More thoughts from Episode 62: Dear Dairi…

I have a bit more to say about Episode 62 today, because it’s just an eventful chapter! From the perspective of most of the characters experiencing it all, the biggest event is the arson attack on the palace, where they all live and/or work. And understandably, during the evacuation, there are many references to specific different parts of the palace and its surrounds. So let’s get into some more detail about the palace as it appears in Torikae baya.

The Emperor and an attendant watch as the fire approaches the Shishinden.

Panel from volume 13, page 56. ©Chiho Saito／Shogakukan

In the “Atogaki baya” section at the end of volume 11, Saito provides her own plans for the palace from big to small: a vague map of Heian-kyo, then plans of the greater palace (daidairi, 大内裏), the inner palace (dairi, 内裏) and the Emperor’s quarters (Seiryoden, 清涼殿). Today, I’m mainly interested in the dairi and its immediate surroundings. Saito points out that the historical palace was moved more than 15 times due to fire – in hindsight, maybe a hint at what is to come in the final volume – and offers this as a reason for her version not to quite align with the real palace at any particular point in time, but the plan itself is pretty much the same as this one from Encyclopedia Nipponica.

The names of various buildings are given in the plan, and several are noted as where certain characters’ rooms are. In real life, some of these buildings have been recreated at the present-day Kyoto Imperial Palace, which is located to the east of the historical palace, and these recreations are clearly the reference points for the manga versions. Buildings are connected to each other by walkways, and they have nothing but blinds to keep people from seeing inside.

I paid particular attention in the previous post to the Daigokuden, a building that plays an important role for the third time, having previously been the setting for Sara’s attempt to fight his “curse” during the eclipse and later, the cunning plan to improve Togu’s reputation when the Amatsukitsune appears. There is no Daigokuden at today’s Kyoto Imperial Palace, but the version in Torikae baya, with its upper gallery section, appears to be based on the Daigokuden at the reconstructed previous capital of Heijo-kyo in Nara.

But several more locations are mentioned in Episode 62 as well! The fire begins in the Shokyoden, roughly in the middle of the dairi, which is where Sara currently stays. Sara (in Suiren’s clothes) delivers the news to the Emperor in the Seiryoden, then sticks around to direct people to get all valuables out to a carriage waiting at the Onmeimon, the nearest of multiple gates. We hear that a walkway is torn down to stop the fire reaching the Seiryoden, but it spreads southward to the Jijuden and the Shishinden, a venue for major court ceremonies. By the time we see the view from the top of the Daigokuden, just southwest of the dairi, it appears that many of those central buildings are in flames.

Meanwhile, Suiren covers quite a bit of ground. She goes with San no Hime to see Yoshino no Miya in the Shingon’in, one of the few Buddhist temples permitted within the city at that time, located to the west of the dairi. After sending San no Hime and Yoshino away to safety, Suiren is seen advising people to escape through the Taikenmon, one of the eastern gates, and avoid the trouble brewing to the south. When she next appears, she’s spotting the Emperor narrowly avoiding an attack near the Daigokuden. This all probably means that Suiren either leaves the Shingon’in, goes directly east, then backtracks west, or that she does a loop around the outside of the dairi.

Here’s a dodgy map of where I think Sara and Suiren go in Episode 62:

Edited map of the dairi and surrounding area, based on Encyclopedia Nipponica maps. The path of the fire is indicated in orange. Sara’s likely route is indicated in blue. Suiren’s likely route is indicated in green (light green is used for the two alternatives after leaving the Shingon’in).

Now, that’s a lot of places getting specific mentions – and that’s just in this chapter! Throughout the series, we get to know some of these buildings quite well, and having the plan of the palace helps make sense of how they’re all connected. The Seiryoden and Shishinden of course play a big part, but other notable parts of the palace include the Nashitsubo (also called the Shoyosha) where Togu lives and her servants work from volumes 2 to 11, the Sen’yoden where Suiren resides during her time as naishi no kami, and the Shigeihokusha where Shikibu-kyo no Miya has his quarters and Sara and Tsuwabuki’s fateful encounter occurs. There are also the Umetsubo and Reikeiden, pavilions that give their names to their notable residents, wives of the current and former Emperors respectively; the Emperor’s other ladies briefly identified in Episode 58 are named for palace buildings too.

But after getting used to the palace, we must now say goodbye to it for the time being! At the end of this chapter, the Emperor leaves the ruined palace behind, and Marumitsu offers his own home as a temporary palace (satodairi, 里内裏). Unfortunately, I haven’t yet figured out where Marumitsu’s residence is – if it even is meant to be in a particular location – but moving to a satodairi wasn’t an uncommon practice, so I haven’t ruled out the possibility that it might correspond to a historical example. Anyway, that’s where the action will take place until the main palace is rebuilt!

Finally, I’ll note that although there are some reconstructed buildings at the Kyoto Imperial Palace, none of the very flammable originals remain today. However, there are a few plaques dotted around to commemorate their original locations, and I’ve done my best to include those on my interactive map. That map, by the way, is now up to date, and probably won’t have anything else added to it unless I make a breakthrough in identifying some other locations. Please give it a look if you’re curious about the relative positions of the places that show up in Torikae baya!

