Chapter 9 - 6 Oddity_2

Words : 1432 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 9 - 6 Oddity_2"Nozawa family?" Ping furrowed her brows in thought for a moment, not recalling the name of any prominent figure being Nozawa. Eventually, she ceased to force her memory. After all, knowing he held a noble status was sufficient; the matters of the noble samurai were forever incomprehensible to commoners. She then turned and asked, "What about anything else?" Yayoi considered and said, "They seem to have come from a far-off place, unfamiliar with Owari Province." Perhaps they had come from Chiyu, Omi, or Iga, or possibly after visiting the Ise Grand Shrine, were preparing to head to Atsuta Shrine. Ping personally saw Nozawa emerge from the mountains, his accent peculiar, suggesting he was an outsider forcibly crossing mountains to arrive in Owari Province, leading one to believe his martial arts must be impressive—within the Ise Mountains were rampant boars, along with bears and wolves (as Japanese wolves had not yet gone extinct at this time). Without extraordinary strength, one was highly likely to perish in the process of crossing the mountains. In this era, those daring to cross mountains were not to be trifled with, moreover, Nozawa managed to carry a companion while injured across the rugged terrain, truly an extraordinary warrior. Theoretically, if a companion were severely injured in the deep mountains, the most survivable strategy would be to abandon the companion and depart immediately; otherwise, the mere consumption of energy could cause anyone to meet their doom. Ping pondered internally and glanced at her daughter, continuing to inquire with her gaze. Yayoi considered again, shaking her head and saying, "That's about it; Lord Nozawa's attire is truly remarkable, very smooth and solid, quite comfortable and warm to the touch, and adorned with gold threads and little embellishments, exquisitely beautiful." In fact, they were copper alloy zippers and buttons, which she didn't recognize. "Could it be Ming Country silk?" Ping casually speculated. She had heard that Maeda Toshimasa owned a silk belt, reportedly very splendid, shimmering under sunlight with a faint reflection. However, she, being a simple servant, had never seen it. Considering the fabric must be similar to Nozawa's clothing—so finely woven it glistened and slightly reflected light, she could only think of the splendid silk from Ming Country. Yayoi longed fervently, desiring such a splendid and warm clothing herself, even at the cost of living a few less years, couldn't help but murmur: "The style is just not good, it's too strange, kind of a pity." Ping didn't mind, "Lord Nozawa is likely an oddity; there's nothing unusual about eccentric fashion." "Oddity?" Yayoi heard a new term, momentarily very curious. As a previous servant for a samurai household with some experience, Ping was constantly attentive to cultivating her daughter's knowledge, demeanor, and speech, hoping she might have the opportunity in the future to work at Hosokawa Castle and ideally marry locally, considering rural life in Japan was exceedingly harsh. Being confined to Hibi Village and marrying a farmer, she estimated one would suffer from hunger and hardship a lifetime—she at least married a "low-level magistrate (one who acts on command)," an "officer" responsible for managing rural labor, considered an object of envy among the village women, occasionally able to eat her fill, while ordinary farmers' wives suffered exceedingly with constant hunger, all skin and bones. Patiently imparting the knowledge to her daughter, "An oddity is someone whose words, behavior, and attire are all beyond the norm, generally the more peculiar the dress, the higher the status. You must remember this in the future, and don't offend these nobles; they usually have quite a bad temper." The "oddity" she mentioned evolved from individuals like "pusala." "Pusala," originally referring to one of the twelve divine generals under Medicine Buddha, highlighted for peculiar appearance and lavish attire, was later extended during the Japanese Northern and Southern Courts period to refer to excessive clothing, behavior, and individuals. For instance, records in "Kenmu Shikimoku" noted: lately termed pusala, specially indulging in extravagance. Silks and satins, intricately forged silver swords, they stood out sharply, one might call them insane. Therefore, if they are insane, what goodness can they possess? These individuals often upheld the belief of "only I remain pure among the multitude," seeking to "indulge in pusala elegance," to be "different from others," to "manifest personal freedom," with attire fearing not being exquisite, armor fearing not standing out, behavior fearing