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USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
Send comments to: Usagi Yojimbo ~ Letters Column c/o Dark Horse Comics
10956 S.E. Main Street, Milwaukie, OR 97222
[E-MAIL] jamier@dhorse.com [www]
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STORY NOTES Inazuma is back. Her last appearance was in Usagi Yojimbo, Vol. 2, #16, from Mirage. She left a lot of questions remaining, and I hope this story answered some of them. Shinju, or lovers' suicide (pg. 11), had become particularly fashionable toward the end of the 17th century when there were a series of highly successful puppet dramas glorifying it. Lovers who couldn't marry due to family opposition, differences in class, etc., chose suicide in the hopes that they would spend eternity together in the Buddhist paradise. They were often buried together, but the authorities regarded shinju as a crime and the bodies were publicly exposed as was the practice with executed criminals to disgrace the dead and discourage the practice. Those who were unsuccessful and survived suicide were from then on regarded as hinin, or "non-human," a small step above the eta class as hinin had a hope of returning to "legitimate society." When he formally became shogun in 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the seat of government from Kyoto to Edo (present-day Tokyo [pg. 11]). He made the move to surround himself with his supporters as he hailed from that area, called the Kanto. He did it also because he thought Kyoto, with its devotion to fine arts and elegant living, was too decadent and would corrupt his military followers. The last day of the year is called Omisoka. Joya is New Year's Eve (pg. 18). Temple bells ring out 108 times at midnight to announce the passing of the old year and to welcome the new. There are 108 earthly desires according to Buddhism and the ringing releases people from every one of them. Today people watch the ringing of the bells on TV much as we watch the dropping of the ball in Times Square. |
Thank you, Eisner-Award nomination committee and those who voted for me, for the two awards I received at the Comic Con International: San Diego in July. While we're on the subject of the con, someone left two disposable cameras at my table. If they're yours, send in your name and address and some sort of description (brand name, where it was purchased, etc.), and I'll send it along to you.
I'll be at the Mid-Ohio Con once again. It takes place over Thanksgiving weekend in Columbus, OH. Also, I'll be interviewed for the November issue of The Comics Journal.
I will also be appearing at The Psych 5 Comics and Cards Show in Seattle, Washington on November 16th and at The Seattle Com-Card Show at the Seattle Center on November 17th.
Dear Mr. Sakai,
I have been following the Usagi series for about a year now, and I would just like to say how much I enjoy it. I especially liked the last story with Kitsuné, and I hope that we will get to see more of her in the future. Are the Eta class similar to the untouchables in India? Don't know much about it, but from what you said in the last Letters Column, it seemed as if there might be some similarities. I would also really like to see some more of Space Usagi. If you are thinking of doing any more, then you have my support, if it makes any difference at all.
Melinda Drinkwater
gecko@ace.net.au
The Eta was a restricted class. Their professions were usually concerned with death, the disposal of animal carcasses, with their skins and the leather goods made from them. But it was not an economic class, as some of them were quite wealthy. They lived in assigned areas of town or in separate settlements in the country. They were not allowed to marry outside their class and it was a crime for them to conceal their status. A law in 1871 removed class stigmas; however, the Eta have not really disappeared, though the term is no longer used except historically.
Dear Stan and Jamie,
…The main reason why I wrote is because of Chizu. Stan, what famous Kunoichi inspired you to create her? As far as she-ninjas go (ninjettes?), I'm not familiar with any in Japanese history. And while we're on the subject, what does "Kunoichi " literally translate as?
Todd Bustillo
Cypress, CA
tbustill@engr.csulb.edu
There is no single Kunoichi that inspired Chizu. I wanted to create a strong female character whose motives were always uncertain to Usagi, hence the adversarial/flirtatious role she's taken on.
"Kunoichi" is taken from the Japanese character for onna (woman). If you separate the three strokes from onna, each stroke can be read as the characters "ku", "no", and "ichi." It was one of the secret ninja codes.
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Art by Stan Sakai |
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This is an unused design for a chase card in
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To Usagi Yojimbo Letters Column,
…One of the things that keeps me hooked [on Usagi Yojimbo] is the sense of history you manage to convey. having done university history, I can appreciate it. The research really shows, and you manage to make it interesting.
You have also managed to mirror a lot of the feel of feudal Japan that Akira Kurosawa has given in his movies. The action sequences, especially in Usagi, parallel the duels in his Seven Samurai, one of my favorite movies. Now, for some questions…
1. Usagi's strong sense of honor is the only thing that keeps him going as a ronin adrift in feudal Japan. Space Usagi is still a member of the Shirohoshi clan. Is this the reason Space Usagi seems a little more human and caring and less bound up in his cocoon of honor?
2. Are we going to see Stray Dog and perhaps learn more about him? I cannot see Usagi greeting him with any warmth considering the deceitful and dishonorable way Stray Dog has behaved toward him in the past.
3. Could we see more of Gen's past. having only started at [Vol. 1] #33, I don't have much of an idea of his motivations, but the big lug is still one of my favorite characters.
4. I have seen you mention the bound compilations of Usagi before. Could you give a complete list of how many there are, and which issues are in which compilations?
5. Usagi is based upon Miyamoto Usagi, isn't he? Is it true Miyamoto used bokken, or wooden training swords, in combat to give his opponents a fighting chance.
Slip and slide, gotta glide,
Paul Jurdeczka
Sydney,
Australia
1. Or it could be that honor is so inbred in Space Usagi's culture that it becomes more second nature to him rather than a strict code he must follow.
2. Stray Dog (whose name came from an Akira Kurosawa film) will definitely be back.
3. Gen's early days were chronicled in UY, Vol. 1, #34-36, reprinted in the Book 7 collection.
4. There are seven collections so far, and they reprint all of Usagi's black-and-white appearances from Fantagraphics Books.
5. Musashi used a boat's oar in his greatest duel with Sasaki Kojiro, though some historians have speculated that he did it because the oar would give him a longer weapon as Kojiro used an unusually long sword.
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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.