Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Interview With A Bushi ❯ Interview With A Bushi ( Chapter 1 )

Began: 10/12/2003

Finished: 10/25/2003

Disclaimer: Bandai Entertainment and Sunrise own Yoroiden Samurai Troopers. I am in no way profiting off of this.

Challenge: The society of the Warlords in the Sengoku Period was based on farming rather than on trade. When the Meiji Revolution started, the shift moved from agriculture to industry. Write a one-shot from one of the Warlords' perspectives on the sudden rapid growth and the inability to get in touch with nature.

Author's note: Bushi is the Japanese word for warrior. This is a response of sorts to Isabel Night's November historical fanfiction challenge on the now defunct Roninfortress.com message board. Endnotes are included for the reader's reference and are part of the fic. I tried to base this off of historical sources as much as possible; no offense is intended. The little snippet of conversation of the san-Masho below is taken from Nina's translation of the CD drama Tsuki, on http://members3.boardhost.com/nina_yst/msg/76.html. I emailed her for permission to use it in this fic, but never got an answer back.

Anubisu: I'm not corrupted enough to believe that everything will be fine just to defeat them using any method.

Naaza: That's right! We are bushi as well!

Rajura: A bushi has a bushi's pride. Even if we are youja, we will never lose the pride of a bushi.

Naaza: Yes!

---Tsuki

Interview with a Bushi

Yamanouchi Naotoki, as the Doku Masho is now addressed, is a tall, well-built, young man with green hair and dark, penetrating eyes. This humble Yojakai writer had the privilege of meeting the second youngest of the Masho, who gave his consent to be interviewed regarding his background, and his views and visit to the current day Ningenkai. Clearly the most obedient of the san-Masho, Yamanouchi-sama is also the most adaptable, and perhaps, the most open-minded of the san-Masho concerning the modernity and outside influences of the Ningenkai-and this showed in the Western clothes he was wearing when he appeared for our appointment. He seems to be naturally taciturn, but in actuality when he speaks, he is also thinking at the same time, and this is facilitated by his slow Kyushu drawl. However, his eyes are always keen and alert, attesting to his known perceptiveness, and certainly, his noted thoroughness as a warrior in the days of Arago.

[He frowns at the table.] Is that a tape recorder?

No, it's all right-leave it on. What I have to say can be said out loud, and what's done is done, what's past is past. Shikata no gai-it cannot be helped.

I am a Kyushu bushi, born and raised in the South of Japan. My family is-were-farmer-samurai for generations; we were descended from a minor Yamanouchi branch of the Uesugi clan up in North Honshu, where my ancestors held the post of vice-governor of Kamakura for the Ashikaga Shogunate. During my time,--er, what the historians now call the Sengoku Jidai-the Age of the Country at War-everyone was out to make their fortune by waging battles, becoming a soldier, spying for the clan…[He shrugs.] My ancestral clan was no exception.

My family and daimyo we served were also no exception. From the moment I could hold a stick, I was taught, trained, drilled, prepared, and toughened for battle. All of the Empire was at war with itself, fighting countless battles for a little more land, a little more koku,a castle, a fortress, a fief, a province, a region. Depending on how far a local lord, or even a daimyo could go, he could become the next Shogun, founding the next dynastic line that would govern the Empire for centuries.

People suffered, of course. It is a natural result of war. Homes and temples burned, people died, entire families were broken apart and loved ones lost. But there was always that chance to improve one's lot and station in life beyond what his father and grandfather could even think to achieve generations ago. As long as there was that chance, there was hope. There was ambition. [He looks off, almost wistfully.]

For power. For peace.

For order.

Being a vassal, I fought for my lord and clan, of course, but I wanted more, so much more, for myself, for my family. For the lord and the clan we served. For the honor of my ancestors.

I wanted more, but the entire country would not be at peace with just my and our clan's efforts. Just defending our region of Kyushu occupied all our efforts. How could we establish order and harmony if the Empire-our whole world-was in turmoil?

So when I was thirteen, I joined Arago.

I had found a leader who had what I was searching for. My natural devotion to my superiors' command, and my thoroughness, enabled me to be promoted fairly quickly through the ranks. I was awarded the Doku Yoroi, and named the Doku Masho. I swore fealty to my lord in the new armor, and this time, we would not bring order to just my homeland, but to the Ningenkai.

I gave up so much, though at the time, it seemed so little a price to pay for unheard-of power, and the chance to actually live to see Japan finally at peace.

That peace could not last, though. But then, humans are inherently immoral creatures-without a strong authority we would cause misery for each other for eternity.

As we in the Yojakai prepared to take the Ningenkai, those vassals recruited after us gave us news of what had happened in the Ningenkai since I left it. The most surprising to us, though, was that Japan was finally united under a new Shogun, although now that I think about it, we should have expected this. Then again, after so many years of battles and struggles for power, it seemed as though no one would be left alive to establish order throughout the country for long.

