Shiki Novel Translations 3.3

[sinnesspiel]

3

The Gotouda home was in Kami-Sotoba. Kami-Sotoba ran parallel to the village road along the river bank, extending north, a complex mingling with the community of Monzen which stretched out at the southern region of the temple. While Gotouda's house was in the middle of Kami-Sotoba, far further north of that was the northern mountain the temple was on. It stood as if to whittle away the eastern bank.

"Somehow, he seemed so sluggish," Fuki said, wiping at the corner of her eye. "At first I wondered if it was heat stroke, that's what I said. He must have eaten something bad, I thought, and then he was bedridden. He wasn't ever one to get sick, so I let my guard down, and he himself said if he just slept, he'd get better... That was..."

Seishin watched helplessly, waiting in the corner of the tatami room as Fuki burst out crying, on her knees before her condolence caller. It was tragic when a child lost a parent but when a parent lost a child something about it seemed wrong, he thought of it as all the more of a tragedy.

"I should have had a doctor examine him!" Fuki cried out. "Even if Shuuji was against it, I should have had the Junior Doctor come!"

The old man Koike patted Fuki's back. Of those gathered to help, the old women gathered around Fuki seemed to have found her crying contagious. In the tatami room, separated off, were those watching Fuki, their eyes filled with pity.

"But Shuuji-kun was always so healthy."

"They say the healthier a person is, the more sudden their death is."

"The people around him and he himself, nobody thought much of it."

And then, hearing voices of another group, Seishin faintly knitted his brows.

"...a surprise, a gated wall with such an elegant roof."

"Something like that was built? By who?"

"I just said, by the Maebara's Obaa-chan."

"But that woman doesn't have anyone to even pass it on to."

"That's right. Living on a pension like she is, spending so much money, what does she think she's doing?"

"Oh, but doesn't that woman have mountains of money?"

"Mountains you say, but isn't it on the Yamairi, Mountain Entrance, village road? Even if it's dirt cheap, there certainly won't be any buyers!"

Seishin breathed a low sigh. The village was small. Extended family, meet ups, youth groups, and all sorts of organizations made a complicated web of interpersonal relationships. That said, it didn't mean that all relationships would necessarily be deep ones. Even if there was enough of a connection to hurry to a funeral service, they didn't necessarily care enough for the dead to mourn them; there were countless such relationships throughout the village.

"I'm so sorry," a small voice said. Seishin turned back. An old woman who had come to help refilled Seishin's tea cup. "If you could please continue waiting a little longer, until the guests stop coming in."

With a nod, Seishin exhaled lightly. In such a scene as this, he had to keep a cool, refined expression---.

Death wasn't a rare thing for the village. There were many elderly in the village or rather, many deaths. To the villagers, a senior's death was no tragedy. It was an unavoidable part of man's work; the elderly had finished the pilgrimage called life and returned to the mountains. Those born in the village fulfilled their works as man and soon returned off to the mount.

But, Shuuji had not finished his work. From time to time in the village, there was something unusual that happened. For the one who had passed on and for the ones left behind, it was sheer tragedy, but the dead would at times, unable to wait for a person's homecoming, appear from out of the fir trees and carry someone off. Shuuji was carried off by such demons.

--A Shiki.
As Seishin sat silent with his thoughts, the manager old man Koike spoke, telling him to go on. Seishin moved to Shuuji's bedside to read the sutras.

Seishin finished chanting the sutras and Shuuji's body was placed in the coffin. Seeing that for the moment, there was nobody at Fuki's side, Seishin approached her.

"Then for now I will depart. Please accept my deepest condolences. He will be dearly missed."

Fuki nodded. The retired former head monk was also a gentle man but his son was even more of a gentle, soft spoken one. In an instant she was seized by an urge to spit out everything.

(It's not as if I didn't pay attention!)

There was no way she could not be worried about her bedridden son. She thought about calling the doctor, she thought about it so many times. She was only afraid, what if calling the doctor lead to something even worse than not calling him? It was because she was worried about her son.

(The blood in his futon...)

Fuki looked up at Seishin, and then in one motion returned her gaze to the string of Juzu prayer beads in her lap.

(It's all over now.)

It was far too late to be asking what had happened to Shuuji now.

"Thank you very much. ...I will be depending on you again this evening as well."

That was all that Fuki said. Seishin nodded.

"It is a troubling time but please do take care of yourself. It is painful for us to lose Shuuji-san but, if Fuki-san were to similarly fall ill, please know that there would be many similarly hurt for your sake."

Fuki nodded.

(But, there was blood in my boy's futon...)

Giving his greetings to the people gathered as he sought out Koike, Seishin found him in the living room talking on the phone.

"Koike-san, I will be taking my leave."

