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TODA , the daimyo (ruler) of Ogaki, a town in Mino Province (present-day Gifu Prefecture)

      JOSUKE , a rich farmer in Ogasa village near the border of Lord Toda's territory

      GEN , Josuke's wife

      TEIJIRO , the owner of Minojin House in Shimada village near Ogasa

      MANKICHI , the manager of the Minojin House workroom

      that produces flower mats

      MOZAEMON, a farmer in Morishima, across the border from Ogasa

      Prologue

      

IT IS SAID that the town of Ogaki in Mino Province was given its name, which means "great wall," following the erection of a massive stone rampart. This wall was later incorporated into the castle of the ruling daimyo to protect it from the floods that were quite numerous in the area due to the presence of the Kiso, Nagara, and Ibi rivers.

      In the fourth year of the Horeki period, which is to say 175-4, or about ten years before the events of our story, the Shimazu family, lords of Satsuma Province in Kyushu to the south, had been directed by the shogunate to carry out difficult flood-control work on the river embankments below Ogaki. Before the work was completed, however, the original budget of some thirty million ryo had multiplied nine times, and the hazardous work itself had left more than thirty of the clan's samurai vassals, the hanshi, either dead or wounded. Yukie Hirata, a Varo, or principal retainer, of the Shimazu clan, and forty-five of his samurai subordinates acknowledged their responsibility for the extraordinary cost overrun and loss of life; their suicides were an unprecedented tragedy.

      Although flood disasters decreased considerably after this project's completion, the Ogaki area was not yet entirely safe, and when it rained more heavily and longer than usual, the town flooded near the upper reaches of the Satsuma construction area; even washouts of the great castle walls were not unusual. The town expended quite a large sum each year on river improvement, and the chief vassals from Ogaki took turns managing the work.

      Over the years stories of these chief vassals' mismanagement and political corruption began to circulate. Inspection of the construction site was not duly carried out, and the construction budget constantly increased. The rise in property taxes to make up this sum finally brought many people to question the wisdom of allocating any more funds for this project.

      The daimyo, Lord Toda, required by the Tokugawa shogunate to spend most of his time in the distant capital of Edo, appointed Toneri Otaka as kuni-garo, the chief vassal who would rule over the Ogaki area in his stead. Otaka was capable, talented, and possessed an extraordinary nature, as rising to such a position from the rank of uma-mawari, or samurai of the lord's horse guard, clearly demonstrated. Such a promotion would have been quite impossible for a man who was merely clever, smooth talking, or skilled at winning the confidence of others.

      But the fairness of any system is easily destroyed when those who hold positions of authority begin to take themselves into consideration first or become motivated by power and profit. This was particularly true in Ogaki, where Toneri Otaka's ten-year grip on such an important position was in fact due to the support of the older families and other chief vassals of the clan. That certain advantages accrued to them is unquestioned, as is the fact that a cancer was spreading throughout the Ogaki government.

      Lord Toda, at thirty-nine, ought to have been in the full flower of manhood, but he instead seemed in poor health and neglectful of clan government. His long term as sosha-ban* was undoubtedly one of the reasons for this, as was the task, assigned him by the shogunate, of informing all the other daimyo that the new shogun, Ieharu, would recognize their holdings. The position of sosha-banhad been a tremendous strain on body and mind, and dealing with the various lords had been both a delicate and difficult matter. Lord Toda's reward for his efforts had been the gift of a sword from Ieharu and a steadily declining state of health.

      Called Tokujiro as a child, Lord Toda had become the ruler of the clan at the age of seven and had taken in marriage Masaaki Hotta, who had borne him one son and five daughters. Only three daughters had survived to adulthood, however, and, owing to his poor health, Lord Toda was now beset by his vassals with suggestions regarding the adoption of a male heir to succeed him. To the great disgust of the people, these periods of succession had always generated struggles between new and old political factions, but in a few cases such struggles had actually led to reform of clan politics, since the adoption of an heir provided the perfect opportunity to begin the often necessary innovations in the government.

      Seeing the struggle through to a successful conclusion was not always an easy matter, however, and in this conservative and feudalistic age, the more forceful approach often demanded an appropriate sacrifice. Yet if the reformists, who could always be counted on to make some sort of move, dealt with the problem systematically, there was a greater chance of good results for the government.

      A clique consisting of Geki Ohara in Ogaki and Yazaemon Suzuki and Shingobe Hori, the two chief vassals in Edo, was proceeding in just this manner. They did not rush into things hastily but carefully built up a firm foundation, sparing neither time nor trouble in the hope that they would be able to rid the clan government of its recent corruption. They assigned Gorobe Toda (no relation to the lord) to spy on Kasho Okumura, a karo, and placed people in all the key positions. They thus took every measure necessary to secure their success.

      Shinzo Kugata was in a position which made him important to this clique. It was his job, as a subordinate of the superintendents of the treasury, to handle general accounting matters—a most convenient position from which to guard against the mishandling of funds by those in power. This post had been held by the Kugata family for generations, and Toneri Otaka and his group must have felt a bit awkward in Shinzo's presence. But he was gentle and in fact looked stupidly honest. Moreover, since the parties in power did not dream of the existence of a clique preparing to fight them, they exercised little caution. Kasho Okumura had even married his beloved daughter, Ichi, to Shinzo.

      Note : This Prologue was originally the first chapter of Part Π in the Japanese text. It has been adapted and placed here for the sake of the Western reader.

      Footnote

      * Sosha-ban: an official of the Tokugawa shogun charged with introducing the samurai to the shogun at festivals, with reading aloud the list of gifts given by the shogun, and with similar tasks. The office, created in 1632, was abolished in 1862.

      Part One 1

      

SINCE the age of twelve or thirteen, Ichi had suffered from a recurrent eye infection with the coming of spring. She had forgotten about it lately, thanks to the change in her life created by her marriage to Shinzo Kugata. But shortly after the cherry trees at the castle had bloomed, her husband told her, "Your eyes are red." When she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw that the ailment had indeed begun again. chi had suffered from a recurrent eye infection with the coming of spring. She had forgotten about it lately, thanks to the change in her life created by her marriage to Shinzo Kugata. But shortly after the cherry trees at the castle had bloomed, her husband told her, "Your eyes are red." When she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw that the ailment had indeed begun again.

      It could be said that she had weak eyes. If she devoted all her energy to sewing or read a book printed in small characters, her eyes would soon water or her eyelids begin to twitch. If she continued reading or sewing, it was not unusual for her vision to cloud, and she would be uncomfortable.

      "You'd better not sew any longer," Iso, her mother-in-law, told her. "Your eyes are apt to be affected when you're expecting a baby, even if that's not the reason."

      "I've had eye trouble since I was small. It will somehow heal by itself if I can get through this season," Ichi answered.

      Her reserved answer was a result of the constraint she still felt toward her mother-in-law, for she had been married only

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