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Symposium of Post-mysticism/Part 2

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< Part 1: Sanae Kochiya 
Part 1: What Change Will the New Powers Bring to Gensokyo? 
 Symposium of Post-mysticism   Part 2: Mamizou Futatsuiwa
 Part 3: On the Past and Present of Youkai, and Truly New Youkai
>

TN: Renko's book is titled "Japan's Power Spots Encyclopedia" (「日本のパワースポット大全。」).
SFX from left to right: near Renko: "Lotus" ( the kanji in Renko [蓮子]). Near Merry: "Chills" (寒気). Near Yuyuko: "Ghost" ( the kanji in [亡霊]) and "Doro Doro" (ドロドロ an onomatopoeia for the sound of ghost appearance). Near Maribel's bottom: "Merry" (メリー). Near the objects in lower right: "Kṣitigarbha" (地蔵).

第二部
幻想郷の外の世界の現状とは

Part II
The Current Status of the World Outside Gensokyo

Marisa

お前(神奈子を指して)は最近まで外の世界に居たんだよな。

You (pointing at Kanako) were in the outside world 'til just recently, weren'cha?

Kanako

そうね

That's right.

Marisa

やっぱり進んでいるんだろ? あっちは。

I bet things are pretty advanced over there, huh?

[外の人間の精神レベル]

The Spiritual Level of the Humans of the Outside World

Kanako

進んでいる? 何を指して言っているのかによって変わってきますが、技術に関しては幻想郷とは比べものになりませんね。望む事は大抵実現できる、人間が命を落とす危険性は極端に下がり、情報は誰にも平等に与えられ、知識欲もいつでも満たす事が出来ます。さながら楽園のような処です。

Advanced? It depends on what you're referring to, but if you mean their technology, Gensokyo doesn't even hold a candle to it. They can create almost anything they desire, the death rates among humans have dropped drastically, information is impartially shared with anyone and everyone, and they are always able to satisfy any desire for knowledge. You could say it's a paradise.

Miko

いいですねぇ。でも、人間の精神はそれを受け入れられる程に成長しているのかしら?

That seems pleasant, but have the humans' spirituality grown enough to accept that?

Kanako

そう、流石鋭いですね。余程修行した者でない限り、人間の精神は千年前から何も変わっていないのです。しかし、物質も情報も満たされた世界になって一般の人間もようやく気付き始めています。物質が満たされただけでは決して幸せにはなれないと。

Yes, I thought you'd catch that. Except for the ones who have been through a great deal of discipline, the human's spirituality hasn't changed a bit in a thousand years. However, once their world became rich in materal wealth and knowledge, even the average human began to realize that happiness could not be fulfilled by just material things.

Marisa

そうなのか? 私は欲しくても手に入らない物が一杯有るし、それを手に入れる為には何をしても良い(*1)と思っているんだが、手に入っても幸せにはなれないのか?

Izzat so? There's a bunch o' stuff that I'd be willin' to do anything no matter what(*1) to get but could never get anyway no matter how much I want 'em, but yer sayin' that gettin' that stuff won't make me happy?

Kanako

貴方みたいに欲しい物を自力で手に入れたり、手に入れる努力をしたりすれば充実するでしょう。でも最初から手に入っていたり、手に入れる方法が確立していたり、もしくはどうやっても手の届かない場所に有ったらどうかしら?

If you get what you desire through your own efforts and make an effort to obtain them, that's productivity; it enriches yourself. But what if you had something from the start, or there was some established method to getting it, or it was somewhere that you could never reach no matter what you did?

Marisa

ふむ。唯の作業になるな。

Hm, that'd just be plain ol' labor.

Kanako

物質と情報の過多によって仕事は作業になってしまった。そこで人間の心を満たす為には、新しい仕事観が必要になるのですが……。

Because of the excess of material goods and information, their jobs have become labor. In order to satisfy the hearts of the humans, a new perspective on work is necessary, but that...

Byakuren

それは利他行至上主義(*2)、という事になる訳ですね。

That would be altruism for its own sake(*2), wouldn't it?

Kanako

そう、その通り。他人の利益の為に働く事が仕事の充実、という内容に変化していくのです。

Yes, exactly. The change would bring about job satisfaction through working for the benefit of others.

