Nuke Miko: Chronicles of America

Chapter 125, Pacific Rim Flying Pot Competition

Japan, Tokyo, Nagata Town, Prime Minister's Office

A current Prime Minister with the same surname as the famous ancient Onmyoji is summoning his ministers to hold an emergency cabinet meeting.

Such meetings have been held countless times since the COVID-19 virus landed and the "Corona" epidemic emerged and broke out in Japan.

However, the "Corona" epidemic situation in Japan is getting worse and worse. Hundreds of elderly people in nursing homes still die, and patients still often die suddenly on the streets. It seems that the Olympic Games cannot be held as scheduled.

——No way, Japan’s epidemic prevention and isolation measures can only control the islanders of the country, but they cannot control the American soldiers who have privileges to come and go freely.

No matter how strict and scientific the official anti-epidemic measures are, and no matter how tacitly the people cooperate, they will not be able to stop the continuous poisoning of US military bases.

Not to mention, the main source of the virus in Japan is the west coast of the United States, which has become the world's number one plague virus incubator!

As a result, Japan has all the mutated strains found in Los Angeles, even the most terrifying "zombie strain" is no exception--it's just that Japan doesn't have the red moon hanging high and the aura revived, so the infected people Those who hit the street can't turn into zombies, they just fall down to death.

Even the strains that don't exist in Los Angeles may not exist in Japan due to its own mutation and import from South Korea!

Due to the severe aging of the Japanese population and the general sub-health status of social animals, the monthly death toll is really shocking.

——According to official statistics, in the first half of this year, 100 million people died of illness in the United States due to the "Corona" plague; Japan's population is less than half of that of the United States, but [-] million people died of the "Corona" plague this year The number of people also exceeded one million!

As for the sequelae caused, it is even more shocking like a tsunami-even if there is no official ban, the national custom industry will wither.

In addition, the funeral industry was completely overwhelmed by the huge number of dead in a short period of time. The price of cemeteries in Tokyo has soared tenfold, and it is still hard to find a grave.

Many Japanese working-class families who died of old people, children, and close relatives within a few months were already in debt because of the cost of medical treatment and rescue. Funeral burial...

As a result, these poor Japanese can only take the ashes of their relatives home. Every day when they eat, they look at the layers of urns in the shrine in the living room.

There are many more miserable guys who lost their jobs and went bankrupt due to the epidemic, and couldn't pay the rent, so they could only wander around with a pile of ashes bottles on their backs.

And these sloppy homeless people have become important virus transmission intermediaries, which greatly promoted the spread of the "Corona" epidemic.

——The explosion of the epidemic led to the shutdown of the economy, and the shutdown of the economy led to a sharp increase in the number of unemployed homeless people. …and so on and on, forming a perfect closed loop.

Of course, there are also not a few lucky ones who have received soft hands because of the death of many family elders...

Well, I can only say that everyone has their joys and sorrows, this is life!

In the end, one month after the United States announced its abandonment of epidemic prevention and officially resumed work, Japan had to follow the international (European and American) trend and announced that it would abandon isolation measures and take Herd (herd) immunity.

Although many "Internet mobs" cheered for the death of retired old people and old big shots, they felt that after so many "old things" died, the pressure on the country's finances would be greatly reduced, and many positions would be freed up for the upper class in society. Young people bring broad room for improvement.

But the problem is that all young people who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus, if not dead, often become disabled...

Moreover, unlike smallpox, COVID-19 can be infected once and be immune for life. Its antibodies only last for a few months in the human body.Even those who recover by chance have to pass a round of disease checks with a mortality rate of 2~3% and a disability rate of more than 20% every few months.

Therefore, after the epidemic is over—if this plague can be ended, what awaits the younger generation of Japanese social animals may not be the comfort of "debt free" and the happiness of their children, but the lingering and dying of the sick. The heart of "no eggs to hurt" is as dead ashes.

Well, maybe there will be a large group of young parents with sequelae, frail and sick and panting when they move, dragging their demented children whose brains have been burned by the COVID-19 virus since childhood, struggling to survive in this indifferent and cruel world.

So, even if a bunch of old guys on the upper floors die and a lot of vacancies are vacated, can this "sick man of the island country" body still be able to fill it?

In short, according to expert estimates, Japan, an island country that was originally overcrowded, will surely experience a sharp negative population growth this year.

Since the mutated strain will cause devastating damage to male fertility, the problem of low birth rate in the next few years may become even more worrying.