not being bizarre. Specifically including dressing only half (half-naked, not necessarily exposing the upper body), possessing various bizarre hairstyles, creating swords inlaid with gold and silver, painting totemic symbols on armor, installing crescent moons, bull horns, tiger teeth, light wheels, flower trees, and other peculiar decorations on helmets, or even amusing high officials, setting maple forests aflame, throwing feces at temples, riding horses with whole trees held aloft, parading down the streets for entertainment. Extremely, Japan's Kyoto was frenetically insane in fashion, without it no fame could be achieved, with no fame official roles unattainable, with no official positions safeguard duties unreachable, failing to perform extortion and not to enrich family fortunes. By the late Muromachi Shogunate era, this "pusala elegance" evolved ever more exaggeratedly into "oddity fashion." S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. For instance, armor styles grew ever stranger, adding many useless ornaments, haori and mother's robe colors became ever more vivid, "water pearl thin gauze formation haori" appeared, semi-transparent, suspecting its classification as military uniform, even included frontal adornment two meters high on helmets, paper-made with silver paint resembling crescent shapes. Helmets surpassing human height couldn't even be described with the word peculiar. The same applied to hairstyles, bald, rocket style, anti-moon phase hairstyle, only hair on the forehead while shaved everywhere else, and so forth, likewise frolicking demons, extremely bizarre. A societal atmosphere was similarly in effect, for instance, Chiyu Shrine witch Akuni, to fund shrine restoration, incorporated "Nembutsu Odori (a type of religious dance praying for blessings)" with storylines, cross-dressing as man and accommodating numerous prostitutes (similar to future Japanese sex workers) to perform and earn income, becoming renowned for bold and glamorous style—unthinkable before Muromachi, as traditional etiquette would condemn such, Akuni would meet immediate beheading rather than widespread acclaim. Akuni later even became the founding master of Japan's Kabuki; however, Kabuki's development was less straightforward: "Yujo Kabuki," due to public venue extensive conduct of H-color (witch Akuni's performances, though comparatively proper with heavy religious atmosphere, targeted high-end market attractions, whereas prostitutes claimed storytelling while performing large-scale stripteases, simulating marital life among women on town stage), and secretly organizing prostitution, resulting in numerous security issues and deaths, was banned. Followed by conversion to "Wakashu Kabuki," with adolescent boys cross-dressing for performances, resulting in appealing faces, compelling effects after cross-dressing, even more alluring than typical women, causing widespread homosexual affairs, and extensive illicit relations with warriors' families left behind, inciting public outrage, thus banned again. Finally forcing a change to "Yarou Kabuki," only permitting adult men to act while wearing masks, emphasizing skill over actors themselves, finally evolving into contemporary Japanese Kabuki performances. Summarily, regardless of perspective, during Japan Warring States Period civil life was exceedingly chaotic, peculiar, and open, Nozawa wearing hiking attire and boots, short hair, was of no matter; no stranger than those who rode horses with a small braid, naked with a tree carried along? Ping roughly recounted some oddity stories she had heard to Yayoi, her daughter, who had never seen them while Ping had encountered a few while in Hosokawa Castle, leaving deep impressions. Yayoi was astounded, her pupils widened, her young mind deeply shaken—unthinking Nozawa, who appeared quite gentle and approachable, was inwardly a lunatic, suffering delusions, no wonder he often dazed suddenly. By the time Ping recounted until her mouth was parched, realizing her daughter's knowledge had improved sufficiently, and the night deepened, she urged her to rest: "Didn't say more, go sleep a while, we'll take turns on night watch tonight." Yayoi reluctantly yielded, desiring to hear more of those strange and amazing oddity tales, yet being very obedient and polite, dutifully responded and retired, leaving Ping to continue picking rice seeds beside the hearth, keeping vigil throughout the lengthy night. No choice, with esteemed guests at home, to prevent them suddenly demanding something at night and unable to locate anyone, triggering fury and spiraling into bankruptcy for their family, best if one stayed awake. May these noble guests depart soon!

Chapter 9 - 6 Oddity_2

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