Things did not fare so well with both my ancestral clan and the clan I formerly served. The Yamanouchi-Uesugi had originally backed the loser of the final battle but pledged loyalty to the Tokugawa, so they survived. But they had to endure the loss of their posts and territories they held for past three hundred years. The Date clan received their holdings, and the proud Uesugi Yamanouchi, descended from the Fujiwara, the first Regents of Japan, were moved to a small poor fief in north Honshu. The great daimyo of Kyushu fared a little better-they were also on the losing side, but managed to keep most of their fiefs and territories, but it was still less than what they had originally.

I did not bother to ask about my family and my former lord. I already knew what most likely happened to them. Death is always near a samurai, and it was especially so, while samurai fought and died, fought and ran from lost, bloody, treacherous battles that occurred in the timespan of generations I was away.

[He looks down, half-musingly.] Such is the fate of a bushi.

Some two years later, even more surprising news in tantalizing bits and pieces drifted in from the Ningenkai, borne by the newly arriving recruits. Apparently, the new Bakufu government had run its course in less time my ancestral clan had their governing posts in Kamakura. But this time, the challenge to the Shogun's authority wasn't just from the military class, but also from the peasant and merchant classes, too.

It was hard to put it all together, but after looking and thinking on the whole situation, it made perfect sense. It only confirmed what Arago had told us about prosperity and human nature.

Under the new Bakufu, peace had run its course. The founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate had put in some understandable rules at the time to ensure order and control. Banning all foreigners from Japan, and forbidding any Japanese from returning was reasonable at the time. But not for two and a half centuries. [He shakes his head.] It's never good to cut oneself off, to try to do it oneself.

The Tokugawa did manage to keep all the daimyo indirectly in control. I have to say that for them. It was ingenious, using their pride, time, and money to tie them up. Every two years, all the daimyo in the land had to visit the Shogun in the new capital in Edo. Tokyo, you call it now. Of course, the daimyo had to come with his entourage and staff, and all in appropriate finery. His family, and their servants, too. And of course his retainers. This would help discourage the daimyo from conspiring and hoarding resources against the Shogunate. The daimyo were also to help contribute to a national emergency fund, for typhoons, earthquakes and the like. Not to mention national monuments and memorials, of course. All this and still a daimyo had to maintain the upkeep of his fief and not starve the peasants. Well, it got so that all the daimyo had to spend more in town than what they harvested and taxed back home in the country, and all the fiefs were in tremendous debt over the centuries. On a visit to the Ningenkai after the war with Arago, I learned that Yonezawa, that poor little fief the Uesugi were forced to live on, had run into the same problems much earlier than the other fiefs. Fortunately they had a good leader who helped them survive. [He snorts.] Unlike the rest of the country in the Bakufu.

Because there were no more battles and no more wars, the population of the Japanese Empire increased, of course. But it seemed as though the nation was finally outgrowing its own land, and since no one could leave Japan and return and stay alive, it was really up to the nation to feed itself. This was bad, very bad. Back then, samurai and their lords were paid by rice, koku, as a tax levied by the daimyo on the peasants. If the number of mouths increased, then of course, the peasants (not to mention the other classes) would need more rice to feed themselves. More mouths meant less rice for everyone else overall, and of course less rice to pay the daimyo. Of course, money could be used instead. But apparently, that still wasn't enough. [He makes a face.] I hate talking about money-it's ridiculously complicated, and so trivial, and besides, it's the merchant's job. Anyway, using money did not solve the problem. I know this much.

The government and the nation were already living hand-to-mouth when the famines came.

Then the riots started.

There was also the problem of the foreigners. In the two hundred fifty years the Bakufu of the Tokugawa ruled the country, the rest of the world had apparently improved its military and sailing-and Japan had done nothing. If the Bakufu closed its eyes to Japan's vulnerability, then the fall of China to the foreigners certainly opened their eyes. If that great empire had fallen to a foreign invasion, it stood to reason Japan might do so too. Only fortune and divine interference had saved Japan in the last and only two threats of invasion by foreigners. The country would be outmatched if it happened again.

I blame the Tokugawa Bakufu for leading Japan into this. They certainly preserved order, but perhaps if they had allowed the Empire to be opened sooner…then so many would not have fought, killed, and died over what to do about Japan, about the foreigners…

Then maybe the Meiji government would not have come about so suddenly and violently. Maybe they would not have forced the samurai aside. Maybe most of them would not have decided to rebel and die a dog's death, turned on by their country, to make way for an army and navy full of conscripts. [He explodes.] CONSCRIPTS!

[Here he folds his arms and looks away in disgust. He is silent before he speaks again, bitterly, furiously.]

