February 4, 2006

Chapter 42 (12 Kingdoms)


冬器 [とうき] winter weapons, weapons than can kill wizards and youma

The Winter Minister is responsible for public works. You might think this something the Defense Ministry (Summer) would handle, but workings of bureaucracies are tangled, indeed. Consider that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was part of the Treasury Department until 2003, when it was transferred to the Justice Department, though its original tax and trade duties remained with the Treasury Department. The famous Prohibition Era crime fighter, Eliot Ness, worked for the Treasury Department, not the FBI, and Al Capone was ultimately convicted on tax-evasion charges.

三騅 [さんすい] sansui, lit. "three gray horse," a kind of pegasus
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