 

(一同頷く)

(Everyone nods)

Marisa

なんでみんな同調してるんだよ。言っている事がよく判らないぜ。

Whaddya all agreein' about? I don't get what yer sayin'.

Kanako

(魔理沙を無視するように)しかしこの国の現状は、精神の未熟さによりそれが上手く移行できていません。本来心を満たされるようにする為には精神レベルを上げる必要がありますが、もちろん容易い事ではありません。生まれながらの聖者か、悟りを開いた人間じゃないと難しいでしょう。そこで出てくるのが神の存在。人間は神を畏れ、神は人間を許す、という考え方です。これならば一般の人間でも同じ道徳観で他人に尽くす事が出来る。

(As if ignoring Marisa) But given this country's current state and its spiritual immaturity, it hasn't been able to make the transition very well. The essential requirement to achieving fulfillment is to raise one's level of spirituality, but of course that's no easy task. It's difficult for anyone who either wasn't born a saint or hasn't achieved enlightenment. That's where gods come in. Humans revere gods and gods forgive humans, or so the line of thought goes. With this, even ordinary people can hold a shared sense of morality and dedicate themselves to others.

Marisa

何だよ、自分を崇めろって話か? 結局は自分の正当化なんだな。でも、外の世界では神の存在を認めていないんだろ?

So what, you're just sayin', 'Worship me'? That's all just self-justification. But the outside world doesn't recognize the existence of gods, right?

Kanako

困ったもんですわ。神や妖怪の存在も精神の修行には必要だというのに。

That's what's so distressing about it, as the existence of gods and youkai are necessary for spiritual growth.

[外の世界にいる現役の妖怪]

Youkai Active in the Outside World

Byakuren

そう言えば、最近うちの弟子の一人が外から妖怪を連れてきたのですが。

Speaking of which, recently one of my disciples brought back a youkai from the outside.

Kanako

え? 初耳ですわ。

Hm? That's the first I've heard of this.

Byakuren

封獣ぬえという弟子なのですがこれがまた困った弟子でしてね、普段何処で何の修行しているのか全く不明(*3)で、偶に何かやったかと思えば望んでもいない事ばかり……。今回もまさか外から知り合いの妖怪狸を連れてくるとか。

This disciple, Nue Houjuu, is a rather troublesome one, you see. Most of the time, where and what training she does is completely unknown(*3) to us, and when she actually does something, it would always be something that we never wanted... And this time, too, she unexpectedly brought back a youkai tanuki friend of hers from outside.

Kanako

妖怪狸って、まだ外に居たんですね。意外……。

So there are still youkai tanuki outside. That's a surprise...

Marisa

お前……実際に神だってまだ外に居たって事じゃないか。実はまだ外の世界にも色々居るんじゃないか? ちなみに幻想郷が今の形になる前(*4)はどんな感じの世界だったんだい?

Hey... that means there are actually still gods out there, doesn't it? Maybe there's still all kinds of gods in the outside world, even. By the way, how was the world like before Gensokyo came around(*4)?

Miko

そうねぇ。毎日の様に妖怪や魑魅魍魎の話題が出てました。何処何処の誰が攫われただの、何処何処の誰が退治して英雄になっただの、そういう話題が呑みの席での定番でしたね。

Let's see... the topic of youkai and evil spirits came up just about every day. Like who from wherever had been abducted, or who from wherever had exterminated something and become a hero... Those were the standard topics at most bars and taverns.

Byakuren

ですよねー。

Yes, indeed.

Marisa

それは今の幻想郷と大差ないな。

Not much different from Gensokyo now, huh?

Miko

そう、大差無いんですよ。だから私のような古い者でも違和感無く溶け込める。ちなみに、私の門人に布都と屠自古(*5)が居るのですが、二人とも毎日のように妖怪やら祟りやらに怯えていたそうですよ? 暫くして、物部の亡霊だの蘇我の祟りだの逆に畏れられるようになったりしてねぇ(笑)。そうなって初めて妖怪の正体を悟るのかも知れないですね。

Quite, it's not much different. That's why someone as old as me can blend in without seeming out of place at all. Incidentally, my followers, Futo and Tojiko(*5), used to be afraid of youkai and curses and such, I heard. Recently though, they ironically ended up being feared as "the ghost of Mononobe" and "the curse of Soga" themselves. (laughs) Perhaps it was the first time they truly understood the true nature of youkai, I would say.

