by I. J. Parker
“Taira Sukemichi was not an evil man like his father,” Akitada pointed out. “It may be that he bedded your sister without making her his wife, but he raised their child like one of his own. And why kill Fumi Tokiari? He had done nothing to you?”
Takashi glowered. “He collected the blood money. We lost everything; my mother died and my sister became a slave.”
“It doesn’t really matter what everybody else did or didn’t do. The only man who really harmed your family was Taira Sukenori. Everything else followed from his murder of the rice merchant and the plot he fabricated to escape just punishment with your father’s assistance. Your father was as culpable as he.”
Takashi reared up in sudden fury and tried to throw himself at Akitada. Only his chains stopped his violent lunge, and he fell back, sobbing. “You dog-official,” he shouted. “Dog-official like the Taira dog-officials! May the gods destroy you all! May a thousand devils flay you alive in hell! May you burn forever. You use people and throw them away like so much filth. You take our land, rape our wives and daughters, and kill us when it suits you.” He choked and collapsed into incoherent curses, tears running down his face.
Takechi touched Akitada’s arm. “Come, sir,” he said. “We have all we need.”
Akitada nodded, but he had one more question. “Why did you leave a figure of Jizo on the bodies of the men you killed?”
At first, the prisoner did not answer. Then he muttered, “I’m a traveler in a dark and dangerous world, a world where all roads lead to death. I needed his protection until I had my revenge.”
∞
Outside the jail, Takechi said, “So it meant nothing. We’ve been racking our brains in vain.”
“Not quite nothing.” Akitada had felt a great depression settle over him during the interview. Like some huge dark cloud, it managed to blot out the joy of springtime, love, and hope. “ ‘A dark and dangerous world,’ he called it. Jizo was his talisman. After each murder, he left it behind as a token that he had fulfilled an oath he made to his dead father.”
“Jizo is a kind spirit, a spirit of protection for the weak. It’s a shocking insult to ask his help in the killing of innocent people.”
“Well, not quite innocent in several cases, but you’re right.” Akitada sighed. “We’d better report to the governor.”
∞
Kosehira heard their account silently. In the end, he only said, “Well, he’ll be condemned to exile again and sent back. For all we know, he’ll step right back into his position as trusty and live out his life with his family. We have a very inadequate system of justice.”
Akitada felt compelled to protest. “Hatta had very great provocation. It should have been Sukenori who was sent to work in the mines.”
Kosehira thought this funny. “Such a thing would never happen, Akitada. Send a Taira nobleman to the mines? The notion is mad.”
Akitada snapped, “Yes, and that is what causes men like Sukenori to behave the way they do: they know they can’t be touched. The only thing Sukenori feared was the loss of a lucrative position he craved.”
Kosehira gave him a sharp glance, perhaps to warn him that Takechi was with them. Akitada looked at Takechi who looked back. At that moment Akitada felt a greater bond with Takechi than with Kosehira, even though he was his best friend and father-in-law.
As if he had read his thoughts, Kosehira said, “You are one of the good people, Akitada, and you’ll soon surpass men like Sukenori. Consider this a good fortune for those without power.”
∞
In spite of all the happy preparations around him, Akitada could not shake his depression or the nagging thought that he, too, might succumb to the poisonous lure of power some day. Then a small consolation arrived in the form of a message from Warden Masaie. Young Masaie had married the maid Mineko. This news went a long way toward lifting Akitada’s spirits as he prepared to bring Yukiko home to a house that had been too long without joy or hope for the future.
Historical Note
The city of Otsu was an important port and business center during the Heian period. Having briefly served as capital once, it never lost its importance because of its location at the southern tip of Lake Biwa near the place where the Seta River emerged from the lake and flowed southward to become the great Yodo River, thus linking shipping from the lake to the Inland Sea. In addition, two important highways connecting the capital to the provinces passed through Otsu; here the Tokaido, the great eastern highway, and the Tosando, the great northern highway, met to continue to the capital and thence to the western provinces. The city thus became a center of travel and commerce.
In addition, Otsu was home to two powerful Buddhist temples, Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, and Onjo-ji, in the city. Saicho, the founder of Enryaku-ji, was born in Otsu. By the eleventh century, Enryaku-ji is said to have owned sixteen valleys, three major temple sites, and three-thousand buildings housing priests.
During the tenth century, quarrels between major Buddhist institutions resulted in the militarizing of the great religious institutions. These hired mercenaries or trained young monks in the military arts in order to defend their properties, as well as to attack opposing temples. These warrior monks or Buddhist mercenaries were the sohei. For their historical significance, see The Teeth and Claws of the Buddha by Mikael S. Adolphson.
