも極楽よりはずっと近いのよ？」
「え？　極楽は雲の上にあるんじゃなくて？」

“Still, that puts it a lot closer than paradise.”
“Huh? Wasn’t paradise supposed to be somewhere above the clouds?”

「極楽にすむ阿弥陀如来の身長は6×10^125由旬もあるのよ？
雲の上どころかーー」
「ーーえーと、阿弥陀如来の身長だけでビッグバン宇宙より遥かに大きいわね。
何そのインフレ」

“Amitabha, who lives in paradise,’s height is 6×10^125 yojana you know? Saying just above the clouds isn’t even…”
“Umm… If that’s the case, Amitabha’s height is far greater than the scope of the universe, at least according to the Big Bang Theory. That’s some ridiculous inflation.”

05.　アガルタの風
[Agharta no Kaze]
Agharta Wind

「地獄に比べて極楽は遥かに大きくて遠いのね」
「同時に、地獄は極楽に比べるともの凄く身近で、現実的という事なのよ」

“So I guess compared to Hell, paradise is a lot larger, and a lot farther away.”
“At the same time, Hell is a lot closer, and a lot more realistic.”

遥か昔から、人間がいる限り地上にも地獄は存在した。その地獄よりも遥かに
大きい極楽を想像して恐怖を和らげていたのかも知れない。
しかし、地底にある本物の地獄は未だに沈黙を続けている。

“Since ancient times, as long as there have been humans, there have existed ‘hells on earth’. It may be that people imagined paradise to be far greater than their hells as a way to quell their fears.
Yet, the real hell lurking under the earth still remains in silence.

蓮子には黙っていたが、メリーはサナトリウムで療養中。地底奥深くの不思議
な世界を体験していた。
恐ろしい死の匂いが充満した洞窟の入り口。何処か古事記に出てくる黄泉比良
坂を彷彿させた。彼女はそこで手に入れた不思議な石片を現在も持っている。何
故かこの石片を持っていると、いくつかの風景が頭に浮かんでは消えるのだ。
メリーは予感した。地底には何か秘密がある。それもこの国の創世に関わる、
何かとてつもない秘密だ。

Merry didn’t tell Renko, but when she was undergoing “treatment” in the sanatorium, she experienced a strange world that lay far beneath the surface, in the depths of the earth.
There was that entrance to a cave, filled with the frightening stench of death. It reminded her of Yomotsu-Hirasaka as it was described in the Kojiki. Merry was still carrying the strange rock fragment that she found while she was there. For some reason when she held it, several landscapes crossed her mind, appearing and then vanishing just as quickly.
Merry intuition told her that some secret lay beneath the earth, and that it was somehow connected with with origins of this country – some incredible secret.

「メリー、どうしたの？
また考え込んじゃって」
「ねえ蓮子。私がサナトリウムにいたとき、何か起きてなかった？」

“Merry, what’s wrong? You’re drifting off again.”
“Hey Renko, did anything happen while I was in the sanatorium?”

06.　イザナギオブジェクト
Izanagi Object

「え？　何か、ねぇ」
「特に、地底に関わる事で」
「う、うーん。そういえば、完全に情報は遮断されてたのね。
ＯＫ，ＯＫ。一ヶ月くらいのニュースなら大抵覚えているわ。
地底に関わる事なら……、そうねえ眉唾のニュースで良ければ」
「お願い」
「日本海のメタンハイドレートの採掘場から、何やら不可思議な成分の鉱物
が出たって……。
２５００万年前に完全に消えたイザナギプレートの名残だって、一時大騒
ぎになったんだけど、どうもその情報が眉唾物でね。見つかった石片が、
どう見ても人の手が加わった形をしていたのよ。
それで学者もみんな冷めちゃってさ」

“Huh? Anything? Uh…”
“In particular, anything that has to do with the depths of the earth.”
“Um… Oh yeah, now that I think of it you were completely cut off from all outside information weren’t you? Ok, Ok. Iremember pretty much everything that went on in the news in the last month. Something that has to do with the depths of the earth… Well there was that. If you’re alright with some false news…”
“Let’s hear it.”
“At one of the methane hydrate drilling sites in the Sea of Japan, some ore of a strange composition was found… Those involved said that it was a relic of the Izanagi Plate that was thought to have completely disappeared some twenty five million years ago, and there was an uproar about it for a while, but it seems that some of the information was fabricated. The rock fragment they found had to be man-made, no matter how you looked at it. Once that appeared to be the case, the entire scientific community lost interest.”

