Talk:Natsu Munakata/@comment-176.130.31.49-20180102123715

Munakata Natsu, actually one of the most interesting character in this story; she is the one who permitted Misumi Makoto to become that powerful.

The Munakata clan was a sea-fairing tribe living in the coasts of western Japan, China and proto-Korea; but later, in kept its individuality and uniqueness in Japan alone and dissolved elsewhere. Like many other sea-fairing folks of antiquity, they are quite mysterious and were probably, somehow, interconnected in subtle ways. The Munakata traditionnally are linked with the Three Goddesses of Munakata Taisha, maybe the "Bug" Goddess is actually one of them, or a differently named but similar goddss mythologically / metaphysically / historically related to these girls, such as Nehalennia: it would explain why she is being confronted first by Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto and then by Takehaya Susa-no-O-no-Mikoto who is considered the father of these three goddesses, and a sea & storm God as well, instead of, say, O-Kuni-Nushi-no-Kami.

Since even before the Edo period, the Japanese martial arts style were in competition between each others. To show one's secret technique is to make it possible for others to copy, steal, or find a counter against it, that is partly why Natsu sensei forbade Makoto to fight in tournament and had him hide his actual skills in archery. It is also because of Juso no Fuse, a fitting metaphor for Kyûjutsu indeed: an arrow shot at the heavens will fall down; Japanese spirituality, be it in Zen or in Shintoism, holds purity of purpose and absence of ulterior motives in high regards - this is the nature of the hand clapping performed in Shrine salutations, for example.

This Munakata-ryû Kyûjutsu probably did not originated from the battlefields, but from the time of boat travels and sea-fairing, range weaponry being then more important than swords and spears, because it can be used to shoot down birds and beasts and attack humans too. At that time, they used rather primitive and small boats; and unlike modern people and Renaissance era + marines, they had no problem diving into the sea. Until the modern period, the Japanese had a whole profession of women diving into the sea naked or almost naked; but now this wonderful, dreamy custom is disappearing entirely, like many old traditions (Dey took our jerbs!). The Munakata tribe was also subject to the Sumera Mikoto, so the Emperors could need them to fight here and there. Later, the Chosokabe army became quite famous for its archery skills, although it is said they are related to the Hata clan, and the Hata clan is said to descend from the Qin dynasty, it is unlikely that they inherited the archery techniques from the Qin soldiers.

Maybe what she actually taught Makoto was not just Kyûdô style archery, but... something more like Heki-ryû Koshiya from Satsuma-han?