Where the Wild Ladies Are

by Matsuda Aoko

  The play Tenshu Monogatari [The Tale of the Castle Keep] by Kyoka Izumi follows the story of spectral Tomihime gazing down from Himeji Castle keep at the dashing falconer Zushonosuke Himekawa. When Tomihime uses her unearthly powers to capture Himekawa’s falcon to give to her sister Kamehime, the young Himekawa comes to the castle keep to reclaim it, and Himekawa and Tomihime fall in love.

  Tomihime gazed down at the castle town spread out beneath her with an expression of utter boredom. She was so high up that despite the windows on all four sides being covered in wide-eyed mesh, she could see far off into the distance whatever the weather happened to be doing. From the south-facing window, she could see the honmaru and ni-no-maru – the innermost and secondary citadels. Past the moat was the main road that led to Himeji Station and beyond that, a strip of distant sea. Tomihime knew this scene like the back of her hand. There was nothing even remotely arresting about it. Looking up at the blue sky, where the clouds and the factory smoke coexisted amicably, Tomihime let out a big yawn.

  The castle was filled with the footsteps of visitors wearing the Himeji Castle slippers they had been given at the entrance. Shuffle shuffle shuffle, they went. Tomihime listened to the endless, sluggish sound with disgust. Shuffle shuffle shuffle. Shuffle shuffle shuffle. This was what it was like all year round, from the moment the castle gates opened in the morning to the moment they closed in the evening. It had become particularly bad since the renovations had finished; everyone was desperate to catch a glimpse of the castle’s new look.

  In retrospect, the renovation period had been blissfully quiet. The workmen had gone about their job with care, and the castle had been entirely shrouded in protective cloth for the duration. Tomihime had felt sufficiently at ease to stretch her legs for the first time in ages, and popped off to visit her younger sister, Kamehime.

  To separate those on their way up from those going down, the castle corridors had been divided with cones and poles in red and green to indicate which routes the visitors should take, and there were separate staircases depending on whether you were ascending or descending, all of which effectively prevented any one spot becoming mobbed with tourists and – well, there was no denying that it had all been carefully thought out, but Tomihime refused to feel impressed in the slightest. Men and women, young and old, from all across the globe, speaking in a myriad of different languages, would praise the vista from the viewing deck of Tomihime’s keep in the same way, take the same kinds of photos, then promptly disappear. Even after all that effort they had put into climbing the steep flight of stairs, they turned around and went padding back down almost immediately. Not a single person stopped to appreciate the fact that real people had once lived real lives in this place. Now, even Tomihime found all of that hard to recall with any clarity. Was there any meaning to her still being here? Couldn’t this lot be left to shuffle shuffle shuffle around on their own? In her heart of hearts, Tomihime felt like going and getting blind drunk.

  —

  Around closing time, when the numbers of visitors had eased considerably, a suited young man came up the stairs. Wearing a suit was clearly something he was not used to doing, and with everyone else around him dressed in a way that marked them out as tourists, he stuck out instantly. Occasionally, there would be visitors who came to Himeji on business and had decided to stop by to look at the castle, but that didn’t seem to be the case with this guy. When he caught sight of Tomihime sitting on the floor and leaning back against one of the columns in a manner not befitting a princess at all, he bowed and walked towards her.

  Well, thought Tomihime, this is a turn-up for the books. It had been a long time since anyone had been able to see her.

  The young man stopped short in front of Tomihime and introduced himself.

  ‘Hello, my name is Shigeru Himekawa. I’ve recently taken over from Mr Tei as the regional supervisor for this district, so I thought I’d stop by and introduce myself.’

  ‘Himekawa?’ Tomihime stared at the man. In former times, men had wriggled and squirmed when Tomihime pinned them with her piercing gaze, but this young man showed no signs of doing so. Instead, he sat down very neatly beside Tomihime’s outstretched legs and, with rather unseasoned movements, took out a business card and handed it to her.

  Tomihime accepted it, although she really couldn’t see the point in these white slips of paper. This would be the second one she owned now, the first having been given to her by Himekawa’s predecessor, Mr Tei. Tomihime had liked Mr Tei. He was a pleasantly unmanly sort of man. Tomihime had always been drawn to men who stood out from the pack, with that dewy gleam in their eyes. Zushonosuke had been that type, too.

  ‘Another guy with that name came up here, once, some time ago now. But it’s just your name that’s the same. You’re not like him at all.’

  The young man’s suit had clearly been purchased from a mass retailer, and it was on the cusp of being the wrong size. Something about the innocuousness of his attire gave him a shabby air. Poor guy, thought Tomihime.

  ‘Really?’ he cocked his head.

