Pathway to Japanese Literature

Author: Mori Ōgai

The upper mansion of Sakai Uta-no-kami Tadazane, lord of Himeji Castle in Shikito District, Harima Province, was located at the southeast corner of Edo Castle's main gate. In that treasury room, it was always arranged for two samurai to stay at a time. It was now the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month in Tenpō Year 4, the Year of the Water Snake, just past the hour of the Rabbit. A man of fifty-five years old—Yamamoto San'emon, the Chief Treasurer—sat alone. The Junior Treasurer who was supposed to stay with him last night had fallen ill; thus he had endured the chill of that solitary night by himself. Beside him stood a thick-framed lamp built like an armored chest. The wick had bloomed and dimmed—the orange flame now shared dominion over the room equally with dawn's pale light seeping through papered windows. The bedding already lay stored away in its wicker chest.

A presence stirred outside the shoji. “Pardon me.” “A letter of urgent business has arrived from your residence.” “Who are you?” “I am a manservant from the front gate.” Yamamoto San'emon opened the shoji from inside. The one who had brought the letter was a manservant with a familiar face—though he did not know his name—a young man of around twenty years.

Holding the received letter, San'emon sat before the lamp and first trimmed the wick's bloom. Then he took out a paper pouch from his pocket, retrieved the glasses inside, and put them on. Now he examined the address on the envelope, but it was neither in his son Uhei’s handwriting nor his wife’s. He tilted his head slightly, but since the address showed no discrepancy, he opened the envelope anyway. Pulling out the letter and spreading it open, San'emon was shocked. Inside was blank. The moment he thought "Hah!", his head was struck hard. Before he could even register another shock, blood dripped onto the blank paper. He had been struck from behind with a single sword blow.

As he groped to retrieve the short sword placed before the bedding chest, the assailant came down with a second strike. He instinctively raised his right hand to block. The wrist was severed cleanly. He stood up and grabbed at the collar with his left hand. The assailant proved unexpectedly cowardly. Shaking off the grip on his collar, he hurled the unsheathed blade at San'emon and fled into the corridor. Yamamoto San'emon gave chase without a moment's hesitation. He had reached the middle gate when the assailant’s whereabouts became untraceable. The wounded old man’s legs could not match those of the peculiar youth in his prime.

Yamamoto San'emon felt a burning pain in his head and hand as dizziness began to well up. Even so, he steeled himself, returned to the treasury room, and first and foremost inspected the locks on the gold chests. There were no abnormalities. At the moment he thought, "At least that's settled," a powerful dizziness surged over him. Using his left hand, he pulled the bedding chest closer and leaned against it. And he drew deep, labored breaths. Upon hearing the noise, the first to rush in was the night watch's patrol officer. Next came an inspector. The Senior Inspector arrived. The chief administrator arrived. They sent for a physician. A messenger ran to the middle residence in Kakigarachō where San'emon's wife and children lived.

Yamamoto San'emon remained lucid and gave clear responses when questioned by the officials. "I have no recollection of incurring any personal grudge," he stated. "The man who brought the blank letter and attacked was a front gate servant whose face I recognized but whose name I did not know." He added, "He was likely someone who had designs on the gold and silver." With formal precision, he continued: "I entrust the matter of family succession to your care." Finally came the crucial request: "Please instruct my son to carry out vengeance." Throughout this testimony, San'emon repeatedly murmured, "What a shame, what a shame," each utterance dripping with feudal propriety and unspoken frustration.

The sword found at the scene was one that had been stolen from the guardhouse where it had been hung by a certain Gose who had worked in construction until two or three days before. When they questioned the guards, it emerged that a front gate servant named Kamezō had exited through the common gate past dawn while claiming urgent business. Kamezō was a man recruited by Fujiya Jisaburō - a labor broker in Kanda Kuemonchō Daichi - and was twenty years old. The subcontracted inn was Wakasaya Kamekichi. When investigators examined Kamezō's quarters, they found letters addressed to four other treasury officials besides Yamamoto - each containing nothing but blank paper.

It can be inferred that Kamezō had long been plotting to kill someone among the night watch and steal the gold sooner or later.

Due to crop failures in Oshu and other regions making it a year of soaring prices in Edo, it was concluded that this had likely given rise to those with misguided intentions. In Tenpō Year 4, retail rice reached five gō and five shaku per hundred mon. It was a year of famine following the Tenmei era.

The physician came and treated San'emon.

Relatives rushed over. The ones who came from the middle residence in Kakigarachō were Yamamoto San'emon’s wife and his son Uhei. Uhei was nineteen years old. Uhei’s elder sister Ryo, who was in service in the inner quarters of Hosokawa Nagatonokami Okitatsu, came from the Hosokawa residence in Toshima-chō. She was twenty-two years old that year. Yamamoto San'emon’s wife was his second marriage, making her Ryo and Uhei’s stepmother. Additionally, there was San'emon's sister—who had become the wife of a certain Harada, a retainer of the lord of Kokura Shinden, Ogasawara Bingo no Kami Sadaaki—residing at the Ogasawara estate in Azabu Higa-kubo; she could not arrive in time and did not come to the Sakai residence.

Yamamoto San'emon paid no heed to the physician’s advice that he should refrain from speaking too much, repeating the same account he had given the officials to his wife and children as well.

As the residence in Kakigarachō was cramped and deemed inadequate for proper care, a directive was issued for Yamamoto San'emon to be taken in by a certain Kobe family at the Hamachō annex. This was a distant relative of the Yamamoto family. The wife and children accompanied him there. Before long, Harada’s wife also arrived. At the Kobe residence, Yamamoto San'emon passed away during the hour of the Tiger on the 27th day. On that day during the lower hour of the Rooster, they came from the upper residence to conduct the inspection. Patrol officers, junior inspectors, and their assistants accompanied them. The inspection officials took written depositions from Yamamoto San'emon’s wife, son Uhei, and daughter Ryo.

In accordance with the officials' report, the Sakai family issued an official directive. The reason Yamamoto San'emon had pursued the suspicious man as far as the middle gate despite sustaining grave injuries was stated to be that "his usual conduct had been proper, and a funeral befitting his status should be conducted." The sword of the suspicious man that had been at the scene where Yamamoto San'emon was wounded was shown by officials to its original owner, a certain Gose. On the 28th day, Yamamoto San'emon’s remains were interred at Henritsu Temple, the Yamamoto family’s ancestral temple before Sensō-dō in Asakusa. Before conducting the funeral rites, when handling the belongings Yamamoto San'emon had carried during his final moments at the Kobe residence—while the paired swords were naturally meant to be inherited by his son Uhei—his daughter Ryo earnestly entreated and received the wakizashi. And when Uhei consented to this, Ryo’s eyes—swollen from weeping—flashed with transient joy.

When a samurai's parent was slain, vengeance had to be pursued. For San'emon's bereaved family, this act of retribution now stood as the deceased's final testament. The relatives accordingly gathered, holding repeated councils until at last submitting a formal petition for sanctioned revenge in mid-first month of Tenpō 5, the Year of Kinoe-Uma. At these councils, it was Uhei who most vehemently pressed for immediate action, his agitation mounting with each discussion of delays. Though pale and gaunt - his delicate frame suggesting frailty - the youth bore no actual infirmity. His elder sister Ryo maintained silence through these debates, listening intently, yet when it came to inscribing her name upon the petition she planted herself firm and would not be moved. Ryo possessed unremarkable features but carried herself with compact muscularity, her small stature belying iron resolve.

