29th day of Kisaragi, in the 1st year of Bunki - A foreigners guide to the Lands of the Sunrise
April 8th, 2007
We are off to the capital for the official ceremonies that will take place on the 29th day of Kisaragi, in the 10th year of Meiō. That it is kisaragi is perhaps “fitting” as the kanji for the name can be read as “changing clothes”. Although it refers to winter being upon us, the Empire too is changing clothes. Kashiwara II will be enthroned as Go-Kashiwara and so the day will also be the 29th day of Kisaragi, in the 1st year of Bunki.
I do not know where the pauper emperor found the coin to pay for the celebrations, but no doubt some daimyo or another has thrown their support behind him. The capital will be a cacophony of sound and language, and no doubt more than one misunderstanding will arise from people unable to comprehend another’s dialect correctly.
Perhaps that bears some explanation, for the reader may have been under the unfortunate belief that as it was a small place compared to China, that in Japan only the one tongue was spoken. In fact, nothing more could be different in nature to the reality of things.
In size, the 4 four main islands that make up the Empire are perhaps equal in size to two provinces in China. Within this relatively small area, some 300 warlords, or daimyos, contest control of the country as well as pursuing their own petty goals and vendettas.
Of the four islands, Honshū is the largest and is called the “mainland” by most Japanese. It presents the most varied terrain and is 600 li from east to west almost 2500 li long from north to south.
Next in size is Ezochi. 40 Li north of Honshū, it is 900 li from east to west and 840 li from north to south. It is inhabited by a fierce race of barbarians of which little is known – the men are hairy and bearded and the women have tattoos upon them. They often fight with the samurai of the Japanese settlements on the Oshima peninsular on the south of the island.
Kyūkoku is the southern most island, 480 li east to west and 640 li north to south. It lies just off Honshū’s southern tip and is mostly mountainous.
Smallest is Shikoku, northeast of Kyūkoku. It is 320 or so li in length west to east and some 500 li in length north to south. It is not an easy place to live.
The main language associated with the Japanese they call hyojungo but there also exists many hogen across the islands. An outsider to the country might not realise this of Japan and until now simply thought that the distinctly Japanese sounding dialects they had heard around them might just be some obscure comment they have yet to encounter in their study of the standard tongue.
It would be ill advised for any agent hoping to pass themselves off as coming from some region or another to attempt any of the dialects before they attain respectable proficiency in correct standard Japanese. To speak any dialect well in Japan, one must have been raised from infancy in the region of the hogen with limited exposure to any other speech. It is perhaps better for any outsider hoping to pass as a native to state they were born in the Oshima region – hyojungo is spoken in the settlements of Ezochi as those there are from all places.
Naniwa for instance has its own distinctive hogen based around trade befitting its past. The people there greet one another with “Mōkarimakka” which comes from “Mōkarimasu ka?” Or Are you making any profit?
The dialect of the Imperial City, Kyōto is associated with the Kyō-onna, the women of the capital. It is soft and lisping in sound. And then while these two places have their own way of speech, there is also another hōgen spoken around the Kansai district (which encompasses these two cities) called Kansai-ben.
In Tōhoku, Zūzū-ben is spoken and in the south around Satsuma the language is called Kagoshima-ben. It is most difficult to understand. The daimyos of Satsuma have promoted the creation of a dialect distinctly different to others in Japan so the better to thwart spies from Edo and other provinces.
At any rate, I do not expect to understand much of what is said at the ceremonies by those around me.
I have been introduced to my travelling companion for the trip. He is Fujimoto Tesseki, the Daimyo’s ninja. His official title is myōzu of the local eta community of Kamiemura in the Iino district. This is hardly a position warranting the granting of the use of a surname for specially meritorious services to the daimyos… I was no fool. I knew what he really was, and why it was we were travelling an hour ahead of the main party – if there were foes upon the road, it would be we two that would bear the brunt of any attack.That I am close enough to the Daimyo to know Fujimoto’s real role, presents another topic worthy of mention here – introductions. As in China, all in Japan is neatly ordered as it should be. As such the mechanics of introducing one person to another is straightforward. The person of lower rank is introduced to the person of higher rank, not in reverse order as in China. But this assumes the person doing the introductions knows the relative rank of each person there.
Today I reported to Lord Shimuzu as he had requested my presence. He was meeting with the chamberlain, going over the list of provisions for the trip. The Lord waved me to a small room to wait, saying “Get to know each other”. Upon entering and kneeling, arranging my hakama as I did so, I noted a rough looking fellow sitting, leaning back against the wall.
He held my gaze as I help his, each of us evaluating the other. Mentally we determined where each sat in the grand scheme of things. We were both familiar to the Daimyo, so we were of high enough position. However it was obvious, both by his attire and my looks and attire that neither of us was in official employ. So we did the only thing it was polite to do – we stared straight ahead at a point on the wall. To each, the other simply did not exist. And we sat like that for 2 hours – saying nothing to each other.
Finally the Daimyo entered with one of his pages.The page bowed to each of us in turn, the order important – The Lord, myself and my companion. For some reason it seemed that he would handle the introductions. He began. “Go-shōkai itashimashu”. He spoke first to the man with me. “Fujimoto-san, kochira wa Satsuma Han no o-Daimyo no Shimuzu-sama desu”. He then turned to the Daimyo. “Shimuzu-sama, Kamiemura eta no myōzu no Fujimoto-san gozaimasu”. The pair bowed to each other and Fujimoto, as much the lesser of the pair, said “Shimuzu-sama. Yoroshiku o- negaiitashimasu”. The process was then repeated with me.
It was a stroke of brilliance. For in Japan, the one who introduces two people is accepting responsibility for the future actions of between each of us alone and the Daimyo. He had also sidestepped the tricky question of Fujimoto’s true status – by doing it this way it not only told me that he was eta, but also that he warranted a surname and a private introduction. When it was revealed he was to be my travelling companion it all fell into place. I am not employed for my skill with poetry, so to send one with me meant he could only be the clandestine agency of Lord Shimuzu.
We leave tomorrow, and will take the day to travel through the province.
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