Hanabishi Fusai no Taima-chou - CH 1.4

“But Kotatsu-san never actually saw Koman-san die with her own eyes, so it doesn’t dismiss the possibility that she was killed.”

Suzuko murmured as she watched Taka walk away with Kotatsu in front of the house.

“Well, it’s the police’s job to investigate that, isn’t it?” Takafuyu said. “It is not for us to say this and that.”

Suzuko looked up at him.

“How did you know that the plectrum was missing and that Kotatsu-san was the first person to find her?”

If those things were written in the newspapers, Kotatsu wouldn’t have been so shaken. Of course, there was no way he could have heard about them from Koman’s ghost, because the jourou had eaten her before he had a chance to talk to her.

“I asked a reporter I know.”

“A reporter?”

Then wouldn’t it have been reported in the newspapers? She thought. Suzuko suspected that he might actually know someone in the police department, but it wasn’t something to pursue, so she let it go.

“Suzuko-san, where will you go from here?”

“I’m going to Viscount Murotsuji’s house.”

“Why?”

“”

“You know that the ghost that appeared in that house was Koman-san. Even after hearing that story, I don’t know why she went to the Murotsuji estate.”

“Is the emerada ring the key?”

Takafuyu murmured. I think so, Suzuko answered.

That ring with the synthetic gemstone doesn’t suit a viscountess.

“But, Suzuko-san, even if you know that, there is nothing you can do about it. Koman’s ghost is no more. What do you want to do?”

“I…”

Suzuko looked ahead. Beyond the street with the streetcar tracks, she could see the lush forest of Sannou’s shrine. The heat haze shimmered on the ground of the narrow alley. Suzuko saw a phantom there. It was the illusion of a ghost. Suzuko’s family, who she had lived with in Asakusa——

“I want to defy.”

“Defy what?”

What was it that she wanted to defy? Suzuko searched for the words.

“…The Asakusa Juunikai is probably behind the times by now…”

The Juunikai was a tall brick tower built in Asakusa in 1890, and it was originally given the imposing name of Ryounkaku.1 At the time, it might have been a symbol of the city’s magnificent Westernization, but now in 1920, it was nothing more than an old tower left behind by the times, and was ridiculed as a place for country people to visit when touring Tokyo.

“But even so, who can forget that tower? Because it is there. The Juunikai still towers over the city and stands out. So even though it is behind the times, it won’t disappear from people’s minds. But when people die, they are forgotten. Something that has disappeared is weak no matter what. Even those who remember the dead will eventually die themselves. So, at the very least, I want to chase after their vestiges.”

“Vestiges?”

“Ghosts are the vestiges of the dead. They are living vestiges. I want to follow them, and at least for me, know what they tried to leave behind by staying.”

Suddenly, a wind blew. The May wind blew through the sunlight, carrying the breath of fresh greenery.

Suzuko narrowed her eyes. The ghostly illusions were gone.

“So it’s a rebellion against oblivion,” Takafuyu said. “What a grandiose thing to say.”

“It certainly isn’t trivial. For those who have died, and those who are left behind.”

Takafuyu stared into the distance.

“I was too afraid to chase after the vestiges of my brother.”

“What?”

“You are amazing.”

Suzuko frowned and looked down.

That’s not true.

“Now then, shall we go to the viscount’s estate?”

Takakfuyu, as a matter of course, intended to go with her. Suzuko also decided to go to the viscount’s estate with him, since it would be easier for her to move around if she was with her fiancé.

Crossing the street with the Tameike stop at the side, they entered Koujimachi Ward. In addition to the residences of the nobility and imperial princes, embassies and government offices also surrounded the area. The hustle and bustle of the city was far away, and the rustling of the leaves of the Sannou trees were pleasant. Suzuko looked up at Takafuyu’s profile from under her parasol. She still had no idea what he was thinking with that cool face of his.

