“You have burned your forest to the ground to build guns and foreign engine carts capable of travel at high speed on tracks. You have constructed foreign devices called Babajis and Dirijibis no one can explain to me. Your illegal Satsuma traders in Naha Harbor are famous throughout Asia for their strange and extensive demands for foreign technology and materials. Need I go on?” Lord Abe’s eyes held Lord Aya’s, who bowed his head to the floor in wordless assent.
Lord Tōmatsu cleared his throat and made to speak.
Lord Abe held up a single hand to hush him. Young though he was, he carried himself as the powerful lord he was and demanded respect from all. “I will deal with you later, Lord Tōmatsu. Lord Aya, it is you who first disobeyed our Shogun’s commands, harboring a treasonous fugitive returnee. You broke our laws on armaments. You recruited Lord Tōmatsu, loyal subject of the Shogun, married to the Shogun’s own cousin, to join you in your crimes. You have built without any consultation foreign monstrosities so new and terrible that we do not even have laws to forbid them. Tell me why I should not take your head, and the fisherman’s head,” he reached behind him and unsheathed his katana with a smooth snick, laying it before him, “and bear them to my Lord Shogun, leader and protector of us all?”
A long silence prevailed.
The three accused kept their foreheads firmly fixed to the floor.
“Speak! Hold nothing back,” commanded Lord Abe. “Speak now, or be silent forever.”
Lord Aya slowly raised his head and pushed up from the floor, rising about halfway, so he leaned forward in a supplicant position as he spoke. “My Lord Abe-sama, all is as you say. I failed to execute the fisherman. Many acts followed from my decision. I humbly take responsibility for this failure and offer you my life in return.”
Lord Abe grimaced. “While I appreciate the convenience of you delivering me your head here yourself today, know that if I wanted your head and his,” gesturing to Tōru, “in a box, I would already have them. Answer the question: why were you willing to defy our laws and risk your head, even bringing it here personally to me, when you know the penalty for violating for our isolation policy? This I must know before I accept the offer of your head, and that of your new-made samurai.”
Lord Aya bowed to the ground once more and then sat up fully straight, shoulders back and head high. “Then, Abe-sama, I will answer, aided by Himasaki Tōru, now that you know who he is.’
“Ah, but I don’t know who he is. We’ve not been able to discover the name of his father. Do you know?”
“It is a mystery to us as well. He was raised in a small fishing village some days from my home, in Iwamatsu. We found many witnesses to attest to the fact that his mother raised him there alone. But no one was certain of his father.”
Lord Abe stared down Tōru. “Well, boy? Who is your father?”
Tōru bowed yet again, straightened and gave his only answer. “I last saw him the night my fishing boat sank.”
“His name, boy. His people.”
“I humbly beg your pardon, Lord Abe, but I cannot tell you.”
Lord Abe turned to Lord Aya. “Command him to tell us!”
Lord Aya bowed deeply. “I am sorry, my lord, but even threats of death have not made him speak a word of his father. I can command, but he will not obey either of us. Especially now that his life is already forfeit.”
Lord Abe sighed.
“Then tell us, boy, how and why you came back.”
Tōru paused, held Lord Aya’s gaze a moment, and then spoke, his voice strengthening as he went on. “After the American ship rescued me when my boat sank, I spent two years living among them. I visited their War College at West Point and spoke with their military officers. I met common laborers and governors, daimyōs chosen by their people. I saw their factories. I went inside—inside their Christian churches where I saw them sing and read their book, the forbidden Bible. I rode their trains. I saw them send messages across vast distances instantly. I learned to read their English words, and I read in the newspapers of their plans for China and for Japan. I read of flying ships the French were building, dirigibles,” he pronounced it in English, “or dirijibi as my men call it.”
“‘Your men,’” snorted Lord Abe. “So, fisherman, you have men who follow you?”
“I apologize, my lord. I meant to say the workers and laborers hired by my lord Aya, who have been helping me.”
“Now we come to it at last. Helping you do what, exactly?”
