Samurai action and mechanics names are frought with Japanese cultural references the SE translators left out. They thought the rest of the world indifferent to Japan's idiosyncrasies. They were wrong. For I shall unearth what they tried so hard to keep hidden. Can you learn this power? Not from the English version of FFXIV!
Samurai's description from the official job guide:
Far across the rolling waves, towards the rising sun, there lies the island nation of Hingashi.
In the distant past, the realm's great lords vied for supremacy over its seagirt confines in a long and bloody conflict. And taking to battle in their lieges' names were noble swordsmen whose art was forged in the crucible of war: the samurai.
BUT! That's not the whole story. The Japanese description has an additional sentence:
その後、天下統一が成されると、「刀」を佩く彼らは、いつしか雪月花美しき故郷の平和を護る者へと変化していったという。
It is said that after unifying the country, the katana-wearing samurai became the guardians of the peace of their homeland in the beauty of setsugekka.
Yes, you heard right. Setsugekka as in Midare-Setsugekka.
Setsugekka 雪月花 also read setsu-getsu-ka and yuki-tsuki-hana. It consists of 3 Kanji:
When written together, snow-moon-flower refer to the snow of winter, the moonlight of autumn and the sakura blossoms of spring. The meaning: gentle natural beauty of the 4 seasons, particularly of Japan. It may be related to a common and very much mistaken belief that Japan were the only country experiencing 4 seasons.
The expression is usually attributed to the Tang Chinese poet Hakukyoi 白居易 in his poem "To Inkeiritsu": 雪月花時最憶君 at the time of snow-moon-flower, I think of you the most.
A different reference is a poem by Ootomo no Yakamochi in Manyoushyuu: 宴席詠雪月梅花歌一首 with the content
雪の上に 照れる月夜に 梅の花 折りて贈らむ 愛しき子もがも
Above the snow, in a bright moonlit night, pick a flower of Prunus mume, something something dear child/girl something something. (Sorry, I don't know classical Japanese. No pronunciation for the kanji clusters either because I shall not attempt to read them. Someone help?)
Job actions
Lv.1 Hakaze 刃風 blade wind
The Kanji 風 can be read kaze or fu, which modifies to pu after some syllables. All readings have the same meanings: wind; style. This Kanji 風 occurs in many samurai combo weapon skills. In Hakaze, the reading of 風 is kaze.
Lv.4 Jinpu 陣風 gale
Here, 風 reads fu, which modifies to pu after jin. Its meaning is wind.
Lv. 6 Third Eye 心眼 heart's eye, mind's eye
Eye of the heart refers to the power to discover truth invisible to the eye. In martial arts, to predict the opponent's movement is to "see it in the heart's eye".
Lv. 15 Enpi 燕飛 swallow flight
The Kanji 燕 is read en or tsubame. All readings mean barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). 燕 occurs also in the Lv. 76 action Tsubame-gaeshi.
Enpi is a Karate move set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xo-_lwyEGQ
Lv. 18 Shifu 士風 A samurai or soldier's way of thinking and action.
The kanji:
Lv. 26 Fuga 風雅 Refined and elegant things such as poetry, fine art and tea ceremony
Lv. 30 Gekko 月光 Moonlight
Grants the Sen Gekko 月の閃 lit. flash of moon. Moonlight grants the flash of moon. Makes sense innit?
Lv. 30 Iaijutsu 居合術 The art of drawing the sword
One of the 18 traditional Japanese martial arts.
Iai 居合 (居相) refers to moves performed from the sitting position and is not limited to drawing the sword. Iaijutsu acquired the meaning of sword-drawing technique because many schools emphasize drawing from the sitting position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkDQsrGXT44
Lv. 35 Mangetsu 満月 full moon
Lv. 40 Kasha 花車 car decorated with flowers, car carrying flowers, or a species of azalea native to southern Honshu and Shikoku of Japan (rhododendron stenopetalum)
Lv. 45 Oka 桜花 sakura blossom
桜 Sakura (read ou, sakura), 花 flower (read ka, hana)
Usually sakura blossom is referred to as 桜 sakura. The word Ouka 桜花 occurs in Yojijukugo (4-character-mature-words) such as:
Oukaranman 桜花爛漫 Sakura blossom in full bloom
Sakura blossom grants the Sen of Ka 花の閃 flash of flowers. The more you know!
(I'd read 花の閃 hana-no-sen however)
Lv. 50 Yukikaze 雪風 blizzard, literally snow wind
Lv. 50 Meikyo Shisui 明鏡止水 serene, calm mind without evil thoughts
Another 4-character-mature-word.