[本来の意味での妖怪の正体とは]

The Proper Meaning of "The True Nature of Youkai"

Marisa

妖怪の正体とは?

And what's the true nature of youkai?

Miko

人間が正体不明な物に怯えたり、畏れたりする心ですよ。それが妖怪や神を生む。

The human heart which is in fear and awe of the unknown. That produces youkai and gods.

Kanako

と言っても、私は人間の妄想で生まれた存在ですか?って話になりますが。妄想はこうやって話をしたり、お酒飲んだりしないわよ(笑)。(※そう言ってお酒を取り出す)

And so the conversation turns towards "Am I born from the delusions of humans?" Delusions don't sit around talking and drinking sake like this, though. (laughs) (*taking out sake as she speaks)

Miko

最近になって人間がそう考え始めた訳では無く、昔からそう考えていた人間も居た、という話です。「幽霊の、正体見たり、枯れ尾花」ってね。あ、お酒頂きます。

It's not as if humans have only recently begun thinking like this. There have always been those who thought the same, from long ago. "A ghost, examined carefully, is withered silver grass"[1] and all. Ah, I'll take some sake.

 

(※神奈子が白蓮にもお酒を勧める)

(*Kanako offers Byakuren sake as well.)

Byakuren

あ、お酒は遠慮しておきます。仏教には不飲酒戒(ふおんじゅかい)という戒律(*6)がありまして……。

Ah, I'm not having any, thanks. One of Buddhism's precepts is temperance(*6), so...

Miko

あー、あれねー。真面目に守っている坊主なんて居なかったわよ。私の時代(*7)(笑)。坊主なんてみんな生臭い生臭い。

Ah, that? There wasn't a monk around that seriously kept that precept in my time(*7). (laugh) All those so-called monks smelled of meat and alcohol.

Byakuren

そんな誘惑には負けません。

I will not yield to such temptation.

Kanako

(さか)しみと 物言ふよりは 酒飲みて 酔ひ泣きするし まさりたるらし」。大伴旅人(*8)がこんな歌を歌っていたわー。

"Rather than making pronouncement with an air of wisdom, it's better to down the wine and sob drunker tears." Ootomo no Tabito (*8) wrote a song like that.[2]

Miko

いいですねぇー。賢い振りして語るより、お酒呑んで酔い泣きしている方が優れてみえる、とはね。賢ぶって語っている僧侶だけど、他人から見ると実は……。

I like that. That's a nice way to put, "To drink sake and weep is better than pretending to spout wisdom". You look like a monk sharing your wisdom, but from everyone else's perspective you're actually...

Byakuren

虐めないでください……。

Please don't persecute me...

Marisa[3]

(魔理沙が白蓮のお酒を奪って)で、話は戻すけど、昔はどこもかしこも幻想郷みたいな感じだった、少なくとも妖怪事情については。という訳だな?

(Marisa swipes the sake from Byakuren) so, back to the discussion. Long ago, it used to be like Gensokyo all over the place, at least as far as the youkai thing goes. Izzat right?

Miko

そうね。

Yes.

Byakuren

私の時代も似たようなものでした。でも幻想郷よりは、妖怪が不利な立場に追いやられていたかも知れませんね。

Things were similar in my time as well. But compared to here in Gensokyo, youkai may have been forced into a more unfavorable lot in life back then.

Marisa

ほう。

Huh...

Byakuren

妖怪は完全に人間の敵でしたし、こいつは妖怪に味方する人間だという風に、例え誤解であろうと思われたら最後、妖怪の仲間として村から追い出されてしまいます。人間の理想が「妖怪の居ない世界」でしたね。

Youkai were the absolute enemies of humans. If a human was thought to aid youkai, no matter whether it was even a misunderstanding, they would be cast out of the village as an ally of youkai. The human ideal was "a world without youkai."

Kanako

そういう意味では、現在の外の世界と反対ですね。現在は人間の思う現実が、妖怪の居ない世界、で理想は居て欲しい世界、ですから。

In that sense, it's the opposite from the outside world right now. Currently, reality as humans see it is "a world without youkai", and the ideal is "a world where youkai are wanted".

