When the Cherry Blossoms Bloom
What beautiful weather.
Pink cherry blossoms, a blue sky, and white clouds.
There's nothing like eating rice balls under cherry blossom trees.
Sis, give me one more rice ball!
Sure. Which kind do you want?
Um, fish flakes, and a chicken nugget, too!
The petals have mostly fallen,
but I think I like it like this.
It isn't so crowded, so you can view them in peace.
I wonder if Rei has arrived in Yamagata yet.
Maybe. I bet this is the best time to see them over there, too.
Human Shogi is so artistic.
They wear armor and kimonos and hold it in a big park, right?
I bet it looks beautiful under cherry blossom trees.
Cherry blossoms in full bloom, the beautiful blue sky, green mountains...
Wonderful.
Lucky him. It sounds so romantic.
It's just like I said. I'm a rain-bringer.
I'm not cut out for outdoor festivals.
On top of that, I'm already feeling shameful
because I had straight losses at the Lion King Tournament and couldn't bring the match here.
Damn that Chairman...
It'll be fine! Fine!
Just go and let everyone cheer you up!
Whoops!
I didn't mean that kind of cheering up, okay?
This is the worst.
I'll carry your bag.
Let's get going.
What is this?
This lonely melody echoing through an empty train station!
Why this tune?
It's a bad omen!
From the City of Shogi, Tendou, Let's Get a Master!
What could I say to apologize?
They're all so kind that I know they would never blame me.
But that makes it more painful.
I would rather... I would rather have them berate me.
Hey! Kai!
You rain-bringer!
What are you gonna do about this rain?
This weather is your fault!
You rain-bringer!
That being said, I'm being berated five seconds after getting here!
Here, hand out towels to the Pawns.
Please, have a towel.
It's Shimada 8th-Dan!
Thank you.
Shiono Club
Here! Eat.
It's a new recipe from the Shiono Club.
French whale rice cake.
Delicious. This is great.
Ma'am, this is wonderful!
And I was gonna make a bundle selling the new product.
Stab Stab
Grumble Grumble
- But with this rain, it's a wash-out! - I'm really sorry.
Brother! Kiriyama!
Wow, Kiddo!
That suits you. It looks good on you.
You were born to wear that, Kiddo!
It suits him so well.
He's like the daimyou, Shingen himself! Like a full-sized Boys' Festival doll!
You've touched this old man's heart!
So where's your opponent, Yokomizo?
Me?
Hmm. Yes, yes.
And he's like, um... Kobayakawa...
Takakage?
Hideaki?
Hey, what's with that obscure lineup?
42nd Tendou Cherry Blossom Festival Human Shogi
And now, Yokomizo 7th-Dan has the first move.
7-f-Pawn.
White Harunobu Nikaidou 5th-Dan
Black Okuyasu Yokomizo 7th-Dan
Next, Nikaidou 5th-Dan.
3-d-Pawn.
6-f-Pawn.
8-d-Pawn.
6-h-Rook.
40 Minutes Later
All right, next, 6-g-Silver...
Wait, huh?
Oh, shoot.
I forgot that a Lance moved up!
Crap!
Then...
In Human Shogi, there's a rule, or goal rather, to move all of the pieces.
It's a different type of fight, so it's easy to miss something.
Th-Then the same, Bishop!
Then, 3-e-Pawn.
Slice
Whoa! A move that takes advantage of his opponent's error!
That's my Young Master!
I-I lost.
In the 42nd Human Shogi game, the winner after 96 moves
is Nikaidou 5th-Dan!
Thank you very much. I'm extremely delighted.
Master Harunobu, that was marvelous!
Good game, both of you.
Here, take a breather, Kobayakawa...
It's Yokomizo!
You're saying it on purpose, Mr. Hanaoka!
All right. Next up is the 100 Move event.
Chairman, Nikaidou, Okuyasu and I are participating.
Kiriyama!
I'm counting on you.
Chairman, you're in the program, so you can't run away!
But, I... My stomach is kind of hurting.
Don't lie.
I heard you from the hallway excitedly talking about having Yonezawa beef tonight.
All of the participants are looking forward to beating you, Chairman!
Sheesh.
But I learned my lesson last year. These people are unusually good players.
Especially the old folks who are in the club you formed, Shimada.
Even the old lady over there would open with a Castle like it's nothing!
That just isn't normal!
I can't finish the game in two hours!
My Yonezawa beef will get cold.
I heard about it, too. Mr. Tsujii was complaining about doing it last year.
He said he got whipped.
Tsujii, huh?
In his greeting at the opening ceremony, he pulled a fast one.
Nice to meet you, people of Yamagata.
Love me Tendour...
I am Takeshi Tsujii.
I didn't think the locals would be that put off by him.
Of course he said that. There was never any question.
If Mr. Tsujii is on stage, he's going to say a pun.
