Pathway to Japanese Literature

Author: Okamoto Kido

Characters

Sasaki Shiro Takatsuna

His daughter Usuginu

Sasaki Kotaro Sadashige

Stablehand Kinosuke

His sister Omino

Koya Monk Chizan

Kashima Yoichi

Koga Rokuro

Maid Komatsu

Sasaki's retainers and others.

Ōmi Province, Sasaki Manor. Sasaki Takatsuna's residence.

A clear afternoon in December of Kenkyū 1 (1190 CE).
From the center downward stood a great stable.
However, the side facing the stage was to be understood as its rear.
Protruding slightly above center stood a great plum tree, its white flowers blooming in profusion.
In the depths, through gaps in the grove, the mansion buildings were visible.

(Sasaki Shiro Takatsuna, 37 or 38 years old.)
He stood beneath the plum tree watching the horse's hooves being washed.
Retainer Kashima Yoichi, over forty years old.
Koga Rokuro, twenty-five or twenty-six years old.
They stood on either side of the horse watching.
Stablehand Kinosuke, a dutiful young man around twenty years old.
(He led the famous horse Ikutsuki out behind the stable and had its hooves washed.)

Takatsuna: "A fine day we've had today.
Though snow still crowns Mount Hira's peak, the season's turned springlike in a blink. Everywhere you look, little birds chirp merrily."

“For Lord Kamakura’s first imperial procession to be blessed with such unbroken fair weather—truly an auspicious sign this is.”

“Rokuro’s vanguard party has reportedly already reached Atsuta in Owari Province indeed.”

(Takatsuna, as though hearing nothing, approached the horse and began lightly patting its neck.)

“Kinosuke, you’ve worked well.”

“Yes.”
(Silently continuing to wash the hooves.)

Takatsuna: “You labor without rest—morning and evening tending to it with such devotion...”
(He turned to his retainers.) “Behold.”
“The horse that had weakened for a time has now grown sturdy again of late—its coat grown all the more lustrous.”

Kinosuke (gazing vacantly at the horse): “Yes... Truly a magnificent steed.”

Yoichi: “Naturally so. This is Lord Kamakura’s prized steed—the Ikutsuki renowned throughout the land. You must surely know this. At that Battle of Uji River—though Lord surpassed Kajiwara’s Kurikage to seize vanguard glory—that too was this Ikutsuki’s doing.”

Rokuro: “Even recalling that scene now fires my blood.”
“The mighty Uji River lived up to its name - snowmelt torrents roaring down its course.”
“Across those rapids waited Kiso’s five hundred horsemen, shields locked like scales on a dragon’s back.”

Yoichi: “They’d staked the riverbed too - ropes and spikes to tangle horses’ legs.”
“Just when they thought no warrior could breach those defenses - our lord astride Ikutsuki and Kajiwara on Kurikage charged from Byodoin’s southwest flank at Tachibana’s Kojimagasaki, black steeds churning the waters like thunder!”

Takatsuna (interrupting): “Enough. There’s nothing remarkable about that.”
“Whoa, whoa.”
(Facing the horse.) “Now, Ikutsuki.”
“From Uji River onward—through Ichinotani, Yashima, Dan-no-ura—you shared life and death with Takatsuna and fought valiantly.”
“But that’s all a dream of the past now. Neither you nor Takatsuna will ever taste glory again.”
“Even a famed warhorse ends up wasting in its stall.”
(Sighing as he turns to Kinosuke.) “Today is the second—your late father’s death anniversary.”
“You’ve washed enough. Purify yourself and make offerings at the Buddha altar.”

Kinosuke: “Yes.”

“That will do.”
“Lead it to the stable and tie it up.”

Kinosuke: “Yes.”
(He tries to lead the horse, but it refuses to move.) “Hey—what’s gotten into you to act so stubborn?”
“Go on!”
“Go.”
“Scold, scold.”

(The horse still refused to move.
(Yoichi and Rokuro also approached.)

Yoichi: “Hmm, what’s the matter here? Scold, scold.”

Rokuro: “Go on, go!”