But because the virus mutates too fast, neither an effective vaccine nor a specific medicine can be found, so the country has nothing to do about it.

If you must say that there is a countermeasure, it is probably "sit and wait"?

Anyway, this is God helping Japan solve the "involution" problem of overpopulation and resource scarcity!

However, despite this, it is still necessary for the prime minister to take the lead in organizing cabinet meetings to discuss epidemic prevention work.

Just like those social animals who obviously have nothing to do, but still have to pretend to work overtime in the company until late at night, so as not to be looked down upon by others.

However, the topic of today's cabinet meeting is not the "Corona" plague that has plagued the country for half a year.It was the more mysterious matter of ghosts and gods' spells-this made the expressions on the faces of all the bigwigs present feel a little embarrassed for a while.

After all, the live broadcast of CNN's supernatural talk show just now on the other side of the ocean really gave them too many "surprises"!

——Really both "surprised" and "happy"! "Surprise" and "Happy" mixed!

Specifically:

Inari God, the most widely believed in Japan, has come to North America!Great!Cultural export big victory!

Also came the Flying Noodle God?What is this thing?

These gods really have many magical powers, maybe they can cure the "Corona" plague and various stubborn diseases?awesome!

God?God Inari turned out to be the incarnation of the great monster Tamamo-mae?Or Empress Daji from the Shang Dynasty in China?This, this is too outrageous, right?

Los Angeles was devastated by the earthquake, and there were ghosts after it?A division of U.S. troops was destroyed by ghosts in Los Angeles?

Hey, you beautiful beasts who used to show off their power all day long, you still have today? !

What?In order to eliminate the evil spirits in Los Angeles as soon as possible, do we need to drop a nuclear bomb or cast a forbidden spell?

And the boss of the United States is neither willing to nuclear bomb the mainland, nor is he willing to take the responsibility of ordering the casting of forbidden spells. However, the shrine maiden who is favored by God Inari also refuses to take the blame, so the governor of California wants to let the Nagata-cho Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo stand out Order, to be this villain?

God Amaterasu!Can the Yankee's scapegoat be dumped across the Pacific Ocean?

This is a good person sitting at home, the pot comes from the sky!

In short, this scapegoat must not be taken lightly, but the boss of the United States can't afford to offend easily, so we have to hold a meeting to study it carefully...

"...There is a saying in the ancients, pity Ye Banxu, who doesn't ask the common people and asks ghosts and gods. Unexpectedly, today we have to follow the example of the past."

In order to liven up the awkward atmosphere at the venue, Mr. Prime Minister, who has a good background in sinology, opened his mouth with an awkward smile, "...discussing ghosts and gods at cabinet meetings. I don't know if the past prime ministers have had such an experience. Anyway, the truth This is the first time so far…”

"...So, Prime Minister, you quickly take out all the Yin-Yang techniques handed down in your family, perform a technique with few side effects, and eliminate the disaster for the Americans. Isn't everything over?" a personality The bold minister joked that other people present also booed.

——Generally speaking, cabinet meetings are naturally not so frivolous, but today's incident is so absurd that everyone's thinking is divergent.

"... Onmyoji Cheats? How can I have such a thing in my family? Who doesn't know that the descendants of Master Qingming have changed their surname to Tu Yumen long ago."

The Prime Minister smiled and waved his hands, "...Okay, let's stop joking, let's tell everyone about the information we have investigated so far!"

He made a gesture, followed by the Chief Cabinet Secretary, and operated the laptop himself to project a PPT on the venue.

At the beginning, there is a high-resolution photo of the little witch Megumi Akiyama holding a broom at the gate of the shrine.

"...Megumi Akiyama, from Fukushima Prefecture, 17 years old this year, a second-year high school student, the only daughter of a rural Inari Shrine in Minamisoma City, has received formal Shinto education, and is a full-time shrine maiden.

Originally, his family was considered wealthy, but after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the Akiyama family was seriously damaged. Because the Akiyama Shrine is close to the Fukushima nuclear pollution area, there are few pilgrims and the income of the shrine is almost cut off. abject poverty.

Akiyama Megumi's family also broke up because of this. His mother divorced eight years ago and immigrated to the United States. His whereabouts have not been found yet; his father died in a snowstorm after drinking heavily. Sun and Sun depend on each other for life.

