Chihayafuru 11

*Only for use by Lazy Ass Scans

tl by JinHea

159
- Returning from Fukui,
- I’d often dream of Arata.
Big text: Chihayafuru
- 11th song

160
- Huff
- Huff
- Huff

- What is that…
- Tatami…?

- I know, it’s Ayase Chihaya. [linked] The one who put up the Karuta Club posters.
- Isn’t that guy with her the one who placed 1st in the ability test, group 1’s Mashima?
- Karuta Club~~~~~?

- With such an eye-catching pair,
- It’s useless.
- A useless club.

161
- Haa—

- Finally, we’re here…

- Alright! Time for round two. [linked] We left 3 more tatami back there.
- Eh—
- Aren’t these enough? Besides, we can still practice with just 3 tatami.

- The empress said once we have 5 members she’ll assign us a teacher as our club advisor.
Text above arrow: empress
- As more fellow players join it won’t be enough no matter how many tatami we have.

162
- Isn’t it fine even if we don’t go all out to recruit fellow players? [linked] Since you’re aiming for the title of Queen.
- I was surprised.

- To think Chihaya thought that way.
- “If there is something in which even I can become world-best,
- I want to try becoming it, I thought.”

- I can’t tell you enough how tough it is. [linked] Cos this year’s Queen is the same year as us.
- Eh!!? [linked] The same year!?

- How could you not know!?
- Well— In winter, I was studying for the entrance exam… [aside] after all…
- You’re not serious about this at all, are you!? [linked] You’re just going through the motions after being influenced by Arata…

163
- We have 3 more tatami to bring back, [linked] then it’s practice!
- Aah, okay, whatever.

- Haru sugite
- Natsu kini kerashi shiro taeno—

164
- I hosu chou ama no kaguyama—

- Ooe-saaaaan!

- Ooe-san, where are you—? [linked] Disappearing in the middle of running practice…
- Senpai are getting angry—

- Ooe-saaaaaaaaan!

- I am sorry.
- But, as I thought, it’s no good.

- Why are we running wearing hakama!? [NB. Hakama are wide-legged trousers]
- I can’t do something so improper.
- It’s a given that I’ll never hit that target in my lifetime!

165
- I just want to wear traditional Japanese clothing!

SFX: sniff…

Poster top text: Competitive / KARUTA CLUB / let’s form it together!
Poster bottom text: Please give Ayase Chihaya of Year 1 Group 2 a shout!

- Year 1 group 2, Ayase Chihaya-san.
- That gorgeous and refined personage who turns everyone’s heads
- is recruiting fellow connoisseurs of Hyakunin Isshu.

166
Sun rays bubble: The door I should be knocking
Sun rays bubble 2: was over here.
Chihaya: Oh dear, it has been taken yet again.
- Oh, but Chihaya-sama is strong also.

- Miyauchi-sensei definitely said they’re using what had been the student council room…
Text beside figure: Miyauchi-sensei (Empress)
- What should I do if they have already received too many applications… [aside] Could it be that I am too late?

SFX: b-dmp b-dmp b-dmp

- Mu

167
- rasame no—

- You’re really good at making decisions with just one syllable to go on, huh—
- Heheheh—
- ?? [linked] Eh!?

- Arashi fuku—

- Miseba yana—

168
- Wh
- What is this…

- You mean
- This is “Karuta”—!?

- Thank you very much.
- Thank you very much.

- I won— [linked] But Taichi, you’re unexpectedly strong.
- You completely dominated the first half.

- I [linked] believe I know the reason you’re weak with the opening…
- Huh?

169
- You rely on your exceptional listening ability and don’t try to memorize.
- Or rather, you can’t remember.

- It’s not like that. Today was just chance. [linked] At the Shiranami Meet, I did well in the first half too.
- You haven’t been practicing since the Meet, have you.

- Fellow students’ arrangements are similar so it’s easy to remember, that’s all.
- In the first half, a lot were from my arrangement. [linked] Well, that just means

- you’re an IDIOT.

170
- Losing to an idiot makes you a bigger idiot. [linked] Iiiidiot!!
- Only an idiot says that. Iiidiot.

- Welco [linked] me [linked] buh!
- Kya—

- Wait!
Text beside Chihaya: Former track and field member

- Why’re you running away!? [linked] Wait!
- I am sorry! I am sorry!
Text beside Ooe: Quickly captured

171
- You came because you’re interested in Karuta?
- You like Karuta!?