Byakuren

居て欲しい世界が理想!?

A world where they're wanted is the ideal?!

Kanako

そうですよ。居たら楽しいだろうなぁ、ワクワクするなぁ、けど現実には居ないんだけどね。というのが、現代の人間の考え方です。

That's right. "It'd be fun if they existed. Wouldn't it be exciting? But it's too bad they aren't real." is the mindset of modern humans.

Byakuren

それは意外……。

How unexpected...

Miko

結局、人間は自分の生死を脅かす存在は要らないけど、人間その物の敵の出現を心の奥底で望んでいるんですよ。そういう事でしょう?

So in the end, humans have no need of things that threaten their lives, but they wish from the bottom of their hearts for their mortal enemies to appear. That's what you mean?

Marisa

え? そんな訳ないだろ? 何か矛盾してないか?

Huh? No way. That's gotta be a contradiction.

Kanako

神子さんの言うとおりかも知れませんね。敵が居ないと、生きているという事が実感出来ないですからね。

It may be just as Ms. Miko says. When there are no enemies, you can't feel the sense of being alive, after all.

[外の世界のオカルト体験]

Paranormal Experiences in the Outside World

Marisa

うーむ。いまいち想像がつかないな。ところで、外の世界の人間が妖怪が居た方が良いと思っているというのは意外だな。

Hmmm. I can't wrap my head around that. And I wasn't expectin' all that about humans in the outside world wishin' for youkai.

Kanako

妖怪だけで無く、神様に対してもそう思っていますよ。

Not just youkai. They feel that way about gods, too.

Marisa

なら、お前が幻想郷に来た意味が無いんじゃ?

Then what was the point comin' to Gensokyo?

Kanako

居て欲しい=実在を信じる、ではないのです。居て欲しいけど、居る訳無い、という考え方なんです。例えば神社を例にとって話をしましょう。幻想郷の神社は神が住んでいて、人間は神を信仰する為に訪れ、信仰を得た神は人間に何か神妙な力を授けます。これが御利益です。

Wishing they were there does not equal believing they exist. "I wish they existed, but there's no way they do" is how they think. Let's take shrines as an example. Gensokyo's shrines are inhabited by gods, humans visit them to show faith to the gods, and the gods that receive the faith bestow some mystic power to the humans. This is called a blessing.

Marisa

あれ? 神社に行けばなんか神妙な力をくれるのか?

Huh? So if ya go to a shrine, ya get some mystic power?

Kanako

まあ……信仰が篤ければ、ね。でも、外の世界の神社はそれとは異なり「信仰はしないのに、何か良い事があるかも、願いが叶うかも」という理由で人が訪れるのです。酷いのになると、パワースポットとか言って……。

Well, if your faith is strong, that is. But in contrast, people visit the outside world's shrines thinking "Even though I'm not faithful, maybe something nice will happen or I'll have my wish granted." But it gets really bad when they start calling them 'power spots'...

Miko

パワースポットとは?

What's a "power spot"?

Kanako

その場所に有る自然のエネルギーが自分の中に入ってきてなんたらかんたら……、とそこに行けば手軽に力を得られる場所って事ですよ。

Places where the energy of nature can enter your body or some malarkey... Basically, a place that you can conveniently gain power by going to.

Miko

それは酷い(笑)。

That IS bad. (laugh)

Byakuren

パワースポットとは修行の場という意味でしょうか? 霊験あらたかな聖地という意味では間違いではないかなぁと。

Aren't power spots meant as places for training? It seems like they are mistaking them for miraculous sacred ground.

Kanako

そうね、確かに聖地という意味では間違っていないわ。でも修行して神仙と等しい力を得る、というなら判らないでも無いが、さっき言ったとおり外の人間は神仙を信じていない。つまり手軽にパワーアップ出来る場所、位にしか考えていないでしょうね。

Right, it's true they are sacred ground by definition. But while you might be able to gain power equal to a divine hermit by training there, as I said earlier humans from outside don't believe in hermits. So basically, they see it as nothing more than a place for a quick and easy power-up.

Marisa

パワーアップって何だ?

What's a "power-up"?

