香君 上 西から来た少女 | Week 9

香君 上 西から来た少女 | Week 9

Week 9 26 July 2025
Chapters 3.8, 3.9, 3.10
End page 108
Pages 44
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Home Thread 香君 上 西から来た少女 Advanced Book Club : now reading!

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I forgot to ask last week, but what’s the correct reading for 郷?

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Ok, let’s see if I got the story straight so far….

Chapter 3.10

オアレ稲, far from being a miracle crop, is in fact an invasive species. If left to grow as it pleases, it will overcome all other crops, make the soil useless, and turn toxic to eat.

The sole and only known predator is a bug called オオヨマ. While endemic to this world, at least as ヨマ, under certain circumstances, it will hatch in large number and eat/kill all the オアレ稲.

At which point everybody will starve.

To ensure survival, it is absolutely necessary to both partially curb the オアレ稲 expansion and check for emergence of オオヨマ. Thus, オアレ稲 will coexist with other crops, and famine can be staved off in case of an オオヨマ hatching.

The growth of オアレ稲 is controlled through carefully chosen fertilizers and other plants. The original 香君, probably through her sense of smell, perfected the right fertilizer. This was enshrined as a divine rule. However, because food control is the main political weapon of the empire, the rule has been subtly changed over the years/century, and instead of a mixed crop regime, オアレ稲 is dominant again (though not toxic). Because of (probably budgetary) cuts in personnel and the growing size of the empire, オオヨマ is no longer monitored, or at least not efficiently enough. And a large hatching is in progressed.

Therefore, everybody is doomed…

Going back through family documents and cross-referencing with sacred texts, マシュー, オリエ, and ラーオ have found out the truth and are desperately trying to find a new fertilizer formula to go back to equilibrium. However, they are not there yet, and need アイシャ to literally sniff out the solution

Politically speaking…

basically chapters 3.6 to 3.10

The empire uses オアレ稲 as a weapon to control and expand its territory. Field-grown オアレ稲 can’t be sowed from one year to another, and without the proper fertilizer, the crops turn toxic. The マキシ people know that since the beginning, probably because they have a very developed sense of smell, but they have been marginalized through the sacred texts/origin story in which (I guess) they play the part of the people whose king chose not to follow 香君, resulting in their starvation. History is written by the victors….アイシャ’s grandfather somehow came to the same conclusion as the マキシ, and rejected オアレ稲, leading to a civil war, his toppling, and subsequently the establishment of a empire-ruled government (which has itself been toppled at the beginning of the book).

But since returning to a balanced crop regime is akin to refuting the empire’s religious teachings, what マシュー and friends are doing is akin to treason, and could potentially lead to a massive upheaval and breaking up of the empire

But we still don’t know why field-grown オアレ稲 can’t be sown from year to year, right ? And I guess at some point the whole talk at the beginning of the book about pirates smuggling bird-poo as a fertilizer will become relevant…

As for the empire (I am less clear about that part) : it was founded by one ancestor of the previous emperor, and the founder of the カシュガ clan.They both left their country at a time of famine, and freed the original 香君, who came from a “holy” place (actually, probably the land アイシャ comes from), and who gave them オアレ稲 out of gratitude. Later, the カシュガ clan split into 旧カシュガ家 and 新カシュガ家. Both sub-clans were given important roles revolving around 香君, the オアレ稲, and other food production, probably (I guess ?) because they knew the secret of オアレ稲 and as an attempt to keep them from spilling it ? I guess the emperor controls military forces. At this point, the old emperor is dying, and various political powers are vying for influence, mainly though which of the emperor’s two sons they favor as the next ruler.

Thanks again, @pm215, for your earlier summary !

What part did I get wrong ?

Did you mean 3.10 etc here rather than 2.10 ?

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Yes. I just realized that as I was climbing the stairs home. Changing it right away

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On the politics part, spoilers up to the end of 3.10:

I don’t think this part is quite right. The ミキシ don’t have any better a sense of smell than anybody else – the only people with enhanced sense of smell seem to be those people directly descended from the most recent woman to come out of the mysterious hidden territory: that is, アイシャ, her mother, マシュウ, and a little bit アイシャ’s brother. The ミキシ have maintained the belief that オアレ稲 is bad because they are the tribe descended from the half of the people who stayed put and rejected the idea of continuing to use the crop after whatever disaster it was occurred. The half of that tribe who chose to persist with オアレ稲 left that area and went on a long trek eastwards, eventually arriving at a point where they stopped, settled down, and founded what would become the empire. The story about the king who didn’t follow the 香君 is about the time after that and how they took the first steps toward empire by gaining power over the tribe that was already living in the area they’d moved into.

Yes, the exact reason why you can’t just reseed the crop hasn’t been explicitly stated, though we do know that there’s some kind of process for getting growable seeds and it’s a very closely guarded secret.

The “two guys left this country, went on a journey. and brought back the 香君” story is the empire’s foundation story; for the actual historical reality that マシュウ (and his father before him) figured out, see above.

The political setup feels to me like it has multiple layers which have accumulated over time: 旧カシュガ家, 新カシュガ家, emperor, which are steadily more outward facing, more concerned with politics and running and expanding the empire, and less concerned with the details and care of オアレ稲. The impression I have is that the カシュガ家 have the true power, exactly because they control the crop; they aren’t just doing important roles for the emperor. But maybe that’s partly jusr イール thinking he’s the power behind the throne: we only have his viewpoint thoughts on the カシュガ/emperor relationship.

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