Why…

Suzuko wondered why she had told him those things. It was the first time she had talked about ghosts since she left Asakusa. It had been a long time since she had met someone with whom she could talk about ghosts—someone with whom she could speak about what was in her heart. Unexpectedly, that loosened her lips. Perhaps Suzuko wanted to talk with someone more than she thought she did.

I was too afraid to chase after my brother’s vestiges.

What did those words mean?

That was when Suzuko first became interested in the person named Hanabishi Takafuyu.

The Murotsuji family were kuge, a noble family of the imperial court.

There were also various types of kuge: sekke, seigake, daijinke, and below those three were the hiratoushou-ke. Within the hiratoushou-ke, there were also the urinke, meika, and hanke.2 Suzuko was told by Chizu, who came from a kuge, that there were other ways to distinguish family ranks, but every time she heard about them, her head got confused. It was complicated.

Suzuko didn’t understand the upper class’s preoccupation with which family had a higher status or an older history. She could only imagine how difficult it must have been to establish a hierarchy of court ranks when the peerage system was created.

The Murotsuji family was a hanke, so its status as a kuge wasn’t very high. Like many kuge families, they weren’t extremely wealthy. The reason why daimyo families were quite wealthy and kuge families weren’t was first of all due to the difference in the money given by the government. To be precise, it was the kinroku public bond. Since the kinroku public bond was based on the original stipend, the amount of money was naturally large for daimyo families. The kuge were poor even before the Meiji Restoration. In addition, since the daimyo families were landowners, they received land rent income. The daimyo families invested these ample funds in banks, bought stocks to receive dividends, and then invested the profits back into the banks to increase their wealth.

The Murotsuji family, like many others, weren’t a wealthy kuge family. The previous head had made a fortune with stocks, although only a magnificent Western-style mansion was built, maintaining it must be a major challenge. The current viscount was an adopted son-in-law from a branch family, and was a steady office worker. Apparently, he was a banker. There were quite a few aristocrats who worked at banks.

This was the first time Suzuko had actually met Viscount Murotsuji. The viscount who appeared in the parlor of the mansion was a thin, middle-aged man. He had a face that could be described as gentle-looking at best and timid at worst. His eyes were small, and he blinked a lot.

“I haven’t seen you since we met at the Peers’ Club in March, Hanabishi-san,” the voice of the viscount was gentle and had a well-bred quality. “Congratulations on your engagement.”

“Thank you very much. This is my fiancée, Takigawa Suzuko-san.”

Takafuyu introduced Suzuko with a smile. Suzuko bowed next to him.

“This is the first time we are meeting each other. I am Takigawa Suzuko. Is your wife doing well after that recent incident?”

“Ah, so you were the daughter of Marquis Takigawa who visited that day… Yes, my wife is currently convalescing in Oiso. Since she collapsed the other day, she hasn’t been feeling well.”

“Oh dear.”

“She isn’t sick, so don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll return in a week or two. I’m sorry for the trouble we have caused for you as well, Hanabishi-san.”

“No need to apologize, it was because of this that I was able to meet Suzuko-san.”

“Oh, I did not know that. By the way, Hanabishi-san, about that incident…can I ask you to keep quiet about the fact that my wife asked for an exorcism?”

The viscount was blinking rapidly. Takafuyu smiled.

“Of course. I also don’t want this to be public, so I have asked everyone to keep it a secret. As it is, I’m in the field of business, so I don’t want the Ministry of Home Affairs to keep an eye on me than they already have.”

Ministry of Home Affairs? Suzuko was confused. Why would they be involved? The Minister of the Imperial Household was responsible for the supervision of the nobility, and therefore it was the Ministry of the Imperial Household, and within that, the Bureau of Peerage, that kept a close watch on the behavior of the nobility.

“The shinshoku are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs.”

Takafuyu turned to her and explained, as though he sensed her question.

Oh, I see. So he’s talking about the shinshoku aspect.