At Seishin's voice, with the receiver silent at his ear, Koike nodded back at him:

"Aa. Thank you for today. We'll be counting on you for the wake as well," he said to Seishin, hanging up the receiver and then mumbling to himself. "....Where did he go off to?"

"The Murasako's Hidemasa-san, you mean?"

To Seishin's question, old man Koike gave a perplexed nod. "I'd think he'd either have to be in the fields or in the mountains but. ---That's right, Junior Monk, you know Hidemasa-san's and that mountain area, don't you?"

"I believe I do. It is near the graveyard. If you'd like, should I go out there? I do not have any other plans for a while today, either way."

A relieved half-smile rose over old man Koike's face. "If you don't mind me asking. It's a sorry shame to have to ask this much of you but. At any rate, there's nobody who knows both Hidemasa-san and those mountains. If we looked I'm sure we'd find someone who knew them but, we've got to get to digging that grave in a bit here."

"I'll go. If I try looking in the mountains and am not able to find him, I will leave a note at his house."


Seishin departed from the Gotouda house and returned briefly to the temple to tell Mitsuo the situation. He changed into western style clothes more appropriate for entering the mountains and left the temple.

Driving along the private road beside the belfry, he came to the bottom of stone steps before the mountain gate. At the bottom of the stone steps was a short, steep hill road with traditional stone paving which continued for about two hundred meters, all sculpting a backdrop of a town once built around the temple. The old general store where candles and incense were, the flower shop in the grotto, and the assorted Buddhist altar equipment which included the sotoba and coffins used in the village were akin the three treasures of Buddhism: the Buddha, the sutras and the priesthood. The shrine's Otabisho's in this once very small temple town was a remnant of the time when the temple and the shrine were one entity.

The car drove on slowly, shop keeps and others coming out the front to see him. He saw in the rear view mirror as they bowed their heads, seeing him off.

There was a seemingly endless flow of people walking past the turn at the Otabisho onto the asphalt road, likely going towards Gotouda's house. Most were walking the village road along the riverbank. Of each and every person he passed, they all turned when they noticed the car approaching, bowing their heads to him as they realized it was Seishin at the wheel.

---That, there, was Seishin's burden.

Comments

[sinnesspiel]

I know Japanese readers who lost track of everyone, too. I've put tags for all the characters who I think have a particularly large part in things (and all of Ozaki's nursing staff just because *I* may need to check up on any available info on them later--many of them don't really do much important besides die), so hopefully that will help in the long run. Maybe that's part of why the anime had such outlandish designs; I can only remember Koike because he was the old guy with the fantastic and crazy beard who WASN'T Ohkawa. The description in the novel says he looks young for his age though, so it was perhaps not the most accurate way to depict him, but I digress. I might give Koike a tag here, but I don't remember him doing too much else in later parts.

I am so stoked about the audience; getting so many new people in one day makes me wonder if someone put the word out somewhere public.

1. Short answer: I'm pedantic.

Long answer: I usually translate the nes or nees or nas out, but I had a hard time with Fuki's. The Japanese speech styles are very distinct; I actually did a Bachelor's thesis on this when I was in Japan, stereotype speech styles used in Japanese fiction to denote character types by age, gender, profession, and other criterion. That's why you're about to get a three paragraph essay answer on this: it's my absolute favorite aspect of Japanese language.

Certain speech patterns denote haughty old ladies, country bumpkins, young girls, young boys, polite or rude versions of all of the above, old men, professors... So, while it may not look like it, I actually get very picky about that when translating their dialogue. I try to keep the old people sounding old, try to make the Takemura old ladies (and Oitarou) sound a little less rough than the old working class men around Ohkawa's liquor shop, etc. because the difference is notable in Japanese, so it's my job to convey that as best I can.

For example, Ozaki has a masculine-brusque/short speech style, so I translate nas at the end of his sentences as "right" when he's being more pushy ('right?' is a social marker that only pretends to seek agreement in order to recognize the listener more than an actual term used when doubting one's own information) and "huh" when he's more just being friendly informal.

(Consider how differently you hear it in your head when you read: "That's stupid, right?" vs. "That's stupid, huh?" vs. "That's stupid, huh." in your head. The first one is pressuring you to agree and you get the feeling if you disagree it'll be an argument, the second one assumes you agree without pressuring and is seeking your agreement not to confirm the information but to confirm your place in the conversation, and the third only pretends to do that and has the shape of inviting your input but is really already assuming it. The last one sounds rude, but the habit of including it even strictly as a formality is actually warmer/more socially adroit than just "That's stupid." Characters who have a lot of such social markers tend to seem more socially competent in general. Consider Greed from FMA: bad guy, EXTREMELY rough and rude speech style, but oddly enough comes off very friendly in spite of an aggressive speech style because of these markers.)