- Y…
- Yes, [linked] well…

- It goes without saying. Ogura Hyakunin Isshu was Kamakura period’s songster Fujiwara no Teika’s [linked] compilation, collecting the most outstanding traditional songs of one hundred songsters who run from the gifted emperor to Juntokuin and ordered chronologically. [linked] It is said that the songster-general Utsunomiya Yoritsuna’s Kyoto villa, Ogurasan Villa’s golden paper was commissioned for the compilation. This juncture very much fascinates me. [linked] That which holds the beauty of much decorative appeal being chosen was also due to the selection’s objective being traditional songs on coloured paper— a brilliant perspective! [linked] There are 79 male and 21 female songsters, and I am capitivated by the female vitality.

- The sense of the seasons, refinement, the beauty of words, and so on, none of which may be felt in modern songs—
- As reverberations originating a thousand years ago reach the present day, how may I best express such intensely vivid poignancy that assaults the senses? I am still at a loss for words—

172
- R-right.
- So do you like competitive Karuta?

- Do you not wear hakama?
-Hakama? [linked] I haven’t worn it before— [linked] Taichi, you haven’t either, right?

- Why?

- Song games are played by those in the palace. [linked] Even if ceremonial clothing is not possible, at least hakama should be worn!
- Kendo Club, Archery Club, without hakama they are not established!

173
- Wh…

- Why, I wonder… [linked] Because it’s expensive?
- That it’s a hassle to wear is possibly another reason.

- …For generations,
- my family has been selling traditional clothing.

- Even though we love kimono, [linked] and we want people to understand its merits,
- only cheap yukata are selling, [linked] and with business doing badly we can’t even hire a model for next year’s catalogue…

174
- If you do not wear hakama then the archery club may be the better choice.
- I have made much trouble for you.

- What a completely different meaning to “liking Karuta”—

- Let’s not listen to them as songs anymore. [linked] You don’t understand the meaning of lots of them anyway, do you, Chihaya?
- That girl doesn’t suit competitive Karuta.

175
Book: Yamamori Masao / Higashiyama Culture and Modern Japan

- Eh— [linked] hey hey
- Cuuute. [linked] She’s here.

- Wow— [linked] That’s an amazing book you’re reading.

176
- Ah, [linked] Ayase-san!
- I searched group by group. [linked] So you’re called Ooe Kanade-san. [aside] I’ll call you Kana-chan.

- Kana-chan, you like Karuta, right? [linked] Let’s play it together.

- My like and your like are fundamentally different in nature. [linked] Competitive Karuta lack appeal and enjoym…
- But I do have ones I like as songs. [linked] Like “Chihayafuru”.

Card: Ariwara no Narihira Ason / Chihaya furu / kami yo mo kikazu / tatsutagawa / kara kurenami ni / mizu kukuru toha
- I also know the meaning.
- Tatsutagawa means a very beautiful scene with water that’s been dyed bright red— [aside] it’s written in a book

- The fascination of traditional song lies in knowing its background.

- I think this is a passionate love song.

177
- Eh… love…? [linked] It isn’t a song about scenery?
- Of course, that’s the common interpretation.

- Did you know that Ariwara no Narihira had an intense love affair with Nijou’s empress before she entered the palace? [aside] It is an extremely famous story
- I didn’t… know that. [aside] Sorry

- This song was an accompaniment to a screen that was presented to the palace inner. [linked] It is also said to have been commissioned by Nijou’s empress after she entered the palace.
- It is said that Narihira was never able to forget about her. [linked] I like to interpret it as concealing passion among scenery.

- “Chihayafuru” is the makurakotoba for “god”, [NB: makurakotoba literally means pillow word. Check wikipedia for details]
- and something powerfully intense.

178
- “Mizu kukuru” holds both the meaning of to pass through water and the meaning of tying the iris
- I think the red colour of momiji passing through water [NB. Momiji are red autumnal leaves] [linked] represents the heart in love that, even apart, cannot exist unconcealed.

- If you try thinking thusly,
- even that Karuta printed in black ink,
- already appears as nothing but the deepest red, would you not say?

- Do you understand?
- The way I enjoy songs and the way competitive Karuta is enjoyed are diff—

- …Amazing.
- Eh?

178
- Amazing… [linked] Amazing amazing amazing!!

- Kana-chan, tell me more!
- Eh…

- From “Aki no tano”!
- Eh… all one hundred of them?