Lv. 52 Hissatsu: Kaiten 必殺剣・回天 always-kill sword: turn sky
Kaiten 回天: change the world (or your next weapon skill at the very least).
"Always kill" sounds funny but is used a lot in sports, manga and video games to refer to signature moves. Ironically, always-kill moves are seldom killing blows.
All the Hissatsu skills before Seigan end in Ten 天, sky/heaven. No Hissatsu after Seigan ends in Ten.
Lv. 54 Hissatsu: Gyoten 必殺剣・暁天 always-kill sword: dawn sky
Rush the enemies at dawn.
Lv. 56 Hissatsu: Yaten 必殺剣・夜天 always-kill sword: night sky
Flee at night.
Lv. 58 Merciful Eyes 慈眼 yes, merciful eyes.
Jigen 慈眼 The merciful eyes of budda and bodhisattva with which they look upon all living things.
Lv. 60 Meditate 黙想 yes, meditate.
Lv. 62 Hissatsu: Shinten 必殺剣・震天 always-kill sword: shake sky
Shinten 震天 energy/enthusiasm to the extent of shaking the skies.
Lv. 64 Hissatsu: Kyuten 必殺剣・九天 always-kill sword: nine skies
Kyuuten 九天: The nine skies/nine heavens are the ways to refer to cardinal and ordinal directions in ancient China. In addition to the usual 8 (north, NE, east, SE, south, SW, west, NW) there is an additional direction of "up", oddly enough.
For reference:
Lv. 66 Hissatsu: Seigan 必殺剣・星眼 always-kill sword: star eye
Seigan 星眼 keen eyes; eyes with star-like brightness
Lv. 68 Hagakure 葉隠 hidden by the leaves
"Hidden by the leaves", a practial and spiritual guide for a warrior as dictated by Nabeshima Mitsushige and transcribed by retainer Yamamoto Tsunetoto in the Edo period.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagakure
Lv. 68 Ikishoten 意気衝天 enthusiasm to the extent of hitting the sky
Another yojijukugo.
Lv. 70 Hissatsu: Guren 必殺剣・紅蓮 always-kill sword: hell
Guren 紅蓮: one of the 8 cold hells of buddhism. The skin of those who fall there cracks and bleeds to resemble red lotus flowers. Guren is Japanes popular culture's favorite hell for some reason.
Lv. 72 Hissatsu: Senei 必殺剣・閃影 always-kill sword: momentary shade
Senei is pronounced sen-ea where ea as in head
Lv. 76 Tsubame-gaeshi 燕返し turn as fast as a swallow
One of the Kendo moves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVMa3-FXFT4
Lv. 80 Shoha 照破 Buddhism's great light of wisdom dispells the darkness of ignorance
Iaijutsu
Lv. 30 Higanbana 彼岸花 Red spider lily
Also known as Lycoris radiata, hell flower, red magic lily or equinox flower. The root is highly poisonous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoris_radiata
Lv. 40 Tenka Goken 天下五剣 5 swords under the heaven
Tenka Goken 天下五剣 refers to the 5 moves at the pinnacle of Katana martial arts.
Lv. 50 Midare Setsugekka 乱れ雪月花 disheveled snow-moon-flower
Icon: snow flakes, new moon, flower petals
http://wiki.ffo.jp/html/1054.html
Lv. 76 Kaeshi: Higanbana, Kaeshi: Goken, Kaeshi: Setsugekka
返し彼岸花, 返し五剣, 返し雪月花 simply: returned Higanbana, returned 5 swords, returned snow-moon-flower
Buffs
Sen 閃 flash; momentary light
Yuki Getsu Ka 雪の閃 月の閃 花の閃 flash of snow, flash of moon, flash of flower
Kenki 剣気 vigor from a Kendo master
Meditation 剣圧 sword pressure, pronounced Ken-atsu
I can't find any clear explanation of Kenatsu. Something about the mass and evil spirit of the air? Someone help me out here.
Eyes Open 開眼 enlightenment
Kaigan 開眼 to understand the Buddhist truths.
Sources
kotobank.jp jp.wikipedia.org dictionary.goo.ne.jp www.weblio.jp 白檜辞書
Tenka Goken https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/17670/
Setugekka https://kuraneo.jp/posts/2803
submitted by /u/aoikageni
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...
Samurai's description from the official job guide:
Far across the rolling waves, towards the rising sun, there lies the island nation of Hingashi.
In the distant past, the realm's great lords vied for supremacy over its seagirt confines in a long and bloody conflict. And taking to battle in their lieges' names were noble swordsmen whose art was forged in the crucible of war: the samurai.