Yes, they "gave" that power to His Augustness, but they were never truly obedient to him. Yes, they caught Japan up to the rest of the world, all right. But the new regime and their successors forgot their duty to the Emperor and to the Empire. They grew crazy. They went beyond our shores and destroyed people and cities who they said they were protecting and saving. It went to the point where their enemies had to resort to annihilating in Kikotei-style, not one, but two entire cities, killing everyone, to stop them. TWO cities. Crazy. It was crazy. They were crazy dangerous lunatics. They did this publicly all in the name of the Emperor, disgracing His name, and then when it was all finally over…it just became worse. Their foes forced Him to renounce His divinity, but they would not let Him take responsibility and retire, would not let Him be exiled, would not let Him be a true leader. They, instead, would rule through Him and He would be their puppet. And no one wanted to take the blame for His Augustness. No one would take responsibility, so in the end, no one knew whom to blame. No one would apologize. There was no leadership at all, no true general to speak up, to slit his belly in apology to the people and the foreigners. And here is the Ningenkai, three generations later, and Japanese government still won't say a word about it. People who weren't even born at the time are now thinking the Empire was being picked on without provocation. No wonder the rest of the world is still angry. No wonder they're so afraid and angry, with the Yojakai and the armors and that Kikotei still close by. They probably think we are all crazy slaughterers, who just want to kill and destroy for the thrill of it…We could not wait to take over the Ningenkai to stop them…

[He trails off, standing and trembling. After a few minutes, he calms down, breathing hard, fists slowly unclenching, eyes dropping to the floor. He mutters a reply to my question.] No, I'm fine. It's all right. [He slowly sits back down, looks at the table.]

It's just that…sometimes…it seems we can never find the answer.

Well, after that disgraceful episode, of course, the country was going to rebuild. What else is there to do? So they rebuilt. You would think that after all that happened, they would think of peace on the ashes of the war. Well. I guess they did. You would think that would be the answer. At least I thought so at the time. But it seems Arago was right again. This new generation was so intent on rebuilding, they never stopped. They grew greedy, thinking of nothing but wealth. They…they had forgotten their soul.

[He is silent again, looking down in almost sad thought. Again he speaks, most quietly.]

And so had we.

It's very different, living in a city. There are so many people, but they are all strangers to each other. And those tall buildings-I never realized it before, but people are walled in tiny rooms made of stone and cement and glass. When I was a boy, I could walk down through the village and look into every house, say hello to almost every household. Everyone knew everyone. Here, they don't have to step outside, not even for water. There's not much to see anyway…not a single tree or brook or field…Even the river is brown. And murky. During my stay there, the only thing to do was wake up, get dressed, eat alone, do the day's work, go home, eat alone, go to sleep. I did that all alone, most of the time. I never got to know anyone much. The social order is based on wealth there…Maybe that's why the people only think of wealth and nothing else. I was glad to come back to the Yojakai.

I wondered, when Sh'ten left us, just where he went. He was certainly not in the Yojakai, and after Kayura brought the news that he had taken Kaos' place, I didn't think there was a place left in the Ningenkai where he could seek refuge. On my trip, I thought a lot about him. I wondered if he had walked the streets of Tokyo, like I did.

Did he see what I saw? Is that when he realized we were going about it all wrong?

I thought about what he did in his career under Arago. And about what I did under Arago's orders, too. And why I had joined him in the first place. When I went to visit the Ningenkai to pay my respects to my forebears, I knew the world had changed. But as I passed over the Ningenkai, I was amazed by the amount of construction that had gone on. Instead of rice paddies and fields, I see golf courses and train tracks. And all this morning smog--Fuji-san can hardly be seen from the ground nowadays. People are a part of nature, I know, but this seemed excessive. I should know. Of course, it could be because Japan is still small, supporting a huge amount of people, now more so since everyone is living longer.

But I wonder, does this generation know what they're missing? Yes, they make time for cherry-blossom viewing parties and autumn leaf excursions, but does anyone notice the disappearance of the crane? There's not much forest in Honshu left now. Even Aokigahara has been invaded by stalls and trinket sellers for pilgrims and tourists.

I wonder now, I worry…if the same things that happened in the Ningenkai will happen in the Yojakai.

[He looks down and frowns.]

Kayura-san will try to help the rest of us, as Sh'ten wished, but there is only so much she can do. With Arago gone, there is no one authority at the top in the Yojakai. Everyone will try to make his own destiny, as Sh'ten wanted us to do. But…it will be hard. It is already hard.

Freedom is hard.

[He is silent, and then he speaks slowly.]

But that is my duty.

I am still a Kyushu bushi, like my forebears were before me. I have never given up the pride of a bushi.

[He looks up. His gaze is steady.]

I will not give up the responsibility of a bushi.

I will not lose faith.

And I will never lose my obedience.

I give you the word of a samurai: Bushi no ichi gon!

Consider it done.

End.

See http://www.kamakuratoday.com/e/history/history3.html and http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/-opaku/shogun/map_kanto2.html for an explanation of how and why the Uesugi clan split into the Yamanouchi (Kamakura-governing branch, where their family temple on Yamanouchi Street in that city can still be seen today) and the Ougigayatsu (Kanto plain-governing branch) duing the Ashikaga Shogunate in the 14th century. That these two branches existed is backed by a mention of an incident of infighting in the early 16th century between the two Uesugi branches in a famous scholar's journal of the time; http://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/SOURCES/asahina.html.