The widow suffered from chronic headaches and rarely attended such gatherings, but whenever she did appear, she would fret incessantly about whether they might face retaliatory attacks and harp on why such a calamity had befallen them. The Harada couple from Higa-kubo and the widow’s younger brother Sakurai Sumaemon always went to great pains to console her. However, there was one man whom all the relatives placed their utmost trust in. This man was in his home province of Himeji and thus could not attend such gatherings, but upon receiving news of the death, he immediately sent a letter of condolence and vowed to join in carrying out the revenge. In Himeji, this man served Chief Retainer Honda Ikiage. His name was Yamamoto Kyūrōemon, and he was forty-five years old that year. For the deceased Yamamoto San'emon, he was the biological younger brother nine years his junior.

When Kyūrōemon received news of his brother’s death, he immediately submitted a petition to his master Ikiage. "I wish to entrust household affairs to my son Kenzo and join them in their endeavor, as my nephew and niece will carry out the revenge," he stated. His master Honda Ikiage—a descendant of the Ikiage whom Tokugawa Ieyasu had assigned to the Sakai family and a man deeply committed to bushido—promptly granted Kyūrōemon’s request. In Edo, the revenge petition had only just been submitted, and with no official notice yet issued from above, Kyūrōemon received from Ikiage a newly prepared sword and a stipend of twenty ryō before departing Himeji. This occurred on the twenty-third day of the first month.

On February 5th, Kyūrōemon arrived at Yamamoto Uhei’s residence in the middle estate of Kakigarachō, Edo. Beginning with Uhei, her elder sister Ryo—who had taken leave from the Hosokawa family to return home—found her joy beyond compare. Having just laid eyes on their calm, taciturn, and muscular uncle, both the elder sister and younger brother felt a sense of relief.

“Has the official permission still not been issued here?” Kyūrōemon asked Uhei. “Yes.” “There has still been no official notice.” “We inquired with the officials, and they said that perhaps due to the mourning period, there has been no official notice.”

Kyūrōemon furrowed his brow. After a while, he said, “Large wheels turn slowly.” Then Kyūrōemon asked whether the travel preparations were ready. “Once the official notice comes through,” Uhei said. Uncle’s brow furrowed again. However, this time he remained silent for a long while. After discussing various other matters, the uncle spoke as if suddenly remembering something: “Those preparations—best get them done ahead of time.”

On the 6th, Kyūrōemon visited his brother’s grave. On the 7th, he went to the Kobe residence in Hamachō to express gratitude for the care his brother had received during his final days. It was a day of fierce northwestern winds when, just as Kyūrōemon was at the Kobe residence, a fire broke out in Kanda. It was the historically recorded great fire of the Horse Year. At the Hour of the Sheep (around 2 PM), a fire broke out at a koto and shamisen craftsman’s house in Sakumachō 2-chōme, spread toward Nihonbashi, and continued burning until the Hour of the Rabbit (around 6 AM) the following morning. There was a satirical poem that said, "Around two in the afternoon, embers scattered from a shamisen shop, resulting in a massive fire." Both Hamachō and Kakigarachō were downwind, and seeing the flames split into three fronts as they advanced, Kyūrōemon rushed back to Kakigarachō, saying that there were already many people at the Kobe residence.

At the Yamamoto residence, Kyūrōemon directed them to remove all belongings, but by the latter half of the Hour of the Monkey (around 4 PM), the entire middle estate had become engulfed in flames, and the Yamamoto residence burned down. Ryo immediately rushed toward the residence of her former masters, the Hosokawa family, when the fire broke out, but Toshima-machi was already engulfed in flames. “Danger! Danger!” “Sis! You can’t run into the fire!” someone shouted. Finally, she became wedged between evacuees and gawkers, unable to move a muscle. Overhead, sparks came scattering down. Ryo teared up and turned back before reaching Kamei-chō. By the time she returned home, her uncle had already come back from Hamachō and was tidying up their belongings.

The area of Hamachō near Yano-gura was mostly burned, but fortunately, the Sakai family’s annex remained unburned. Since they felt it would be too burdensome to impose heavily on the Kobe family, the Uhei household instead evacuated to the annex of Yamamoto Heisaku, a distant relative, shortly after the Hour of the Dragon on the 8th. San'emon's bereaved family, having rented a room at Yamamoto Heisaku's place, found themselves in a dreamlike state of mind, dazedly existing. The widow developed a headache and remained bedridden. Uhei sat with his arms crossed, lost in thought. Only Ryo alone, while being considerate of Heisaku’s family, worked diligently; but when around noon it became known that the Hosokawa lady had evacuated, she immediately went to pay her respects.

When Ryo returned that evening, Kyūrōemon said: "Hey. We won't need any house for now, but we must at least make preparations so His Young Lordship doesn't catch chill when he travels." The uncle kept mockingly addressing Uhei as "Young Master this" and "Young Master that."

“Yes,” said Ryo, and from that evening she set to work on Uhei’s clothing. On the 9th, Ryo went out to buy the items needed for travel preparations. Kyūrōemon had prepared a written list and handed it over. As they thought how unusually warm it felt with the wind having shifted south that day, another fire broke out in Hiwamachi during the first part of the Hour of the Rooster. The townhouses that had survived the fire two days prior were burned down in this fire as well.

On the 10th, when a cold northwestern wind blew fiercely once more, a fire broke out at noon from the upper residence of Matsudaira Hōki-no-kami Muneaki in Daimyō-kōji, spreading from Kyōbashi to Shibaguchi. Fires then occurred on both the 11th and 12th as well. With prices high and disasters striking one after another, the people of Edo were filled with unease. Even the modest items ordered by the Yamamoto household from merchants met with unforeseen mishaps, and despite Ryo's relentless fretting, the preparations scarcely advanced.

One day, Kyūrōemon was smoking tobacco while watching Ryo sew, but with a suspicious look on his face, he set down his pipe. “What’s this?” “What’s the point of making such a tiny thing?” “The Young Master here’s so towering.” Ryo’s face turned red. “Um, this is mine.” What she was sewing were women’s leggings and gaiters. “What?” The uncle’s eyes widened. “You’re going off for samurai training too?”

“Yes,” she said, but Ryo did not cease her sewing.

With a “Hmph,” the uncle gazed at his niece’s face for a long while. And then he said: “That won’t do. How could we undertake a journey with no end in sight, dragging along a pitiful girl like you? Where we’ll encounter the enemy, how many years will pass before we meet—there’s no telling at all. I and Uhei are simply going to search for him. Once we find him, we’ll inform you—wouldn’t that suffice?” “As you say—when you don’t even know where or when you’ll encounter him—how can you possibly send word to Edo without fail? And can you truly wait here in Edo for my arrival without fail?” With large, round eyes that appeared both innocent and cunning, she gazed intently at her uncle’s face with a faint smile.

Uncle was considerably flustered. “I see. That depends on the time and circumstances—I cannot say for certain. If it were possible, I’d have you summoned there by any means necessary. If by any chance we don’t make it in time, you’ll have no choice but to accept it as the misfortune of being born a woman.” “Just look at this,” she said. “By all means, I must do everything in my power to prevent such an eventuality. If you declare that a woman cannot be taken along, then I will become a nun.”

“Now, now—don’t say that. Even a nun’s still a woman, you know.”

Ryo let her tears fall onto her sewing and remained silent. The uncle did his utmost to console her with every possible word, but he flatly declared that he would not take the woman along. Ryo wiped her tears and gently placed the partially sewn leggings into the wrapping cloth that lay beside her.