The issue of religion in the eleventh century requires a brief explanation. There were two faiths: Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is the native religion that worships kami, gods that are manifestations of the world around us. Buddhism, on the other hand, is an import of the Indian religion which came to Japan via China and Korea. Shinto is of the greatest significance in Japan, because the emperors are descended from the gods and represent them during ceremonies involving the rice culture. The rice culture, however, meant life or death to the Japanese people of the time. For this reason, Buddhism never attempted to oppose Shinto. Rather, it adapted to it, making the native gods Buddhist avatars. This explains why Enryaku-ji is involved in the many spring-rice-planting celebrations by the Shinto shrines. The Sanno-Sai Matsuri in the novel is still celebrated by both Shinto and Buddhist priests.
Religious observations and rituals attracted fairs that catered to crowds by selling religious objects, amulets, memorabilia, etc, and by entertaining people with acrobats, dancers, musicians, storytellers, and various other performers, such as puppeteers. These fair performers were members of the hinin-class, the so-called non-persons of society. They traveled the highways of the land and had no homes. The kugutsu-mawashi were traveling puppet operators who performed at fairs or by special invitation at country estates. Like other itinerant people, these strolling players of Japan subsisted on what people were willing to pay. Like others, such as the asobi, women who danced and sang and sold their bodies, they were considered undesirables by the authorities. Travelling puppeteers usually carried their puppets in a box that would become the stage on which the puppeteer let the dolls perform. They were the forerunners of Bunraku, the Japanese puppet theater.
The continuing prevalence of hunting as a sport is another example of old customs surviving in spite of Buddhist teachings against the taking of life or the eating of animals. Hunting with bow and arrow and with falcons was well known in Japan before the advent of Buddhism and was practiced by emperors and the nobility. An imperial reserve, where pheasants were protected and harvested for the imperial table and special court observances existed at the time of this novel in Omi province and had a Taira administrator. Falcons were trained and treasured throughout Japan’s history. There are many screens from later centuries that depict collections of falcons displayed in the manner described in this novel.
Last but not least, something must be said about wedding and marriage customs in the Heian period. Most marriages were arranged between families, and husbands lived with their brides in the wife’s parents’ home. This, no doubt, assured the young woman’s safety and comfort but may also have allowed her father to influence polit
ics by controlling her husband. Something of the sort is described in Lady Murasaki’s Genji, where Genji, an imperial prince, moves into his father-in-law’s house after marriage. The matter of the consummation of a marriage not being binding unless performed on three consecutive nights assured the bride and her family that the suitor was committed to the match. He could, of course, walk away before the third night. He could also divorce his wife by merely telling her so. In general, sexual relations tended to be casual and no special importance was attached to virginity or to the husband’s faithfulness. Noblemen traditionally had more than one wife and also kept mistresses. A noblewoman’s security lay in her producing sons, in her family’s protection, and in owning her own property. And finally, to clear up a misconception: the Japanese did indeed kiss. It appears that a Western misconception, possibly caused by Lafcadio Hearn’s assertion that Japanese lovers never kissed, has been accepted as historical fact. Thus, I offer the evidence of the Ishimpo, an ancient medical text used in Heian Japan, which describes kissing as part of its instructions for love-making. The custom of kissing certainly did not die out either, for later examples may be found in the shunga, those graphic woodblock depictions of lovers.
About the Author
I. J. Parker was born and educated in Europe and turned to mystery writing after an academic career in the U.S. She has published her Akitada stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, winning the Shamus award in 2000. Several stories have also appeared in collections, such as Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense and Shaken. The award-winning “Akitada’s First Case” is available as a podcast. Many of the stories have been collected in Akitada and the Way of Justice.
The Akitada series of crime novels features the same protagonist, an eleventh century Japanese nobleman/detective. The Old Men of Omi is number thirteen. The books are available on Kindle, in print and in audio format, and have been translated into twelve languages.
Books by I. J. Parker
The Akitada series in chronological order
The Dragon Scroll
Rashomon Gate
Black Arrow
Island of Exiles
The Hell Screen
The Convict’s Sword
The Masuda Affair
The Fires of the Gods
Death on an Autumn River
The Emperor’s Woman
Death of a Doll Maker
The Crane Pavilion
The Old Men of Omi
The collection of stories
Akitada and the Way of Justice
Other Historical Novels
The HOLLOW REED saga:
Dream of a Spring Night
Dust before the Wind
The Sword Master
The Left-Handed God
Contact Information
Please visit I.J.Parker’s web site here.
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