Kanako

弾幕が厚くなる事でしょうね(笑)。ちなみにそんな外の世界の不思議なエピソードとして、こんな話もありますよ。人間は基本的に幽霊を怖がりますよね。

It makes your danmaku heavier, doesn't it? (laugh) By the way, there are also stories of mysterious occurences that happen to people in the outside world. Humans basically fear ghosts, right?

Marisa

ほう、確かに幻想郷でもそういう人間居るよな。

Yeah, it's true that there're humans like that here, too.

Kanako

ですが外の人間で幽霊の存在を本気で信じている人は殆ど居ない。すると精神に葛藤が起こります。「居もしないのに何故か怖い。いや、もしかしたら居るのかも? いやいや絶対に居るわけ無い」なんてね(笑)。実はパワースポットの他にミステリースポットというのが有りまして……、これは幽霊が見られるような場所、という意味です。これは幻想郷に来て初めて知りましたが、そういうミステリースポットには実際に幽霊が遊びに行ったりする事があったのですね。

But almost all of the humans from the outside don't truly believe that ghosts exist. Which creates a conflict in their spirituality. "They shouldn't exist, but they're still scary for some reason. Wait, what if they really do exist? No, no, there's absolutely no way." Like that. (laugh) Actually, in addition to power spots, there are also "mystery spots"... Those are the places where ghosts are likely to appear. I first learned this after I came to Gensokyo, but ghosts really do go out to play in those mystery spots on occasion.

Marisa

そうなのか?

Izzat so?

Kanako

幽霊の人(*9)に聞きました。

I heard it from a ghost lady(*9).

Marisa

幽霊は神出鬼没だからな。結界だって実際は余り関係無いのかもな。

Well, ghosts come and go like the wind, after all. Maybe even the Barrier doesn't do much to 'em.

Kanako

ミステリースポットもある程度有名になると、ちょっとした観光地みたいになってしまって……。墓地とか廃病院とか廃学校とか、そんなのが観光地になるのですよ? もう笑っちゃう。いっそ、廃屋まんじゅうでも売って儲けようかと思っちゃうくらい(笑)。

If word gets out about a mystery spot, it'll end up as a minor tourist attraction... Cemeteries and abandoned hospitals and schools will become tourist traps. It makes me laugh. I almost want to try selling souvenirs like "haunted house" buns or something. (laugh)

Miko

つまり肝試しって事ですね? 滑稽な肝試しは昔からありましたよ。布都なんて特に昔から恐がりでねぇ。とにかく仏像が怖いって言って、よく焼いたりして怒られたりしてましたよ。

So it's basically a test of courage? Comical tests of courage have been around for a long time. Futo has always been a real coward from long ago. She would say that she was afraid of Buddhist statues, burn them down often and then everyone would get mad at her.

Everyone

え?

What?

Miko

気が付いたらお寺に火を付けてたりしてね。流石にそれはやり過ぎだと……。

By the time anyone noticed, she would have set fire to a temple. I think she was definitely overdoing it though...

Marisa

いやそれは恐がりとは何か違うな(汗)。

Uh, she ain't really what I'd call a coward. (sweat)

Byakuren

防火に優れた石造りに変えようかしら。仏像も石像に。

Maybe I should rebuild ours with stone to fireproof it. And make stone Buddhist statues, too.

Miko

布都に任せれば一晩で燃やしてくれると思いますよ。

If you leave it to Futo, she'd burn it all down within a night.

Kanako

ちなみに人の住んでいない神社とか寺院も格好のミステリースポットになってますよ。もちろん火を付けたりはしませんが。

By the way, uninhabited shrines and temples also become ideal mystery spots. Of course, no one would burn it down.

Byakuren

あら、お寺は修行の場であって、何も怖くはないですけど。

Well, temples are meant to be training spots, so there's nothing to fear, I'd think.

Marisa

妖怪だらけのお寺の何処が怖くないんだよ。幻想郷でも格好のミステリースポットじゃないか。

What ain't scary 'bout a temple full of youkai? It'd make a good mystery spot even in Gensokyo.

Everyone

(笑)

(laugh)

[生物多様性のバランス]

The Biodiversity Balance

Marisa

ちなみにマミゾウに聞いたんだが、外の世界では妖怪どころか様々な動物が絶滅し続けているそうだな。

By the way, I heard this from Mamizou but it seems like not just youkai, but a bunch of diff'rent animals are goin' extinct in the outside world, too. One right after another.