Sakai Tadazane, after completing reports to the monthly duty Elder Ōkubo Kaga-no-kami Tadazane and the three magistrates, delivered a jointly signed certificate from senior inspectors dated February 26th addressed to Uhei, Ryo, and Kyūrōemon, thereby authorizing the revenge. “Swiftly achieve your purpose and return promptly; should you slay the enemy, submit conclusive evidence”—such was the official decree. An allowance was allotted to the three. Those remaining behind would receive a stipend. Though permission had been granted, since Ryo was not to join the journey to seek the enemy, once residences in Edo for both the widow and Ryo were firmly secured, Kyūrōemon and Uhei could depart.

It was decided that Ryo would be temporarily taken in by the Harada couple at the Ogasawara residence. The ailing widow, after her petition was settled, was to recuperate at the home of her maternal relative Sakurai Sumaemon.

Now, at last, Kyūrōemon and Uhei were about to set out, yet neither knew the enemy’s visage. Relying solely on the wanted poster felt far too precarious, so they visited Fujiya the labor broker’s inn and Wakasaya the contractor’s lodging, pressing various inquiries—yet no definitive facts could be uncovered. Not only did they lack knowledge of his appearance, but even though his birthplace was claimed to be Kishū, nothing definitive seemed ascertainable. It was only said that before serving the Sakai family, he had been in Takasaki, Kōzuke Province.

At that time, a man suddenly came calling at Yamamoto Heisaku’s residence. This man was born in Asai District, Ōmi Province. Having come to Edo in his youth, he had served in various households as a fellow servant. During this time, he had worked alongside Kamezō as an outer servant for the Sakai family and had even received kindness from San'emon. Thus, he proposed that if they found him useful—since he had now taken leave from the Sakai family—he would accompany them as someone familiar with the enemy. His name was Bunki, and he was forty-two years old. His physique was robust, and it was evident at a glance that he was a man of integrity—a rare quality among itinerant companions.

After meeting and speaking with Bunki, Kyūrōemon immediately decided to take him into service as Uhei’s retainer. Kyūrōemon, Uhei, and Bunki finalized their departure from Henritsu Temple, their family temple, on the 29th. The day before, they vacated Yamamoto Heisaku’s residence in Hamachō and went to the temple. There, in addition to the widow whose illness had not yet improved, Ryo and all the relatives gathered. First they visited the grave, then exchanged a parting cup. The abbot presented soba at the gathering and declared with theatrical air, “This is the vendetta severing ceremony.” The relatives laughed and enjoyed themselves, urging the lone despondent Ryo along as they departed.

After spending one night at the temple, on the morning of the 29th, the three set out on their journey. Bunki carried the luggage and followed one step behind. Relying on Kamezō having been there before his service period, they first headed toward Takasaki in Kōzuke Province. Though Kyūrōemon, Uhei, and Bunki were making for Takasaki, none truly believed Kamezō might be there. Having no notion where else to direct their search, they thought merely to try Takasaki first. To seek out Kamezō—this rootless vagabond one might call a ruffian—across all Japan was like searching for a single rice grain in a granary. They knew not which bale to begin with. Yet this very precariousness meant the task must absolutely be completed. Thus resolved, the group chose first to unpack what lay within Takasaki's metaphorical bale.

Since no trace could be found in Takasaki, they proceeded to Maebashi. There, at Masajun Temple in Enokimachi, lay the ancestral graves of the Yamamoto family. Kyūrōemon and the others visited them and prayed for the success of their mission. From there, they went out to Fujioka and stayed for five or six days. From there, they crossed the border into Musashi Province and stayed in Kodama Village for three days. They climbed Mount Mitsumine and offered prayers to Mitsumine Gongen. Passing through Hachiōji, they entered Kai Province, toured Gunnai and Kōfu in two days, and made a pilgrimage to Mount Minobu. In Shinano Province, they crossed Wada Pass from Kami-Suwa and made a pilgrimage to Zenkōji in Ueda. In Echigo Province, they spent three days in Takada, two days in Imachi, one day each in Kashiwazaki and Nagaoka, and four days touring Sanjō and Niigata. From there, they turned onto the Kaga Highway, entered Etchū Province, and spent three days in Toyama. This area suffered acutely from the year’s poor harvests. The group ate meals of wheat mixed with chopped daikon radishes and potatoes, sleeping on straw mats spread over farmhouses’ earthen floors. In Hida Province, they spent two days in Takayama; in Mino Province, one day in Kanayama; then took the Kisokaidō Road out to Ōta. In Owari Province, they spent one day in Inuyama and four days in Nagoya; taking the Tōkaidō Road out to Miya, passing through Saya to enter Ise Province; then circled through Kuwana, Yokkaichi, and Tsu; stayed three days in Matsusaka.

When the party stayed more than two days in a location—though on rare occasions this meant simply resting a day to recover from exhaustion—they typically conducted intensive searches wherever clues seemed likely to be found. In Matsusaka’s Tonochō district, there was a deputy named Iwabashi who listened attentively to Kyūrōemon and the others’ account and conducted a meticulous investigation. When told the facts uncovered through this inquiry, the group felt as though they had glimpsed a lantern in the darkness. In Matsusaka lived a wealthy merchant called Fukano-ya Sahee. To his establishment came daily shipments of fish from Sadaemon, a fisherman of Nagashima Soto-machi in Kumano Bay, Kii Province. Through this trade, Sahee had grown close with Sadaemon’s family. However, Sadaemon’s eldest son Kamezō had left for Edo in his youth and severed all contact, leaving him to rely solely on his second son Sadauke. This same Kamezō appeared at Fukano-ya’s door on the twenty-first day of the first month that year, draped in tattered rags. “I cannot shelter an unfilial wretch like you without informing your father,” declared Sahee. Kamezō slunk away from Fukano-ya’s shop, while onlookers muttered, “That’s Kamezō from Kishū—must’ve done some wickedness in Edo and fled back here.”

According to what was later heard at Fukano-ya, Kamezō went to the home of his mother’s side uncle Hayashisuke in Kumano Nigō Village on the 24th day of the first month and pleaded to be taken in, but Hayashisuke—being impoverished—declared he could not shelter anyone and urged him to go seek permission at his father Sadaemon’s residence. Having tried relying on acquaintances and finding that unsatisfactory, he then visited relatives; upon being refused by them, Kamezō finally seemed to resolve to return to his parents’ home. He returned to Sadaemon’s home on the 28th.

In mid-February, a rumor reached Sadaemon from Matsusaka that Kamezō had likely done something bad in Edo and returned. When Sadaemon asked what he had done, Kamezō said he had inflicted a wound on a superior. Therefore, Sadaemon and Hayashisuke decided to shave Kamezō’s head to make him a monk and send him up Mount Kōya. The two had shaved Kamezō’s head and escorted him as far as Miurasaka before parting ways—this occurred on February 19th. At that time, Kamezō wore a brown Benkei-striped cotton-padded kimono, tightened a cotton obi around his waist, had on indigo workman’s trousers, and wore gaiters. He had one ryō in his pocket.

Kamezō stayed at the house of a man named Matahē in Shimizu Village, Kōya-ryō, on the 22nd. As rain fell the following day, the 23rd, he remained there. Then on the 24th, he ascended Mount Kōya. Some had encountered him on the mountain. By the evening of the 26th, he had descended and was seen in Hashimoto. From then on he was missing. It was thought he had likely crossed over to Shikoku. When they heard this full account from Matsusaka's deputy, none among the three harbored any doubt that this monk - Sadaemon's son Kamezō - was their enemy. Uhei immediately proposed going to search Shikoku. But Kyūrōemon stopped him, declaring this Shikoku theory mere baseless conjecture - even should they eventually go there, they must first search nearby areas thoroughly.