Tōru straightened and faced Lord Abe. “I returned to help our people defend themselves from the coming foreign invasion.”
A sudden chill breeze made the empty tree branches rustle. The gardener had finished raking the white stones of the garden. His crunching footsteps as he left the garden to put away his tools sounded loud in the abrupt silence torn in the conversation.
Lord Abe called for more tea. The serving girl appeared from nowhere and poured him a fresh cup of steaming ocha.
“Well, Aya, you believe him?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Enough to stay your hand and leave him alive in spite of our sakoku policy? At the risk of your own execution?”
“Yes, my lord. At the risk of my own life.”
“Why?”
“I was going to execute him as the law commands, but he pleaded for a chance to say farewell to his mother. I—I wished to show him this small mercy before his death.”
Lord Abe grunted, acknowledging the compassionate act. “My men found she had been gone for a year, no one knowing where.”
“Correct, my lord. We did not find her, but on the journey to seek her, Himasaki convinced me of two things. First, we have months, or a year at most, before foreign powers come in force to land on our shores. Probably American, maybe soon enough British. Second, we can repel them and assist our Lord Shogun in protecting the Emperor’s realm by using their own technology and weapons against them. I spared his life and brought him to Edo so he might warn the Council. And yes, I built all the foreign things to show it could be done, even by the smallest and most humble of the daimyōs in our land.”
Lord Aya bowed to emphasize his humility. “For this, I accept whatever punishment our Lord Shogun and the Council may see fit to lay upon me, including my life, but I beg you, please allow us to warn the Council.”
Lord Abe stared out at his rock garden for a long while.
No one dared breathe, as they sat as still as his garden rocks awaiting his decision.
At last Lord Abe took a huge breath. He let it out in a long sigh.
“I agree. The Shogun must hear your story from your lips before you die, fisherman. I will deliver you to the Council meeting in a few days. You will remain here until then, so I may keep my promise to deliver you to the Shogun. It is not safe for you without these walls. You have made many enemies since your return, fisherman.”
Lord Abe stood and disappeared into his home without further farewell. Armed samurai appeared and escorted the six to a row of small but elegantly finished guest bungalows within the gardens.
Lord Abe’s men took positions near the bungalows, not quite out of sight. Guards? Protectors? None could say. A plentiful steaming hot breakfast of rice, fish, vegetables and tofu was waiting for the prisoner-guests in each of their rooms. As were their weapons, each neatly wrapped in rich silk and arranged with care in the main room of each bungalow. Each man sat in his room and ate with relish, the impending death sentences notwithstanding. A warrior knows to keep up his strength.
The next morning, Tōru shivered in the morning chill as he dressed in his best kamishimo for the Shogun’s court, a gift from Lord Aya before their departure from his home, marked with Lord Aya’s crest as befits a true samurai of a noble house. The waiting was done. He would meet the Shogun, tell his story, give his warning and lose his head.
He was ready for whatever might come.
Three days of enforced quiet and inaction had been surprisingly pleasant, passed in Lord Abe’s protected
enclave. Until now, Tōru had not let himself give in to the exhaustion of the past eight months of unending effort and stress. In the quiet, he had allowed himself rest for the first time since he was rescued by the American ship over two and a half years ago.
The six men had been allowed to wander the grounds freely, enjoying the small perfect vistas tucked away in corners of the vast gardens. Delectable food of the finest quality and generous quantity was brought to them. Each evening they gathered in a shared bath, artfully hidden among trees and artificial fountains, steam rising from the hot water bubbling up in an elegant large stone-rimmed pool shaded by a tiled roof, open to the outdoors and the views.
Lord Abe’s men maintained a polite distance always, allowing them the freedom to speak and plan. If they were prisoners, they were pampered ones.
Lord Tōmatsu in particular had been full of plans and bravado the first day of their confinement. He wanted them to escape, to publish pamphlets, to fight their way out, to rally other daimyō to their cause. He was permitted by Lord Abe’s men to send messengers, summoning them to meetings.
