Shi Part 1

First Published: September, 1993 by Mirage Publishing

• Miyamoto Usagi
• Moyashi
• Magistrate Sueoka
• Juzo
• Kimie
• Nobu
• Shi

Shi

I've taken liberty in this story's title.

The first four numbers in Japanese are: ichi, ni, san, shi. However, when counting four long, slender objects, such as pencils, you would count ippon, nihon, sanbon and yonhon. When counting bound objects, such as books, you would say issatsu, nisatsu, sansatsu and yonsatsu. There are different counters for thin, flat objects, for clothing, for houses, for big animals, for small animals for bunches, for miscellaneous items, for - well, you get the picture.

When counting people, it's hitori, futari, sannin, yonin. So this story about four assassins should actually be called "Yonin" (unless there's a specific counter for killers) but then I wouldn't have that neat pun with "death".

As an aside to you gardeners out there, the vegetables on Moyashi's cart are (on page 4, first panel, from bottom to top): daikon (icicle radish); kabocha (a Japanese pumpkin - my favorite variety is the chestnut kabocha which really tastes like chestnuts); napa cabbage; and negi (green or spring onions). The name "Moyashi" literally means "bean sprout".

Usagi rescues Moyashi from a beating at the hands of bullies, and returns with him to his home in the Izumi valley.

Magistrate Sueoka wasn't pleased, because he hired the bullies to terrorize the Izumi villagers so he and his brother Juzo could get the gold in the valley for themselves. Usagi automatically appeals to Kimie, who wants out of the valley, no matter what.

Nobu, her fiancee, is jealous of her infatuation with the heroic samurai. While they argue, Usagi ambushes the thugs who were sneaking up on him, sending them away. They return to the Magistrate, and he follows. Juzo, meanwhile, has hired 4 assassins, called 'Shi' (a pun, meaning either four or Death), to eliminate Usagi and the Magistrate, so he can have all the gold.

Usagi tries to convince the village of a plot, but Nobu refuses his protection, and is beaten by the thugs. He awakes to stare in the collective face of 'Shi'.

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.