(When the three men tried to force it to move, the horse went wild and tried to kick them away.)
Rokuro fell.
Yoichi and the others panicked in disarray.
(The horse went wild and tried to bolt away, but Takatsuna blocked its path and seized the bridle.)

“Now, what madness grips you?” Takatsuna seized Ikutsuki’s bridle, his voice cutting through the stable’s chaos. “Even you find this world displeasing, it seems.” The horse’s wild eyes mirrored his own simmering rage. “I’ve mountains of reasons to rage myself—but thrash about as we might, this wretched world makes it all futile.” His calloused hands tightened on the reins. “Enough now. Calm yourself.” He spoke as one warrior to another, their shared history of battles hanging unspoken between them.

Yoichi (scowling at the horse): “You stubborn beast…!”
“When the Lord graced it with his personal attention, it became quiet just like this.”

Takatsuna took Ikutsuki's bridle and handed it to Kinosuke.
Kinosuke received it and led the horse toward the back of the stable.
Rokuro tidied up the horse trough and other equipment.

Takatsuna’s daughter Usuginu, sixteen or seventeen years old.
(Usuginu entered from below, accompanied by Maid Komatsu.)

“Father, have you come here?”

“When the weather turned fair, I would go out to the stable and watch them wash the horse’s feet.”

“On our return from Ishiyamadera Temple,” Usuginu replied, “we happened upon a traveling venerable monk along the way. Though he initially declined when we urged haste on the road, we insisted and guided him here.”

“Today marks the death anniversary of the Buddha we honor.” Takatsuna nodded approvingly. “You’ve shown commendable attentiveness to that matter. And as for that venerable monk—…”

Usuginu (looking back at Komatsu): “Komatsu, show him in at once.”

Komatsu: “Yes, yes.”
(Komatsu turned back and exited.)

Takatsuna (looking at Rokuro): “A greeting party of only women would be discourteous.”
“You too, go and guide him.”

Rokuro: “Yes.”
(He exited.)

Takatsuna along with Usuginu and Yoichi proceeded to the inner chambers and made preparations for presenting offerings.

“As you command.”

(Usuginu and Yoichi left for the inner chambers.)

Rokuro and Komatsu guided the Koya monk Chizan out.
Chizan was over forty years old, in traveling attire, wearing a sedge hat and carrying a staff.

Takatsuna (with a conciliatory tone): “I heard the Venerable Monk was hastening on his journey, yet you graciously stopped by.
“As the second day of each month marks the death anniversary of the departed, it is our family custom to stop any monk who passes by our gate—regardless of who they may be—and request memorial prayers.”

“I have just now learned of this custom from your daughter,” said Chizan. “But I must say it’s truly a most commendable practice.” He inclined his head slightly. “And you would be Lord Sasaki?”

“Though belated in introduction,” Takatsuna replied with a formal nod, “I am Sasaki Shiro Takatsuna. I ask that you remember this name.”

“This humble monk is called Chizan of Mount Koya,” he responded, his voice carrying the cadence of long pilgrimage. “I journeyed to Mutsu for ascetic training, then circled back through Kamakura and Izu on my return path—now bound once more for my mountain temple.”

Takatsuna: “So you traveled along the Tokaido Road?”

Chizan: “With the Kamakura Shogun’s procession heading to the capital underway—the inns were exceptionally crowded! Scrawny monks like us got driven off here and there—met with downright nasty treatment everywhere!”
“Ha ha ha!”

Takatsuna (chuckling dryly): "I can well surmise what a nuisance that must have been."

(Looking back at Rokuro.) Bring a folding stool.

Rokuro: Yes.

(Rokuro and Komatsu entered the inner chambers.)

Takatsuna: “And where exactly did you encounter Kamakura’s retinue?”

Chizan: “We joined them just before Atsuta, but hearing that retinue would linger there two or three days, we slipped through while they tarried and set out ahead of them.”
“But the splendor of that procession—truly enough to startle the eyes.”
(Takatsuna inclined his ear.) “First—the numbers. Might there have been four or five thousand horsemen?”

(Rokuro and Komatsu brought a folding stool.)
Takatsuna motioned with his chin for Chizan to sit and then settled onto a stool himself.
Rokuro and Komatsu bowed and withdrew.