42nd 100 Move Hall
And now it's time. Players, thank you for your cooperation.
Everyone, thank you for your patience.
It's the ever-popular 100 Moves event. And here are our professional shogi players.
Hi, everybody! Hello!
Master Harunobu!
Shiono Club
Okuyasu, get in front of the Shiono Club.
Forget it. These people have come to beat you, Chairman.
Oh, boy.
Guess it can't be helped.
Okay, how about if I go?
Shiono Club
Kai!
All right, grandmas and grandpas. I'm not going to hold back.
I wouldn't have it any other way! You're gonna miss dinner tonight!
I'd like to eat dinner, though.
I came all the way back home, so let's all eat together.
Oh, I see. That makes sense!
What do you think of Shimada 8th-Dan's hometown, Kiriyama 5th-Dan?
Oh... Have I met him somewhere before?
That's right.
I'm Izumida with the Yamagata Journal.
He did an article on Mr. Shimada.
Right. Um, I really get the feeling that everyone here is a strong supporter of Mr. Shimada.
Shimada 8th-Dan's real hometown is more in the back regions of Yamagata.
As the population declines,
seniors living by themselves get isolated in their homes in the winter because of the snow.
He was troubled by that, so he created the Shiono Shogi Club.
Shiono Club
Twice a week, a bus goes around to all the seniors' houses to pick them up
and they play shogi on kotatsus at the community center.
While some play shogi, others cook non-perishable food for the group in large pots.
And when it's time to go home, they take with them the daily necessities or ingredients
they'd asked for as a group, as he arranged to buy it for them.
Shimada 8th-Dan is trying to arrange for the elderly people to not feel isolated anymore.
Shimada 8th-Dan also made the arrangements to sell
the non-perishable food and sweets the Shiono Club makes to the train stations.
Most wonderful of all is how these activities have made the old folks so spry.
Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to bend your ear.
No, not at all! I'm glad you told me.
Mr. Shimada has been depressed lately.
He wonders how he can apologize to everyone regarding the Lion King Tournament.
But right now, seeing him smile like that,
it makes me really happy.
I mean...
Really?
I'm glad.
I've been covering him all this time for the newspaper, so I've become totally enamored.
I understand. I totally understand!
I see.
Is that so?
When Mr. Izumida said that and smiled, he seemed delighted.
That kind of made me happy too.
I felt connected to it.
And that feeling somehow filled me with joy.
Here's bakke miso, rice balls, snow greens pickled in salt, and whale rice cakes.
And here are some frozen dried persimmons.
You guys are giving me so much again.
Honestly, you never change.
We're never gonna change.
So it's okay.
No need to rush, Kai.
I've been rushing so much that I lost my head.
How many times do I go back to where I started?
I was so lost.
Even from here on out, that feeling won't go away, but...
Mr. Shimada! The train's coming!
Brother! Hurry up, hurry up!
From the City of Shogi, Tendou, Let's Get a Master!
Right.
Well then.
Guess I'll start over again this year and work hard.
It's gonna be scary, but you should pass through.
You should pass through.
When the Cherry Blossoms Bloom
Small Murmur
Mikazuki Shop
I'm not sure what to do.
You seem troubled, Grandpa.
Is it about your next new creation, Grandpa?
Yeah. I'm trying to think of something that'd be good for the summer,
but I'm not getting any inspiration.
The Baked Crescents are great and have become the shop's signature sweet,
but if possible, I'd like one more new showpiece.
Then the name and form should be easy for people to remember, and don't get tired of.
But will also keep for a few days so it'd be good as a present.
So something baked?
Wait, wait!
Long-lasting is important too, but if it's baked, it'll overlap with the Baked Crescents.
Maybe we can go with something that's fresh.
Like the strawberry daifuku, which doesn't have a long shelf life, but is popular.
Strawberry daifuku...
I was surprised the first time, but it turned out well and caught on here.
I see. So something like the strawberry daifuku with an unexpected filling
and if we can get a new flavor, that'd be great.
Okay Hina, for example, what filling would make you happy?
What do you like?
Um, let's see... Like apples...
...and whipped cream!
Whipped cream.
I think putting whipped cream in Japanese-style sweets would kill the merit of them.
Hmmm...
I just think that could be heresy.
But bean paste and whipped cream are delicious together!
You know, like cream mitsumame or cream red bean soup!
True, cream mitsumame is good with whipped cream on top.
Cream mitsumame, huh? It really is tasty.
You can't help dropping in at Flower Garden or Mitsuhashi.
But sweets shops are traps, aren't they?
I'm tired.
Sweets Mitsuhashi
Should we get a sweet treat before going home?
Yay! Definitely!
It's okay to splurge once in a while, right?
Look, the mitsumame is only 350 yen.