  ‘Yeah, that guy risked his life to come up here. They all did, back then. They were petrified of us. I say “us”, though, of course, there’s only me now. Earlier, there were a few of us women here, and boy, were we something to see! We were unbeatable! Ach, those were the times. Those were my days of glory, way back then! You don’t see guys staking their lives to climb up here now, that’s for sure. They all put on those silly slipper things and come shuffling by. Do you know what I’m talking about? They’re so bloody loud, those slippers.’

  Seeing the disdain on Tomihime’s face, the young man frowned and said with a serious expression,

  ‘Should I have risked my life to come up here? I think that could definitely be arranged, at least in terms of mental preparation. I’ll remember that for next time.’

  Tomihime snorted. ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s just that everything felt really new back then, you know? We felt like we were special. I mean, we actually were special, and that felt great, but I’m over that now. Just come up normally, via the stairs. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t care less.’

  The young man winced. ‘You’re still special, even now, Miss Tomihime. Mr Tei has also been concerned that your morale has been low of late.’

  Tomihime eyed this new Himekawa sullenly. What had she done to deserve a visit from such a total dork? And when the old Himekawa had been so dreamy, too. If only they were in an open field right now, Tomihime thought, she would rip up a fistful of grass and throw it in this man’s face.

  ‘I wish you’d shut up! I’m still performing fine, okay? It’s no easy task, you know, protecting a whole castle. And tell me, will you, what’s the point of it? These days it’s nothing more than a tourist attraction, pure and simple. I’m absolutely unnecessary, aren’t I?’

  At Tomihime’s outburst, the young man frowned once more, directing his eyes up to the ceiling like a little boy posed with an impossible demand. Then he looked again at Tomihime.

  ‘You’re absolutely needed. The role of maintaining balance in a place, keeping things running smoothly, is an absolutely crucial one. Before making my way over here, I took a stroll around Himeji and what struck me was this: wherever you are in this town, you have a view of this castle. Whenever you go, you can look up and see it towering so beautifully above you. It’s a most reassuring presence. In other words, Miss Tomihime, it’s as if you are single-handedly protecting all the citizens of this city.’

  ‘… Those are big words.’

  ‘Yes.’

  Still glaring straight ahead, Tomihime shifted her legs and tucked them up beside her into a slightly neater arrangement. ‘So how come you can see me, anyway?’

  The New Himekawa scratched his head. ‘Well, actually, my mother died not too long ago, and then for a time all kinds of strange things happened, then finally my mother started appearing to me.
’

  ‘That’s cool!’

  The New Himekawa nodded, seriously. ‘She said that in the beginning, she just wanted to avenge my father. But then, apparently, as she was figuring out how to perform scary stunts and practicing them, she realised what fun it was. She came to me because she wanted someone to whom she could show all her tricks to. Kind of like a magician.’

  ‘And that’s how you came to see us?’

  ‘At first I could only see my mother, actually. But she was always a really sociable person, a bit too sociable if you ask me, so it was only a matter of time before she started bringing along all these friends of hers from the ghost world. I told her a bunch of times not to bother because I couldn’t see them, but she wasn’t having any of it. She kept bringing them along and introducing them to me, totally convinced that I’d be able to see them, and then, sure enough, I started to be able to.’

  ‘Like a special education for a gifted child!’

  ‘Yes, I suppose.’

  ‘And did Mr Tei know about your gifts from the beginning?’

  ‘No. Actually, all of this happened after I had started work at the company. I asked him the other day why he’d agreed to take me on. He said he just had a good feeling about me.’

  ‘Huh.’

  ‘Oh, and he also told me I seemed kind of dazed, which meant I wouldn’t be overly affected by what was going on around me. He said he doesn’t take on people who “acclimatise too well to the age in which they’re living”.’

  ‘Right…’ Tomihime stared at The New Himekawa with an expression that made no secret of what a weirdo she thought him to be, but he didn’t recoil in the slightest.

  Instead he said, ‘Well, I should get going. It’s nearly closing time, and I just popped by to make your acquaintance. But I’ll be back.’

  As The New Himekawa lifted his skinny backside from the floor, Tomihime found herself getting to her feet too.

  ‘Oh, come to think of it…’ He glanced towards the south window, and then moved closer to it. ‘I was planning to pop by and say hello to Okiku too.’

  Standing side by side, Tomihime and the young man peered down. The Okiku Well, situated in the ni-no-maru, instantly entered their visual field. A number of people were crowded round it, peering down into its depths. Not too far off stood a security guard.

  ‘She’s not there, you know,’ Tomihime said, casually.

  ‘What! Are you serious?’ said The New Himekawa, his voice a shrill cry. Tomihime plugged her fingers into her ears, feigning a wince.

  ‘Yeah, she left ages and ages ago. I guess it must have been sometime in the eighties? We discussed it all, before she left. You know what she’s like – she’s always been such a worrier. So she dropped by and asked me if I thought she’d stayed long enough. I reassured her that she’d done her time, and said I didn’t mind at all, that she should go for it. Told her I’d take care of everything.’

