Work Text:
Question 1
"In keeping out, we keep in." Describe the technical differences between erecting a curtain barrier and a domain.
Question 2
There are several articles in the Japanese Code of Civil and Criminal Procedure for Jujutsu Sorcerers that mandate immediate execution, once certain circumstances have been met. Explain how the text and implementation of said articles should be applied in the case of Zenin Maki (a model mission report with a description of the events is included with these exam questions). Furthermore, discuss whether and what exemptions should be granted. Cite precedent if available.
Question 3
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
1 = Strongly Agree, 2 = Moderately Agree, 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree, 4 = Moderately Disagree, 5 = Strongly Disagree, 9 = Request private discussion with instructor
The stability of the jujutsu world is more important than the life of any individual.
It is the responsibility of jujutsu sorcerers to protect non-sorcerers.
Societal structures, once erected, should be assumed to be beneficial unless proven otherwise.
Survival is in and of itself a virtue.
Happiness is temporary.
Question 4
Have you been present at the death of a person you consider a friend? If so, describe the circumstances and to what extent, if any, you were involved.
Question 5
On December 24, 2017, Getou Suguru orchestrated a series of premeditated terrorist attacks on the cities of Kyoto and Tokyo, colloquially referred to as "The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons." A prior draft of the associated mission report stated that Getou Suguru wept openly when he saw Inumaki Toge and Panda sacrifice themselves to save Okkotsu Yuta, claiming that this was the ideal world he had wanted to achieve. This observation was redacted from the final version of the mission report submitted to the regulatory officials, citing bias and failure to confirm with reliable eyewitnesses. Are destructive actions taken on behalf of personal affection ever justified? In what circumstances would it be justifiable to allow personal affection to outweigh the regulations in the Code, if ever?
Question 6
If jujutsu sorcerer X is threatened by individual Y and activates a technique in response, injuring multiple bystanders in the process, how should X rationalize the consequences? To what extent does it matter whether individual Y is a curse user, fellow jujutsu sorcerer, or some other entity? To what extent does it matter whether the bystanders are humans, curses, or neither?
Question 7
Who is responsible for Itadori Yuji's death? Pick one:
Ryomen Sukuna
Gojou Satoru
Itadori Yuji
Fushiguro Megumi
N/A (no parties or all parties are responsible)
Question 8
In Question 7, what is the correct interpretation of the word "responsible?" Check one.
"Who should shoulder the blame for his death?"
"Who should shoulder the responsibility for killing him?"
Question 9
All skandhas are empty, and recognizing this is the key to transcending suffering. Nevertheless, jujutsu depends on the existence of skandhas. Without personal affection, fear, anxiety, paranoia, and other assorted negative feelings, there can be no cursed energy. If so, what does suffering mean to you?
Question 10
Consider the following thought experiment.
There is a runaway trolley barreling down a railway track. Ahead, on the track, there are five thousand non-sorcerers tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. Itadori Yuji is on that track. You have two and only two options. One, do nothing, in which case the trolley—which is Itadori Yuji's body, which may or may not contain Itadori Yuji's soul, but even if it does not contain Itadori Yuji's soul and Itadori Yuji's soul is extant separate and apart from Itadori Yuji's body, once the body is gone you will never see him or his soul again, or at least not in a form that you will recognize—will kill the five thousand people on the main track. Two, pull the lever, diverting the trolley—which is Itadori Yuji's body, which contains Itadori Yuji's soul, or perhaps just Itadori Yuuji's heart, which is the seat of the soul, though it may or may not exist, which contains Ryomen Sukuna's soul, or at least some part of it—onto the side track, where it will kill one and exactly one body, or so you are told, but a body is not the same as a person, and not the same as a soul, so that when one body is dead it does not mean only person is dead. What are the problems with this ethical dilemma? Which of the aforementioned premises are false? What other options, if any, could be presented as solutions? What are the pedagogical theories behind using this problem as a teaching moment for a student? What lessons can be learned from the Getou Suguru incident that would be further fleshed out by Itadori Yuuji's death? What is the ideal world that would have made you weep if you were Getou Suguru? How does the problem change if the five thousand individuals tied up on the track are jujutsu sorcerers? What option would Itadori Yuji prefer, and to what extent should his preferences influence your ultimate decision? What would his final words be to you, if you choose the first option, because either option would result in his death?
Please circle one: Yes / No
Question 11
Are the people in your life that you care about still alive? If the answer to this question depends on the definition of "alive," please elaborate.
Question 12
Have you dreamed about any of the following? Check all applicable answers.
Your mother (you can see her face)
Your mother (faceless)
Your father (always faceless)
Your step-sister (alive)
Your step-sister (dead)
Your step-sister (other status)
When Gojou Satoru was still young and, you realize now, suffering, though perhaps he will always be suffering, and he is squatting on the street so that he is closer to your height, and he lies to you, like he will many more times, and tells you that he will take care of things, but he does not
Rain falling on the outside of Eishu Juvenile Detention Center, you are standing in front of Itadori Yuji, and Itadori Yuji's heart, which is the seat of his soul, by which you do not mean his physical heart, which is lying separate from both of you, some distance away, losing blood by the second, except this time he slumps over, and the rain turns to blood, and you are covered in it, and then you look down and you realize his heart is in your hand, and you are the one who pulled it out, and you are not at that juvenile delinquent center after all, it is some place else entirely, and Itadori Yuji's body is dead
A great sickened tree from a great distance, its trunk split open as if by lightning, and at its center is a cancer of flowers opening in the shape of a man, and you know who that man is
You are drowning in a domain, it is shaped like the inside of a massive ribcage, the water is thick and black and enters your nose, your mouth, your eyes, your own body, you are inside your own body, but the dark is not the dark of the body, you are walking in the shadow of Yasohachi Bridge, something is falling from a great distance towards you, and that something is you, and you are both the thing falling and the thing catching, you are the darkness, you are filled with it
Growing old and you turn to see your friends alive and old with you, and you wake up and you know it is a dream
The taste of ginger
Kugisaka Nobara's death, which you did not witness, but Itadori Yuji did
Nothingness
Question 13
Some would argue that the soul dwells in the body. Others argue that the body is determined by the shape of the soul. (The minority positions discussing alternative possibilities have been omitted for brevity.) If the body is dead, and the soul of that body depended on the heart, which is neither the real blood-beating-blood-receiving blood-letting heart nor the seat of the soul which we call the heart, if at some times that soul was Ryomen Sukuna, if at some times that heart was Ryomen Sukuna, if at all times what you saw was Itadori Yuji's body, if you never saw the soul and heart when it was Ryomen Sukuna, if you only saw Itadori Yuji, where does your heart now reside? Show your work.
Question 14
In Question 7, did you pick your own name because it is the truth or because you feel guilty, or both?
Question 15
Please leave any additional comments you may have regarding your education at Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School.