Glitter Glitter
But I'd want to put sweet beans on top, too.
Me, too.
Huff Huff
So that would be anmitsu for 430 yen.
I guess that's okay. For the two of us, it'd be 860 yen.
Dazzle Dazzle
But wait! In that case, for another 100 yen, we can have it with cream!
Huff Huff
Nice! Cream would be nice!
But if we're going that far, another 50 yen would get us whipped cream!
Dazzle Dazzle
Wait! If we're putting whipped cream on top, I'd want apricots, too!
Then I'll have bananas!
Ta-daaa!
Packed
In the end, All the toppings
Total: 1,610 Yen
Sweets Mitsuhashi
Oh, no.
Why does this always happen?
We spent 1,610 yen on just a snack!
I'm stuffed. I'm gonna get fat!
Even though I'm always stingy to a fault...
With 1,610 yen, we could've bought 2.3 kg of chicken at 68 yen per 100 grams.
With 2.3 kg, we could've fed the family for five days!
Sale
Sweets shop traps are scary! Your mind goes blank.
And you get fat.
This is our punishment for going without Momo.
Now we've got to be even more frugal this month. I regret what we did.
Hey, don't get depressed over there!
Was that something recent? I thought you were going to help me come up with a new idea!
That's right, Momo! How about you, Momo?
What filling would you like in a rice cake? What do you like?
Gum?
We've got a genius here!
- G-Grandpa! Get a grip! - Calm down!
Um... Okay.
All right, calm down. Calm down and we can think it through again.
- Shh, shh, okay, okay. - Y-Yeah.
Okay.
A tasty filling for a daifuku.
First, red bean paste, of course. And sweet green paste.
Walnuts, matcha, apples, strawberries...
Chestnuts, sweet potatoes...
Salted caramel...
And whipped cream!
Hey, that again?
Don't go too far from the Japanese confections!
If I went along with what you're saying, this would turn into a cake shop!
Do you kids actually hate Japanese sweets?
I-I'm sorry! I really like it! I love it!
It's no good!
I can't narrow it down! There are too many choices!
Sweet green paste, matcha cream, strawberry cream, chestnut...
Woman want this and that, and are so greedy.
I just can't pick one.
So many different flavors...
Huh?
I've got an idea!
Well, like this?
How cute!
It looks like a daruma!
I'm a genius!
What do you call them?
Sangatsu-chou Puffy-Puffy Daruma!
The rice cakes are filled with different flavors of bean jam
and when put together, look like snowmen.
Good Fortune
"Puffy" can also mean "good fortune," and I used it twice to double the good luck!
Yeah, this is good.
Two flavors of bean jam in a set and they're cute, too.
Sweet green paste and whipped cream or sweet red bean paste and sweet potato...
You can make variations by changing just the inside.
It would be nice to change the flavors with the seasons.
Like limited time flavors...
Chestnut paste in the fall, strawberry cream in the spring...
All right! I'll tell Sada and the others about it tomorrow.
Gotta be positive!
Yay!
Mom, look. I thought up of a sweet, too.
Chomp!
She's eating me!
Hey, Grandpa.
Mom came up with the Baked Crescents, right?
What did you say?
Dummy!
I'm the one who worked hard to make the prototype, the mold, and the finishing touches.
But the one who thought up the cute shape and name was your mom, Mikako.
Mikako loved cooking, loved Japanese sweets,
and would learn by watching others, then make different "prototype" sweets on her own.
I see.
I hope this Puffy-Puffy Daruma makes everyone happy, just like the Baked Crescents.
I can't wait for everyone to try it.
Oh, that's right!
Nothing for us yet-meow!
Yes, hello?
Hello?
Rei, good evening!
Good evening.
Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?
Um... Yes. I'd love to.
Oh, Rei. Long time no see. How have you been?
Rei!
Was the Human Shogi fun?
Yes. It was raining, but still fun.
Oh, what's all that?
My mentor shared it with me. From his hometown in Yamagata.
He said he couldn't eat all of it, so offered me some.
That's wonderful.
Please, come in, come in!
That day, Kiriyama brought over all kinds of goodies from Yamagata.
Sis was thrilled the side dishes crossed the bridge and made it over to us.
We also enjoyed the Puffy-Puffy Daruma I came up with for dessert.
And this is still a secret, but if I can, I'd like to make Japanese sweets for a living
and someday run the shop with Grandpa.
Hinata.
Small Murmur
Next Episode Preview
Episode 22
I'm just pursuing the truth! Don't falter, Kiriyama!
What? Is shogi that minor?
Hey! There are limits in making snap decisions, too!
As you can see, I'm gathering natto.
Hey, can we eat together?
But I was definitely a guy who can bring out the sun!
For next year's Human Shogi, I've decided that it's going to be sunny!
Don't miss the next episode of "March Comes in Like a Lion"!