“As a member of the nobility, there are certain matters that clash with the Shinshoku Houmukisoku, 3but we’ll talk about that later.”

Takafuyu turned back to the viscount.

“I’m here to ask you about that exorcism the other day. Did you hear about the geisha ghost from your wife?”

The viscount’s face was already pale. “Ah, yes…she said she was attacked by it.”

“The geisha has already been exorcised, so she will no longer appear. However, it seems that she was fixated on your wife’s ring.”

“R-ring?”

“”

“It was an emerada ring. It was worn by your wife. I have exorcised her, but I thought I should let you know. Where did you buy that ring? It must have been bought by you, yes?”

“Eh…ah…”

The viscount’s eyes fluttered as he stammered. It seemed that he wasn’t a man who could lie or deceive others well.

Takafuyu, as a final touch, said, “The ghost was Koman, sir.”

The viscount made a noise that sounded like a hiccup. His face froze.

“Wasn’t that the ring you gave to Koman? Why does your wife have it?”

“N-No…that’s…”

“I don’t suppose that you were involved in the Koman case, sir?”

The viscount frantically shook his head. He waved his hands wildly.

“Of course not…! No, that wasn’t the case. It’s just that, it’s just that I had her return the ring…”

“Have her return it? What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you see…” The viscount let out a long breath. He hung his head dejectedly. “My wife found out about that I gave the ring to Koman. No, my relationship with Koman went no further than that of a customer and a geisha, really. Did you know that she lost her entire family to the flu? She was terribly depressed, so I tried to cheer her up. Even rings aren’t so expensive. But when you spend money, you must tell the steward what you’re going to use it for. Even though I’m the family head, I can’t use the family money as I please. Especially since we aren’t as wealthy as the daimyo families, so our purse strings are drawn tight. I suppose I should just come up with an excuse and get the money, but I never was good at that sort of thing, and I’m an adopted son-in-law, so I’m in a weak position in that situation…I wish I could spend money as freely as Marquis Takigawa.”

“You must not,” Suzuko interjected. “My father is like a model example of an adult who shouldn’t be that way.”

The viscount was flabbergasted at Suzuko’s unladylike and firm tone and the way she addressed a head of the household. Takafuyu muffled his laughter. Suzuko, who grew up in a slum, didn’t understand the mentality of respecting a good-for-nothing father just because he was her father.

“Ah, I see that Marquis Takigawa’s household is very open and frank. No, I guess we’re similar as well. I am the head of the family, but no one respects me,” the viscount laughed self-deprecatingly. “For buying a single ring with a synthetic gemstone, I managed to get them to give me the money by saying it was a necessary expense for socializing with nobility. I kept it a secret from my wife. I bought it at Mitsukoshi, saying that it was a gift for my wife. Then, when my wife went shopping at Mitsukoshi, she was asked, ‘How did you like the ring from the other day?’ and that was how I got exposed. She pressed me for an explanation. I quickly replied, ‘I was saving it for your birthday.’ Her birthday is in May. So, there is this thing called a Twelve-Month Ring, right? It’s a series of birthstone rings from Mitsukoshi. May is emerald, but I couldn’t buy such an expensive ring, so I told them to make it an emerada instead. For synthetic birthstones, May was emerada. I asked the clerk about it. But my wife didn’t believe my excuse. I became flustered, since I wasn’t used to lying like that…”

Then give it to me now, his wife said to him.

“Bring it to me now, she said. She wouldn’t listen to anything else, so I had no choice but to go to Koman. I couldn’t just go out and buy a new ring right away. We can’t fit that in the budget. Instead, I decided to be honest with Koman, ask her to return the ring, and give her another one. Then, Koman said she didn’t want another ring, she would rather have the money for it instead. She said that she would return the emerada ring in exchange for money. I told her I didn’t have any money on me right now, so I would bring it to her later, and she returned the ring.”