Thoughts from Episode 62: Back to the Daigokuden

There’s a fire in the palace! After seeing Genkaku starting the fire last time, Sara now comes running to alert the Emperor – dressed in Suiren’s spare clothes. That means that throughout the chapter, both Sara and Suiren are recognised by others as “Sarasoju”.

While the original Sara – the one who has been known to all as “Suiren” since Episode 33 but let’s call him Sara 1 this time – gives instructions inside the palace, the other one – the one we know as Suiren but let’s call her Sara 2 – is on the way to see the unconscious Yoshino no Miya together with San no Hime. San no Hime defies the hesitant priests looking after Yoshino and takes him away by force; he shows signs of life before she transports him away to the Suzakuin on horseback.

Taking advantage of the fire, bandits dressed as tengu show up to wreak havoc. Just as Sara 1 is about to evacuate the Emperor by palanquin, the bandits attack, causing them to change plans and head for the Daigokuden instead. Meanwhile, Sara 2 is giving orders to fight the bandits off. Tsuwabuki offers to lead those efforts, allowing Sara 2 to go looking for the Emperor.

When Sara 2 reaches the top of the Daigokuden, she finds the Emperor and Sara 1 there. Finally, their secret is revealed, but the Emperor isn’t angry. After he successfully prays for rain and adjusts Sara 1’s hair and clothes to look more feminine again and avoid anyone knowing what has happened, they all leave happily. The Emperor allows Sara 1 into his own palanquin and announces that Sara 1 is to be one of his ladies from now on.

Aaaand breathe! This action-packed chapter is effectively the climax of the series, returning once more to the subject of Sara and Suiren’s “curse” and bringing major plot points to an end, leaving just a few loose ends to tie up over the remaining chapters. And fittingly, it calls back very clearly to the chapter where the “curse” was first introduced.

In Episode 3, Sara has dreams where a tengu tells him that he and Suiren are cursed, prior to an ominous eclipse. Hoping that he can break the curse by confronting the eclipse directly, he goes to top of the Daigokuden, pursued by Tsuwabuki, and meets the then-Togu (later the Emperor) who is inspired by the idea. Togu uses a Kundali crystal ball given to him by the then-Emperor (later Suzakuin) to pray for rain clouds, protecting everyone from the eclipse.

This time, Sara has the crystal ball, which has already helped him survive attacks by an entranced Yuzuru and Genkaku, and returns it to the Emperor at the Daigokuden. The Emperor relies on its power again to tackle the new calamity of the fire in the palace. Having suggested in Episode 15 that the efficacy of the crystal ball against the eclipse was dependant on the will of the heavens, he again interprets the outcome as an expression of divine judgement:

Panels from volume 13, page 72.

©Chiho Saito／Shogakukan

The EMPEROR looks down in surprise to see both siblings kneeling, with SARA reverently holding the crystal ball up to him.

SARA                         The crystal ball Your Highness entrusted to me…

                                        Let me return it to you, along with my title of naishi no kami!!

SUIREN                   I, too…

                                        deceived everyone and betrayed Your Highness's trust!

                                        My actions are unforgivable…

Both are shown from the front, bowing, with SARA passionately raising his voice.

BOTH                        Let us atone for our sins by taking vows!

Closeups shows the EMPEROR looking at them gravely, then accepting the crystal ball. He holds it up to the light, revealing the Kundali image inside.

EMPEROR             Why don't we consult… the heavens?

And once the clouds gather to begin extinguishing the flames, it becomes clear that the Emperor has no intention of delivering any kind of punishment. When the chapter ends, he even tells Sara that he believes the siblings’ curse to be broken.

So we have plenty of the same elements: the Daigokuden, Sara and the Emperor, a threat, the Kundali crystal ball, a successful prayer, the tengu’s curse. With the tengu bandits attacking the capital, there are actually repeated references to the supposed origin of the curse.

But there’s a twist: this time there is not one “Sara”, but two. This is, of course, the later important instance of the siblings dressing as each other that I mentioned previously. As in the earlier cases, there is a sense of this being a special power that the two have. In choosing to put on Sara 2’s clothes, Sara 1 thinks of this as something he has the ability to do in this moment. He also perceives the clothes not simply as “Suiren’s”, but more significantly as “the general’s” – this suggests that rather than being a specific individual, “the general” is someone that Sara 1 can become in this time of need.

This also ties in with the existing idea of the siblings as effectively one person, or two halves of a whole. Indeed, when they’re both hard at work in this chapter, an impressed group of ladies comment on how “the general” appears to be everywhere at once. I’ve described the siblings’ ability to switch places as a “superpower” before, and in this chapter, that’s genuinely how it appears to the people around them!

When the rain falls, the Emperor tells them that on the inside, they are Sara and Suiren, regardless of whether they appear as a man or a woman. What makes them unusual is also what the Emperor treasures about them, now that his suspicions have finally been confirmed. Perhaps this is the real meaning of their curse having been lifted: the secret that has tormented them all this time has been exposed, but the Emperor – and the heavens – determines that they should be cherished, not punished, for being as they are, and that great burden is now gone.