Noodles Part 2

First Published: May, 1996 by Dark Horse Comics

• Miyamoto Usagi
• Noodles
• Kitsune
• FIXME char-masuda

Crime and Punishment

Most of the research this time around came from Everyday Life in Imperial Japan by Charles Dunn, reprinted as Everyday Life in Traditional Japan. It has a detailed section on Edo's (present-day Tokyo) judiciary system, including the setup of the police system and the capturing of criminals, their sentencing, and execution. Crimes for which the death sentence was invoked included murder, robber, and adultery. Arsonists, who were much feared by people living in wood and paper homes, were burned alive. Degrees of banishment were also a punishment, from exile to a distant island down to exclusion from a particular neighborhood. House arrest and restrictions of liberties were also handed down as sentences, as was shaving off a criminal's hair.

Imprisonment was not a punishment, merely a place to wait while guilt or innocence was decided. So great was the respect/fear of authority that, whenever a fire broke out in or near the jail, all the prisoners were immediately paroled on their own recognizance with the expectation that they would turn themselves in once the emergency was over.

The shirasu (literally "white sand") was an area where prisoners were taken after a confession. There witnesses knelt before the magistrate and gave evidence and prisoners heard their sentences.

Executioners were selected from the Eta class, the lowest social order (more on them in some other story). The executioner was given the clothes of the criminal so care was taken that they not be ruined during the procedure.

Japan Day by Day by Edward Morse is always a valuable resource. It gives two accounts of executions, though by beheading, and contains illustrations of several gravestones. I gave Noodles a Buddhist gravestone as opposed to a Shinto one, which is more "organic" as it shows the natural shape of the rock as it was quarried.

- STAN SAKAI

Kitsune and Usagi are rushing through town; They have to find Noodles! As they turn a corner, they run unto a huge crowd, with Noodles in the center of it! As Kitsune rushes forward, one of the officers swings his staff at Noodles. Kitsune nearly gets one on the head, but Usagi blocks it and hangs on. Usagi and Noodles are forced to keep away, as the crowd, which is in a frenzied state, is likely to go ballistic at any time and they could get hurt. Noodles is taken away to the shirashu <sands of judgement>, and is pronounced guilty. His sentence: Death.

Quick story note: The magistrate was out of line by sentencing Noodles to death, because according to an Edo-period collection of criminal laws, the death sentence could only be ordered if the amount stolen was over 10 ryo. [1 ryo = 278.4 Troy grains. Go figure..] I found that interesting, personally. Oh, well.. On with the synopsis.. ^_^

Normally, criminals are executed in a period of a week or so, but the yoriki wants Noodles executed, so that the evidence is cleared against him and he has a lesser chance of getting caught in the cover-up.

Kitsune is determined to spring Noodles out,because he's innocent, even if it means her getting jailed. But, as they discover in front of the magistrate's home, the magistrate has left to witness the execution of the prisoner, namely, Noodles.

On the hill, they find Noodles crucified and about to die. Kitsune pushes through the crowd to the fence, and futilely tries to save Noodles by admitting to the thefts, but to no avail.

Later, the yoriki is approached by the gamblers. They need money, and they want it now. They force the yoriki to set up another theft opportunity, and to make sure his police are far away, like he has in the past few weeks. The yoriki sees this as an opportunity, and gives the gamblers a plan... (You know this means trouble, because the yoriki was cursing about Usagi and wondering why he could possibly have any interest in a common soba seller.)

That night, Kitsune and Usagi are walking down a road in town, when suddenly the gamblers leap out from behind a wall, swords drawn. They prove short work for a skilled swordsman like Usagi, and before the last one dies, he reveals the lies they were told so that they'd try to kill Usagi, and blame the whole thing on yoriki Masuda.

A week later, the magistrate goes to an inn for a meal, only to discover he's been robbed. He summons yoriki Masuda. On the way, the yoriki bumps into Kitsune, literally. He grabs her and accuses her of being a thief, and trying to pick his pocket. Two police officers arrive, but to the yoriki's surprise and embarrasement, he still has his kinchaku <money pouch>, and Kitsune has nothing of his. He lets her go, with a warning.

At the magistrate's residence, he gets reprimanded, and as he pulls out a cloth to mop his brow, the magistrate's kinchaku falls out. The magistrate figures out what's going on, and calls the guards.

Later, Usagi approaches Kitsune in the graveyard. On Noodle's headstone, there i only a bowl of noodles, and Usagi remarks that no one will know who it is. Kitsune explains, then envites herself to dinner with Usagi, his treat. After all, a girl does have to do what she can to get by, neh?

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.