Chizan (continuing his account while seated on the folding stool): “Where precisely the Shogun resides among them I cannot say, but the vanguard included Hojo, Kajiwara, Miura, Hatakeyama—with Doi and Adachi bringing up the rear... All those countless daimyo, great and small, likely taking precautions against Taira remnants while demonstrating their might across the provinces. Every last one decked in gleaming armor, forcing their men to raise banners stamped with family crests—the spectacle of them parading along the sunlit highway in this Indian summer stretched endlessly onward. Neither valiant nor splendid would I deign to call it.”
“Truly, it’s being called unprecedented—we, even at our age, have never before witnessed such a spectacular procession to the capital.”
“Though we monks should not lightly speak of worldly matters, Lord Yoritomo is truly blessed with good fortune.”

Takatsuna (as if talking to himself): “All of that too—it’s because of this Takatsuna.”
“Ungrateful wretch...!” (Cursing.)

Chizan: “Ungrateful, you say…”
(presses him.)

Takatsuna (with a bitter smile): “Ah, but there’s no purpose in my telling you this.”
“Before that—would you first hear Takatsuna’s confession through?”
“The one for whom we request memorial prayers today is neither my kin, nor enemy, nor ally—it is Kinosuke, a horseman who perished sinless.”

(Takatsuna, frowning and looking up at the sky, rose and began to pace.)
Chizan listened while clicking through his rosary.

(Kinosuke emerges stealthily from the shadow of the stable and likewise listens.)

Takatsuna (after a pause): “Counting back over ten years—to the beginning of autumn in the fourth year of Jishō [1180], when rumors whispered even to the capital that Yoritomo had raised his banner at Hirugakojima—I resolved to be first to pay my respects. I sneaked down to Izu, but in my wretchedness as a masterless samurai, I had no horse. On unsteady feet I trudged until at dawn on the second day of the eighth month, I came upon Yasu Riverbank. There, through lingering morning mist not yet burned away by daybreak, appeared a man chasing a horse fitted with a worn saddle.”

“Seizing this chance, I stopped him and borrowed the horse to cross to the opposite bank... But facing a journey still far ahead—needing its legs to proceed—I spurred it onward intending to steal away. When I had raced a few hundred meters, the horseman—startled—came chasing after me, shouting ‘Horse thief!’”

“In such circumstances, there was no choice—had I returned the horse, I’d never have made it in time for what mattered...”

“I hardened my heart...”

Chizan (involuntarily exclaims): “Ah, shameless…!”
“You killed him without cause, did you not?”

Takatsuna: “I deceived him into believing I’d return the horse, then seized his moment of carelessness...”
(He made a thrusting motion.)
(After a brief silence.) “Thus having somehow obtained the horse, I safely reached Izu. On the seventeenth day of that same month, I attacked and destroyed Yamaki manor—thereby laying the foundation for the Minamoto clan’s restoration.”
“There is no need to recount what followed.”
“Yet pitiable indeed was that horseman—though I heard from his own lips that his name was Kinosuke. After the Taira clan’s fall, we scoured every corner of this land using that clue, but he proved impossible to find. Only recently did we discover a youth called Kinosuke in Kurita Village.”
(Takatsuna glanced toward the stable.)
(Kinosuke scrambled to hide.) “Recognizing him as that Kinosuke’s legacy, I resolved to take him into my care—yet he desired nothing else. As his trade lay in horsemanship, he declared he would serve as a stablehand if employed thus. So I made him a stablehand as he wished and have kept him at this estate until today—but does this alone suffice to expunge my sins?”
“At the very least, to pray for the deceased’s repose, I designated the second day of each month as his death anniversary and continue conducting memorial services without fail.”

Chizan (nodding): “And this Kinosuke—when did he come to reside in this household?”

“About three months prior,” answered Takatsuna.

Chizan pressed further: “Having cast aside hatred to serve his killer—does he show any lapses in his duties?”

“He labors honestly without faltering.”

“That too merits admiration,” conceded the monk. “The Buddha teaches no distinction between gratitude and grievance.”