The group departed Matsusaka and visited the shrine to pray for success in their martial endeavors. After passing through Seki and traveling along the Tōkaidō to Osaka in Settsu Province, they spent twenty-three days there. During that time, a message arrived from Matsusaka informing them that Sadaemon of Kii Province, worried about his son’s fate, had died of a mental illness. From there, they passed through Nishinomiya and Hyōgo, entered Harima Province, emerged from Akashi to their home province of Himeji, and spent three days at a traveler’s inn in Uomachi. Kyūrōemon would not stop by his son’s house, even if it existed, until he had achieved his true purpose. From there, they entered Bizen Province, passed through Okayama, boarded a night boat from Shimoyama on June 16th, and finally crossed over to Shikoku. Uhei, who since Matsusaka had shown signs of mild dissatisfaction with Kyūrōemon’s search strategies yet had been compelled to follow along—overawed by his uncle’s unyielding resolve and imperturbable demeanor—suddenly grew animated at this juncture, talking incessantly aboard the boat until deep into the night.

On the morning of the sixteenth, their boat arrived at Marugame in Sanuki Province. After having Bunki search Matsuo, the two climbed Mount Zōzu to offer prayers. There, pilgrims spoke of having seen a peculiar young monk from elsewhere in Marugame. Uhei grew convinced they had found their enemy and descended the mountain at the Hour of the Boar. They returned to Marugame, summoned Bunki back from Matsuo to identify the monk—only to find it was another man. Having heard Iyo Province's copper mines gathered villains from across the land, they searched there for two days. From Saijō they moved through Koharu and Imabari over four days, then journeyed from Matsuyama to Dōgo Hot Springs. During this trek, Uhei—who had pressed through summer's heat—developed fluid retention and abdominal cramps, while Bunki suffered diarrhea and lost his appetite. They convalesced fifty days in Yumachi. Though claiming recovery, when they reached Yawatahama after searching Nakatsu for two days, Uhei—still weakened from illness—found his strength failing entirely. After five days' delay there, they finally secured passage on a Kyushu-bound vessel. Their Shikoku journey had yielded nothing.

The boat arrived at Saga-no-Seki in Bungo Province. They passed through Tsurusaki and entered Higo Province, where they visited Aso Shrine on Mount Aso and paid their respects at Kiyomasa Kō in Kumamoto. After searching Kumamoto and Takahashi for three days each, they crossed by boat to Shimabara in Hizen Province. They stayed there for two days before departing for Nagasaki. On their third day in Nagasaki, hearing rumors that a monk resembling their enemy had been spotted in Shimabara, they turned back and spent five days searching there again. They then spent three more days combing Kumamoto, two days in Uto, one day in Yatsushiro, and two days at Nankō-juku before crossing by boat once more to the port below Onsen-dake in Hizen Province. There they learned from a traveler from Nagasaki that a monk matching their foe's description was reportedly in Nagasaki itself. In Nagasaki's Kamitsugo-machi stood Kanzen-ji, a Jōdo Shinshū temple. A young monk of about twenty had recently arrived there and was said to be teaching staff techniques. The group boarded another ship bound for Nagasaki.

They arrived in Nagasaki on the morning of November 8th. They stayed at a house called the paper shop in Funabikichō and requested Town Elder Fukuda to assist in their search. If they inquired there, the guest monk at Kanzen-ji seemed increasingly likely to be their enemy. He was from Kii Province, and it was said he had some reason to avoid public scrutiny, thus living in complete seclusion. The kindly town elder, declaring they must not let him escape, decided to have two thief-takers accompany them. A certain Ogawa, who served as a kenjutsu instructor in town, heard the town elder’s account and requested to be present at the scene, offering to lend a hand if needed.

Kyūrōemon and Uhei, claiming to be samurai of the Ōmura family who earnestly wished to train in staff techniques, requested to become disciples at Kanzen-ji. The guest monk consented and said he would meet them at the Hour of the Snake the following day. The two rejoiced and set off for the temple with Bunki in tow. Ogawa and the two thief-takers followed behind. After teaching Bunki their signal and meeting the guest monk, they found him utterly unrecognizable. Though they barely managed to extricate themselves from the situation and leave the temple—with everyone seething in frustration—Uhei stood particularly crestfallen.

The group thanked Fukuda, Ogawa, and the others, departed Nagasaki, spent five days in Ōmura, and proceeded to Saga. At this time, Kyūrōemon developed leg pain and began walking with the aid of a cane. In Chikugo Province, they searched Kurume for five days. In Chikuzen Province, they first visited Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine to offer prayers, spent two days in Hakata and Fukuoka, then boarded a boat from Kokura in Buzen Province to leave Kyushu.

They crossed by boat to Shimonoseki in Nagato Province on December 6th. Snow began to fall. Kyūrōemon’s leg pain only grew worse with time. Finally, Uhei and Bunki persuaded Kyūrōemon and decided to send him back to Himeji for the time being. Kyūrōemon reluctantly boarded a boat from Shimonoseki and arrived in Murotsu, Harima Province, on the morning of December 12th. Within that same day, he entered Inadaya in the Hira district of Himeji’s castle town. Until he achieved his true purpose, he would maintain a traveler’s mindset to the very end and would not return to his son’s house.

Uhei sent off Kyūrōemon and, on December 10th, departed Shimonoseki with Bunki. From there, they spent two days in Miyaichi, Suō Province, passed through Murotsu, and arrived at the Kintaikyō Bridge in Iwakuni. There, they searched for three days, then crossed by boat to Miyajima in Aki Province. They spent eight days in Hiroshima, entered Bingo Province, then seventeen days in Onomichi and Tomo, followed by two days in Fukuyama. From there, they passed through Okayama in Bizen Province and stopped by Himeji to visit Kyūrōemon.

Uhei and Bunki reunited with Kyūrōemon at Inadaya in Himeji on January 20th of Tenpō 6, the Year of the Wood Sheep. Just at that time, a priest named Taniguchi from Hirokishi (Hiro Mine) Mountain informed them of a suspicious hinin (outcast), so Kyūrōemon sent Bunki to check. The hinin had said he was from Iwami Province. What had aroused suspicion among people was that he carried a short sword. However, he was not the enemy.

As Kyūrōemon's leg still showed no signs of healing, Uhei departed Himeji with Bunki on February 2nd and arrived in Osaka on the 5th. The inn was Settsu-kuniya in Awaza Okuhimachi. However, not long after Kyūrōemon had sent the two off, his leg improved. On the 14th, he departed Himeji, boarded a boat from Akashi, and headed to Osaka in pursuit.

The three stayed at Settsu-kuniya, and as they searched various places, their travel funds began to run low. With the innkeeper’s assistance, Kyūrōemon became a masseur, and Bunki became a priest at Awashima. The reason he became a masseur was that, having knowledge of jujutsu, there was no reason he couldn’t work as one—or so he claimed. To be an Awashima priest did not mean serving deities at a shrine. They wore small shrines on their chests from which they hung red-stitched monkey charms and such, walking while shaking bells in their hands—such were these beggars.

At that time, Kyūrōemon and Uhei attempted to dismiss Bunki and spoke as follows. “Up until now, we have merely had you live and eat with us without paying any salary, keeping you as a retainer in name only, yet you have endured and served us well. However, we have already traveled all over Japan, but the enemy remains elusive. With matters as they stand, there’s no telling when we’ll achieve our true purpose. Depending on how things go, we may end up swallowing our resentment and dying collapsed on the roadside. You have shown us kindness beyond what words can express, so I can hardly bring myself to ask you to stay with us any longer. Of course, we who do not know the enemy’s face would indeed be troubled to part with you, but it can no longer be helped. We can only entrust our fate to heaven and wait for the day we confront each other by name. Since you are a man of peerless loyalty, were you to serve a master hereafter, no height of success would be beyond your reach.” He was asking him to part ways there.