Then nes or nas meant to get attention are usually "hey." For the younger folks I can translate them off similarly with "right?" or "you know?" and such, then with the older people (usually women, usually nee instead of ne) I can make do with "Yes?" or "Say, Shuuji" because it fits the same social purpose as the ending particle ne and sounds older. But the thing is, yes sounds a bit distal or high class, which is appropriate given the elderly are known for speaking more formally, but I couldn't quite capture the "old, feminine, but not quite distantly high class" feel I got from Fuki's original dialogue. It wasn't something I could "Say, Shuuji" with because that's hard to intuitively read with the same level of concern I read into the 'nee', but "Hey, Shuuji" didn't quite fit her speech class to me either... I may adjust that at some point, and maybe they're just marks of my failure. I'm not sure if that makes any sense to you at all, ha haaaaa.... so just think of it as be being picky.

2. Buddha in Hell was actually a reference to how stoked he is to see Seishin. Hell is his work environment, Seishin is his relief. "Literally" meaning that Seishin is a Buddhist monk there in his Buddhist get up, looking the part of the Buddha. Buddha in hell would presumably be forgiving one of their sins and providing salvation too, thus the allusion Ozaki made to feeling like he'd been doing penance for something all morning. The mention of the 'halo' around him is certainly referring to the Buddhist one rather than an angelic one, but the connotations are the same: Seishin is an angel, a precious excuse to get away from his work for a few minutes. I'll have to see if I can make that clearer, since it seems it may have been lost in translation.

The Kanemasas are less flashy (to be expected; Gackt voiced Seishirou Kirishiki, there's no possible way text alone could ever capture that much fabulous) but with how many minor characters there are to keep track of, I can see why the artist might have decided to go a little crazy with the designs to make people potentially easier to remember.

[airlynx]

THAT's Koike!? Wow, what a quality mangaka. Ono describes a guy as being young-looking, and he draws him as old as possible, smh.

I would really have put the word out, because honestly this deserves many more readers, but I don't know what I could do to get it a large audience. I could post the link on the Tumblr #shiki tag? I know it's pretty popular, maybe some other people would see. If that's okay with you though, I mean, maybe you don't want someone spreading it out like that.

1) Thanks; that was a really thorough explanation. I like the little 'ne's, it seems like a nice, versatile particle. It all depends on the intonation, right, like Fuki's 'ne' is concerned and fearful, whereas a 'hello' type 'ne' would be happier. Same word, different meaning.

2)Oh, I was way off on this one, wasn't I! That does make more sense. Because Buddha coming into Hell to save someone wouldn't be a bad thing...is there a hell in Buddhism?

I'm prepared for tragically less fabulousness :'( I also wonder how the Shiki will be described. The part with the empty house and Atsushi was really scary by itself (but I get scared easily) so I can imagine how awesome the 'real' scary parts will be!

[sinnesspiel]

I'm glad the Shiki tag is lively, at least! Live long, fandom! I'm happy when people find it, but I don't mind if it's spread or not; if word's not out, I'll probably see about sharing it myself once I finish book one off and do some edits. Share if you find something worth sharing or making a post about, or enjoy temporarily being more in-the-know about the original Shiki than half the English fandom.

2. Not a Buddhist scholar, so grain of salt and all, but Buddhism has "layers of existence" that are better and worse than the human level, so hell is in theory the planes worse than here. Rather than a permanent placement after life it's more like a purgatory where you work off your bad karma and get reborn at a higher level. Different sects have different beliefs and then there are legends that may or may not correspond with any faith and are just stories; I've seen legends use 'hell' but off the top of my head haven't heard or read or heard any Buddhist faith based material that does. None of the Buddhists I've known ever really talked about it either. Ozaki uses the word for plain old 'hell' rather than any distinct plane, but but given he's Japanese and the general context, it's safe to say it's thought of more in the Buddhist sense than the one corresponding to the Western big three religions. How seriously the Japanese take their religion and its dogma is a post unto itself.

[airlynx]

Well, it's livelier than the #Kieli tag.. I track both tags, and Shiki gets over 10 new posts a day, while weeks can pass and Kieli remains at zero. Sounds good, though; you should compile Book 1 into a pdf so I can read it in one go! I'm going to feel like such a Shiki hipster. "I read the novel in English before it was cool B)" But that'd be selfish of me because this deserves a wider audience.

So there's not a lot of Christianity in Japan?
Then for Buddhism, what do you do after you've worked off all the karma? Do you just stay at the highest level? Buddhism has a cycle of reincarnation, right? So the way I understand it, you keep getting reincarnated until you become karma-less?