Takatsuna echoed hollowly: “No distinction...”
(Can enlightenment truly come from doctrine alone?)

“Enlightenment needs no sutras,” countered Chizan. “Does not your Kinosuke himself profess no enmity toward you?”

“Is it not that Kinosuke bears no resentment toward Takatsuna because he was genuinely moved by one who repents his sin from the heart?”
“It is said that utmost sincerity moves the gods—or so I have heard.”
“If there were no sincerity in my heart, he would resent me to the fullest extent!”
“If all people under heaven were sincere, then even Takatsuna would have no cause for dissatisfaction…”

Chizan: "Lord Sasaki—could even a warrior of your stature harbor some dissatisfaction in this world?"

Takatsuna: "It is precisely because I am a warrior that I suppress this anguished heart and endure living thus. Were I weak, I would have gone mad and perished long ago."
(Takatsuna sprang to his feet.) "Reverend—why must this world teem with faithless vermin while the righteous are trampled?"

Chizan (unperturbed): "The thousand years of True Dharma and thousand of Semblance Dharma have passed—now is the Age of Dharma Decline."
"To salvage it—do you not see we too labor?"

(Takatsuna thinks.)
(Yoichi exits from the rear.)

“The preparations stand ready.”

(He nodded.) “Then farewell, Reverend.”

Yoichi: “Please proceed this way.”

Chizan: (Rises.) “I humbly request your guidance.”

(Yoichi guides Chizan into the inner quarters.)

Takatsuna (looking back at the stable): “Is Kinosuke not here?”
“Kinosuke. Kinosuke.”

(From the shadow of the stable, Kinosuke emerged, having changed clothes.)

Takatsuna: “Since I have invited the Reverend to the Buddhist altar room, the sutra chanting will soon commence.”
“You too shall attend and offer prayers for the deceased.”

Kinosuke: “Yes.”

(Takatsuna entered the inner quarters.)
As Kinosuke was about to follow him in, Sasaki Kotaro Sadashige, a man in his twenties, emerged from below.

“You there, stablehand! Is my Honorable Uncle at his quarters?”

Kinosuke: “Yes.”
“The Reverend from Koya has just arrived and has been escorted to the Buddhist altar room.”

Sadashige: “Oh! So that’s how it was—it would be improper to intrude upon the memorial service.”
“In any case, report that Sadashige has arrived.”

Kinosuke: “Understood.”

(Kinosuke entered the inner quarters.)

Sadashige (to himself): What defied comprehension was his Honorable Uncle’s recent conduct.
Though he had heard Lord Kamakura’s procession to the capital had already reached Mino Road, his uncle made no preparations to receive them and passed his days feigning ignorance—what circumstances could possibly account for this?

(The sound of a bell rang out from within.) Oh—the sutra chanting seemed to have already begun.

(Usuginu exits from the inner quarters.)

Usuginu: “Lord Kotaro, have you arrived?”

Sadashige: “Oh! Lady Usuginu.”
“Is Honorable Uncle in the Buddhist altar room?”

Usuginu: “Yes.”
“Please proceed to the inner quarters first.”

“No—rather, since I feel somewhat uneasy today, I shall wait here awhile.”

“Then please be seated there.”

(Sadashige sat on the upper camp stool.)
(Usuginu stood leaning against a plum tree.)

“How has Honorable Uncle’s mood been of late?”

Usuginu: “There is nothing particular to report... though his temper has grown so stormy...”
“He becomes irritated even over trivial matters...”
“Those nearby seem perpetually on edge...”

“Does he not seem unwell?”

Usuginu: “He does not seem to be unwell... but...”
(Frowned.)

Sadashige was puzzled.
(He thought.)

Takatsuna (emerging from within): “Kotaro, have you come?”

(Sadashige rose and yielded the camp stool.)
Takatsuna sat down on the camp stool.
Sadashige, urged by Usuginu, took a seat on the lower camp stool.

Sadashige: "Though abrupt of me, the Shogun's procession to the capital has already reached Minoji Road."
"As their honorable schedule will soon bring them to this province, what preparations have you made to welcome them, Honorable Uncle?"
(Takatsuna did not respond.)
(Sadashige, gauging his demeanor.) "My father departed last night."
(Takatsuna remained silent.) "At that time, my father instructed: 'You shall accompany Honorable Uncle and depart from this evening onward...'"

