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Shining Needle Castle

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輝針城 (きしんじょう)
Shining Needle Castle
kiɕĩnd͡ʑʲo̞ː
Th145 Shining Needle Castle.png
The Shining Needle Castle in Urban Legend in Limbo
Location

In the skies above Gensokyo near the Youkai Mountain

Residents
Appearances
Official Games
Music CDs

The Shining Needle Castle (輝針城 Kishinjou)[1] is a castle that's located in the sky near the base of Youkai Mountain[2]. It's also referred to as the Inverted Castle (逆さ城 Sakasajou)[3], though it's unknown whether this is a proper name for the castle or just an informal description of it. It is the home of Shinmyoumaru Sukuna.

Background Information

According to Shinmyoumaru's profile[4], the castle was created with the power of the Miracle Mallet by Issun-Boushi's descendants, and, as the power of the Mallet ran out due to it being overused, the castle got reversed.

There are some possible inspirations to the castle, which are:

  • There is a stage "Inverted Castle" (逆さ城 Sakasajou) in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
  • Some people think that Inverted Castle is also inspired by "Treasure Palace of Stone" (石の宝殿 Ishi no Houden), "Rock House of Stability" (鎮の石室 Shizu no iwaya) or commonly known as Floating Stone (浮石 Ukiishi), which is located at Oushiko Shrine in Hyougo Prefecture.[5]

It has some different legends. According to the official booklet of its history, Ookuninushi and Sukuna-hikona arrived there from their original land Izumo in order to found the lands, and worked together to construct the stone palace just one night. This facility was planned for the stability and peace of living and governing. In the middle of working, the rebellion of Aga gods occured, which forced the two to interrupt their action, to gather gods for their side, and to flatten the enemy. Next morning, the rebellion was pacified but the stone palace was unfinished; the two didn't leave it away cruelly, but enspirited it and promised that they keep the land stable.

On the other hand, there is another legend[6] as an oral legend: Some god came to the mind that everyone must be surprised to see the treasurous palace made of rock, then he commanded its construction to other gods. Amanojaku was one of them. His part was the disposal of stones cut off. He wanted to stop the work, then mimic the cock-a-doodle-doo of rooster. The gods working around him mistook it for the opening of the day. At last, they concluded that they weren't able to finish the construction, and went home to let it overturned.

Sukunahiko appeared in the former legend, who was one of the inspirations of Shinmyoumaru Sukuna. And Amanojaku appeared the latter, which is Seija Kijin's species.

Castle's Appearances

The castle in DDC and ISC

Games

Double Dealing Character

The castle first appeared on stage 5 and 6 of Double Dealing Character. Seija Kijin tried to overthrow society with the help of Shinmyoumaru Sukuna's Miracle Mallet, but the two ended up defeated by Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame and Sakuya Izayoi.

Spin-offs

Impossible Spell Card

The castle appears on the eighth day of Impossible Spell Card, where Seija Kijin comes back here and carries on defending herself from other youkai who are trying to capture her. On Scene 1, it turned out that Shinmyoumaru Sukuna and Seija turned against each other, because Shinmyoumaru wanted to surrender to the residents of Gensokyo due to the events of Double Dealing Character, but Seija refused. Thus, Shinmyoumaru and a lot of other people try and capture her. After, she'll also fight against Reimu Hakurei and once again Mamizou Futatsuiwa as they try to capture her with their "impossible" spell cards. There are 7 scenes total in the day. The previous day was located at the Netherworld, whilst the next day is located at the Moriya Shrine.

Urban Legend in Limbo

The castle appeared as a stage location in Urban Legend in Limbo, associated with Shinmyoumaru Sukuna

Gallery

References

  1. Shining Needle Castle: Japanese title of the work, character text of Shinmyoumaru, Title of Stage 5 theme; Title of Stage 6
  2. Wild and Horned Hermit Chapter 19
  3. Inverted Castle: character texts of Benben and Yatsuhashi, dialogs of Benben, Yatsuhashi and Seija; Title of Stage 5
  4. Shinmyoumaru Sukuna Offical Profile
  5. a sketch of the whole design drawn by Philipp von Siebold
  6. Tetsurou Watsuji "Jijoden no Kokoromi" [Trial of Autobiography] (1961) ch.2 "Watakushi no Umareta Ie" [The home where I was born]