Lightning strikes twice

First Published: October, 1996 by Dark Horse Comics

• Miyamoto Usagi
• Inazuma
• FIXME char-bakuchi

Inazuma, Shinju, Edo & The New Year

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.

Usagi encounters familiar sword-wounds, and meets Inazuma when he stops at an abandoned peasant's hut for the night. There, surrounded by four "friends," she tells Usagi her life's story as the night passes: how she made for herself the stage-name Inazuma (Lightning), how she loved and lost a husband, and gained the enmity of Boss Bakuchi.

Last change: 19. May 2003

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