HEARTBREAK (THEY/THEM) HEARTBREAK （or 椿, TSUBAKI ）is a two-thousand year old spirit lurking in the mountain villages. a patron saint of sorts -- of love, grief, and oleander. heartbreak can be found depicted in many feudal japan-time paintings as a harbinger for the loss of loved ones and crops eaten by locusts, or even the killer. the heart on their chest is a post-1960s depiction of heartbreak after westernisation. it used to be a tsubaki -- the japanese camellia, which symbolises death. heartbreak is often considered sly, pessimistic, cruel and vengeful, for their unrelenting nature of bringing death. sly, for their outwardly nice looks. heartbreak has seemed to have resurfaced in the internet era in japan -- post-2000s. they have become hailed as a sort of urban legend and dubbed 'カメリアさん': 'CAMELLIA-SAN'/'TSUBAKI-SAN' -- and sometimes 'カメリアちゃん': 'CAMELLIA-CHAN'. japanese teenagers with 'hikikomori' -- severe social withdrawal -- seem to be responsible for this resurfacing with heartbreak's popularity in japanese forums and art-sharing websites.