Kanako

そうね。これはいずれ外の世界だけの問題じゃなくなるでしょう。

That's right. Sooner or later this won't just be the outside world's problem, either.

Miko

幻想郷に住む動物の生態にも影響を与える、という事ね。

You mean it will affect the ecology of Gensokyo's animals, right?

Marisa

思うんだが、幻想郷の動物が飽和するぐらい増えるのなら、少しずつ外の世界に逃がしていけば良いんじゃないのか?

Just an idea, but if Gensokyo starts gettin' overpopulated with critters, wouldn't it be okay to let a few of them escape to the outside world?

Kanako

面白い考えね。

That's an interesting thought.

Miko

まあ当然、そんな事は出来ないんでしょうね。

However, that idea can't possibly work, of course.

Marisa

なんでだ?

And why not?

Miko

聞くところ幻想郷が存在している理由が、外の世界の完全な裏返しだからです。矛盾する物が結界を通り抜ける事は出来ないし、無理をすれば中の妖怪達の存在が危うくなるという事です。

From what I've heard, Gensokyo's reason for existing is to be the exact opposite of the outside world. Things that contradict that concept cannot pass through the barrier, and if you forced them to do so, it would endanger the youkai inside.

Byakuren

こればっかりは幻想郷からでは何も手出しできないでしょうね。しかし、絶滅は自然淘汰の結果です。何も悪い事では無いでしょう。マミゾウはそうは言わないでしょうが。

This is a matter that we can't interfere with, since it's a rule of Gensokyo. However, extinction is the result of natural selection. It's not entirely a bad thing. Mamizou wouldn't say that though.

Marisa

まあそうだな。でも、幻想郷はお前らに言わせたら、人間は弱いけど生かされているんだろ? それは自然淘汰に逆らっていないのか?

I guess so. But here in Gensokyo, you guys all say that humans are weak, but we're bein' kept alive anyway, aren't we? Doesn't that go against natural selection?

Kanako

逆らっていないですね。人間が居なくなるという事が、妖怪にとっては致命的ですから。そういう意味では、生物学的に弱い事が自然淘汰される理由、という訳ではないのでしょう。

It doesn't go against it. If the humans disappear, that would mean death to the youkai. In this regard, being biologically weak wouldn't necessarily cause extinction due to natural selection.

Marisa

ふむ。弱者を生かす事も強者にとって必要な事だという訳だな。

Hmmm... So it means that the strong have to let the weak live fer their own survival.

Miko

人間は増長する生き物です。外の世界で生物の絶滅を危惧し始めたのだとすれば、ただ単に人間が、それら生物とは違う抜きんでた存在だ、と思い始めたに過ぎないでしょう。

Humans are arrogant creatures. If they start to fear the extinction of living beings in the outside world, it means nothing more than that humans believe themselves to be different, superior to the rest.

Marisa

お前達みたいだな。

Sounds like you guys.

Miko

はい?

What?

Marisa

「我々は普通の人間とは違う。抜きん出た存在だ」と思っているだろ?

"We are different from normal humans. We are the superior beings." That's what yer thinkin', huh?

Miko

いやまあその、思っていますが。

Well, that is, I suppose...

Marisa

それからマミゾウ曰く、動物の絶滅を危惧するのと同時に、文化、風俗の絶滅も危惧するようになった、らしいぞ? 幻想郷に何か影響があるかも知れん、と言っていたがそれはどういう意味なんだ?

And accordin' to Mamizou, it looks like while they're scared of animals goin' extinct, they're also scared of cultures and customs goin' extinct, too. She said it might have some effect on Gensokyo, but whaddya think that means?

Kanako

確かに私が居た頃からそういう風潮はあったわね。少し頭に入れておいた方が良いかもね。

There was certainly that tendency when I lived there. It might be good to keep it in mind.

Byakuren

それはどういった問題が有るのでしょうか?

What sort of problem would that pose?

Miko

幻想郷に居る妖怪は、人間に忘れ去られる事を存在理由としているので、外の世界では絶滅して貰った方が都合が良いと。

Because the youkai of Gensokyo owe their reason for existing here to humans forgetting about them, they are better off for having become extinct in the outside world.