BUT! That's not the whole story. The Japanese description has an additional sentence:
その後、天下統一が成されると、「刀」を佩く彼らは、いつしか雪月花美しき故郷の平和を護る者へと変化していったという。
It is said that after unifying the country, the katana-wearing samurai became the guardians of the peace of their homeland in the beauty of setsugekka.
Yes, you heard right. Setsugekka as in Midare-Setsugekka.
Setsugekka 雪月花 also read setsu-getsu-ka and yuki-tsuki-hana. It consists of 3 Kanji:
- 雪 setsu, yuki: snow
- 月 getsu, tsuki: moon
- 花 ka, hana (bana): flower
When written together, snow-moon-flower refer to the snow of winter, the moonlight of autumn and the sakura blossoms of spring. The meaning: gentle natural beauty of the 4 seasons, particularly of Japan. It may be related to a common and very much mistaken belief that Japan were the only country experiencing 4 seasons.
The expression is usually attributed to the Tang Chinese poet Hakukyoi 白居易 in his poem "To Inkeiritsu": 雪月花時最憶君 at the time of snow-moon-flower, I think of you the most.
A different reference is a poem by Ootomo no Yakamochi in Manyoushyuu: 宴席詠雪月梅花歌一首 with the content
雪の上に 照れる月夜に 梅の花 折りて贈らむ 愛しき子もがも
Above the snow, in a bright moonlit night, pick a flower of Prunus mume, something something dear child/girl something something. (Sorry, I don't know classical Japanese. No pronunciation for the kanji clusters either because I shall not attempt to read them. Someone help?)
Job actions
Lv.1 Hakaze 刃風 blade wind
The Kanji 風 can be read kaze or fu, which modifies to pu after some syllables. All readings have the same meanings: wind; style. This Kanji 風 occurs in many samurai combo weapon skills. In Hakaze, the reading of 風 is kaze.
Lv.4 Jinpu 陣風 gale
Here, 風 reads fu, which modifies to pu after jin. Its meaning is wind.
Lv. 6 Third Eye 心眼 heart's eye, mind's eye
Eye of the heart refers to the power to discover truth invisible to the eye. In martial arts, to predict the opponent's movement is to "see it in the heart's eye".
Lv. 15 Enpi 燕飛 swallow flight
The Kanji 燕 is read en or tsubame. All readings mean barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). 燕 occurs also in the Lv. 76 action Tsubame-gaeshi.
Enpi is a Karate move set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xo-_lwyEGQ
Lv. 18 Shifu 士風 A samurai or soldier's way of thinking and action.
The kanji:
- 士 (shi) samurai
- 風 (fu) wind, style. Same 風 as the pu of Jinpu and kaze of Hakaze. Meaning is "style" in Shifu as opposed to "wind" in Jinpu and Hakaze.
Lv. 26 Fuga 風雅 Refined and elegant things such as poetry, fine art and tea ceremony
Lv. 30 Gekko 月光 Moonlight
Grants the Sen Gekko 月の閃 lit. flash of moon. Moonlight grants the flash of moon. Makes sense innit?
Lv. 30 Iaijutsu 居合術 The art of drawing the sword
One of the 18 traditional Japanese martial arts.
Iai 居合 (居相) refers to moves performed from the sitting position and is not limited to drawing the sword. Iaijutsu acquired the meaning of sword-drawing technique because many schools emphasize drawing from the sitting position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkDQsrGXT44
- 居 i, from 居る iru, being/staying.
- 合 ai, fit, suit, join. Also written 相, aspect, phase, psysiognomy. I feel 相 fits the kanji's meaning better here but Japanese has a lot of kanji usage without regard for the kanji's own meaning so whatevs /shrug
Lv. 35 Mangetsu 満月 full moon
Lv. 40 Kasha 花車 car decorated with flowers, car carrying flowers, or a species of azalea native to southern Honshu and Shikoku of Japan (rhododendron stenopetalum)
Lv. 45 Oka 桜花 sakura blossom
桜 Sakura (read ou, sakura), 花 flower (read ka, hana)
Usually sakura blossom is referred to as 桜 sakura. The word Ouka 桜花 occurs in Yojijukugo (4-character-mature-words) such as:
Oukaranman 桜花爛漫 Sakura blossom in full bloom
Sakura blossom grants the Sen of Ka 花の閃 flash of flowers. The more you know!
(I'd read 花の閃 hana-no-sen however)
Lv. 50 Yukikaze 雪風 blizzard, literally snow wind
Lv. 50 Meikyo Shisui 明鏡止水 serene, calm mind without evil thoughts
Another 4-character-mature-word.
Lv. 52 Hissatsu: Kaiten 必殺剣・回天 always-kill sword: turn sky
Kaiten 回天: change the world (or your next weapon skill at the very least).