Takatsuna: (Displeased.) Did my Honorable Elder Brother leave such instructions?

Sadashige: Ah...

Takatsuna: "If you wish to follow your father’s orders and go, then go as you please! Your uncle detests this!"
(Sadashige is startled.) "I will not go!"

Usuginu: "I have advised you repeatedly—why do you refuse to welcome them? Meeting the Shogun’s procession midway is our warrior-house custom. Now, Lord Kotaro."

Sadashige: "For Lord Yoritomo of Kamakura’s first imperial visit—Musashi and Sagami aside—every daimyo along the Tokaido joins his retinue... yet you alone, Honorable Uncle, remain opposed—?"

Takatsuna: “Oh—I refuse! What’s the Kamakura shogun to me? What’s Yoritomo to me? That grand fabulist of a liar…!”

“Ah—if you speak so recklessly—!”

Sadashige: “If by any chance such words reach others’ ears…”

Takatsuna: “You call this frightening?”
(Sneering.) “When he’s a liar through and through, why shouldn’t I name him so?”
“Listen well!”
“At Ishibashiyama’s defeat, that wretch Yoritomo fell into utter disgrace.”
“Like some mangy cur that lost a dogfight—tail between legs, crawling through the muck!”
“Darkness thick as pitch, rain lashing down.”
“Stumbling over roots and jagged stones, tumbling headlong—filthy with mud as he scrabbled onward…”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Yet he was no hereditary lord of mine.”
“Even at risk of life itself, I had to save him from that plight,” Takatsuna charged forward and hauled him up. “While I borrowed his noble name to hold the line, I urged him: ‘Make haste and retreat, my lord!’ At this, Yoritomo near prostrated himself in joy—‘Ah! You’ll stand in my stead? Sasaki, you’re Japan’s most loyal retainer!’”
“‘Should I live to claim this realm,’ he vowed before all witnesses, ‘half of Japan shall be yours as reward!’”

“I have long since received my father’s instructions regarding that matter,”
“Had Honorable Uncle not stood as substitute, I believe Lord Yoritomo’s fate might well have been endangered.”

I... I took the name Minamoto no Yoritomo... How utterly foolish that was now.
While I fought frantically for my life, that wretch Yoritomo fled into Sugiyama.
By sheer fortune, I too escaped death.
Then came my glory at Uji River's vanguard—that alone should have been worth two provinces! Three!
And now Yoritomo rules as he pleases—hailed as Great Shogun! What reward do you think he gave me? Me—the man who saved his life?
Half of Japan? Not even a quarter of a quarter! A beggar's stipend! Yet he struts about like some grand lord!
Does this Great Barbarian-Subduing General—this self-styled Minamoto leader—think he can break promises and forget debts?

Sadashige: Your words are technically sound, Honorable Uncle, but...
(He was at a loss for a reply.)

Takatsuna: Of course I won't remain silent.
"I've pressed him time and again—'Have you forgotten your vow at Ishibashiyama?'—yet they only spout excuses and leave matters unresolved."
"Those spineless curs from Doi, Adachi, and Miura put on solemn airs while spouting nonsense—'Loyalty first!' 'Never defy your lord!' 'Bow to stronger men!'—twisting reason into fallacy."
(Glaring at Sadashige.) "Your father's one of those gutless wonders too."
"Hah! Utterly absurd!"
"The lord breaks promises like a common liar, his lackeys grovel like sycophants—everywhere I turn, irritations pile higher than autumn leaves!"

(Takatsuna stood, twisted off a plum branch, tore the blossoms to shreds, and hurled them to the ground.)

Sadashige: “Though you would surely rebuke us youngsters for pressing our case, this world—now as in the past—cannot be governed by reason alone.”
“Even if Honorable Uncle has ample justification, it remains futile to now confront the Shogun of Kamakura and dispute what’s just.”
“Whatever grievances Your Lordship may harbor, I implore you to endure them for the sake of the house—please take me with you and at least meet the procession at the provincial border…”

**Takatsuna**: As I said before—if you wish to go, go alone.

Sadashige: Though I have said so much… you hold the house dear…

Takatsuna: Hah! Troublesome.
“What’s the house to me?”
"What if Takatsuna were to abandon this house as of today?"