  ‘I see! Still, that comes a bit of a disappointment, I must say.’

  ‘But you hadn’t noticed, right? That’s how it is with wells. And knowing that, I started to think that maybe the same goes for me. Maybe the castle would be perfectly fine without me being here. You know this idea that the dead will stay attached to this world, and be here forever? That’s more or less just human arrogance. Okiku transmigrated, and now she’s over there, doing very well for herself with that fine young man of hers.’

  Tomihime indicated a spot a little to the west of the station. Although there was no hope of him ever seeing where she was pointing, The New Himekawa squinted politely in the direction of Tomihime’s finger.

  ‘But the funny thing is, even after transmigrating, she’s still there counting plates! I guess she’s bound to them by destiny or whatever. Or else she’s just a dyed-in-the-wool plate-lover.’ Tomihime grinned, but The New Himekawa wasn’t looking at her. He was looking between the well and at the spot in the west, over and over, as if entranced. Finally, with a pained look on his face, he returned his gaze to Tomihime.

  Suddenly Tomihime opened her mouth and to her surprise found herself saying, without a smidgen of irony, ‘I mean, I’m fine to carry on for the time being.’

  The young man’s face broke into a look of such intense joy that Tomihime felt spite resurfacing in her immediately. ‘But don’t go thinking I’m going to hold out for your sake when I get really sick of it.’

  ‘No, of course,’ said The New Himekawa. ‘If and when that happens, let’s get together and discuss our options.’ He nodded gravely several times.

  —

  A couple of hours after the young man disappeared down the stairs, night fell on the castle. Before going to sleep, it was time for Tomihime to carry out her end-of-day ritual.

  She made a leisurely tour of the castle keep, surveying the scenery outside its windows. In the quietude of the deserted castle, the floorboards creaked distinctly beneath her feet. Deep down, Tomihime knew. This town, now sinking into darkness, glinting with the lights from the people’s houses and the neon of downtown, belonged to her. This radiant white castle where she was now standing was who she was. This place was hers – indisputably, sickeningly, hers.

  Inspiration for the Stories

  The Peony Lanterns: Botan-dōrō [‘The Peony Lantern’] (rakugo)

  Smartening Up: Musume-dōjōji [‘The Maid of Dōjōji Temple’] (kabuki)

  My Superpower: Yotsuya-kaidan and Kaidan-ishikawatei (both rakugo)

  Quite a Catch: Honetsuri [‘Skeleton-Fishing’] (rakugo)

  The Jealous Type: Neko-no-chūshin [‘A Cat’s Fidelity’] (rakugo)

  Where the Wild Ladies Are: Hankonkō [‘Soul-Summoning Incense’] (rakugo)

  Loved One: Hankonkō [‘Soul-Summoning Incense’] (rakugo)

  A Fox’s Life: Tenjinzan [‘Mount Tenjin’] (rakugo)

  What She Can Do: Kosodate-yūrei [‘The Child-Raising Ghost’] (folk legend)

  Enoki: Chibusa-enoki [‘The Breast Tree’] (rakugo)

  Silently Burning: Haoya-oshichi [‘Oshichi the Greengrocer’s Daughter’] (folk legend)

  A New Recruit: Zashiki-warashi (folk legend)

  Team Sarashina: Momiji-gari [‘Collecting Maple Leaves’] (kabuki)

  A Day Off: Shinobiyoru-koi-wa-kusemono [‘The Suspi­cious Night-time Visitor’] (rakugo)

  Having a Blast: San-nen-me [‘The Third Year’] (rakugo)

  The Missing One: Sara-yashiki [‘Plate Mansion’] (rakugo)

  On High: Tenshu-monogatari [‘The Tale of the Castle Keep’] (play)

  Copyright

  © Matsuda Aoko 2020

  Translation copyright © Polly Barton 2020

  This edition published in the United Kingdom by Tilted Axis Press in 2020. This translation was funded by Arts Council England.

  This book has been selected to receive financial assistance from English PEN’s “PEN Translates” programme, supported by Arts Council England. English PEN exists to promote literature and our understanding of it, to uphold writers’ freedoms around the world, to campaign against the persecution and imprisonment of writers for stating their views, and to promote the friendly co-operation or writers and the free exchange of ideas. www.englishpen.org

  tiltedaxispress.com

  First published 2016 by Chuo Koronsha.

  The rights of Matsuda Aoko to be identified as the author and Polly Barton as the translator of this work have been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN (paperback)9781911284383

  ISBN (ebook)9781911284376

  A catalogue record for this book is ava
ilable from the British Library.

  Edited by Meena Kandasamy

  Copyedited by Saba Ahmed

  Cover design by Soraya Gilanni Viljoen

  Typesetting and ebook production by Simon Collinson

  About Tilted Axis Press

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