イザナギプレートとは、太平洋側からユーラシアプレートにぶつかり日本列
島を生んだ太古のプレートである。２５００万年前に大陸の下に潜り込んで、
完全に消えた。その名前は日本列島を生んだ神にちなんだ物である。

The Izanagi Plate was the ancient tectonic plate which gave rise to the Japanese archipelago when it ran into the Pacific side of the Eurasian Plate. Twenty five million years ago it was completely submerged under the Eurasian continent and disappeared. Its name comes from the god that was said to have created the Japanese archipelago.

「遥か地底から人工物？　それって本当？」
「いやー、どうだかねぇ。過去にはこれは７０万年前の石器だ、って捏造し
た学者もいたみたいだけど、２５００万年以前、じゃあねぇ」
「つまり逆説的に、捏造では無いと」

“Something man-made, deep under the earth’s surface? Is that true?”
“Well… I’m not so sure about that. There was that one case of that scientist who claimed that some manufactured stone “artifact” was a relic from seven hundred thousand years ago, but twenty five million years ago? That seems like a tough argument to make.”
“In other words, it’s actually almost certain that it’s -not- a fake.”

メリーが何か確信を持ったような表情を見せた。

Merry looked as if she had made up her mind.

07.　妖怪裏参道 (The Youkai’s Backroad to the Shrine)
[Youkai Urasandou]
Enigma Street

「良いニュースだわ。
その人工物は、本物よ！」
「へ？
今日のメリー、何か変よ？　急に不安がったり、急に自信持ったり」
「実はね、私、そのイザナギプレートの名残という石を持っているのよ」
「へ？
な、何言ってるの？　やっぱりおかしくなちゃった？」

“That’s great news! That man-made object is real!!”
“Huh? Merry, aren’t you a little off today? Before, you suddenly you look worried, and then now suddenly you’re full of confidence…”
“The truth is, I’ve got one of those fragments of the Izanagi Plate!”
“Huh? W-What are you talking about? Are you sure you’re alright? There isn’t something wrong?”

蓮子は何やら興奮しているメリーを観察した。
何か、伊弉諾が実在……等、ぶつぶつと呟いてる。何かちょっと遠くに
行ってしまったようで寂しく思った。

Renko looked on as Merry was getting all excited about something.
She kept on muttering things like “Izanagi was real…” on and on. It was as if Merry was going off somewhere all by herself and Renko started to feel lonely.

そう言えば最近、メリーの能力が高まっている様に感じていた。最初の頃は
ただ不思議な世界が見られると言う事で遊んでいただけなのに、今ではその世
界から物を持ってくる事も自在という。

Come to think of it, recently it felt as if Merry’s abilities were getting stronger. At first, they had enough fun just with the chance at a glimpse of strange new worlds, but now they were bringing things back from those worlds, as if it were nothing.

不思議な世界では妖怪のような者に出くわす事もある。蓮子にとってはそれ
はただの幻像であるが、メリーには現実なのだ。

In those strange worlds they had sometimes encountered beings like youkai. To Renko those were just figments of her imagination, but to Merry, they were real.

蓮子にはメリーがその妖怪と同じレベルにいると思えてならなかった。

Renko couldn’t help thinking that Merry was on the same level as those youkai.

08.　アンノウンＸ
[Unknown X]
Unfound Adventure

「ねえねえ、メリーが持っているっていう石って……」
「はいこれ」

“Hey Merry, that rock you said you had with you…”
“Here you go.”

メリーは小さな石を差し出した。その形、は釣り針とも鍵とも言いがたい
形容しがたい形をしていた。明らかに人工物である。

Merry held out a small rock. Its shape was something like a fishing hook and something like a key. It was hard to describe, but it was clearly man-made.

「これがイザナギプレートから見つかった人工物、伊弉諾物質よ」
「んー、なんでそう言い切れるの？」

“This is what I found at the Izanagi Plate. It’s an Izanagi Object.”
“Hmm… How can you say for sure?”

「私には見えるもん。
２５００万年前に伊弉諾が創った日本の姿が」
「今日のメリーは、いつもにも増して電波ね」
「何とでも言って、今は新しい映像が次々と入ってきて絶好調なんだから」

“I can see it. The shape of Japan as it was made by Izanagi, twenty five million years ago.”
“You really are acting a lot weirder than usual today, Merry.”
“Say what ever you want, right now I feel amazing. I keep on seeing these new images, again and again.”