[sinnesspiel]

I have no tumblr, so it only lets me search so much into tags. It seems it's all pics rather than discussion, but 3+ years later, I guess it's a bit discussioned out.

I could compile book 1 into one file when it's done, if that'd make it more accessible! For reference, we're currently (end of chapter 3) just shy of 1/4th of the way through the first book.

I don't have census data in front of me, but the only Christianity I ran into in Japan were Christian weddings, as a girl I knew worked at a wedding hall. Christianity was heavily persecuted there for a while, but that's not the case systematically anymore; I have no idea if it's now also culturally accepted, but Christian symbolism is at least very popular in fiction.

Of those who mentioned their religions, Buddhists were the most common for me to meet. I hung out at a Buddhist temple a couple of times and spoke with a monk frequently on-site at school, but I'm not very interested in religion so we didn't discuss specific faith details much, particularly since I'm a painfully hedonistic materialist so the odds of me taking to it are pretty slim. But my understanding is that some sects of Buddhism believe in reincarnation in the form of being reborn as other lifeforms in the classic sense, based on karma until you reach various states of understanding that also vary sect to sect, then others believe that when a human dies, they have already 'reincarnated' to the next phase in a sense and from there journey to the next phase without becoming any other known earthy life form, en route to Enlightenment.

The Japanese are a bit famous for cherry picking what they like from religions and sects, but whether that's out of genuine belief or because it's an interesting idea to them (like many non-Christians who get on board with Christmas or even Easter) or some other personal reason varies between people and institutions. And, well, who can begrudge them for humoring a few myths as a good excuse to party?

[airlynx]

There are discussions if you know where to look...and I often bump into them when I least want it. Like if someone posts an opinion, it will eventually start a huge debate. I'm like, nah, brah, I'm here for funny pics and text posts I don't need drama!

A file would be awesome! Then I could read it as an iBook too and it'd be a lot easier to just read it straight without clicking to the next chapter after you're done with the previous. Like I said, take your time though. I'd rather have less, but good quality translations than frequent sloppy ones! It's like watching an anime, you tune in every week or so. I also like the longer chapters sections like the one in chapter 4 better than the episodic chapter 3 ones. The book is slow, but interesting, like I'm not bored. The anime was like that too, it takes a really great amount of skill, I guess, to make a story unravel as carefully as Shiki does, yet keep the reader's attention.

Oh, I see, Japan sounds like it has some sort of mix of Buddhist, Shinto, and Christian influence? That seems to be a really interesting combination, I'd love to experience it sometime. So, would you say that the average Japanese person deeply religious? Like, more so than Western people are religious? It sounds like it plays a big role in daily life, but they're not super obsessed with it--like one of those things that is just there without noticing it but if you're asked then it's like, 'oh yeah, it's been there all along.'

[sinnesspiel]

I'm cantankerous, I enjoy debates about me favorite series. But then again, I also love those Drunk Text Shiki images.

I'm not aware of too much Christian influence besides as a matter of style, though its past oppression is a major theme in some historical pieces and the hidden Marys or other Christian symbols disguised as Jizos or other more traditional symbols is very interesting if you're into that. Shiki probably overstates how big a role it is in one's daily life, the same way small towns tend to be more religious in the west. Come to think of it, if you ask me how big religion is in the west, I'd be about as lost on how to answer. I'd be inclined to say bigger but that may be because I'm more aware of it and the popular Western religions are restrictive, with direct religious authority. Japanese traditions or restrictions may have religious roots but for the most part have become a collectivist norm many don't know the precise origins of.

"Says right here in the book of Jimbob 69:21, thou shalt not pee on the tombstones of thine enemies in a drunken rage."

Whereas in Japan, it's more like "Don't pierce your food with your chopsticks, it's rude" is more likely to be said than "Food pierced with chopsticks implies it's for the dead according to a ritual formed from the inspired ancient writings of the great monk Jimubabbu."

[airlynx]

You wouldn't like the Tumblr debates. Besides, nobody every debates about Shiki! It's so sad. However, Tumblr has some really nice episode reviews. I like reading those to see what other people got out of the episode; maybe another meaning than I did. I guess it also helps me understand the story better like "this is how /I/ see it, but look at all the other ways it can be interpreted."

I guess you can't very accurately say if religion plays a bigger role because Japan is just one country, and the West is like, a lot of different countries. For instance, I think it plays a pretty big role in the United States, at least more so than in most European countries, yet they all belong to the West.
Also like you said it's similar in that small towns are a lot more religion-oriented than bigger cities - Natsuno must be extremely weirded out by all the religion in Sotoba. I would be too, but it'd be cool to go and experience that, look at the Jizo statues and stuff.

I never knew you couldn't stab your food with chopsticks :( That's virtually the only way I can manage to eat with chopsticks.