- “Sashi mo gusa” refers to wormwood, you see.
- It also signifies combustion…
- is that why it follows with “Moyuru omoi wo”? [NB. Moyuru omoi wo means burning feelings]
- I didn’t know.

- I didn’t know.
- On the other side of the cards, [linked] there’s a world filled with colour and warmth.

180
- I didn’t know.
- I didn’t know anything.

- Ooe-san was born in the wrong time period, don’t you think?
- True, true.
- What do they call people obsessed with traditional stuff?

- Kana-chan, tell me.

- Tell me more.

181
- Yuu sareba

- Whoa

- Yo wo komete

- Ukarikeru—
- Until now,
- I hadn’t focused on anything other than “sound”.

182
- I can also associate them with their meanings.

- Look, the cards are already telling me
- through their many colours “we’re here”.

- Aah, dammit, how come? Quit celebrating!
- Chihaya, did you practice drills?
- Heheheh—

183
- Kana-chan.
Small text along bottom of panel: skipping practice again

- My teacher told me

- to get along with Karuta and become friends with them.
- Kana-chan’s already friends with all one hundred of them.
- Becoming strong.

184
- I…
- I have conditions…

- Okaaay
- Relax and smile—

- Really~~~~?

- You’ll really join the Karuta Club?

- You have to!

- Also, all members will wear hakama for matches.
Aside: The catalogue came out nicely.
- In… in case someone doesn’t own a pair…
- They’ll rent a pair.

186
Aside: This is my first time doing this kind of thing… I’m like big sis
- Why do you want me to join the Karuta Club so much?

- Karuta doesn’t require fellow players, does it?

- Heheh.

- Chihaya!

- I found something really bad!
- I found meat bun!

187
- Found you—!!
- Meatbun-kun—!
- Eh.

- You’re a veteran so join the Karuta Club—
- Join—

- I want to
- play Karuta with Arata again.

188
- “Karuta is fun!”
- “Having friends is fun!”
- I want to tell him that.

- “Chihayafuru” is
- a song of a bright red love.

Text across bottom of page: Continued in volume 3

189
- Chitose and Chihaya 1
- Big sis hasn’t appeared much, [linked] so I’m giving her plenty of face time in the extra pages.

Bottom newspaper headline: Pop… / Popularity Number… / At last AYASE CHITOSE / makes her drama debut
- I always wanted to try acting in a drama.
Top newspaper headline: A date with the producer!?
Starburst: 20 year age difference
- …unrestrained

- Chitose
Starburst: Reverse cougar! [NB. Original text meant a killer of older men but I think reverse cougar sounds better]
- Intimate mood with Supervisor Oohara / This time it’s a 27 year age difference

- [aside] Sigh— [normal text] Chihaya [linked] Is there someone you like?
- Me?
- Karuta’s Harada-sensei [heart]

- 40 year age difference
- I lost!!
- Eh?

190
- Chitose and Chihaya 2

Box 1: 167cm
Box 2: 159cm
- If only I had your height, I could’ve been a Paris Fashion Week model for sure…

- Chihaya, it’s not too late to start now. [linked] But don’t replace me as a model, okay?
- Eh…

- Then, big sis, Don’t replace me in Karuta…
- I won’t.

- Chitose and Chihaya 3

- Wh
- What is this!?
Catalogue: Traditional clothing [big text] Ooe / Thanks to everyone’s patronage, we have arrived at our 120th anniversary

- Ah— that was a favour for a friend.
- Looks like I also made my debut as a model—

- I’m not playing Karuta though!?
- Huh?

191
- Daddy Bear Friends Association

- Chihaya-chan, I don’t have anything other than my school gym uniform… [aside] I don’t have practice clothes…
- Alright then! [linked] Let’s go buy a cute T-shirt!

Sign 1: All neckties 50% off
Text above sign 1: Come on
Sign 2 around bear’s neck: Done Bathing set
Sign 3: Hangover version / 500yen
- Gyaaaaa, Mamaaa!

- Kana-chan, they have everything here, you know.

- Daddy Bear Popularization Board

- These do not suit me…
- No problem! Daddy Bear suits everyone!

- Chihaya-chan, please don’t be depressed.
- It’s not that Daddy Bear doesn’t suit me, [linked] it’s because T-shirts in general don’t suit me.
Text on bear head: Bye-bye

- Fin
- I’ll put my all into volume 3 too.