by I. J. Parker
But before he could turn and flee to his own quarters, he heard a shout. He looked up, and there was Yasuko, leaning over the veranda railing, her face shining with joy.
"He's home! He's home! Father's home!" she shrieked and dashed down the steps to throw herself into his arms.
Yukiko appeared at the door, laughing and clapping her hands. "Come here, you faithless husband," she shouted, opening her arms, and then, "Your poor face!"
It was very improper. Certainly his late wife Tamako would never have done so, especially not where they could be seen, but his heart almost burst with happiness at it, and he released Yasuko, scooped up the package he had dropped, and ran up the steps two at a time to take his beautiful young wife into his arms.
They had no privacy for their meeting. The other children came, and Hanae, Tora's wife, and Yukiko's maids, and the children's tutor, and several gardeners who had begun to clear the debris from the garden. The women exclaimed over his gift of silks. Yukiko chattered about a koi pond and chrysanthemums, and Yasuko said, "You're very dirty, Father. What happened?" And then Saburo joined them to tell him that Tora was coming.
In the end, Akitada sat down as he was and tried to tell them about Ise-not everything, for the children were too young and his grief still too fresh-and he looked at Yukiko now and then and felt that he had not deserved such happiness.
==
Much later, after a bath and a shave and in his usual, clean, and comfortable robe, Akitada went to the tribunal to hear Tora and Saburo report.
First on the agenda was the damage to Komachi. It appeared that Tora and the provincial guard had applied themselves effectively to clean up and police the streets. There had been very little looting. Fourteen people had died in the city and scores more were injured, but all in all people's spirits were amazingly high, and they offered assistance willingly to less fortunate families.
"What about the police?" Akitada asked and was astonished to see Tora and Saburo grimacing at each other. "What's going on?" he demanded.
The story of the obstructionist Lieutenant Mori came out. It angered Akitada until he began to suspect that the tale was connected with some other activities undertaken by Tora and Saburo. His question produced a confession of the muddle they had made investigating Kitagawa for piracy.
Akitada was silent for a long time as he thought the situation over. Finally he said, "What proof did you have for your accusations, Tora?"
They looked at each other again. Tora said in a small voice, "Circumstantial evidence, sir. The merchant from Owari, the payoff to Hozo, the funeral when no one had died. And the landing stage on the shore." "Did you interrogate the merchant?"
"He denied everything and left before I could speak to him again?"
"What about this Hozo?"
Again they looked at each other. Tora said, "He is dead."
"Really? So you have nothing, and there is nothing we can do. Clearly, you acted rashly and without regard for my reputation." He turned to Saburo. "What exactly was your role in all of this? You are the tribunal secretary and shouldn't have been involved in any of it."
Saburo hung his head. "I killed Hozo, sir. I recognized him as one of the men I used to work with in my old life. Knowing him to be involved in crimes in the past, I followed him. He worked for Kitagawa. I ended up killing him." He stopped and sighed.
Akitada felt another wave of anger, much stronger this time. He should never have taken on a man with Saburo's background. Now that decision had come back to haunt him, perhaps to destroy him. He opened his mouth to express these thoughts and dismiss Saburo from his service, when Tora spoke up.
"Sir, Saburo saw the man raping a ten-year-old. He did what I or any other man would have done. The girl's mother was nearby, begging someone to help her daughter. The child is just the age of little Lady Yasuko, sir."
Akitada muttered, "Dear gods! What sort of devils inhabit our green islands?"
Saburo, slightly encouraged, offered, "The mother and child left Kitagawa's service. They came here for assistance. I've given her work as my housekeeper. They are staying in my quarters and I'm paying her out of my salary. She will testify against Kitagawa."
Akitada stared at him. "You might have mentioned that fact, from the start," he said sourly. "Very well. Tora, you will go arrest Kitagawa. Have the place searched and the cemetery investigated. I doubt he has managed to move the goods again during the storm. Make it quick and return to your duties in the city."
Tora jumped to his feet. "Thank you, sir. You'll see: it will all come out now. And there will be no more piracy in Mikawa."
"Don't be ridiculous," Akitada said. "Piracy is rife in Ise Bay and along the coast to the east. Kitagawa is a small criminal. You will need to be vigilant at all times." Tora saluted and dashed away.
Akitada looked at Saburo.
"I'm very sorry, sir. I should have thought."
"Yes. In the future I'd like you to curtail your nighttime activities unless I have approved them. Now as to Lieutenant Mori. The man clearly must be replaced. When things have settled, you will take down some letters to the capital, describing his behavior and adding my request that they send out a different man."
Saburo rose, bowed, murmured, "Thank you, sir," and walked out.
Akitada looked after him. The idea that Saburo now had a housekeeper and her child in his quarters was intriguing. Saburo would always be a very strange fellow, he thought. There was no telling what he would do next.
Then he thought of Junichiro who had been another odd character. He had failed the little man, and that grief was still an open wound that would remind him
that it was more important to care for his people than for his career.
Historical Note
The time of this novel is 1031, and Sugawara Akitada is governor of Mikawa, one of Japan's eastern provinces. That year the country was generally peaceful, except that a rebel governor, Taira Tadatsune in Kazusa province, was finally subdued by Minamoto Yorinobu, governor of Kai. This year Murasaki Shikibu, the author of Genji, died.
Heian Japan (794-1185) took much of its culture, government, and religion from China. However, contact with China had long since been discontinued and manny of' the original institutions had taken on Japanese characteristics.