"Always kill" sounds funny but is used a lot in sports, manga and video games to refer to signature moves. Ironically, always-kill moves are seldom killing blows.
All the Hissatsu skills before Seigan end in Ten 天, sky/heaven. No Hissatsu after Seigan ends in Ten.
Lv. 54 Hissatsu: Gyoten 必殺剣・暁天 always-kill sword: dawn sky
Rush the enemies at dawn.
Lv. 56 Hissatsu: Yaten 必殺剣・夜天 always-kill sword: night sky
Flee at night.
Lv. 58 Merciful Eyes 慈眼 yes, merciful eyes.
Jigen 慈眼 The merciful eyes of budda and bodhisattva with which they look upon all living things.
Lv. 60 Meditate 黙想 yes, meditate.
Lv. 62 Hissatsu: Shinten 必殺剣・震天 always-kill sword: shake sky
Shinten 震天 energy/enthusiasm to the extent of shaking the skies.
Lv. 64 Hissatsu: Kyuten 必殺剣・九天 always-kill sword: nine skies
Kyuuten 九天: The nine skies/nine heavens are the ways to refer to cardinal and ordinal directions in ancient China. In addition to the usual 8 (north, NE, east, SE, south, SW, west, NW) there is an additional direction of "up", oddly enough.
For reference:
- Kinten 鈞天 up
- Souten 蒼天 east
- Kouten 昊天 west
- Enten 炎天 south
- Genten 玄天 north
- Henten 変天 NE
- Yuuten 幽天 NW
- Shyuten 朱天 SW
- Youten 陽天 SE
Lv. 66 Hissatsu: Seigan 必殺剣・星眼 always-kill sword: star eye
Seigan 星眼 keen eyes; eyes with star-like brightness
Lv. 68 Hagakure 葉隠 hidden by the leaves
"Hidden by the leaves", a practial and spiritual guide for a warrior as dictated by Nabeshima Mitsushige and transcribed by retainer Yamamoto Tsunetoto in the Edo period.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagakure
Lv. 68 Ikishoten 意気衝天 enthusiasm to the extent of hitting the sky
Another yojijukugo.
Lv. 70 Hissatsu: Guren 必殺剣・紅蓮 always-kill sword: hell
Guren 紅蓮: one of the 8 cold hells of buddhism. The skin of those who fall there cracks and bleeds to resemble red lotus flowers. Guren is Japanes popular culture's favorite hell for some reason.
- Gu 紅 bright red
- Ren 蓮 lotus flower
Lv. 72 Hissatsu: Senei 必殺剣・閃影 always-kill sword: momentary shade
Senei is pronounced sen-ea where ea as in head
Lv. 76 Tsubame-gaeshi 燕返し turn as fast as a swallow
One of the Kendo moves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVMa3-FXFT4
- Tsubame 燕 swallow, also read "en" as in Enpi 燕飛
- Kaeshi 返し, modified to Gaeshi when following Tsubame. Return.
Lv. 80 Shoha 照破 Buddhism's great light of wisdom dispells the darkness of ignorance
Iaijutsu
Lv. 30 Higanbana 彼岸花 Red spider lily
Also known as Lycoris radiata, hell flower, red magic lily or equinox flower. The root is highly poisonous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoris_radiata
Lv. 40 Tenka Goken 天下五剣 5 swords under the heaven
Tenka Goken 天下五剣 refers to the 5 moves at the pinnacle of Katana martial arts.
Lv. 50 Midare Setsugekka 乱れ雪月花 disheveled snow-moon-flower
Icon: snow flakes, new moon, flower petals
http://wiki.ffo.jp/html/1054.html
Lv. 76 Kaeshi: Higanbana, Kaeshi: Goken, Kaeshi: Setsugekka
返し彼岸花, 返し五剣, 返し雪月花 simply: returned Higanbana, returned 5 swords, returned snow-moon-flower
Buffs
Sen 閃 flash; momentary light
Yuki Getsu Ka 雪の閃 月の閃 花の閃 flash of snow, flash of moon, flash of flower
Kenki 剣気 vigor from a Kendo master
Meditation 剣圧 sword pressure, pronounced Ken-atsu
I can't find any clear explanation of Kenatsu. Something about the mass and evil spirit of the air? Someone help me out here.
Eyes Open 開眼 enlightenment
Kaigan 開眼 to understand the Buddhist truths.
Sources
kotobank.jp jp.wikipedia.org dictionary.goo.ne.jp www.weblio.jp 白檜辞書
Tenka Goken https://www.touken-world.jp/tips/17670/
Setugekka https://kuraneo.jp/posts/2803
submitted by /u/aoikageni
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...