The Courtesan, Part 2

First Published: May, 1999 by Dark Horse Comics

• Miyamoto Usagi

Torii & "Lucky Plain"

The torii is the symbol and gate to a Shinto shrine. The sun is a symbol of Japan, and many early shrines were erected to Amaterasu, the sun goddess. The rooster is associated with the sun. Torii literally means "bird perch." A live rooster was placed on a perch as an offering. After time, the perch itself came to symbolize the shrine and represents the division between the everyday world and the spiritual one. Some shrines, such as the Inari Shrine at Fushimi, have so many torii that they form long tunnels. The torii of the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima Prefecture is regarded as one of the "three great sights" of Japan.

The Yoshiwara District was the licensed "pleasure quarters" of Edo. This was the only area where brothels were permitted in the city, so they could be controlled and regulated. The name originally meant "reed plain," but later the characters used in writing the name were changed, though the pronunciation remained intact, so that the name meant "lucky plain." The area was burnt down at least four times between 1617, the year it was founded, and 1643. As the city spread, Yoshiwara became embarrassingly close to the center, so it was moved to the eastern boundary where it stayed until its dissolution after WWII.

After finding the young boy a safe haven, Usagi quickly makes his way to Lady Maple. He directs a servant to tell Lady Maple he urgently needs to speak with her. After confessing to the courtesan that he followed Yoshino in fear of her safety, he informs her that the servant was taken. Lady Maple's composure fails and her worry for the child shows through.

She begins to tell her story. From a poor family who could not house or feed all of them, she was sold to a pleasure house as a servant. She attracted the attention of an owner and was trained to be a first class oiran, or courtesan. She soon attracted the attention of the powerful Lord Yamahashi and bore him a son, whom the lord acknowledged as his only heir.

Lord Yamahashi is now very ill and his relative, the Chamberlain Toyofuku, wants to be rid of the baby, Kotaro, to clear the way to the throne. Lady Maple confesses to know not where Yoshino was taken. Yoshino, however, was being tortured by Chamberlain Toyofuku to reveal Kotaro's whereabouts. She eventually confesses that the boy was entrusted into a samurai's care. One of the guards there remember that a long-eared ronin is staying with Lady Maple.

Usagi, meanwhile, is searching for clues. He realizes that if Yoshino cracks, it is known that he is a guest of the courtesan. He rushes back to Lady Maple's home to find her kidnapped. He is handed a ransom note by a messenger boy: Kotaro for Lady Maple's life.

Chamberlain Toyofuku gloats that he is going to win and it seems he may be right when Usagi shows up with Kotaro in a babycart. Toyofuku recognizes Usagi from his association with Inspector Ishida. Usagi is attacked and he puts Kotaro under the babycart for protection. Usagi fights the Chamberlain's samurai and goes after Toyofuku himself, who lunges toward Kotaro. Lady Maple chases after Toyofuku frantically to save her son. Usagi tries to warn her not too but she is oblivious.

When Toyofuku tries to kill Kotaro, Lady Maple runs in front of the babe and takes the fatal blow instead. The rest of the Chamberlain's men run when their employer is dead, leavin Usagi and Yoshino with the dead courtesan. Usagi shows that 'Kotaro' is a stuffed doll that he made to fool Toyofuku and Yoshino weeps, saying that Lady Maple did indeed die mistakenly, but she did it for her son.

They part ways, secure in the knowledge that no one will ever know what truly happened. Lady Maple's death has been blamed on the 'brigands' who kidnapped her. Usagi assures Yoshino that Kotaro will be well taken care of and have the ordinary life that his mother wanted him to have.

Yoshino states that she will make a prilgrimage, praying for Lady Maple's soul at each temple she visits. Usagi goes to Inspector Ishida's home, where the old constable is playing with Kotaro. Usagi is secure in the knowledge that Ishida and his wife will raise Kotaro as their own.

At about that time, Ishida is called to investigate the mysterious death of Chamberlain Toyofuku. Usagi beats a hasty retreat, saying farewell to his friend. Stopping on the bridge on his way out of the village Usagi drops into the river the only evidence of Kotaro's birth: a fan of Lady Maple's with Kotaro's footprints and Lord Yamahashi's signature of acknowledgement.

Last change: 19. May 2003

Back to UY Dojo Home Page

Because of getting swamped by spam eMail, we don't publish an eMail adress here but you can always reach us via the DojoBoard.

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 authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.