Clothes that Embrace the Mountain is the eighteenth episode of the Mushishi anime series.
Synopsis[]
Ginko gets his hands on a coat apparently possessed by a mushi. Hoping to figure out the truth, he starts looking for the coat's first owner.
Plot[]
A pawn shop owner tries to sell a kimono to Ginko with a mountain painting in it that sometimes has smoke appearing on it and which was made by a famous artist. Ginko manages to negotiate the price and get it half price.
Years ago, a boy Kai and lives near the mountain in a village, who dreams of becoming an artist. His sister makes him a kimono using silk from the mountain and sends him away without their father agreement. Kai goes to work as apprentice in a master painter, but as he is doing chores, he takes some pain and secretly paints a mountain on the inside of his kimono. One day he hangs it out on a tree and his teacher sees it, making him realize Kai is talented and decides to teach him all he knew, although commenting it won't be much. Kai starts painting and gets a job due to his master recommendation. Not having enough ink, he sells his kimono and finishes the job. After that he becomes more and more popular and takes more jobs. One day he receive letters, but considers they are more job requests and burns them without reading them. He then hear rumors of a landslide on a nearby village, but hopes its not his village.
As then years had passed and he suffered from fatigue, he decides to visit his village and see his sister and father, in hopes he had forgiven him. Returning to the village, he finds it destroyed by a landslide. A woman carrying a child recognizes him and explains that his father died in the landslide and they made his sister write him a letter, in hope he can help since he is famous now, but he never replied or came. His sister had died three years ago after giving birth to the child she carries. Devastated, Kai remains living in the village, although villagers hate him. The old woman, keeps giving him food, but as one day she passes away, he decides to take care of Toyo, his niece, although she is developing slowly.
At present, he sees the mountain having smokes again and decide to check them. Kai then meets Ginko coming out from the mud and recognizes his kimono. Ginko explains the mushi Ubusuna lived in the kimono, a mud-like Mushi, which above ground takes smoke-like form. The mushi can live only in their region and after the landslide some went to live in the kimono, due to using mountain materials. They live everyone and when you eat the plants, they start living in you and protect you from other Mushi, but leaving the area, they lose all power. Ginko explains Toyo likely didn't get enough Ubusuna in him and that affects her development, but as now big amount of Ubusuna returned to the area from the kimono, Toyo will gradually catch up on development. Kai asks Ginko to sell him his kimono back and Ginko agrees, if he paints another exactly like it. Toyo sees him painting and wants Kai to continue and Kai decides to continue painting. Later Ginko sells the second kimono to Adashino, lying to him that each ten years a smoke can be seen on the mountain on the kimono.