Usuginu: "Ah—Honorable Father…"
(She involuntarily clings.)

Takatsuna: (After staring intently at his daughter's face, he shoves her away again.) "I can't fathom the minds of those who choose to live in this ridiculous world."

Sadashige: "Then—no matter what—you must attend the welcoming…"

“Do you still not grasp it? What a tiresome creature you are.”

(Takatsuna entered the inner quarters.)
(The two exchanged glances.)

Usuginu: “Though this comes as no surprise—given Honorable Father’s fierce temperament—once he declares his stance, he will not easily reconsider. This proves most troubling indeed.”

Sadashige: “For the Shogun’s procession to the capital this time, every daimyo along the Tokaido route brings retinues to secure the journey’s path. Should Honorable Uncle alone remain absent, he cannot avoid censure in days to come.”
“Moreover, with the Kajiwara father and son—long at odds with our Sasaki clan—attending His Lordship’s side, they might seize this chance to level any manner of slanderous claims. Should we grow complacent, it risks our house’s ruin...”
(After deliberation.) “Regardless, I shall first return to finalize departure preparations and come again to escort him.”

“If Father persists in refusing…”

“It cannot be helped—I shall come alone. Even should Honorable Uncle incur displeasure, my father and I will intercede to ensure safety—such are the bonds of kinship…” (Kindly.) “Do not trouble yourself with worry.”

Usuginu: “I humbly entrust this matter to your care.”

“Farewell once more… Lady Usuginu.”

Usuginu: “When you depart, please do visit once more, Lord Kotaro.”

Sadashige: “Though I deem it futile, I shall accept your invitation.”

(The two reached an understanding, and Sadashige entered the lower quarters.)
Usuginu saw him off and stood pensively, but then reconsidered and entered the inner quarters.

From the lower quarters appeared Kinosuke’s elder sister Omino, a twenty-two or twenty-three-year-old daughter of a farming family, in travel attire.

Omino (peering around): “I was told at the gate that Kinosuke was in the stable—but where could he have gone?”

(Kinosuke exited from the inner quarters.)

Omino: "Oh, Brother…"

Kinosuke: "Sister?"
(Approaching her affectionately.) "You came all this way to see me…"

“The days grow steadily colder—has aught else changed?”

“Yes... I’ve kept in good health.”

“That eases my heart.”

“Though the month differs from his true death-day... until now I performed memorial rites for Father in the inner quarters.”

“The inner quarters...”
(Her eyes narrow.) “Alone?”

“With... with the Lord...”

Omino: “The Lord was also there…? He slaughters one human being brutally—and you think holding memorial services will make his sins vanish?”
(Omino sneered.)

Kinosuke (sorrowfully): “Sister. You still resent the Lord, don’t you?”

Omino (looked around): “Hey—is there anyone around here?”
(Kinosuke nodded.) “Is resentment so unreasonable? Then let it fester! Father was born honest and dutiful—never once acted crookedly in all his days—yet even such a good man met a cruel fate: ten years ago, he was cut down by some unknown hand at Yasu Riverbank, and the horse he was leading was stolen.”
“At that time I was thirteen, you were eleven—still too young to have any real understanding. We could only panic, lost and helpless, brother and sister holding hands as we wept.”
(She wiped tears.)
(Kinosuke listened with bowed head.) “Though we knew not who the enemy was, we vowed in our grief to never let them live should we find them—and as we spent our days with this oath carved into our hearts, perhaps through divine intervention… the enemy revealed themselves…”
(Glancing around again.) “The enemy—Sasaki Takatsuna—confessed with his own mouth.”

Kinosuke: “When the lord issued a proclamation—openly confessing that killing the horse groom at Yasu Riverbank ten years ago was his doing, seeking out those connected to him to atone for his past sins by generously providing support—I was so shocked it felt like a dream.”