Kyūrōemon had consulted with Uhei beforehand and summoned Bunki to deliver this notice. Uhei stood there with his arms crossed, listening, but tears streamed down his cheeks.

Bunki, who had been listening in silence with his face pressed to the floor, waited for the words to end before lifting his head. His wide-open eyes blazed with an unnatural intensity. And with a shout, he cried out, “Master, that is wrong!” His heart was in turmoil and his words tumbled out incoherently, but Bunki said something roughly along these lines: “This service is no ordinary duty.” “Since I have pledged myself to this revenge, my life is already forfeit.” “Should you two successfully achieve your true purpose, all will be well. But should many villains rally to the enemy’s side and you are ambushed in turn, we have no path but two: either perish together with you, or escape that place to exact double vengeance.” “As long as these legs of mine can still carry me,” he declared, “even were you to dismiss me, I would cling to your shadows like form to substance and never part from you.”

Even Kyūrōemon could find no words to reply. Uhei felt as though he had been revived.

From then on, the three left Settsu-kuniya and took to living in a cheap inn. With no destination left to aim for and nothing but thoughts steeped in resignation, they wandered the city day after day, praying for divine protection. Before long, whooping cough spread through Osaka until the cheap inn teemed with coughing people. In early March, Uhei and Bunki contracted it, developed fevers, and took to bed. Kyūrōemon used whatever coins he earned to ensure each could swallow at least a mouthful of porridge. When the two had recovered by early April, this time it was Kyūrōemon who took ill. Though his body was rock-solid, his advanced age made his condition worse than theirs had been. They summoned a kind doctor to examine him, who pronounced it typhoid fever—this because his raging fever made him shout delirious phrases like "Wait!" and "You won't escape!"

While Bunki placated the cheap inn’s disgruntled owner and tended to the patient, Kyūrōemon’s robust body overcame the illness in a short span of days—remarkable given the sickness’s sudden onset. Bunki rejoiced at Kyūrōemon’s recovery, but here a new worry arose. It was that Uhei, who had always been prone to mood swings even in ordinary times, now exhibited markedly pronounced psychological disturbances following his illness. Uhei was by nature a quiet person. Moreover, as he had a certain unworldly vagueness about him, Kyūrōemon had given him the nickname "Young Lord." However, this young man was deeply moved by everything, like soft grass blades swaying in the wind. At such times, his normally pale face would be flooded with a flush, and he would become as eloquent as a different person. When that passed, a reaction would come—he would grow sullen, lower his head, fold his hands, and remain silent.

Kyūrōemon and Bunki were accustomed to this aspect of Uhei’s nature, but his current state showed signs of alteration. Mornings and evenings devoid of peaceful moments vanished, and he remained in constant agitation. He moved and behaved as if irritated. Moreover, even when he entered his usual state of exuberance, he never became talkative. One might even say silence prevailed. He grew angry over trivial matters simply because he was agitated. Even when there was no particular reason, he would deliberately provoke others, seize upon their words, and manufacture motives for anger. When anger arose within him, he would not outwardly express it but instead mutter complaints and sulk.

When this state of affairs persisted for two or three days, Bunki said to Kyūrōemon: "Young master's condition seems rather strange, does it not?" Bunki had come to refer to Uhei as "young master" before long. Kyūrōemon laughed as if it were of no concern and said: "Young master? "As for that foul mood of his, it'll clear up if you feed him something tasty." It was not unreasonable for Kyūrōemon to say this. Though the three saw each other's faces daily and remained unaware, having fully tasted the three hardships of poverty, illness, and travel, each and every one of them lost all semblance of the day they departed Edo.

It was the morning after Bunki had spoken these words. After the other lodgers had each gone out to work, Uhei edged forward on his knees before Kyūrōemon, seeming about to say something only to fall silent again. “What’s wrong?” said Uncle. “Actually, there’s something I’ve been thinking about.” “Just say whatever it is.”

“Uncle. When do you think we’ll meet the enemy?” “That’s something you probably don’t understand—and truth be told, I don’t either.” “I thought as much. A spider spins its web and waits for insects to get caught. Since it doesn’t care which insect gets caught, it waits there unperturbed. If one aims to catch a specific insect, a spider’s web would be of no use. I have grown weary of waiting indefinitely like this, relying on mere chance.”

“Have we not both walked all over the place?”

“Yes. We did walk as much as we could, but…” Uhei began, then fell silent. “Hmm?” “We walked as much as we could—what exactly was wrong with that?” “Never mind that—out with it.”

Uhei remained silent, staring fixedly at his uncle’s face, but after a while, he spoke. “Uncle.” “We did walk quite a bit.” “But even after all this walking, it might only be natural that we haven’t found him.” “Even if we stay still and set a net, nothing will come to entangle itself. But even if we keep walking, we might never collide with him.” “When I try to think further and further ahead, it all seems so strange.” “I can’t shake this strange feeling.” Uhei edged forward on his knees again. “Uncle.” “How can you remain so composed like this?”

The uncle listened to Uhei’s words with intense concentration. “I see.” “So you think that?” “Listen well.” “If your military fortune is poor and you’re forsaken by both gods and Buddha, then what you say would hold true.” “Humans are not such creatures.” “When you can stand, walk and search.” “When you fall ill, lie down and wait.” “With divine protection, one will eventually encounter the enemy.” “We might meet him while walking, or he might come upon us while we rest.” A faint, mocking smile flickered at the corners of Uhei’s lips. “Uncle. Do you truly believe gods and Buddha will help us?”

Kyūrōemon was a man not easily perturbed, yet when he heard this, he felt a kind of eeriness. “Hmm. I don’t know that. That’s what makes them gods and Buddha—they’re unknowable.”

Uhei’s attitude was strangely tranquil, different from his usual state of agitation. “I thought as much. Gods and Buddha are unknowable beings. To tell the truth, I’ve decided to abandon what we’ve been doing until now and act as I please.” Kyūrōemon’s eyes flew wide open, his eyebrows shooting upward, but in an instant, blood surged into his pallid face, and his fists clenched tight.

“Hmph.” “Then will you abandon the revenge?”

Uhei smiled faintly. He seemed satisfied to have angered his uncle, who had never been angered before. “That’s not it. Because Kamezō is a hateful man, if I encounter him, I will make him suffer terribly. But since both searching and waiting are futile, until we meet, I won’t give that man another thought. I have no intention of staging some grand public revenge, so I don’t need any assistance. When the enemy becomes known, it will be when they become known, so there’s no need for knowledgeable people either. Please keep Bunki as your retainer from now on. I intend to take my leave in the near future.”

Kyūrōemon’s anger had no sooner erupted than it dissipated, and as he listened to Uhei’s words, he had returned to being his usual kind uncle. It was simply that the uncle, who had a habit of forcibly turning everything into a jest, had merely become uncharacteristically earnest.

When Uhei rose from his seat and stepped down from the cheap inn’s veranda, his uncle called out, “Hey, wait!” but Uhei’s figure was already gone. However, his uncle did not think that Uhei would disappear completely from that point onward.

When Bunki returned in the evening, Kyūrōemon told him to go search the neighborhood for Uhei and bring him back. Uhei would go to places where the young men of Orio Town played shogi. At first he had tried to extract clues about the enemy by listening to casual conversations, but later he simply ended up talking there without particular purpose. Bunki visited such houses. However, Uhei was nowhere to be found. That night Kyūrōemon stayed up late waiting for Uhei's return, but he never came back.

