Rashomon Gate
A Mystery of Ancient Japan
I. J. Parker
St. Martin's Minotaur
New York
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RASHOMON GATE. Copyright © 2002 by I. J. Parker. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
eISBN 0-312-70746-0
For Tony
Acknowledgments
Several wonderful people have helped Akitada into the world. My most profound thanks go to my friends and fellow writers Jacqueline Falkenhan, John Rosenman, Richard Rowand, and Bob Stein, who have read and sometimes reread the draft, making suggestions and giving me moral support when I needed it. Their kindness and expertise were equally inspiring. I am also indebted to Yumiko Enyo for her help with matters pertaining to Japanese customs. Finally, I must thank two consummate professionals: my agent, Jean Naggar, and my editor, Hope Dellon.
Characters
Japanese family names precede given names.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Sugawara
Akitada ~ Clerk in the Ministry of Justice
Seimei
~ Family retainer of the Sugawaras and Akitada's secretary
Tora
~ A former highwayman, now Akitada's servant
CHARACTERS CONNECTED WITH THE CASES
Hirata
~ Professor of law
Tamako
~ His daughter
Oe
~ Professor of Chinese literature
Ono
~ Assistant to Oe
Takahashi
~ Professor of mathematics
Tanabe
~ Professor of Confucian studies
Nishioka
~ Assistant to Tanabe
Fujiwara
~ Professor of history
Sato
~ Professor of music
Sesshin
~ Buddhist monk; president of the university
Ishikawa
~ Graduate student
Lord
Minamoto ~ Student
Nagai
~ Student
Okura
~ A former student
OTHERS
Lord
Sakanoue ~ Lord Minamoto's guardian
Kobe
~ Captain of the Metropolitan Police
Omaki
~ A musician in the Willow Quarter
Mrs. Hishiya
~ Her stepmother
Auntie
~ The manageress of the Willow wine house
Madame
Sasaki ~ A talented performer
Kurata
~ A merchant and customer of the Willow
Hitomaro
~ An unemployed swordsman
Genba
~ A former wrestler
Lords
Yanagida, Abe, Ono and Shinoda ~ Prince Yoakira's friends
Kinsue
~ Prince Yoakira's servant
Umakai
~ A beggar
Preface
Rashomon Gate is the story of Sugawara Akitada, a fictional minor official in the Japanese government during the eleventh century. At this time he is almost thirty years old and, to the regret of his mother, neither married nor successful in his career in the Ministry of Justice. On the other hand, he has a knack and manifest penchant for solving crimes, a trait which has gained him the friendship of men of high and low degree.
While the characters and events are imaginary, certain historical facts about the capital city of Heian Kyo (modern Kyoto), the university system, law enforcement, and the customs and tastes of the eleventh century have been carefully incorporated into this tale, which involves Akitada in the solution of a series of puzzles during the courtship of a reluctant bride.
The story of the disappearing corpse was suggested by two tales (numbers 15/20 and 27/9) in the late-eleventh-century collection Konjaku Monogatari.
The maps of Heian Kyo and of the university are based on historical sources, and the other illustrations are intended to resemble Japanese woodcuts. A historical endnote gives additional information about pertinent aspects of life at the time.
Prologue
Rashomon
The corpse was headless. It lay huddled in a dark corner where only the faint light of the moon filtering through the wooden shutters picked out the paleness of naked skin from the prevailing gloom.
A dark shadow moved in the gray light, and an ancient voice rasped, "Look around for the head!"
"What for?" growled another voice. A second shadow joined the first. "It's no use to anybody but the rats." The speaker cackled suddenly. "Or hungry ghosts. For playing kickball."
"Fool!" The first shadowy creature turned and, for a moment the moonlight caught a wild mane of tangled white hair. It was a woman, crouching demonlike over the body, her claws quickly tucking some white, soft fabric inside her ragged robe, "I want the hair."
"Are you blind? That's a man!" protested her male companion. "There's not going to be enough hair on it to get a good grip." He leaned to peer at the body. "Besides, he's an old one."
"He's been well-fed." She tweaked the corpse's belly and slapped his buttocks. "Feel his skin! Soft as silk, eh?"
"So? Much good that's gonna do him. Poor beggar's dead."
"Beggar?" the woman shrieked with derision. "Touch his feet! You think that one walked? Not likely. Rode in coaches and palanquins, I bet. Now go find that head! He'll have long hair all twisted up neatly on top. That's worth ten coppers at least. The good people don't cut it off like you 'n me. Their women have hair so long they can walk on it. I wish we'd get one o' them!"
The man snickered. "Me, too. I'd know what I'd do to her!" he said and smacked his lips suggestively.
The old woman gave him a kick.
"Ouch!" He cursed, then backhanded her viciously. In a moment they were fighting like a pair of hungry alley cats. He gave up first and retreated a few steps.
She rearranged her robe, making sure she still had her booty, then snapped, "We gotta get out o' here before the patrol comes. Go look for that head! It's gotta be somewheres. Maybe it rolled behind that bunch o' rags back there."
"Them's not rags!" muttered the old man, poking the bundle with his foot. "It's another one."
"What? Let's see!" She scurried over, peered and straightened up disappointedly. "Just an old crone. Nothing worth taking on her. Starved to death from the looks o' her, and cut her own hair off long ago. Where's that head?"