None came.
After a day or two, even he had fallen into a quiet, almost meditative state, occasionally rousing himself to remind Tōru to speak of this fact or that when he addressed the Shogun’s council.
The only plan remaining after they all lapsed into the leaf-rustled near silence was that Tōru would be their main spokesperson. That their actions and plans were widely known was obvious. That someone had allowed them to survive unpunished this long was also clear, although exactly why and whether that happy state would continue was not.
Lord Aya nursed hopes they would be given a reprieve once the threat by the foreigners was fully understood by the council, but steeled himself for worse outcomes. He feared not for himself, but for Masuyo and for Tōru, and Saigo Takamori, all so brave and young and full of life. Masuyo would suffer shame and poverty, alone in the world, if he were executed or ordered to die by his own hand, forfeiting his lands. Tōru had brought an important warning and the Western technology. Takamori, sent by his lord Shimazu, had shown repeatedly he was not there merely out of duty but from a deep passion for protecting and reforming the country to save it from the foreigners. On Tōru rested their hopes. His experience of the foreigners was unique and powerful enough that it might be sufficient to break the logjam that had trapped the country’s leadership in a frozen stasis.
The journey to Chiyoda castle, where the Shogun lived and met with his Council, was a matter of minutes once they saddled up and rode forth on the appointed day. They were accompanied by Lord Abe, Kato and several other retainers, departing this time from the main gate in front as befits a procession led by Lord Abe himself.
As though they were tourists visiting the capital, Lord Abe calmly pointed out to his guests the homes of various daimyō as they passed them, on the way to the great outer Sakurada Mon gate where they would enter the castle and its outer defensive walls.
Having seen them safely there, Lord Abe’s retainers, except Kato, saluted their lord and turned back. The party continued inside the Sakurada-mon, an impressively large two-story gate guarded by over sixty samurai wearing the Shogunate crest. Tall walls of stone blocks led away on either side from the gate. Inside, they found themselves in a square courtyard, bristling with warriors, from which three smaller gates issued, each overlooked by its own guard tower.
Accompanied as they were by the great Lord Abe, head of the council himself, the officers at each gate treated them with reverence and respect, as they ushered them through first the large outer gate and then one of the smaller gates inside. They were relieved of their weapons, all save Lord Abe and Kato. They handed off their horses as well to waiting grooms who led them off to immense stables with hundreds of horses.
On foot now, the party proceeded through a series of large and small wooden mon gates, first heading north, then turning to the west, then south again, protecting each of the inner citadels of the castle complex. At each gate, guards saluted Lord Abe. They were allowed to pass without further questions, as they wound their way through the maze of twisting, turning passages, bridges and moats that defended Chiyoda Castle from invasion.
Finally, a large open plaza opened out before them. They could see clearly for the first time Honmaru Palace, where the Shogun resided and held court. Surrounded by yet another moat and wall, they crossed the bridge into the palace complex, a series of low-lying stately luxurious buildings nestled around the palace keep.
As they entered the Ou-omote Great Outer Palace, a young officer led the party through the great rooms where the Shogun or his officials would on occasion hold public audience. They continued through private corridors, lined by private apartments for bakufu officials. Finally they were ushered into the Naka-oku, the inner receiving rooms, where the Shogun received senior officials and met with his Council.
They stood now outside the receiving hall, waiting to be admitted. Lord Abe was inside already. He had gestured for Kato and the others to remain outside. No one spoke. Long minutes passed as the guards stared impassively ahead.
The five of them waited in perfect silence.
Nothing could be heard of the deliberations within.
Finally the door slid open. A second set of guards motioned them within. Kato entered first, followed by Lord Tōmatsu and Lord Aya, with Tōru and Saigo bringing up the rear. The room was full, to Tōru’s surprise. Kato had told them the Elders, the most senior councilors, were only a handful, but the full Council was several dozen, including the function heads of various bureaus. Kato had not been sure, but had supposed their meeting to be with the small core group, the Elders only, perhaps with a few of the more political and military-minded leaders from the broader Council. He had supposed wrong. The full Council and leading daimyōs from all over the country lined the path to the dais where the Shogun sat in front. Anyone who mattered was there.