While walking about searching for Uhei, Bunki happened to hear talk of miraculous interventions at Tamatsukuri Toyosora Inari Shrine. Young people were sharing accounts of parents' illnesses being cured here and lost children's whereabouts being revealed. Bunki informed Kyūrōemon and performed ablutions the next day to purify himself before departing for Tamatsukuri. He intended to seek divine guidance about both the enemy's location and Uhei's disappearance.

When Bunki arrived at the Inari Shrine and looked around, a large crowd was coming and going through countless overlapping red torii gates that formed a crimson tunnel where people thronged. Tea stalls had been set up around the perimeter, with vendors selling sweet red bean soup and sweet rice drink. Along both sides of the red tunnel stood sideshow booths and toy shops. Upon passing through the tunnel into the shrine grounds, priests would accept money as first-fruits offerings and issue numbered tags. Those seeking divine guidance were then called in according to their assigned numbers.

Bunki offered all the money he had as a first-fruits offering. However, as his turn did not come for a long time, he ended up waiting until sunset. He had eaten nothing yet hadn’t even noticed his stomach growing empty. When the dusk bell tolled six times, the priest emerged and said, “Those with remaining numbers, please return tomorrow morning.”

The next day, before dawn, Bunki went to the shrine. Though his number came after others', since some with earlier numbers hadn't arrived yet, Bunki was summoned sooner than he had expected. As Bunki waited with his forehead pressed into the gravel in prayer, this too came sooner than expected—the priest emerged and relayed the oracle. “The first target has been in a bustling area of the eastern provinces since spring.” “As for the second matter, there is no oracle,” he said. Bunki hurried back from Tamatsukuri and reported the oracle to Kyūrōemon.

Upon hearing this, Kyūrōemon said: “I see. When one speaks of prosperous lands in the eastern provinces, it would be Edo—but however audacious Kamezō may be, he would not carelessly return there. Indeed, it’s possible rumors have spread about us leaving for our revenge mission, but even so, with other relatives keeping watch, he likely hasn’t returned to Edo. Didn’t that priest swindle you? The reason they can’t find the second inquiry might be because they want another first-fruits offering.”

Bunki, with great solemnity, cut through Kyūrōemon’s words as if shielding them from blasphemy. “I beg you,” he entreated, “do not speak thus—pray find it in your heart to trust the divine message.”

Kyūrōemon said. "No—" "I do not doubt Lord Inari." "Only I somehow don't think he's in Edo."

As they were speaking, the innkeeper arrived. When summoned to the landlord’s quarters and receiving a letter that had come from Edo, he announced it was addressed to Lord Yamamoto and presented a sealed missive. When Kyūrōemon took it in hand and read aloud, “To Yamamoto Uhei-dono, Yamamoto Kyūrōemon-dono, and Sakurai Sumaemon—Peace,” even Bunki, who maintained the protocol between master and servant even in this cheap inn, could not help leaning forward over the letter Kyūrōemon was unsealing—for he had long known this was correspondence from the widow’s family home, and his impatience to learn its purpose overwhelmed him.

After the revenge party had departed, the late San'emon’s widow waited at her family home, Sakurai Sumaemon’s residence, for her chronic illness to heal. After some time had passed since encountering hardships and the surroundings had grown quiet, her headache lessened considerably. Though her younger brother Sumaemon was kind to her, the widow found it awkward to rely solely on his care; declaring she would seek a position that was not too demanding, she eventually came to be employed in the inner quarters of Ōsawa Ukyōdaibu Motoaki of the Kōke class near Manaita Bridge in Ogawamachi.

After Uhei’s sister Ryo was taken in by her aunt’s husband, the Harada family, she would listen during grave visits to the idle talk of the old woman selling shikimi branches, attempting to glean clues about the enemy’s whereabouts—but before long, the mourning period too had ended. Thereupon, she resolved that by serving in various places for one or two months at a time, she might naturally find a means to obtain clues, and first took up residence in a certain household in Honjo. Since this was a distant relative, she received an ambiguous treatment—neither fully servant nor guest—and assisted in all matters. Next, as the senior maid was employed in the inner quarters of the Hori residence in Akasaka, she went there to assist. Next, she served at a certain house in Azabu. Next, as there was a distant relative among the retainers of Honda Tatewaki of the assembly of high-ranking retainers in Hongō Yumichō, she went there to assist. In this manner, changing employers one after another, from the spring of Tenpō 6 she was employed in the inner quarters of Sakai Kamenoshin of the assembly of high-ranking retainers in Ochanomizu. The wife of this Sakai was the daughter of Sakai Iwaminokami Tadayoshi of Asakusa.

The widow and Ryo both sought to uncover the enemy’s whereabouts, but though Ryo devoted herself day and night to the task, no leads could be found. Yet despite letters from Kyūrōemon and Uhei ceasing altogether, even in Edo they had achieved nothing. The women’s anxiety was beyond description.

Time passed, and it came to be the beginning of May in Tenpō 6.

One day, Sakurai Sumaemon of the widow’s family visited Sensō-ji Temple in Asakusa and sat resting at a teahouse when the rain that had let up began pouring down again fiercely. At that moment two carefree-looking men came rushing into the teahouse eaves to shelter from the rain. As they waited for the downpour to ease, standing beneath the dripping eaves, they struck up this conversation. One of them said: “Meant to tell you earlier but forgot—happened last night. Got caught in rain just like this over in Kanda, squatting outside some closed-up sake wholesaler’s door when this guy comes barreling in.” “Looked up—ain’t that Kame used to work for Lord Sakai? Nearly jumped out my skin! Thinking ‘Bastard’s got nerve showing face here,’ I holler ‘Hey Kame!’” “He turns around all ‘Huh?’ then goes ‘Wrong man! Name’s Tora!’—and off he bolts though rain’s still coming down buckets.”

Now the other one spoke. "So that damn Kame's come back again." "What a fat bastard."

Sumaemon called out to the two men and asked who this man called Kame was. The two men appeared greatly troubled at being interrogated by the samurai, but stated it concerned their comrade Kamezō who had committed misdeeds at Lord Sakai of Ōte's residence at the end of the year before last and fled. "Well, we only caught a glimpse," they said evasively, "so it might've been mistaken identity—maybe he really was someone called Tora." Judging that detaining these two—who had merely claimed a glimpse—would prove useless, and fearing any commotion might let Kamezō escape Edo, Sumaemon quietly let them go.

What Kyūrōemon received in Osaka was a letter from Sakurai informing him that Kamezō was in Edo.

Bunki immediately went to Tamatsukuri to make a gratitude visit. Kyūrōemon waited for Bunki to return, then divided their efforts to check each of Osaka’s exits. They inquired about Uhei’s whereabouts at palanquin stands along the highways and shipping agents at the port. However, all of that was in vain.

Kyūrōemon had no choice but to abandon thoughts of his nephew and made preparations to depart for Edo. Even after exhausting their travel funds, they did not touch the emergency money or the clothing and items at their waists. Kyūrōemon fastened a tea-striped obi over his unlined floral-patterned cotton kimono, wore a navy hemp-patterned field jacket, and tucked both swords into his belt. His belongings consisted of a russet cloth pouch, a mouse-gray cotton handkerchief bag, and a jitte with restraining rope. Bunki too fastened a navy striped obi over the floral-patterned kimono he had set aside and tucked a jitte with restraining rope into his belt.