In December last year, because of cultural exchange activities, Akiyama Megumi was sent by the shrine main office to Los Angeles, USA, to preside over a temporary shrine at a three-day comic exhibition. During this period, nothing unusual happened. Originally, he planned to take a flight on January 12. Return to Japan.

However, on the night when the exhibition ended, Megumi Akiyama suffered a car accident and fractured his left leg, and was forced to stay in the United States to heal his injuries.After his fracture healed, the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States had broken out, and the United States and Japan were suspended.Therefore, after the renewal of the contract, Akiyama Megumi has continued to stay in the United States until now.

According to her own statement, she was favored by God Inari during this period and possessed supernatural powers, so she recruited people to act as part-time witches and prepared to build Inari Shrine locally.Also meet and befriend clergymen who serve other gods.

On June 6th, she made her debut at the Los Angeles Evil Spirit event, she cast spells to eliminate spirits, and was received by the governor of California..."

This is followed by a black-and-white photo of a funeral portrait.

"...Akiyama Masako, 1950-2020, Akiyama Megumi's grandmother, the shrine master of Akiyama Shrine, died of COVID-6 in Fukushima Prefecture on June 9 this year, and was buried in her own shrine on June 19..."

Chapter 126, Pacific Rim Flying Pot Competition

Since Akiyama Megumi didn't expect that he would have an adventure later before flying to the United States, so he didn't hide his information.

——What's more, Qiu Shanhui at that time didn't have the ability to steal the sky and change the day at all.

In addition, she is a regular maiden registered in the main office of the shrine, so the Japanese officials only need to check her file to see everything.

"...In other words, this female high school student is now an orphan and has no relatives in Japan?"

A female minister who came on as a substitute only last week because her predecessor died of the COVID-19 virus, tapped her fingers on the table and said with a frown, "...By the way, as for a full-time witch, generally speaking, it is not Should at least be a high school graduate to enroll?

How did Megumi Akiyama register with the main hall of the shrine when she was in high school?Even sent to the United States by the main hall of the shrine? "

She looked up at the priest sent by the main hall of the shrine to attend the meeting, and asked such a question, but the priest trembled when he heard the sound, and could only explain with a bitter face, "...This, strictly speaking, does not comply with the regulations. However, the problem of declining birthrate in the country is becoming more and more serious nowadays, and there are fewer and fewer young women who are willing to take witches as a profession, so the management of this office is relatively loose in this regard, and the enthusiasm of young people cannot be discouraged..."

——According to the official definition, "witches" in a narrow sense only refer to "dance girls" in shrines.

Therefore, in Japanese shrines, not only those who wear red and white priestess costumes must be priestesses.A real miko, just like AKB48's idols, has age restrictions. Not only can she not get married, but she can only graduate from high school until she is 25 years old.

In this way, if a Japanese woman wants to go to university and become a shrine maiden after graduating at the age of 22, her career as a shrine maiden will only be a short three years at most. Once she reaches the age of 25, she will have to leave her post to do other affairs in the shrine Yes—of course, she usually continues to wear the priestess costume in the shrine, and she is also a priestess in the eyes of tourists, but according to the rules and regulations, she is no longer a priestess.

Even if this girl graduated from high school and went straight to her family's shrine as a full-time maiden, she would only have seven years of service.

However, although the regulations are so stipulated, in actual operation...

Hey, don't mention it. At the age of 25, you still continue to dance Kagura dance as a shrine maiden. Even if you get married and have children, there are still shrine maidens in their 40s and [-]s everywhere.

No way, Japan currently has 2 shrines across the country, but there are only more than [-] full-time witches. On average, four shrines can get one full-time witch. Considering that a small number of large shrines occupy the most and best witch resources, the rest For small rural shrines, it is even more difficult to recruit full-time witches.

Although female high school students and female college students who do odd jobs can be recruited to act as assistant maidens to make do with it, those girls who do some unskilled work such as sweeping the floor and selling guards may be okay. Brewing and chewing wine, as well as archery festivals...

Where can a layman do well?Besides, he is an amateur who only works part-time for a few weeks on average!

Therefore, when the employer can't recruit people and can't increase the salary, then naturally they can only lower the requirements.

——This is the same reason that when a country is at the end of its war, it often empties its prisons and organizes prisoners to join the army.

When there is no choice at all, even unqualified low-quality employees are better than no one working!

