Matsuribayashi-hen/TIPS

Onigari-no-Ryuou
The sacred treasure Onigari-no-Ryuou. It is the most valuable treasure enshrined in the Furude Shrine’s storage.

It dates back to the ages of gods. This is the sword that was used to defeat the demon god in the time of turmoil when humans and demons co-existed with one anothe.

No one has seen this physically in over thousand years.

Legend says that this treasure is sealed inside the statue of the Oyashiro-sama. Hence, the seal to this sacred treasure will never be broken so long as the belief in the Oyashiro-sama continues.

Furthermore, the proof that this sacred treasure exist is only listed in a very ancient document that is secured tightly within the Furude Shrine. Not counting the heads of the Furude Shrine, there were only a few people in these thousand years who knew of the existence of such a sword.

According to the description written in that document, the sword resembles a drooping branch of a willow.

Several pictures of how it may look were drawn by the various heads of the Furudes in the past, but they do not resemble one another. Hence, it is believed that the heads of the Furudes themselves do not know how it looks like as they relied on their own imaginations.

Legend states that a pure and divine person by the name of Ouka received a revelation from the gods.

The demon god that wrecked havoc into the land could not be killed with a human’s nor a demon’s sword. Only a person who has the blood of both in them can kill it.

(* We can forever debate whether or not the ancestors of the Hinamizawa residents had demon blood in them or not. However, this record is the most oldest written manuscript which states that Furude Ouka (born ??? ~ died ???) may have been the first person who had both human and demon blood within her).

The heavens bestowed a divine sword to Ouka. The sword looked like a willow branch. The branches were divided into three, symbolizing the harmony between the god in the heavens, the devils of the earth, and the humans living in between.

Upon receiving the revelation of the whereabouts of the devil god, Ouka went to the marsh where it resided and destroyed the evil with this sacred sword.

(*The word destroyed varies from each sacred text to the other. The text say that she defeated, banished, or put it down, but there is nothing written of what happened to the demon itself. The oldest text say that she broke off the horn of the demon with her sword, but this is not written in the other texts.)

The divine sword that was used to demon was later laid to rest and was given the sacred name of “Onigari-no-Ryuou.” However, it is stated that Ouka sealed this sword deep within the compounds of the shrine and banned the use of it forever.

(* There is one myth that states that since the sword itself was made out of the worlds of the demons, gods, and humans, it was never intended to exist in this world in the first place. Hence, she may have sent the sword back away from the hands of the human world. On the other hand, there is one other strange theory in which it states that Ouka herself was the child of the demon, and she banned the use of the sword as it symbolized the nature of her own matricide.)

It is also interesting to note that one theory suggests that the roots of the Oyashiro-sama belief implied that the demon itself was the Oyashiro-sama; that it was the cause of all the chaos and the root of all evil. It is hinted that they may have revered and appeased the Oyashiro-sama into such a strong local religion so that it will never resurrect in this world again.

(* Could this be a sort of pagan idol-ism? However, if this theory is true, this contrasts sharply with the reverence of the Oyashiro-sama as being a god of protection, grace and marriage that we know of today.)

This theory purports a human-centric design in which the cause of discord between the villagers was caused by the Oyashiro-sama, and that a demon should never exist in the human world. This mythology would be altered through time via narratives of how humans and the demons began to learn to live together in peace…

However at the same time, the written primary sources of the origins of the Oyashiro-sama faith and the history of the Furude family were sealed away, never to be seen again. It is believed that the Furudes may have sealed their texts since the mythology of the now-beloved god Oyashiro-sama contradicted the actual primary source which stated that the Oyashiro-sama was the cause of evil in the first place, which may cause confusion in the teachings of the Oyashiro-sama religion.

And, if we are to take these sacred texts as they are written, the bloodline of the Furude family is tainted with sin as they are descendants of a person who committed matricide.

Should all of these are true, then the Oyashiro-sama belief that we all know today contrasts sharply with the initial teachings of the Furude founder.

Several hundred years ago, one of the heads of the Furude family had written the following onto one of these sacred texts:

The sacred sword, Onigari-no-Ryuou is a symbol of the sins committed by the Furudes and the humans of this world.

It was a time in which man caused chaos by blaming others for all the cause of evil; a time in which man could find salvation only by annihilating the so-called “cause” altogether.

The Furude founder (see footnote 1) accepted all the blame for the cause of all evil, and told her own daughter to kill her in order to regain tranquility and peace back to the world.

(Footnote 1: Usually, most people refer the Furude founder to by Furude Ouka, but seldom texts exists in which the writer refers to the mother whom Ouka committed matricide to. To even utter that the Furude founder was the demon should be deemed as the highest of the taboo. Yet, it is very interesting to note that one of the heads of the Furude family came to this conclusion.)

Should one day the Furudes and man once again begin to commit the sinful act of blaming others for evil; should one day when the demon awakens its eye into this world; the Oyashiro-sama belief will wane and the statue will crumble, in which the Onigari-no-Ryuou that was entombed inside it will once again reveal itself into this world.

This will symbolize the resurrection of the sins that the Furudes have forgotten in times past.

Was the demon just a figment of one person’s imagination, or did she really exist?

Could there be rare natural occurrence in which the heavens gave us a child born with horns on her head? To my future descendant of the Furude family. There are many texts relating to the mythology of the Oyashiro-sama, yet there are also many contradictions within each of them.

But, you should not lose your sight on what they are all trying to say. No matter how contradictory these are all written, they all are trying to say one important thing.

Feel what must've gone through Furude Ouka’s mind when she sealed away the Onigari-no-Ryuou forever. That is the enlightenment in which the head of the Furude family must achieve. Hanyuu's reflection on her past?Edit

Hanyuu?: "It is a child's duty to be at their parent's death."

Ouka?: "But mother! I have never heard of an instance in which a child must murder her own parent!"

Hanyuu?: "Don't cry my child. I am not a human. This horn says that I am a demon. And it is a demon's duty to shoulder all the evil of this world. Henceforth, it is my duty to accept the chaos and turmoil that exists in this world and re-purify the minds and souls of the people with my own death."

Ouka?: "Why must mother take the blame for everything? The sins of the people are their own sins. These sins are not mother's!"

Hanyuu?: "Listen, my child. People live their lives in sin. And they can only live by blaming their faults against others. And none of them wants to be the only one taking the blame for everything, so they shove their sins against each other. That whole thing is the demon itself. Those...are the real demons that causes turmoil in this world. And I, will accept all the blame. If all the blame is shifted onto me, people will feel relieved and they will finally be freed from this demonic nature of doubting everyone.

Come my child, bring all the sins, hate, curses, and evil onto my body. And strike a fatal blow into my body with that sword, purify the village, let my intestines flow down the river, and dump my body into the marsh.

This can only be carried out by someone who is not of human blood. This cannot be done by anyone else. If a normal human does this, this will not free the people from doubt and suspicion of this chaotic nature."

Ouka?: "I don't understand mother, I don't! Yes, it is true that mother has a horn on her head which cannot be hidden. But why must mother be treated as like a monster and a demon just because of a horn? It is them who are the monsters for treating mother like this! Horn or no horn, you are my mother!"

Hanyuu?: "My lovely child...you are the only one who says that... No matter what they all call me with such insults like XXXX or XXXX, you are the only one who accepts me as a human..."