My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 441: Chapter 158: Visit of the Strongest in Edo, Chiba Eijiro

Aoto merely chuckled at those absurd rumors.

Time passed bit by bit like this.

In the blink of an eye, April had passed.

May had arrived.

...

...

Man’en 1 (1860), May 5th——

Edo, Little Ishikawa Hoshimura Willow Street, Shiwei Hall——

Today’s Shiwei Hall is bustling.

Outside the hall, Chokata widened the paper sliding door a bit more, then teamed up with Aoto. The two carefully moved a massive rack into the hall, one in front and one behind.

Because the width of this rack was just a bit narrower than the paper sliding door, Aoto and Chokata moved it cautiously to avoid scratching the rack.

After carefully placing the rack at the north end of the hall room, Chokata placed his left hand on his waist and used his right hand to wipe the thin sweat on his forehead: "Alright... let’s start arranging the puppets, armor, and weapons. Mr. Tachibana, you wait here; I’ll go fetch the puppets."

Before finishing his sentence, Chokata rushed out of the hall room and soon returned with a large box.

Inside the box were neatly arranged a variety of unusual puppets, a set of miniature armor, and a miniature tachi.

Chokata beckoned Aoto over, motioning for him to help place the items from the box onto the rack one by one while asking Aoto with a playful smile:

"Mr. Tachibana, later, do you want to help auntie wrap zongzi in the kitchen?"

"Sure." Aoto replied with a laugh without hesitation, "Anyway, I’m on vacation today and quite idle."

Today is May 5th, the Dragon Boat Festival.

Japan also celebrates the Dragon Boat Festival. During the Edo Era, the Dragon Boat Festival was one of the most important festivals, collectively known as the "Five-Verse Festival" alongside the Human Day Festival, Shangsi Festival, Tanabata Festival, and Double Ninth Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival was introduced to Japan from China after the Heian Era (794-1192).

Once introduced, it rapidly blended with local Japanese culture, developing customs rich in Japanese local characteristics.

Since ancient times, an important activity during the Dragon Boat Festival is to place calamus at the door, which is believed to ward off evil.

Placing calamus at the door is one of the most crucial customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, thus the festival is also known as the "Calamus Festival."

In Japan, calamus has meanings beyond warding off evil.

Because in Japanese, the pronunciation of calamus is the same as "focusing on martial arts," and the calamus leaves resemble a samurai sword. Therefore, in the eyes of military families, the Dragon Boat Festival carries special significance.

Gradually, military families associated the Dragon Boat Festival with celebrating the growth of boys in the family.

By the time of the current Edo Era, Japan’s Dragon Boat Festival developed the attribute of "Boys’ Day," with customs that have completely diverged from China’s Dragon Boat Festival, essentially becoming an entirely different affair.

On the Dragon Boat Festival, military families set up racks indoors, similar to those for decorating Hina dolls, to arrange puppets of Sakata Kinshi, Emperor Jinmu, and China’s Zhong Kui, along with small armor, weapons, flags, while offering zongzi and kashiwa mochi to pray for the boys’ healthy growth and future success in battle.

On this day, real flags and carp streamers symbolizing success and the carp leaping the dragon’s gate are also hung outdoors and in gardens.

For the five days starting from the Dragon Boat Festival, women also make flower balls filled with fragrance herbs for driving away evil. These sachets, known as medicine balls, are hung at the duck-shaped eaves of the houses.

However, although the Dragon Boat Festivals of China and Japan have essentially become two different festivals, there are still some shared customs.

For example, both countries wrap and eat zongzi on this day.

The Shiwei Hall, home to the big boy Kondo Isami, always conducts elaborate celebrations during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Shiwei Hall deliberately closed for the day, mobilizing everyone for decorating the hall.

The Edo Shogunate has regulations: All officials can have a day off during the "Five-Verse Festival."

However, after the "Oil Storage Incident," tension filled the Magistrate’s Office from top to bottom.

The investigation of the "Oil Storage Incident" hadn’t concluded, hence a day off for all personnel across the "Three Times" during a tense period seemed inappropriate.

So, after careful consideration, the upper echelons decided to use a lottery system, allowing half of the people to take a day off on the Dragon Boat Festival, with arrangements for the remaining half later.

Aoto was quite lucky: he drew the lottery for a day off on the Dragon Boat Festival, granting him a much-anticipated vacation.

With the mobilization of Zhouzhu, Abi, and others, Aoto, Saito, Nagakura, Harada, and other boarders currently residing at Shiwei Hall also joined in decorating the hall.

Aoto and Chokata were responsible for setting up the racks and arranging the dolls in the hall room.

Kondo, Saito, Nagakura, and Harada were responsible for placing calamus at the main gate of Shiwei Hall, hanging flags and carp streamers.

By the way — Hijikata didn’t come to Shiwei Hall today.

According to Chokata, during these important festivals, Hijikata is always busy flirting with his group of girlfriends, so Hijikata is basically nowhere to be seen.

While Aoto was meticulously assisting Chokata in placing dolls on the rack within the hall room, the outside of Shiwei Hall was bustling.

"Nagakura, step back a bit more. Hanging the carp streamers there might look slightly better." Harada, standing outside the main gate of Shiwei Hall, directed Nagakura.

"Here?" Nagakura, standing inside the gate, held three carp streamers, stepping back half a step.

"Hmm... a little further back."

"Here?"

"...move a bit to the left."

"To the left? Here?"

"I feel you need to step further back."

"Where exactly do I stand?! Can you do this or not?!"

"Umm... never mind, go back to the original position."

"You’re playing with me?!"

Kondo, who was inserting calamus at the doors of Shiwei Hall alongside Saito, and also cleaning the main gate, turned his head to give Nagakura and Harada a helpless smile as they were quite boisterous: "Carp streamers, wherever they hang, it’s fine, hurry and just find a spot to hang them."

Sighing heavily, Kondo continued with Saito to insert calamus at the main gate.

At this moment, from the distance behind Kondo, a clear male voice sounded:

"Well, Mr. Isami, the carp streamers at your place are really nice."

Kondo’s body shook slightly, then he turned his head in surprise toward the sound — a young man who seemed quite young, holding the sword at his waist, approached Shiwei Hall with a subtle smile.

"Mr. Isami, good morning."

It’s "Skill of Chiba," Chiba Eijiro.

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Author’s Note: During the Edo Era’s Dragon Boat Festival, archery competitions and horse racing were held in some places. However, such high-end activities clearly had no relation to Shiwei Hall.

In modern Japan, the Dragon Boat Festival has mostly transformed into Boys’ Day. The festival’s original attributes have weakened considerably, evolving into a celebration specifically for boys at home, yet still retaining traditional customs such as eating zongzi.