If you look up the Moon is still there (part 3)

                                                      

Why Nii surrounds himself with items representing a rabbit? The peluche containing Muten Kyoumon, the cup, the slippers and the watch? Usually thinking about a peluche we imagine a little bear. Why a rabbit?

There is a Japanese tale very famous:

 

The tale of the rabbit and the Moon isn’t very known in the West  although it’s remarkable.

But surely it is important to understand many Japanese iconography in which the figure of the rabbit putted near the Moon is often showed.

The tale is simple. The Moon goddess goes down in the Earth out of curiosity. Looking at three little beings from the top, comes closer in the guise of a mendicant. The three beings jump surprised but the mendicant implores them.

 

“Please, give me something to eat.”

 

The three animals: a monkey, a fox and a rabbit are touched. What they could give to eat to the mendicant? The monkey finds every kind of fruits. The fox finds a big fish caught in the river. But the rabbit doesn’t find anything.

 

“I haven’t anything. What could I do?”

 

So he has an idea. He gets together wood and lights a fire. Then the rabbit said to the mendicant:

 

“I’ll broil myself so you will have something to eat!”

 

Soon after he said that, the rabbit jumps in the fire. But the mendicant saves him and shows her real identity.

 

“I am the Moon. To thank you for your self-sacrifice I’ll take you with me and you will be happy.”

 

The Moon hugs the rabbit and take him with her in the Heaven. In the clear nights during the full Moon we can see the rabbit sleeping in the Moon’s breast symbol of self-sacrifice.

 

Now we can analyze some details that I think are significant for this discussion.

In this tale the Moon is a divinity and the rabbit is connected with her. Often the Moon and rabbit are connected. We can think about Sailor Moon. The name of the main character is Usagi Tsukino that in English means Usagi = Rabbit, Tsukino = Moon. The same Usagi is from the Moon. If we guess that Minekura was inspired by this tale also for a bit that could strengthens the hypothesis that Koumyou is a god and the fact that Nii surrounds himself just with rabbits could be have a sense.

As we know Nii when talks with Koumyou the rabbit’s figure is always showed.

-At the end of Saiyuki 9, after Nii was present at the Kamisama’s death and at the destruction of his temple, Nii sits among the rubble and finds the Sanzo Houshi’s crown and says: “Oh my…you’ve left some quite interesting toys…Koumyou. Okay, next…what shall we play?”

-In Burial Epilogue Nii is propped against one of the Houtou’s balcony and behind him we can see only a side lightened of the Moon (we can also see that the side of the Moon darkened is near to Nii). Speaking with Koumyou, Nii says: “…seems neither of us are prepared to yield…Bet’s still on eh, you and I…? And the reason is simple…It’s because you are still there…”
So we can guess that Nii represent the rabbit while Koumyou represent the side lightened of the Moon. The image of the rabbit is created by the shadows in the Moon. 

                                                                                    

Maybe as Ukoku hides his real identity of Sanzo in disguise of a scientist, the rabbit hides within the kyoumon, the symbol of Sanzo Houshi. So the projection of Kenyu scientist (Nii) is the rabbit while the projection of Kenyu Sanzo (Ukoku) is the kyoumon. When Nii leaves the Houtou castle to wears again the Sanzo’s clothes, also the peluche rabbit loses his sense and his end is known. This tale remember to me that Kenyu since his Burial looking for: find someone who devours him. Like the rabbit of the tale that is willing to make devour himself by the Moon. In the dialogue between Koumyou and Kenyu in the Burial of Ukoku they say:

Kenyu: “I just want to keep on winning…Eliminating others is but a means of survival, isn’t it? To survive…is to devour others.”

[Image of a rabbit devoured by ravens in the background]

Koumyou: “So that YOU may someday be devoured too…?”

Kenyu *thinks*: “At that moment, the light looked just like…it could’ve devoured…everything in its path…

[Image of the full Moon in the background]