After paying gratuity to the cheap inn's keeper and stopping by Settsu Kuniya to give their regards, Kyūrōemon and his retainer crossed from Fushimi to Tsu aboard the night boat of June 28th. Save for being detained half a day at Sakanoshita by a great storm on the thirtieth, they encountered no hindrances on their journey and reached Shinagawa on the night of July eleventh. On the twelfth day during the hour of the Tiger, the two departed their Shinagawa lodgings, proceeded to Henritsu Temple in Asakusa, and paid their respects at San'emon's grave while still wearing their straw sandals. Having met with the head priest afterward, they rested their travel-weariness through the night.

The following day, the 13th, was the Urabon-e Festival when relatives would come to visit graves. Kyūrōemon instructed the head priest not to disclose their arrival and hid with Bunki in the temple’s quarters. When the priest inquired why, Kyūrōemon replied only with “Plans thrive in secrecy” before diverting to other topics. Those who came for memorial rites were the Haradas and Sakurai wives—the widow and Ryo, bound by strict samurai service obligations, did not appear.

When the lower division of the Hour of the Dog arrived, Kyūrōemon said to Bunki: “Now then, we set out to search. We’ll walk until our legs are ground to stumps before we find him.”

The two departed Henritsu Temple still in their travel attire and first headed toward Asakusa Kannon. When they neared Kaminarimon Gate, Kyūrōemon said to Bunki, “It seems he hasn’t become a priest after all, but don’t let him slip away no matter what guise he’s in. But in any case, he won’t have an impressive appearance.” They circled through the temple grounds and paid their respects to Kannon; he then expressed gratitude to Sakurai for arranging a meeting with an informant. They then left Kuramae for Ryōgoku.

Though the day was sweltering, people who had come out seeking coolness and fireworks-viewing jostled against one another. When lanterns began being lit, the two rested briefly at a teahouse, and once their sweat had partially dried, they started walking again. Neither river nor boats could be seen. When cries of "Fireballs! Sparklers!" rang out, the crowd threw back their heads to watch fireworks bursting above them.

It was around what seemed to be the latter part of the Hour of the Rooster. Bunki pulled Kyūrōemon’s sleeve from behind. Kyūrōemon followed Bunki’s gaze and spotted a tall man walking one step ahead to the left. He wore a worn-out medium-patterned cotton kimono with a faded floral-striped Hakata obi fastened around it.

The two silently followed his trail.

It was a moonlit night. They turned at Yokoyama-chō. They emerged from Shiomachi into Ōdenma-chō. They crossed Honchō and proceeded from Ishimachi Riverbank through Ryūkan Bridge to Kamakura Riverbank. As pedestrians gradually thinned, Kyūrōemon took out a hand towel, covered his head with it, and deliberately walked unsteadily. Bunki pretended to support him as they followed. When they reached Nibanhara outside Kandabashi Bridge near Gengō-ji Temple, it was exactly midnight. The streets stood completely deserted. Kyūrōemon signaled Bunki with his eyes. As if moving with a single will, the two leaped at their target from behind and wordlessly seized both his arms.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” shouted the man, writhing to break free.

The two silent men, gripping his arms like a nail puller clamping a nail, dragged the writhing man into the shade of a roadside tree. Kyūrōemon said in a voice like a fierce flame dimmed by a baffle: "I am Yamamoto Kyūrōemon, younger brother of Yamamoto San'emon whom you killed at year's end. State your homeland and name, and prepare yourself." "You've mistaken me!" "I'm Senshū-born, called Torazō." "I don't recall doing any such thing."

Bunki peered into his face. “Hey.” “Kame.” “There’s one who knows even the mole beneath your eye.” “Don’t play dumb.”

The man looked at Bunki’s face and, like grass blades wilting under frost, drooped his head heavily. “Ah… Bunkō…” Kyūrōemon, having heard this much, swiftly took an arrest rope from his pocket and bound the man. Then he said to Bunki: “We’re done here. Go to Lord Sakai Kamenosuke’s residence in Ochanomizu. The message is as follows: ‘This humble one has come from Ryo’s lodgings—she who serves in the inner quarters of your honorable household. Mother informs me she is unlikely to last until dawn due to cholera. Please, out of your special consideration, grant her leave and allow her to meet her mother one last time.’ That’s what you’re to say. Hurry!”

“Ha!” Bunki said and dashed off toward Nishikichō. At the residence of Sakai Kamenosuke, the inner quarters had stayed active late into the night, and Ryo had just returned to her room and was about to change into her nightclothes. At that moment, the elderly woman’s messenger came to summon her. Ryo, thinking it fortunate she hadn’t changed yet, immediately rose, put on her formal sandals, and went along the corridor to the elderly woman’s room. The elderly woman said: “A messenger has come from your lodgings—your mother has suddenly fallen ill.” “Though it is Obon and you are occupied with duties, your mother’s illness is exceptional—go home.” “Once you’ve met your mother, return to the mansion immediately even if nighttime.” “Tomorrow I shall formally request your leave again.”

“Thank you most kindly,” said Ryo as she accepted the instructions and slipped out of the elderly woman’s room.

While thinking it would be acceptable to leave as she was, Ryo went to check at the inner entrance who the messenger was. She was dressed in official duty attire—a medium-patterned cotton kimono with a black satin obi fastened around it. At the inner entrance, Ryo exchanged glances with Bunki, who was prepared for travel. And she realized her mother’s illness was a pretext.

Two or three companions who had withdrawn to the inner quarters with Ryo gathered curiously in the corridor, trying to watch her meet the messenger from the lodgings. “Oh, I’ve forgotten something,” Ryo murmured as if to herself and quickened her steps back to the room.

Ryo closed the door of the room from the inside and opened the lid of the wicker trunk. The first thing she took out was a single change of undergarment. Next, she inserted her arm all the way to the bottom and took out a single short sword. It was the short sword Father San'emon had carried on the night of his duty. Ryo briskly wrapped the two items in a cloth and took them out. Bunki came to Gojimbara while telling Ryo along the way the details of how he had captured the enemy.

Ryo greeted Kyūrōemon and, having no time to change clothes, took out only the short sword from the bundle. Kyūrōemon said to the enemy: "The one who has come here is San'emon's daughter Ryo. Confess that you killed San'emon and declare your homeland and name here."

The enemy raised his face and looked at Ryo. And he said. “This is the end for me. “I will tell the truth. “It is true that I wounded Mr. Yamamoto, but I did not kill him. “Because I lost at gambling and was in dire need of money, I thought of some way to get it and ended up doing such a foolish thing. “I am the son of a man named Kichibē from Uenohara Village, Ikuta District, Senshū, and my name is Torazō. “When I entered service at Lord Sakai’s as a menial laborer, the name of that Kishū fellow Kamezō—someone I’d become acquainted with through gambling—came spilling out of my mouth. “I have nothing more to say. “Please do as you see fit.”

“Well said,” answered Kyūrōemon. And signaling Ryo and Bunki with a glance, he untied Torazō’s bonds. The three steadily closed in from three directions. Having been untied and standing dejectedly, Torazō suddenly crouched his body like a beast targeting its prey and lunged at Ryo, attempting to knock her down and flee.

At that moment, Ryo stepped back and, with the short sword she had been gripping in her hand, struck Torazō in a single motion. The blade descended in a slash from the tip of his right shoulder down to his breast. Torazō staggered. Ryo delivered two or three slashes. Torazō fell.

“Splendid.” “The final blow—I will strike it.” Kyūrōemon lunged forward and stabbed his throat. Kyūrōemon wiped the blood from his sword on Torazō’s sleeve. And he had Ryo wipe her wakizashi as well. Both of their eyes were filled with tears. “That Uhei is not present here,” Ryo uttered in a single sentence.

