Sowing Ghosts 1.6

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[Concluding chapter 1]

The room to which they were taken was at the front of a smaller house on the west side of the large central courtyard. The walls—some of thin wood, some merely rice-paper in wooden frames—had been moved to open the room to the courtyard. Though it was cool the room was still sheltered from what wind there was, and a series of charcoal-burning braziers made conditions more comfortable once Hiroki was inside.

Three young men were seated on the soft mats in front of a painted screen; all turned to face them as Hiroki, Tetsuo and Shiro were brought into the room. One was the secretary, Kanegawa; the other two were strangers. Very handsome strangers, Hiroki decided, wondering how jealous Shiro would be of their bright silks and glossy hair. Something about the younger of the two strangers seemed odd to Hiroki; then he realized that the younger man was in fact not younger. He was only dressed and coiffed that way.


The young man wore the distinctive hairstyle and kimono of a wakashū, a “beautiful boy.” Wakashū were adolescents of comeliness occupying that tantalizing period between the onset of puberty and the admission into adulthood; they were admired and sought as companions of both men and women. This particular wakashū, though, was by his face as old as Shiro’s twenty years, or possibly even Tetsuo’s twenty-two. He was handsome enough, his eyes and lips nicely shaped and his nose straight and smooth. But to Hiroki he looked ridiculous anyway.

Perhaps aware of Hiroki’s judgment, the wakashū returned his stare for a moment with an insulting smile on those nicely shaped lips. Then he leaned closer to his companion and whispered something of which Hiroki could only hear the word provincials. This was followed by a titter of mocking laughter.

Which brought a growl to Shiro’s lips, and a frown to his companion’s face, followed immediately by an apology. “My friend here is not singling you out, gentlemen,” he said. “Togashi-sama is this rude to everyone.” He turned to face the screen. “Will you have them sit, Tomiko-hime?”

The voice that answered in the affirmative was that of the arms master’s sister, and Hiroki found himself wondering about the young woman as he and his companions took their places beside the other men. Hiding behind a screen was something aristocratic women did, but the custom was not followed even by the most senior samurai women in the provinces. He was very familiar with the face of Lord Tanuma’s wife, to say nothing of his concubines. No doubt the arms master was trying to make a point about his power and prestige, but Hiroki wasn’t entirely sure what that might be.

Nevertheless, they had been welcomed by the mistress of the house, and that was a sign of great favour. At her direction Hiroki, Tetsuo and Shiro sat themselves down, on soft reed mats that were much more comfortable than the floor of Lord Tanumi’s house. In her low, pleasant voice she introduced her companions: the secretary, Kanegawa; the wakashū, Togashi Shokan; and the young Lord Hosokawa Katsunata. At the latter name Hiroki was only just able to maintain his composure.

The Hosokawa had once been the most powerful clan in the land, and they were still powerful; for a moment Hiroki wondered who, precisely, this young man was and what he was doing here. But it very quickly became clear that a discussion of politics was not going to happen. Lord Hosokawa seemed to know, and be amused by, every person of note in the capital, and for the next hour or more Hiroki fell into a whirl of tales and jokes about all sorts of people, from impoverished elderly aristocrats to greedy moneylenders who were also low-level monks. Lady Tomiko laughed as frequently as anyone, Shiro was nearly in tears numerous times, and even Tetsuo cracked a smile at some of the more outrageous attempts by the moneylender monks to avoid paying their taxes. Only the wakashū refused to enter into the spirit of the thing, and Hiroki was relieved when the man-boy got to his feet with a rude epithet and ruder gesture, and announced his intention to leave the mansion whether Lord Hosokawa came with him or not.


At that point Lady Tomiko announced her wish to retire. The secretary, Kanegawa, hustled Hiroki and his companions out of her house and back to the main building of the mansion, and there they waited for their lords to complete their meeting with the arms master.

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