let's talk for a bit.

we'll talk about my life and what 'drastic' changes have occurred and what exactly has changed. i'm going to be a bit honest in here, i changed a lot during the course of a year and a few months of possibly not saying anything. 

i wasn't feeling like talking much and this is like my main mood at the moment, especially during the crisis.

you see, my main goal of 2020 was to socialize a bit more, spend more time outside but i guess karma wasn't on my side when covid happened and i was forced to limit my social goals or put them on hold until i could actually go out and meet some friends.

i meant to join a roleplay club in my hometown, but i never really managed to actually keep on going because certain events were unable to actually happen. now i am spending my free time roleplaying on forums and discord, playing final fantasy xiv and animal crossing new horizons.

oh, by the way: my job situation is more or less settled. i'm interning in an office of a drink shop since september 2019 and i have a big chance of getting hired. the rehab process in the institute however is going to keep up with me for a bit longer due to my social and mental deficits which make it harder for me to actually keep up with my life. i am trying my best if it wouldn't have been a situation that just occurred this morning.

see, i wanted to withdraw some money to get myself breakfast and for some reason i forgot my debit PIN. i was like "what the hell, HOW can i lose this vital memory on my head!?" i managed to block my card for inserting the wrong PIN three times but i was able to unlock my card (AND finding the right pin in my papers) and my day was saved.

yeah sometimes i can have little a brain fart and perhaps in a few months i'd just laugh about it like it was a bad joke.

but anyways, there's nothing much to say as of now since my life hasn't changed drastically. i am still happy with my boyfriend (who i love very much and that since august of 2018) and we're both still the same idiots people know us for. 

as for next post, i already have an idea as of what yokai i'm going to talk about.

but for now, have a good one and stay safe!

yokai compendium: 命婦 —「myōbu」

let's start with a fox spirit. i sure could have picked a simple one, such as bakeneko or kitsune (yokais that are probably already known to the western culture), but i think myōbu is a yokai that some people do not know so well— or that's what i think at least.

let me tell you one thing: there are so many yokai in japanese folklore and i do not know all of them or have not gathered a lot of information as of how many actually exist. if it comes to "fox-type" yokai, i could roughly count twenty, perhaps there's even more.

although when people think about fox-type yokai, their mind automatically stops at kitsune, who is also known as the legendary nine-tailed fox (also known as kyubi). however, i will talk about kitsune in a future post since its origin is actually versatile in east asian culture overall (not only japan).
now that this is settled, let me finally tell you about myōbu.

its title could be translated as "a high ranking title for court ladies" and that is what myōbu literally means. it has however an alternate name known as byakko, perhaps this one may or may not ring a bell to you. byakko means "white fox", and yes, byakko is yet another spirit (a "shijin") in folklore but originated in china. we may talk about byakko in another time.

their habitats are shrines and places sacred to inari, the japanese kami of foxes, of fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success, and one of the principal kami of shinto. inari could also originate from mount inari in kyoto, by the way, the location of fushimi inari-taisha (fushimi inari shrine). 

myōbu are celestial fox spirits with white fur and full, fluffy tails. known as holy creatures, they bring happiness and blessing to those around them. myōbu are mainly statues found in the so-called inari shrines and are said to act as guardians and bringers of good luck and blessing. people would stop by to these statues to bring sake, sekihan (red rice and red beans), inarizushi and fried tofu at these shrines, as it's said that those are the foxes favorite foods. 

the statues display a fox carrying an object, which could be a jewel, spiritual key, scrolls and sheaves of grain. depending on what object, it obviously means something else based upon the inari, like the key could represent the resemblance of a key used for traditional storehouses. the scroll represents knowledge and wisdom, the jewel is meant to represent the soul of the inari. finally, the sheaves of grain are supposed to represent the five grains (wheat, rice, beans, awa millet, and kibi millet).

as of now, this is all i have to offer from myōbu. as its mainly used as a guardian, i thought it would be a good start until i'd work on a much more popular one.

have a nice day.

it's about time.

you want to know one funny thing?

this blog only exists because i have an original character who is a famous blogger about yokais and japanese urban theories.

and this is also the main topic about this blog. while i will write about my life and whatnot, it won't be so prominent here.

now, you might wonder:

who the hell are you even?

i've been going under several names in the past: shyre, dyne, kano, astra... perhaps the two last ones may remember you about me. 

if it does: it's good to see you again! how are you doing?

if not: welcome to my blog. 

my name on this blog is kouga (hence why the blog's name is makouga-san in the first place), my friends call me finn, and my close friends and boyfriend even call me teddy.

perhaps i'll let you partake on a future post about what happened to me and why i have been distant as of lately. but each has its time, you know? and now, i do not have that time.

as of now, please enjoy yourselves until i come up with something.