falling cherry blossoms
Nov. 21st, 2019 12:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waterscrollJust came across this article in the New York times about different meanings of cherry blossoms in Japanese literature and art, and also the political implications of the image:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/t-magazine/japan-cherry-blossoms.html
It got me thinking because in Hakuouki falling cherry blossoms definitely have political implications, but I think they are different in Hijikata's route and in Saito's route.
In Hijikata's route *he* is the falling cherry blossom, dying for a regime that had long ago lost any hope, in a place that he helped conquer (from people who hadn't necessarily wanted to be involved in this war) more or less in order to die there. So when the article describes the image of falling cherry blossoms used to encourage soldiers to give their lives for their country in (ultimately futile) wars of conquest, well, you can sort of see the connection.
In Saito's route, the falling cherry blossom is the thing that he serves: the things that always endure. Cherry blossoms fall but grow again, year after year, and so although they are fragile and changing they symbolize eternity. Saito uses them to explain why he is (or seems to be) following the Itou faction and leaving the Shinsengumi - although this looks like change, it is loyalty to the things that don't change. Towards the end of the route, when he sees that Chizuru has kept a petal from that day, it convinces him that her love for him is equally enduring, although the nature and expression of it is changing. By the end of the route Saito has found a way to live by understanding how he can hold on to his identity as a warrior and still give up his sword.
What about other routes? I am not sure. But interesting to think about.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/t-magazine/japan-cherry-blossoms.html
It got me thinking because in Hakuouki falling cherry blossoms definitely have political implications, but I think they are different in Hijikata's route and in Saito's route.
In Hijikata's route *he* is the falling cherry blossom, dying for a regime that had long ago lost any hope, in a place that he helped conquer (from people who hadn't necessarily wanted to be involved in this war) more or less in order to die there. So when the article describes the image of falling cherry blossoms used to encourage soldiers to give their lives for their country in (ultimately futile) wars of conquest, well, you can sort of see the connection.
In Saito's route, the falling cherry blossom is the thing that he serves: the things that always endure. Cherry blossoms fall but grow again, year after year, and so although they are fragile and changing they symbolize eternity. Saito uses them to explain why he is (or seems to be) following the Itou faction and leaving the Shinsengumi - although this looks like change, it is loyalty to the things that don't change. Towards the end of the route, when he sees that Chizuru has kept a petal from that day, it convinces him that her love for him is equally enduring, although the nature and expression of it is changing. By the end of the route Saito has found a way to live by understanding how he can hold on to his identity as a warrior and still give up his sword.
What about other routes? I am not sure. But interesting to think about.