サナトリウムから戻ってきて、メリーは一段と感覚が鋭くなった様に見える。
蓮子は羨ましく思うと同時に、何とかして自分もその映像を見なければと思った。

Since Merry came back from the sanitorium, it looked as if her senses had sharpened to a whole new level.
While Renko felt a bit jealous, she hoped that somehow she too could see what Merry saw.

「ねえ、私にも見せてよー。その映像」

“Come on, show them to me too!”

09.　日本中の不思議を集めて (Collect All the Curiosities of Japan)
[Nihonjuu no Fushigi wo Atsumete]
Mysterious Island

人はいつから不思議を受け入れなくなったのだろう。

When was it that people stopped accepting mysterious things?

暗闇に火の玉が浮かんでいれば、昔は死者の無念の魂とか、狐が人を騙す時
の火だとか言ったものだった。

When will o’ wisps appeared, people once thought they were the regretful spirits of the dead, or fires which foxes used to deceive humans.

そこには深い想像力があった。

In those thoughts was a deep sense of imagination.

科学が進んでも、想像力が重要なのは変わらなかった。科学の大半は想像力で
出来ているからだ。火の玉は燐の自然発火だとか、プラズマだとか、脳の仕組み
で起こる錯覚だとか想像した。

Even as science advances, the power of imagination does not grow any less important. The better half of science is still based on imagination. In order to explain those will o’ wisps, we imagined that perhaps those they were natural combustions of phosphorus gas, perhaps they were plasma, perhaps they were some sort of hallucination caused by the inner workings of the brain.

しかし、情報化社会が進むと想像力は死滅した。
情報が誰にでも平等に与えられる物になった時代に想像の余地は無かったのだ。
火の玉の正体は与えられた情報の海の中に必ず答えがある。無ければ、何かの
間違いで片付ければ良い、と。

However, as this society built on information advances, the power of imagination has been all but extinguished.
In this age where information is equally available to anyone, there is no room left for imagination.
“On the true nature of will o’ wisps, in the vast sea of information given to us, there surely will be an answer. If there isn’t, then the whole thing must be some kind of mistake we should disregard.”

人は答えのある不思議を娯楽として楽しみ、答えの無い不思議を否定した。
それが、この国から神様が消えた理由である。
今はもう、日本中が神様の墓場なのだ。

People have taken great pleasure in finding the answers to great mysteries, and have denied the mysteries that have no answer.
That is why they all have vanished from this country.
Now, all of Japan is but a graveyard for the gods.

「メリー！　この場所、見た事があるよ！」

“Merry! I’ve seen this place before!!”

10.　素敵な墓場で暮らしましょ
[Suteki na Hakaba de Kurashimasho]
Neo-Traditionalism of Japan

「この逆さに刺さった鉾は、高千穂の天逆鉾ね。
伊弉諾命と伊弉冉命が大地をかき回したという鉾よ」

“That spear that’s stuck in the ground, that’s the Ame-no-Sakahoko of Takachiho! That’s the spear that Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto were said to have wrought the ground with!”

メリーは蓮子の目に手を当てていた。こうする事で、不安定だかメリーの
ビジョンを共有する事が出来るのだ。

Merry had put her hand over Renko’s eyes. By doing so, although it was a bit unstable, Merry was able to share her vision with Renko.

「え？　この世界に実在するの？」
「高千穂峰の山頂に刺さっているのよ。もの凄く不思議なのに、誰もまともに
研究しようとしないの」

“Huh? That exists in our world?”
“It’s sticking of out the peak of a mountain in Takachiho. Even though it’s really strange, no one’s properly researched it.”

メリーからもう不安は消えていた。自分が見た地底の光景は地獄なんかじゃ無い。
これは現実にある、神々の世界の映像なんだ、と。

All of Merry’s anxiety was gone. The land under the earth that she had seen wasn’t Hell. What she had seen were images of the world of the gods, a place that actually existed.

「じゃあ、きっとその天逆鉾も本物ね。
この伊弉諾物質と同じ石で出来て居ると思うわ。確かめなくちゃ」
「良いわね。今度、メリーの快気祝いに行こう。
天逆鉾が本物だとすると……、もしかしたらここの近くにも伊弉諾物質が
あるかも知れないわ！」

“Then that must mean that Ame-no-Sakahoko is real too. I think it’ll made out of the same rock as this Izanagi Object. We’ll have to check it out!”
“That sounds wonderful. Let’s go in celebration of your fantastic recovery. If the Ame-no-Sakahoko is real, then… there might be another Izanagi Object close by!”