In addition to delaying the retirement time of witches (violating regulations and re-employing retired employees), it is also a way to let witches enter the job early: many Shinto houses, because of the lack of acceptance, let their daughters graduate from junior high school (junior high school) or even elementary school, and become witches Performed at the festival.

Of course, the main hall of the shrine is well aware of the situation of this group of demons dancing wildly, but it has basically been lying down and pretending to be stupid.

Because, if these non-compliant witches are forcibly eliminated, the number of witches, which is already in serious shortage, will plummet further.

At that time, many small shrines without witches will have to suspend some traditional religious activities, and they will lose their sense of presence among the people.

Or completely abandon tradition and mess around, such as turning the festival into a rock concert or a live-action toy gun survival game battle or something.

More importantly, the belief position of the people has always been that if you do not advance, you will retreat. Shintoism is not without competitors in Japan!

With such a suicidal operation, do you want to take the initiative to give up the position of faith to Buddhist temples and churches?How can there be such a stick?

Therefore, if there is a beautiful underage girl who is willing to inherit the family business and become a shrine maiden, it is too late for the main hall of the shrine to welcome her, so how can she drive her away?

But who would have imagined that this little girl Qiu Shanhui would soar into the sky in the United States and invite all the true gods to come down to earth?

He was even involved in a major incident that ruled the lives of tens of millions of people in the United States, and became a global celebrity in an instant?

For such a completely unpredictable situation, the main hall of the shrine that sent her to the United States was speechless and didn't know what to say.

Of course, today's cabinet meeting is not discussing the dereliction of duty of the main hall of the shrine, and no one will hold on to this small braid.

So, someone immediately came to smooth things over and said, "...If there is no exception for the appointment of the main office of the shrine, that girl will not be able to please the gods and get the favor of God Inari! After all, the shrine serves the gods, as long as the gods are satisfied. It’s better for us mortals not to talk too much.”

"...Yes, let's not pursue what has happened, it doesn't matter."

The Prime Minister also echoed, "...The important thing is that this Miko said on CNN TV that she is willing to obey the instructions of her country. Can we really treat her like an ordinary civil servant?"

"...This... In my opinion, if there are gods descending to earth, that little witch will only prioritize the oracle, right?"

A minister said, "... how can the gods in the high heavens favor a servant who refuses to obey him wholeheartedly?"

——This may sound harsh, but neither the Prime Minister nor anyone else thinks there is any problem.

Even the priest sent by the main office of the shrine to receive consultation thinks this is normal.

sex

Shintoism in Japan looks a bit like Roman Catholicism on the surface. It has a Pope (Emperor) and many subordinate institutions, and is well-organized.

But in fact, the religious power of the emperor is very illusory, or in other words, it only exists in theory.

Just like in the shogunate era, the emperor and the imperial court in Kyoto could not order the samurai princes all over Japan at all. They were essentially high-end diners supported by the shogunate. Such a weak emperor and imperial court could not directly issue orders to shrines and Buddhist temples everywhere.

Although the emperors of that era did often send their princes to major Buddhist temples to be ordained as "Prince of France", and sent their princesses to Kamo Shrine or Ise Shrine as "Saiwang", but this was not so much to strengthen the centralization of power. It might as well be to find a job for one's own children to make ends meet.

These princes and princesses who were sent to Buddhist temples and shrines, except for a very small number of people who had seized the fortune, basically did nothing more than make a living.

As for those distant temples and remote shrines that cannot be seen by the imperial court, they have been in a state of barbaric growth.

Therefore, throughout the middle ages in Japan from the late Heian period, Japan’s religious circles have always been “a hundred flowers bloom, and a hundred schools of thought contend.” The decrees issued by the royal family are basically waste paper, and no one will take it seriously, and the later emperors gradually became lazy. Take care, so as not to humiliate yourself.

As a result, during the Warring States period and the Edo period, Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan were confused on a large scale, because the temples at that time were basically self-employed and descendant temples, so everyone saw which gods and Buddhas were more fashionable, so they swarmed to worship them It doesn't matter whether it's a god or a Buddha.

So that later, in the eyes of ordinary people, it is not even clear whether these temples are shrines or Buddhist temples—you can say that they are Buddhist temples, there are witches in the temple, and there are torii gates outside the temple gate; you say It is a shrine, and there are also nuns and monks in it, and Buddhist Bodhisattvas are also enshrined.

Even if the witch shaved her head and turned into a nun in seconds, it was not uncommon for the nun to grow her hair and change clothes to become a witch at that time.