Kato bowed to the Shogun and Council. He took his place kneeling behind Lord Abe, who sat just below the Shogun. Lord Tōmatsu and Lord Aya knelt and bowed as Lord Abe introduced them. Himasaki and Saigo knelt and bowed, foreheads to the tatami as well, until all four were motioned to an empty space up front.
The Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyoshi, was a man of sixty, but looked older and tired. His long high forehead was creased with furrowed lines, worry etched into his pale thin face. He looked impassively down over the gathered lords and bureaucrats, showing no response as the newest arrivals found their seats.
Lord Abe broke the silence.
“This Himasaki is the fisherman who returned from America, against our laws. This Aya is the daimyō who captured him, but failed to execute him according to our laws. This Tōmatsu aided and assisted Aya in a massive armament building effort, against our custom and laws for preserving peace in our land. This Saigo is retainer to Lord Shimazu of the Satsuma, whom we note—” he paused and looked around the room, inspecting each face intently regarding the scene as though seeing them for the first time,”—has not responded to our summons and is not here today.” The four bowed as the room silently breathed together.
Lord Abe continued.
“Saigo we hold as hostage for his lord’s good behavior and timely response to your summons. The others stand condemned to death for their various crimes by our laws and by my independent confirmation of the facts brought by their accusers. This sentence I am charged with carrying out.” Lord Abe paused, regarding the room yet again, searching each stony face staring back at him. “My Lord Shogun, Councilors, great leaders of our land, the evidence against them is clear and their punishment necessary. This is my duty and I shall fulfill it, swiftly and without delay.”
Tōru’s neck itched terribly as he held his fixed pose.
The Shogun nodded for the first time, agreeing with Abe’s final statement. Others around the room followed suit, nodding as well, as the faintest of murmurs swept the hushed room.
“However, my lords, as Chief Councilor to our
government, it is also my duty to offer advice and counsel. While they must and shall die for their egregious violations of our laws and customs, this Himasaki Tōru in particular has important intelligence to share with us. He has met with the Americans, seen their government, their military, their economy. I would have you hear his testimony before I carry out the sentence. Will you permit this?”
The meticulously choreographed scene played out as planned. The Shogun nodded assent, with one small dip of his high forehead, followed by the Elders.
“Himasaki Tōru, why did you return? Why did you come to Edo?”
Tōru bowed his forehead to the tatami and then pushed himself upward to kneel, leaning forward. He gazed up at the Shogun looking down at him with a distant stare. He thought the Shogun looked weary, even perhaps ill. Seeing the dreaded lord at last and finding him looking feeble rather than powerful disconcerted Tōru. His adversary was but a man, a tired old man.
He began to speak, realizing his audience was not the old man on the dais above him but the entire room full of lords. His voice wavered at first, overawed by the great lords and the immense reception hall. Tōru steeled himself and spoke forcefully and passionately by the end.
“My lords, I came back to warn you of the American plans to come to our shores. I violated our laws not from pride or rebellion, but to protect our land from their coming invasion. I returned to bring you the tools and weapons to defeat them and drive them from our shores, so we might revere and protect our great Emperor and his mighty general our Lord Shogun. I came back, because there is no more time for debate. The foreigners are coming, within the year, and we must be ready.”
The room burst into loud shouting. Tōru held silent, still holding his humble half-bent bow, resting on his clenched fists. Cries thundered of “How dare he return!” “Spy!” “Traitor!” “Dishonor!” “Fisherman!” “We can defeat anyone.”
The Shogun and Lord Abe allowed the uproar to continue for a few moments, until the Shogun nodded at Abe.
Abe stood and motioned for silence.
Toru: Wayfarer Returns (Sakura Steam Series Book 1) Page 15
