The third episode ofHell’s Paradise: Jigokurakumarked the arrival of the Vanguard Party upon the island of Shinsenkyo, and within hours, several criminals and a few Yamada Asaemon were dead. The purpose of their expedition to an area packed with unknown dangers is to retrieve the fabled Elixir of Life, a substance capable of granting those who partake of it the coveted quality of immortality. Upon their arrival, Gabimaru’s attendant, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, reacts inawe at the beauty of their environment; however, Gabimaru found the presence of varying types of plant life that shouldn’t be together in the same place quite eerie.
During their initial conversation on the island, Gabimaru tells Sagiri that she speaks like someone who didn’t believe in the existence of the island, or the elixir, but he assures her it exists; however, the name he uses in reference to the series' MacGuffin is not what is usually used. Calling it “Tokijiku no Kagu no Mi”, Gabimaru has known about its existence for a long time, but that specific name is the biggest clue regarding the possible mythological inspirations behindHell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku.
– The following article contains heavy spoilers for Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku. Proceed with caution. –
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Jigokuraku
Hell’s Paradise: Jigokurakufollows a band of criminals who are sent on an expedition to the mysterious island of Shinsenkyo with a group of samurai executioners as attendants by the Shogunate. Several samurai search parties have been sent to the island in order to find the Elixir of Life reported to be available on the island; however, its existence is still argued by many who dismiss it as a myth. However, the Chief of Iwagakure is a man rumoured to have obtained the mysterious substance at some point.Flashbacks to Gabimaru’s childhooddepict the chief sustaining all kinds of grievous harm to his body, including disembowelment, but grinning through it as if none of the fatal wounds were even painful. Its existence aside, the Shogunate seeks the Elixir and has sent six expedition parties to the island, but with each one, only one boat filled with flowers and a human body with flowers blooming all over it returned. Of those six parties, there has only been a single survivor.
What connects Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku with mythology is Gabimaru’s use of a different name for the object they are searching for: “Tokijiku no Kagu no Mi”, which is slightly different but follows a similar nomenclature as “tokijiku no kagu no konomi” –the MacGuffin in the Japanese mythological legend of Tajimamori, the God of Sweets. In the chronicles of Japanese history, the Nihon Shoki as well as the Kojiki, both of which have their origins in the 7th and 8th centuries and contain various oral traditions, hymns, legends and an account of the creation of the Japanese archipelago, itskamuy(gods and similar entities) and even the genealogies of significant figures. Within both of these early-Japanese chronicles, the story of Tajimamori is detailed, with its origins being in the Kofun period of Japanese history (from around 300 to 538CE).
Fruit of Paradise
According to legend, Tajimamori was sent on an expedition by Emperor Suinin, the 11th Japanese Emperor of legend, to find a magical fruit known as theTokijiki no Kagu-no-konomi「非時香菓」, which required him to travel to the land ofTokoyo no Kuni(literally “The Everlasting Land”) which is written in Japanese「常世の国」. After 10 years, Tajimamori returned with some branches bearing fruit; however, by then, Emperor Suinin was already dead. He gave half of the branches to the Emperor’s widow, offered the other half at the emperor’s tomb and then died himself, overwhelmed with grief. The fruit that Tajimamori brought back is thought to be the tachibana orange (binomial nomenclature:citrus reticulata tachibanaor simplycitrus tachibana), a variety of citrus thatgrows in the Japanese mountains. Since there have been several classification systems for citrus fruits, the classification of the tachibana orange as either one of various citrus varieties, or its own special genus if one consults the system derived by Chōzaburō Tanaka.
Etymology
Tajimamori’s role as the God of Sweets is the result of this story; however, the use of the word “konomi”, in reference to “fruit” is considered archaic, and is used in recent times to refer to confectionary treats. These days, the word “mi” is used to mean “fruit”, something thatOne Piecefans would be familiar with; however, the word “kajitsu”, written [果実」 and more commonly, “kudamono” (simply 「果」) are also used. The name of the fruit that Tajimamori retrieves, the Tokijiki no Kagu-no-Konomi, can be broken down to reveal its use. “Tokijiki” is written with a kanji for negation, followed by the kanji for “time”; therefore, “timeless”, while the last two kanji refer to “fruit” (archiacally) but “sweets” in contemporary use. Together, Tokijiki no Kagu-no-Konomi effectivelytranslates to “timeless fruit”(or “sweets”); however, what’s interesting aboutHell’s Paradise: Jigokurakuis how Gabimaru’s name for the so-called Elixir of Life removes the ambiguity between fruit and confection, despite the written form of the name not changing. In calling it the “Tokijiku no Kagu no Mi” (rather than -noKonomi), Gabimaru emphasizes fruit rather than confection.
Mandarin, Tan(gerine)
As the series develops, viewers will learn about the true nature of Shinsenkyo, as well as the true dangers that await them. On the island, eight immortal beings known as “Tensen” (“Heavenly Immortals”) have control over the power of Tao (literally, “The Way”), the energy that prevails and exists in all things. They achieved this through their mastery of the Five Training Methods of Immortality. These beings are effectively Sennin who have devoted their eternal lives tothe mastery of the Taoand through the consumption of Tan, a substance that served as the prototype for the actual Elixir of Life, derived from the Tao harvested from human beings, the Tensen were able to gain additional lifespans which they devoted to the mastery of their chosen path. This substance can only be consumed by them, as other entities who try will be subject to death via arborification – they literally turn into trees.
Like in the Tajimamori legend, the original Tensen was the first immortal on Shinsenkyo, who is fabled to have split into seven distinct personalities that are the Tensen; however, in reality, the real goal of the island is to harvest enough Tan to revive a man named Jofuku, the original creator of the hybrid creatures and researcher of immortality and Tao, who died of arborification before the Elixir of Life could be perfected. With his widow, Rien, left behind, she devoted centuries to the creation of the immortals and research into the perfection of the Elixir of Life, fabricated the nature of their origins and eventually created the true Elixir, all with the hopes that she could one day revive her husband. The concept of the Eight Immortalshas origins in Chinese mythology, and Jofuku himself was a Chinese man who was sent by Emperor Qin Shi Huang to locate the secret of immortality. He arrived and never reported back, with lost historical records stating that he never found anything. In reality; however, Jofuku had dubbed himself ruler of these unknown lands.
