branchandroot

Translation

I've been contemplating the various ways of translating hashira. The most direct translation is "pillar" or "post", but the connotations don't match in English and Japanese. Hashira seems to be used in the same way one uses "cornerstone" in English. The architectural idea invoked is that of a vital load-bearing member. Since hashira appears to be a colloquialism in the same fasion that "cornerstone" is, a direct translation is not neccessarily appropriate... or even possible.

Of course, that's the thing about colloquialisms. They're the single most impossible part of a language to translate, depending as they do on what is, by definition, an alien system of associations. With raised construction, of course the uprights would be the most significant parts when it comes to stability and the basics of the building itself.

Personally, I think the best translation is"load-bearing member", but that's unweildy and just begs for dirty jokes. Short of that, "axis mundi" seems closest to what Tezuka means when he says hashira.

Support and Leadership

And, at first glance, it seemed odd to me that Tezuka should chose Echizen as the next center of Seigaku. That said to me that the hashira is less a support than an example. The strongest, but not necessarily the leader, because Echizen just doesn't have, at that point in the story, any of the qualities needed in a leader. He's too wild, too unsocialized. He has no sense of duty to anyone, least of all his team.

(That changes some over time, as he gets used to having people around who are fellows as well as competitors. Which is one of the things that convinces me that the mangaka plans or planned to take this story quite a bit further, following that part of Echizen's evolution. But I digress.)

The more I saw, though, the more it seemed that Echizen is, in fact, in the same category as Tezuka. Because I see two major categories of unreasonably talented people, in this story. One holds Tezuka, Echizen, Tachibana, Yukimura. Another holds Atobe, Fuji, Akutsu, Kirihara. The first holds those who have the self-discipline or the gentleness or restraint to keep their strength focused, to refrain from harming their opponents while defeating them. The second holds those who do not have that steadiness, who will do something or not do it purely on a whim, those who are drunk enough with their own power to do harm because nothing is stopping them. Those who lack direction to focus and guide them.

Now, Fuji generally does refrain from physically harming his opponents. I rather think it's because Tezuka provides restraint for him. Similarly, I think Atobe would be a good deal less inclined to destroy whatever's in his way if Sakaki ever reined him back or indicated that such activity was unacceptable. And a gut feeling says to me that a major reason Kirihara is so out of control is that Yukimura isn't there to hold him to heel. (For thoughts on why Sanada does not do so, see Sanada's page.)

Which gets us to my thoughts about Rikkaidai. Watching Yukimura's firmness with his team, once he returns impressed the hell out of me. Previous to that, Sanada comes across as the strong, strict disciplinarian of the team. The one in charge. But watching them together there's no question that Yukimura is the captain, the one in command, the true drive and determination of the team, its control and its heart. Sanada acts in support of Yukimura, not on his own. Rather the same way Kamio is to Tachibana. To an extent, the way Ooishi is to Tezuka.

That steel, that hone and temper, is one of the defining characteristics of that first category I mentioned. Echizen certainly has it. It's the constance, the ability to bear down, that the second category doesn't have. The second category is fire, brilliant but unstable. They are not the kind who make good captains.

Atobe is somewhat of an exception to that. He does seem to have the ability to focus, the potential for constance, but he uses it only rarely for his team. The fact that his team does have respect for him says to me that he takes some care for the regulars, at least, while they're in his hands. But Hyoutei is certainly not set up to encourage the kind of bond that lets Tezuka or Tachibana or Yukimura command their teams so completely. I think this is the most likely reason Atobe more or less fixates on Tezuka as his rival; to have something stable that he can sharpen his focus on.

So, coming back around to the concept of hashira, I would say that it means to be the constant of the team. The unbreakable example that calls or drives all the rest after its own excellence, whether by admiration or shame. The pure will that the rest of the team can lean against when their own certainty fails. The core. That, Echizen could be, and that, I think, he would accept.