Omino: “Surprise, sorrow, and joy became one—for a moment I was at a loss—but since my enemy himself confessed, I infiltrated that mansion and vowed to plunge my blade of vengeance into his heart should any chance arise. I have not forgotten that promise.”
“In the nearly three months you’ve served here, have you found no opening to strike?”
“It was to hear that news that I came here today specifically.”

Kinosuke: “I moved in here biding my time with a blade at the ready, waiting for any chance to strike down our enemy—but Lord Sasaki, repenting his past misdeeds to the bitter end, prostrated himself before me and begged forgiveness.”
“That sincerity showed on his face…”

Omino: “Has your resolve to strike grown dull? Ugh—you hopeless coward! Spineless weakling! As I’ve said before—do you think killing one innocent person and then apologizing makes it right? Do you think holding memorial services will make it right? If forgiveness were possible through such means, I wouldn’t have lived weeping until today. How do you view your sister’s resolve—refusing to blacken her teeth even past twenty? Brother and sister united as one—against that horse-thieving enemy wretch…”

Kinosuke: “Hey—”
(Restraining her with a raised voice.)

Omino: “You’ve been residing here for ages—you must know the mansion’s layout by now.”
“Even tonight—lead me there…”
“Well? Does your silence mean refusal? Or has cowardice seized you at last?”

Kinosuke: “To cling to hatred now… against the Lord who, repenting his past sins, has never once failed to hold Buddhist memorial rites every second day for Father’s death anniversary…”
“Please, Sister.”
“Father’s death was an unavoidable calamity…”

Omino: “What.”
(She stiffened.)

Kinosuke: “Please abandon this path.”

(Omino stared at her brother’s face with a look of utter dismay, then suddenly collapsed to the ground in tears.)

Kinosuke: Sister.
(He approached and clung to her.)

Omino (frantically pushing him away): "Ugh—don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!"
"I have no obligation to be called ‘sister’ by an unfilial wretch who idly watches while our parents’ murderer stands right before us!"

Kinosuke: Even if Lord Sasaki were slain, would our dead Father return?
"Rather than creating new sins…"

Omino: “Ugh—coward... Unfilial wretch...”
“From now on, I’ll rely on you no more.”
“What’s so terrifying about an enemy who’s a samurai?”
“I’ll show you—I’ll slay our enemy alone, and do it splendidly!”

(Omino untied the fastened silk shield and took out a mountain knife.)
(Kinosuke, startled, tried to restrain her.)

Omino (brushing him off): “Ugh—don’t get in my way!”
“Let go! Let go!”

(As Omino pushed him away and tried to rush into the inner area, Kinosuke frantically blocked her path.)

Kinosuke: “No matter how urgently you rush, for a woman alone to attempt entering the inner area is sheer madness…”
“And if you fail—what then?”
“Please, wait.”

“Don’t stop me! Let go!”

“But to let matters continue like this…”

As Omino tried to break free once more, Kinosuke desperately clung to stop her, forcibly dragging her into the shadow of the stable. From below emerged Sasaki Kotaro Sadashige, clad in ornate armor and gripping a bow, leading several retainers.

Sadashige (glancing back at his retainers): “Given the earlier situation, my Honorable Uncle has likely not yet made his preparations. While I go to persuade him, you all remain here on standby.”

Retainers: “Yes.”

As Sadashige was about to head into the inner quarters, Sasaki Takatsuna emerged from within—his topknot severed, appearing as a tonsured yet still-haired monk. In traveling attire with his hitatare trousers tucked and leggings worn, he came forth carrying a conical hat. Behind him followed Usuginu, Yoichi, Rokuro, Komatsu, and others, utterly despondent as they saw him off.

Sadashige (startled): “Wh— Honorable Uncle, you...!”

Takatsuna: “I’ve broken my bow and arrows.
“Discarded my long sword too.
“Kumagai Renshōbō’s repeat performance.”
(He laughed.)

Sadashige—this was beyond all expectation—that Sasaki Shiro Takatsuna, the archer renowned throughout Japan, had abruptly renounced the world...