The central government structure had an emperor at its head and a ruling hierarchy of officials to administer the many provinces of Japans, but it was no longer a meritocracy as in China. Instead it had become a hereditary bureaucracy of the nobility, centered primarily in one branch of the Fujiwara family. Their politics had been for centuries to marry their daughters to emperors and rule through their grandsons. By the eleventh century, they furnished all the top officials and most of the empresses. They saw to it that emperors resigned young, to be replaced with another very young ruler who could be manipulated by his grandfather and uncles.
The Fujiwara ministers ran the country by appointing the governors of the provinces. These were all men of rank and members of the old aristocratic families. They functioned as administrators and tax collectors to the court. Occasionally, as in the incident mentioned above, they were also called on to raise armies and subdue rebels. Mostly, however, their tenures were peaceful and allowed them to increase their personal wealth both legitimately and by extorting excessive taxes from the inhabitants. Governorships were highly desirable, and all ranking men in the capital actively sought them whenever a position became available. Appointments changed every four years, or earlier in case of death or illness or a recall of the governor. It also happened frequently that the appointed governor remained in the capital and designated a lower-ranking man to represent him in the province while he was drawing the salary and benefits.
The duties of a governor (zuryo) included overseeing the Shinto institutions in his province, keeping population registers, collecting taxes, promoting agriculture, enforcing the laws, and maintaining public buildings, irrigation systems, roads and bridges. A governor was also required
to stand ready to defend his province militarily. To accomplish all these tasks, he generally brought a number of trusted staff members with him, but the majority of the tribunal staff and district officials were local men. Typical of the increasing power of local landowners in a province was the appointment of high constables from among them. These gradually took over any military functions by furnishing their own troops. The militarizing of the provincial gentry eventually led to the fall of imperial rule.
The Japanese instituted early a system of law enforcement that involved police. Originally designed for the capital where it eventually took over most of the functions of the Ministry of Justice, the kebiishicho was soon extended to all the provinces. Each provincial senior police officer was appointed in the capital like the governor. Lieutenant Mori is such a man. Ise was a special case, and given the importance of the shrine, I have stationed a senior police officer, Lieutenant Matsuura, in the shrine district. The role of the provincial high constable, i.e. to provide armed men to keep the peace, is also mentioned in this book. Provincial nobles like Sukemichi historically proved to have ambitions to advance in the central government.
The prevalence of highway robbery and piracy during the eleventh century was a major threat to the central government because their activities disrupted trade and frequently meant lost tax shipments. The duty of stopping their depredations fell to the governors and high constables.
And finally, the Ise shrine and the function of shrine virgins is of central importance in this novel. Shrines are part of the Shinto faith, dedicated to native Japanese deities, or kami, and linked to the natural world. There are many shrines in Japan, but only a few of the highest ranking shrines attract the crowds that Ise does. Ise is dedicated to Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and the protector of the imperial line. Her shrine is the shrine of the emperor himself and only he can set foot in it. It was the repository of the sacred mirror and the sacred sword, emblems of the emperor's power and legitimacy.
Worship celebrations are performed by Shinto priests and Shinto maidens. The chief priestess of the Ise shrine was the Ise Virgin, who was always an imperial princess, chosen at the accession of a new emperor. The appointment was an honor, but life as a priestess must have been dull with its unrelieved ceremonial. The Tales of Ise, a poetic diary from the late tenth century describes the love affairs of the poet Narihira, one of whom was an Ise Virgin. It suggested some events in the novel.
The area around Ise Shrine, in the south-eastern part of the Kii peninsula, contains many minor shrines to different kami, but only the two main shrines are of real significance. Naiku, the inner shrine, belongs to Amaterasu, the protector of the imperial line, while Geku, the outer shrine, is dedicated to the agricultural kami who bears responsibility for the sustenance of the entire population. Between them, they are the most important shrines of the Japanese people. Already very early they were connected by a pilgrimage route that passed through an entertainment district. Throughout history, the Japanese people have combined religious worship with tourism.
A brief disclaimer on the issue of money in this novel: Japan had a rice economy; i.e. rice was used in a barter system. In fact, other valuable things, like rolls of silk or horses, could also be used to pay bills, reward people, or present as gifts. Officials were paid by being given rice farms for their livelihood, and a man's wealth was judged by how many manors and rice fields he owned. Rice could also be given as a loan against future harvests when it had to be repaid with interest. Actual money was scarce but it existed and came in the form of coins that were copper, silver, or gold. Gold and silver bars were also available. Men must have been provided with some ready cash. Japan imported coins from China, but it also pursued gold and silver mining aggressively.
The best scholarly source on these matters is Francine Herail, Emperor and Aristocracy in Heian, Japan, 10th and 11th centuries.
About the Author
I. J. Parker was born and educated in Europe and turned to mystery writing after an academic career ih the U.S. She has published her Akitada stories ih Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, winning the Shamus award in 2000. Several stories have also appeared in collections, such as Fifty Year of Crime and Suspense and Shaken. The award-wining "Akilada's First Case" is available as a podcast. Many of the stories have been collected in Akitada and the Way ol Justice.
The Akitada series of crime novels features the same protagonist, all eleventh century Japanese nobleman/detective. The Shrine Virgin is number fourteen. The books are available on Kindle, in print and in audio lormat, and have been translated into twelve languages.