Kyūrōemon and the other two reported to the guard post at the riverside led by Honda Iyonokami. The guard post officer from Tamaki Katsusaburō's association—a retainer of Udono Kichinosuke of the Nishinomaru Imperial Storehouse serving as monthly duty officer for the guard post union—took their testimony. Honda reported it to the Senior Inspector. Endō Tango-no-kami Tanemune of the guard post union notified Sakai Tadamana's caretaker. The Sakai family had undergone a succession in April of that year. Officials from the Sakai family came, took statements from the three, and reported back to Tadamana.

The morning of the fourteenth saw Gojimbara crowded with spectators. Around the three who had slain their enemy, relatives of the Yamamoto family gradually converged. The Udono family presented sushi and fresh sweets to the three. At the Hour of the Rooster (around 6 PM), under the direction of Mizuno Uneme—head of the 15th group of Nishinomaru inspector foot soldiers—the following were dispatched: Nishinomaru inspectors Nagai Kamejirō and Kubota Eijirō; Nishinomaru minor inspector Hiraoka Tadahachirō; Inoue Matahachi; Shimodani Kinzaemon, an attendant; Itami Chōjirō; and four kurokuwa laborers. In addition, officials from the Honda, Endō, Hiraoka, and Udono families were present and first conducted an examination of the three individuals' bodies, clothing, belongings, and whether they had sustained any wounds. None had sustained any wounds. Next came statements addressed to both inspectors Nagai and Kubota. Then followed an examination of the corpse. The wounds recorded in the deposition under Kamezō's name from his Sakai household service were as follows: "One stab wound approximately one sun in length on the left side of the back—the swollen wound opening prevents determination of depth; one slash wound at the nape measuring three sun in length and two sun in depth; another slash wound below this location measuring one sun and five bu in length and six bu in depth; one slash wound beside the left ear measuring one sun in length and six bu in depth; one slash wound extending one shaku from the right shoulder to the breast measuring four sun in depth; another slash wound at the right shoulder joint measuring two sun in length and one sun in depth; one stab wound at the throat measuring three sun in length—making seven wounds in total." The clothing consisted of an unlined cotton garment and Hakata obi; belongings included one light blue hand towel. The corpse was entrusted to Tamaki Katsusaburō. Next came statements from those summoned: Kamezō's labor broker Fujiya Jisaburō of Kanda Kuemon-chō Daichi; his five-person group; and Wakasaya Kamekichi—the subcontracting innkeeper who had housed Kamezō. Finally came statements from the guard post officer who had received Kyūrōemon's report.

The examination officials withdrew during the first part of the Hour of the Dog. After the examination was completed, reports were delivered from Udono Kichinosuke to Nishinomaru inspector Matsumoto Sukenosuke; from Sakai family caretaker Shōno Jifuemon to the Sakai family inspectors; and from the Sakai family to yōban Ōkubo Kaga-no-kami Tadazane. On the fifteenth day, during the latter part of the Hour of the Hare, under Mizuno Uneme’s direction, Kyūrōemon and the other two individuals were delivered to Shōno. The two palanquins that the Sakai family had prepared since the Hour of the Rooster the previous evening to carry Kyūrōemon and Ryo had come to the guard post and were waiting there. Kyūrōemon and Bunki were entrusted to a certain Honda, and Ryo was entrusted to Kobe.

On this day, during the latter part of the Hour of the Rooster, Town Magistrate Tsutsui Iganokami Masanori summoned Kyūrōemon and the other two. From the Sakai family came inspectors, sub-inspectors, and an ashigaru squad leader accompanied by ashigaru to guard the two riding in palanquins and Bunki traveling on foot. It was during the latter part of the Hour of the Dog when the three withdrew after undergoing direct interrogation by Tsutsui Masanori. On the sixteenth day came another summons from Tsutsui. During the latter part of the Hour of the Rooster, they underwent interrogation by yoriki Nisugi Hachiemon and submitted their deposition. On this day, Ryo was informed by Sakai Kamenosuke that San'emon’s widow had been dismissed from the Ōsawa family upon request. From Ryo’s former master came congratulations on the successful revenge from the Hosokawa family.

On the nineteenth day, a third summons came from Tsutsui. Kyūrōemon and the other two were read aloud the draft deposition and withdrew during the latter part of the Hour of the Rooster [around 6 PM].

On the twenty-third day came a fourth summons from Tsutsui. They were made to affix their official seals and thumbprints to the fair copy of the deposition. On the twenty-eighth day came a fifth summons from Tsutsui. By the ruling of Elder and yōban Mizuno Etchū-no-kami Tadakuni, Kyūrōemon and Ryo were declared "no further action required concerning the commendable matter." Bunki was declared "no further action required concerning the matter." After receiving Tsutsui’s commendatory words, they withdrew during the latter part of the Hour of the Rooster. Subsequently, from the Sakai family’s Senior Inspector came the message "You are to maintain normal conduct," conveyed to the three—Kyūrōemon, Ryo, and Bunki—as the Town Magistrate’s investigation had concluded. Kyūrōemon and Ryo submitted to the Senior Inspector the official document they had received in February of Tenpō Year 5.

On the first day of the intercalary seventh month, an official summons from the Sakai family came to Ryo. During the latter part of the Hour of the Dragon, accompanied by relatives Yamamoto Heisaku and Sakurai Sumaemon in hemp formal attire, she appeared at the official chamber. The Senior Inspector attended Chief Retainer Kawai Kotaro and delivered the pronouncement. “As a woman, you are especially commended; it is ordered that you inherit the Yamamoto San’emon family name, with a stipend of fourteen koku granted herein. In due course, a suitable man shall be adopted as your son-in-law. Furthermore, you shall be granted an audience in the inner chambers within days.” Thus it was declared.

On the eleventh day, Ryo appeared for her audience in the inner chambers and was granted "black crepe with family crest, crimson-lined silk wadding, white habutae undergarments" along with one box of confections. On the same day, she was granted "one bolt of striped crepe" from the widow of Hamachō and "two Takasago-dyed crepe fabrics, two fans, and a package" from the late Sakai Tadayasu’s wife, Senshuin. Regarding Kyūrōemon’s matter, an order came from Sakai Tadamana to Chief Retainer Honda Ikiage stating: “Kyūrōemon bears no particular intentions and shall be summoned as before. Furthermore, in recognition of his thoroughness, a satisfactory reward shall be granted. Additionally, with special consideration, he is to be presented with hemp formal attire bearing the family crest.” Honda granted Kyūrōemon 100 koku and appointed him to a senior position among the retainers. To Ryo as well, Honda presented "1,000 hiki for fabric," and from Honda’s mother came "one bolt of striped crepe and one box of assorted delicacies."

Bunki was summoned to the Sakai family’s inspector office, where—under his status as a former outer servant and retainer of Yamamoto Kyūrōemon—it was formally declared: “In recognition of extraordinary efforts and remarkable service, you shall be formally employed in the capacity of a minor official, with four ryō in gold and a stipend for two retainers granted herein.” Thereafter, he announced the surname Fukataka and served as the mountain guard at the Sakai family’s secondary residence in Sugamo. At the time of this revenge, Yashiro Taro Hirokata was seventy-eight years old and composed a commemorative poem for Kyūrōemon and Ryo. “Never again shall there be those who, meeting the time of the Soul Festival (Urabon-e), have avenged father and brother.” Fortunately, about twelve years had passed since Ota Shichizaemon’s death, so no one created parodies to mock Yashiro anymore.