Byakuren

なる程。

I see.

Kanako

そうね。まあ、今の人間が本気で妖怪の実在を信じるとは到底思えないけど……でも、逆に新しいスタイルの妖怪が生まれつつあるのかも知れない。

Yes. Well, I don't think humans nowadays will ever seriously believe that youkai truly exist, but in contrast a new style of youkai may be born.

Marisa

外の世界に?

In the outside world?

Kanako

そう、妖怪は人間に害を為す現象、正体不明の恐怖などから生まれてきた歴史があります。でも、新しいスタイルの妖怪はそれとは異なり、意図的に作られた者、理不尽さを許容する為に生まれた者が主流になって来るでしょう

Yes, youkai have a history of being born from phenomena that harm humans or fear of the unknown. But unlike them, the new style of youkai would be different. The ones that are intentionally created or the ones given birth to accept irrationality would become mainstream.

Byakuren

ああ、妖怪が居なくなった事で起きた心の不均衡をならす為に生み出されるという事ですね。

I see, you mean that they'd be created to smooth out their unbalanced hearts that were caused by the disappearance of youkai.

Miko

人間の心は実に都合良く出来ているからね。その辺は妖怪より人間が優れている部分ですね。

The human heart is a convenient one. In that respect, humans surpass youkai.

Marisa

おいおい、その説明で良く理解できるな。ちんぷんかんぷんだ(*10)。

Hold on a minute. I'm not gettin' a word of this. It's like y'all are talkin' in another language(*10).

Miko

よくいる妖怪と、これからの妖怪の具体例を挙げれば、きっと理解できます。

I'm sure you could understand it, if we gave you concrete examples of those kinds of youkai.

*1 良くない。

1: It DOES matter.

*2 他人に尽す事が美徳で、充実した生活を送るのに必須という考え。

2: The mindset that believes living just to serve others is virtuous and necessary for living a rich life.

*3 本当に修行していると思っているのでしょうか。

3: Does she really think she is training?

*4 幻想郷が唯の山奥の田舎にしか過ぎなかった頃。今でも外の世界と陸続きですが、妖怪の存在を残す為に自由には行き来出来なくなった。

4: The time when Gensokyo was just a rural village in the deep mountains. It's still connected with the outside world by land, but in order to preserve the existence of youkai, it is impossible to enter or leave freely.

*5 物部布都と蘇我屠自古。豪族だそうです。豪傑な一族。

5: Mononobe no Futo and Soga no Tojiko. I heard they're from the nobility. A great clan.[4]

*6 修行する仏教徒が守らなければいけない規律のうちの一つ。肝臓に優しい。

6: One of the rules that training Buddhists need to follow. Easy on your liver.

*7 1400年ほど昔。今はどうなのか不明。

7: About 1400 years ago. Unknown if they do currently.

*8 奈良時代の歌人。酒をこよなく愛した人、らしい。

8: A poet from the Nara era (710-794). A man who truly loved sake from the bottom of his heart, they say.

*9 恐らく幽々子か妖夢。

9: Yuyuko or Youmu, perhaps.

*10 私も私も。

10: Me too, me too.

Notes

  1. A Japanese proverb meaning that an uncanny event often results from a commonplace explanation on tiny insignificant things.
  2. Another poem of Tabito listed in Manyoushuu is also introduced in "Wild and Horned Hermit" chapter 19 - "Time-honored Osake", where Reimu pejoratively counters against Sanae for her refusing Reimu's sake.
  3. There's a blank here in the original text which is seemingly a misprinting of a long dash to indicate Marisa.
  4. The character 傑 is used for "great" and 一 for "clan" in this sentence, creating the word 豪族 ("nobility"). And this may be a pun of a video game series which was very popular when Nicovideo first opened; "豪血寺一族". It shares the same sound "gouketsu" and "ichizoku".
< Part 1: Sanae Kochiya 
Part 1: What Change Will the New Powers Bring to Gensokyo? 
 Symposium of Post-mysticism   Part 2: Mamizou Futatsuiwa
 Part 3: On the Past and Present of Youkai, and Truly New Youkai
>