The viscount rubbed his pale cheeks and blinked rapidly.

“Koman told me, ‘That’s a promise.’ She said that I must bring the money to her, or else she would come and get the ring. It was a bit disconcerting.”

It’s the fee for the cremation, Suzuko thought. Koman had said, If I sell this ring, I might have enough money for a cremation.

“…But after that, I heard that Koman was killed, and I was shocked and horrified that if I had been unlucky, I might have run into the robber as well. A short time later, I was horrified in a different way when my wife began to speak strangely. She said that she could hear a shamisen playing, and that there was a ghost of a woman in the house…”

“Did you immediately think it was Koman?”

“Mm, well…I didn’t see or hear anything, so I thought it was just my wife’s imagination or she was being harassed, but…it really was Koman’s ghost after all.”

Suzuko spoke. “She came to get the ring. Just as she said.”

The viscount covered his mouth.

“Was…Was she that obsessed with the ring?”

“No——”

Suzuko didn’t think that was the case. More to the point, she probably wasn’t too fixated on the money for cremation either. She already had some money saved up.

That was why Suzuko thought that Koman’s ghost appearing to collect the ring had a meaning that was personal to her. Suzuko didn’t speak of that here.

“Even so, I gave her the money anyways,” the viscount said. “Since I promised Koman…I kept my name a secret and donated the soul repose money through the newspaper. I made an excuse to the steward that a business partner had died.”

“Oh…”

Then, was the money that Kotatsu said she had received through the newspaper company from the viscount?

“Perhaps it didn’t get through to the ghost because you kept yourself anonymous,” Takafuyu said.

“Is that how it works?” The viscount’s shoulders slumped. “Anyways, the ghost is exorcised, right? Then I’m glad.”

He sighed.

“It’s such a pity what happened to Koman too. I hope they catch the culprit soon.”

Suzuko glanced at Takafuyu. It was a signal that she was done here. He seemed to understand.

“Now then, it’s about time for us to go,” he announced their intention to leave and stood up.

After leaving the viscount’s residence, Suzuko and Takafuyu headed toward Akasaka. Walking along the street between the ostentatious fences of the nobility’s mansions, Suzuko looked up at Takafuyu from underneath her parasol.

“You were also worried about Koman-san’s ghost, weren’t you, sir?”

Takafuyu, who was acquainted with Koman, must have recognized the ghost as her at once. And then, he probably asked the reporter about the incident and decided to go to the geisha parlor to ask them about it—he must have been on his way there when he encountered Suzuko on the street.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to call it worrying… I didn’t act with the same mindset as you, Suzuko-san. I just thought it would be morally wrong to just pretend not to know her and leave it at that,” Takafuyu scratched his head. “More than that, is your mind already at ease? I still couldn’t quite understand why Koman’s ghost appeared there. It would still make more sense if the viscount or the viscountess killed her.”

“It is unreasonable to think that ghosts would act in a logical manner. Death is something that is unreasonable and illogical for ghosts, even those who are old.”

“I see, is that how it is?” Takafuyu listened to Suzuko’s words with interest.

“Koman-san…” Suzuko dropped her gaze to the ground. The sun was shining brightly and the shadows were dark. A gentle breeze brushed her straggling hair. “I wondered if she thought that the ostentatiousness of the nobility was ridiculous.”

“Ostentatiousness?”

“The viscount said that he told Koman-san the truth about what happened. She must have been surprised. He had so much trouble buying even a single synthetic ring, and when his wife questioned him, instead of buying a new ring, he went to the geisha and asked her to return it to him.”

“Aah…well, that’s true,” Takafuyu smiled wryly. Suzuko averted her gaze and looked down, wondering if what she was saying would actually get through to him.