二人の想像力はとどまるところを知らない。

Their imagination knew no bounds.

「休憩したら次は戸隠に行ってみようよ。
あそこには天手力男命がぶん投げたという天の岩戸があるんだって」

“After we rest a bit we should go to Togakushi. Supposedly that’s where Tedjikaraono-Mikoto burst through the gate of the celestial cave, Ama-no-Iwato!”

「天の岩戸といえば高千穂の……」

“Isn’t Ama-no-Iwato part of Takachiho’s…”

「そう、きっと天の岩戸も伊弉諾物質だわ！
そうと決まれば行こう、戸隠へ」

“Exactly! I’m sure that Ama-no-Iwato’s an Izanagi Object! Now that that’s that, let’s go to Togakushi!”

「ワクワクするね。
きっと誰も気にかけないだけで日本中に伊弉諾物質が眠ってるんだわ。
それに気が付いた者だけが、神の時代の風景が見られるの。
素敵だわ、私達で見つけ出しましょう！」

“This is really exciting isn’t it! I think that Izanagi Objects are sleeping all throughout Japan, it’s just that no one’s paid them any attention. Only people that have realized them for what they are can see the landscape as it appeared in the time of the gods. This is wonderful! Let’s go out and find them all!”

神様の墓場が史実として動き始めていた。
それは秘封倶楽部、不思議を受け入れた者だけが見える、別の日本の姿だった。

So they started off, taking in the graveyard of the gods as factual history.
It was what the members of the Sealing Club, those who accepted inexplicable mysteries, could see… a different Japan.

あとがき
Afterword

どうもＺＵＮです。久しぶりではありませんね。
私は信州の出ですので、長野の善光寺には何度か行った事があります。

How do you do, it’s ZUN. It hasn’t been that long has it?
I’m actually from Shin’shuu, and have been to the Zen’kou-ji temple in Nagano several times.

あそこには戒壇巡りという、真っ暗な通路を手探りで歩く施設があります。

There is a pitch black passageway inside of the temple where it’s so dark you must find your way through hand and foot, and it is used in a certain set of monks’ trials.

「真っ暗、って言っても、観光客が多いんだから安全性を考慮して非常口の
灯りくらいはあるんでしょ？」

“Pitch black? But if there are many people that come as tourists aren’t there emergency exit lights there for safety reasons?”

いえいえ、本当に真っ暗です。あの中で事件が起きたら目撃者ゼロです。
その真っ暗な通路の中で、極楽の錠前を握る事が出来ればミッションクリアです。

No, no. It really is pitch black in there. If an incident happened in that passageway there would be absolutely no eyewitnesses.
The whole point is that if in the middle of the dark passage you can grip the lock of paradise, it’s “mission clear”.

そんな戒壇巡りですが、一度だけ中にライトが入っている時がありました。
確か七年に一度の御開帳の時だったと思います。大変な混雑だったので恐らく
安全性を考慮しての事でしょう。子供心にはガッカリした物です。

That’s the way it usually is, but there was one time when there were lights on inside of it.
I think it was during one of those once in seven years ceremonial unveilings. It was terribly crowded, so they must have done it out of safety concerns. It was really disappointing to me at the time, like I’d lost some of my innocence.

でも今になってみれば貴重な経験。
普段見る事の出来ない極楽の錠前の形をしっかりと覚えています。

But looking back now it really was a valuable experience to me.
After all, I still remember clearly what the lock to paradise looks like, and that’s not something you see everyday.

あ、音楽ＣＤとは関係無いですね。
秘封倶楽部の二人は、普段こういう活動をしていますという話でした。

Ah, that really has nothing to do with the music CD does it?
This story was just one of those adventures the two members of the Sealing Club often have.

上海アリス幻樂団　ＺＵＮ（戸隠そばを食べたい）
Shanghai Alice Illusionary Orchestra　ZUN (Wants to Eat Togakushi Soba)
—

^I was tempted to make this first image, but I figured I’d continue with tradition – it’d be weird to have a non Merry and Renko image at the top.

2012

08/12

POSTED BY

kafkafuura

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