Takatsuna: “If this world were dear to me, why would I abandon it? A world where deceivers reign supreme! A world where sycophantic samurai run rampant! A defiled world! A joyless world! Such a world is no place for me to dwell.”

Sadashige: “So you’ve cast aside this world...”

Takatsuna (sneering): “Ohh, I’ve had my fill of this world!”

Usuginu: “No matter how many times I pleaded for you to stay—not only refusing to listen—now you depart immediately with that Koya monk in tow! How heartless!”

Sadashige: “So he’ll enter Koya’s mountain retreat at once?”

Yoichi: “Just when that Koya monk happened by—for His Lordship to suddenly resolve on renunciation... Truly, it feels like we’re trapped in a dream.”

“At a time when His Lordship had already declared the world utterly joyless, the nuisance of being forced to welcome the Shogun’s procession drove him to renounce his warrior status.”

Takatsuna: “The particulars are as you’ve just heard. Do not stir up commotion; do not show astonishment. When you meet His Lordship, convey the circumstances precisely.”

(Sadashige stood dumbfounded.)

(Monk Chizan emerged from the inner area.)

Chizan: “All your astonishment and lamentation are perfectly natural.”
“We too once inclined our heads in deference, but unyielding advance defines a warrior’s true purpose—like an arrow shearing through wind, one can only aim where one’s will directs.”
(The sound of wind; plum blossoms scatter.) “Ah—the blossoms fall.”
“Lord Sasaki—how do you perceive this?”

Takatsuna (laughs quietly): "A tearful man like Saigyō would weep at impermanence."

Chizan: "Your enlightenment..."

Takatsuna: "I have no enlightenment."

Sadashige: "To abandon this world without attaining enlightenment..."

Takatsuna: "Because loitering in such a world disgusts me."

Chizan: "That too is a form of enlightenment!"
"Hahaha..."

Takatsuna: "Hahaha..."
(Facing the stable.) "Bring Ikutsuki here."

(Kinosuke leads Ikutsuki out.)

Kinosuke: “My Lord, I have heard all details.”

Takatsuna: “If you’ve heard, I’ll not repeat it.”
“Henceforth accompanying the monk, I go to Koya.”
“Shave this head and Takatsuna becomes a priest.”
“You shall pray for your father Kinoshige’s afterlife.”

Kinosuke: “My gratitude.”
(Taking the horse’s bridle.) “Now please mount.”

Takatsuna: “Nay—from now on I am the holy monk’s disciple.”
(Turning to Chizan.) “Holy Master, please mount the saddle.”
“We shall become Channa the charioteer.”

Chizan: “Lord Sasaki, who wouldn’t bow even to the Kamakura Shogun—now taking the reins of this skinny monk’s horse?”
“How amusing!”
“Then by your leave.”
(He mounted the horse.)

(Takatsuna took the horse’s bridle and prepared to depart.)
Usuginu, Komatsu, Yoichi, and Rokuro ran up from both sides and clung to his sleeves in silence.

“Takatsuna and Usuginu share familiar address with Kotaro. Hold your wedding rites and dwell in harmony. Yoichi—and all others—stand resolute.”

“Ah, Kotaro.”

Sadashige let out a gasp.
(He approaches.)

“Takatsuna—I entrust you with this household’s future.”

Sadashige bowed deeply. “Every particular shall be observed.”

“Good.” Takatsuna shook off the clinging sleeves—Usuginu’s to his left, retainers’ to his right—and turned away. “Farewell…”

As he stepped toward the gate, Omino burst from the stable’s shadow, mountain knife gleaming.

“Father’s killer—!” She lunged.

Takatsuna (dodging and grabbing her hand): “Who are you?”
(looking at her face) “Oh—you’re Kinosuke’s sister.”
(with a smile thrusting her away)
(Omino collapses) “Another unenlightened soul here I see.”
Chizan: “To Otsu’s inn before winter’s day darkens.”

“Understood.”

(Takatsuna took the horse’s bridle and proceeded.)
Everyone watched him depart.
Omino tried to get up and go again, but Kinosuke grabbed and held her back.
(The sound of the bells of Miidera Temple could be heard.)

-- Curtain --