“Koman-san’s family was poor, which was why she came to Tokyo to become a geisha. She had no other choice. Thanks to that, she was able to help her family. But then, her entire family died at once. There was no point in continuing to be a geisha, but she had no place to go back to. She survived alone in Tokyo. That was her situation. She had lost the will to live. Then the viscount, a gentleman of the upper class, asked her to return the ring he had given to her. In order to keep up a stopgap appearance. ——Is he looking down on her?”

Suzuko gripped the handle of her parasol tightly.

“I think the people of the upper class are so busy keeping up appearances that they don’t see what’s below them. He gave Koman-san a ring because he felt sorry for her, and when his wife found out, instead of honestly telling her the true reason, he went to Koman-san to ask for the ring back. Because it was easier to talk to a geisha. When she died, he fulfilled his obligations by donating money. What a kind and upright person. I hate people like this, who try to be please everyone based on their feelings in each situation on the spur of the moment, but are ultimately insincere to everyone.”

She spat those words out and let out a deep breath. Takafuyu seemed to be looking at her intently without attempting to interrupt. Without turning her head, Suzuko spoke again.

“I know that there isn’t a small number of nobles who are in bad financial situations. Maybe it’s partly because of this distortion that the viscount was so affected by a single ring. That is a ridiculous thing. I’m appalled. After my mother left the Takigawa family, she lived on the bottom floor of the Asakusa Juunikai. It was a brothel. Around the same time, my father was playing around in the Akasaka and Shinbashi red-light districts. Isn’t there something wrong here? If it isn’t wrong, then everything around it is distorted.”

Suzuko stopped and put her hand on her forehead.

“No—I’m sorry. I veered off topic. Koman-san had only come to retrieve the ring, just as she said she would. The ghost of a geisha appeared at a noble’s mansion like a debt collector. Isn’t that strange? It was the viscount who caused such a strange situation. Koman-san had only appeared just as she promised.”

“You think that was what Koman wanted to say?” Takafuyu’s answer was short.

“I don’t know the truth. I’m not Koman-san. Perhaps she was more attached to that ring than the others around her thought.”

“No, I think what you said was right.”

Suzuko looked up at Takafuyu’s face. He was looking at the tall walls of the residential area. The magnificent mansions couldn’t be seen on the other side. There was no smile on his profile, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The sky was light blue with a faint haze. Even though the weather was like early summer, the sky was spring.

After a while, Takafuyu turned to Suzuko and smiled.

“Suzuko-san, do you mind if we take a detour before I walk you home?”

“Where are we going?”

“To Hie Shrine.”

“Hie…ah, Sannou-san.”

“I see, so that’s what the locals call it.”

“It’s because of Sannou Gongen.”

The name “Hie Shrine” came to be after the Meiji era. In the old days, the kami and Buddha were mixed together, and there were temples within Shinto shrines, and Shinto shrines and miniature shrines within Buddhist temples. The kami were another form of Buddha, and that was how “Gongen” and “Myojin” were created—that was a story Suzuko heard when she lived in Asakusa.4

“Isn’t it called ‘Gongen’ now?”

If she remembered correctly, during the Meiji era, the Kami and Buddhas Separation Order was issued to separate Shintoism and Buddism, but due to a combination of factors, it was perceived as the abolition of Buddhism, and in some areas, temples were torn down and Buddhist priests were persecuted.

“It’s so strange, isn’t it? Even though the name has changed, the belief of the people in this area remains the same: ‘Sannou-san.’”

Whether it’s a kami or Buddha, I honestly don’t care either way, Suzuko and the others thought. However, she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of an existing object being destroyed by force, like the expulsion of Buddhism.

“That is what faith is,” Takafuyu said and started walking towards Hie Shrine. Suzuko followed him.

“Faith is history. And, it is like a river. Sometimes its flow changes, it overflows, and it dries up. Sometimes the flow is changed or dammed by human hands. Nowadays, it is as if people are rapidly constructing levees. It is standard, the same for all rivers.”

Suzuko tilted her head. “I don’t quite follow your metaphor.”

Takafuyu laughed. “Suzuko-san, you are very frank. You don’t pretend to understand what you don’t understand. Yes, religions and beliefs were drastically changed in the Meiji era, and they are still in the process of changing.”

“Has it changed?”

“Sannou Gongen has changed to Hie Shrine, has it not?”

“Ah…”

“Kanda Myojin is also the same. Now it is Kanda Shrine. Taira no Masakado is enshrined there, but the government thought it was outrageous to deify a treacherous retainer, so he was moved to a subordinate shrine and enshrined deity was replaced. It was a very unreasonable thing to do. ――But, the people worshipped the spirit of Lord Masakado, so they didn’t participate in the annual festival or offer money, and visited the subordinate shrine instead.”

Suzuko grasped that this was similar to the fact that Hie Shrine was still called “Sannou-san.”

“The country has changed so drastically that it is inevitable that religious institutions would change as well. Well, the policies have changed again and again. The nature of shrines have changed as a result. For example, shrines are places to perform rituals and festivals, not a religious institution. That was how it was decided.”

“…”

She lost track of what he was saying again. Don’t we go to shrines to pray to the gods? People still worship Sannou-san and Lord Masakado, don’t they?

“Is it difficult to understand?”

“Yes.”

Takafuyu laughed again.

“Okay, then consider Hatsumode as something separate from regular religious belief. When you visit a shrine on New Years’, it isn’t because of your religious beliefs, but because of the ceremony of Hatsumode. Simply put, it’s something like that.”

“Aah…now I see.”

She somewhat understood. Hatsumode was an event that began in the Meiji era. Until that point, people still paid homage to the local deity on New Year’s Day at their local shrine or a shrine that lied in a favorable direction, but Hatsumode was more of a recreational event than a religious act.

“Well, it’s all in principle, so it’s not surprising that you don’t understand it. However, shrines aren’t religious institutions, so they can’t proselytize, and funerals cannot be held at kanpeisha or kokuheisha,5 and the Ministry of Home Affairs has jurisdiction over them, not the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, which handle religious affairs.”

“Principle…”

A densely green hill appeared ahead. It was the shrine’s grove. Sannou Gongen was enshrined there.

“The god to be enshrined is determined, and the rituals are prescribed,” Takafuyu stopped and stared at the trees. “Everything is standardized and flattened by means of institutions.”

“Flattened…”

“We eliminate anything foreign and create shrines determined by the country.”

Suzuko shifted her gaze from the forest on the hill to Takafuyu’s profile. He also turned to her and smiled.

“”

“Well, I’m just repeating my brother’s words.”

“You said that…your brother passed away.”

“Yes, I did. My brother was the heir, so he studied the Shinto priesthood seriously. I was adopted out of the family, so I’m honestly hopeless on that front. But since there was no one else to take over the family except me, I had no choice. My relatives had no choice but to turn a blind eye to the fact that I was not suited for either the priesthood or nobility.”

Suzuko gazed at Takafuyu’s smile. She thought that he always smiled with a faint, icy smile on his face.

“I don’t know about the priesthood…but I don’t think you’re a bad fit for the nobility.”

He was a man of refined manners and culture, and she had never heard of any bad behavior from him that could become a scandal. He was someone who would be suitable for the so-called “Imperial Bulwark”—a bulwark was something that enclosed, so the term had the meaning of Emperor’s protector.

However, Takafuyu showed a chilling smile for a moment. It seemed like a smile of self-mockery.

“Suzuko-san, is that a compliment?”

“Unlike you, I do not engage in twisted sarcasm.”

She said that, and for some reason, Takafuyu laughed out loud. Like he was having fun.

“I like that about you.”

Looking intently at Takafuyu’s merry face, Suzuko said, “You’re a strange person, sir.” Takafuyu laughed again. Suzuko had no idea what he found so funny. However, she thought that a smile like the one he had right now was much better than his usual cold smile.