Yasushi Inoue - The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan

“Where are you heading?” Kansuke recalled somebody asking.

He could not remember when and where it was. He just remembered that somebody had asked.

It was midnight when he woke up. He had fallen asleep in a dry riverbed. Wherever he looked, there was nothing but white stones. They were scattered around everywhere. There was not a single plant in view. And far away from this massive white field of stones, a stream of blue water was running, shimmering under the bright light of the moon. On the other side of the stream there also spread a field of white stones.

“Hmmm.” Kansuke sat on the riverbed and placed his fists over his eyes. The sudden urge to cry came upon him, and although he could not stop his body from trembling, he tried to control his sorrow.

Princess Yuu is dead. She no longer exists in this world. No matter where he looked for her, he would never be able to find her beautiful figure, face, hands, eyes, and black hair again. For the first time Kansuke accepted her death and the sorrow started to numb his body.

…The princess has passed away.

Tears filled his eyes. He sat cross-legged and placed his hands on his knees, and then he lifted his face and let tears run down his cheeks. This time, he wept openly.

The next night, he came out to the east of Lake Suwa. He did not know where or even in which direction he had walked. He took the road to the north and kept walking toward Takashima Castle.

When he came close to the castle, he saw a line of bonfires burning across the lakeshore. It looked like the bonfires were placed from the castle town of Takashima all the way to Kan-non-in Temple. Each bonfire was reflected on the surface of the lake, and it was so beautiful that it looked as if it belonged to another world.

To one of the first samurai he met when he entered the boundaries of Takashima Castle, he asked when the funeral was held.

“It was at the sixth hour of this evening,” the samurai answered politely, realizing it was Kansuke.

“Did the casket leave from Takashima Castle or Kan-non-in Temple?

“It left from Kan-non-in Temple.”

“Where is my lord?”

“According to rumor he is at Kan-non-in Temple.”

“Good!”

The samurai, released by Kansuke, ran swiftly to the castle.

He must have been reporting Kansuke’s return. For when Kansuke reached the gate, there stood many samurai waiting for him.

“I am going to visit Kan-non-in Temple directly,” said Kansuke to them and walked in the direction of the temple without entering the castle. Somebody offered him a horse, but he refused.

Several mounted retainers came behind Kansuke and passed him.

Kansuke walked slowly dragging his tired legs on the road, alongside the lake which Princess Yuu used to enjoy watching.

Along the slope to the Kan-non-in Temple, many samurai were waiting for him to appear. Kansuke did not even acknowledge them and kept walking, leaning against his spear, which he used as a cane. Suddenly he stopped and called one of the samurai over to him. He handed him his spear and adjusted his disordered armor with both hands.

He heard the chanting of the Buddhist sutra and felt vibrations from Kan-non-in Temple. Kansuke entered the main entrance, walked through the corridor, and advanced to the innermost room that was the living quarters of Princess Yuu.

There were many people in the room. Every key vassal of the Takeda Clan was there. The Buddhist altar was placed in the tokonoma 73and the vassals were sitting on both sides of it.

“You have come back, Kansuke!” It was the voice of Takeda Shingen.

“Yes, My Lord,” Kansuke said as he knelt to.

“Princess Yuu will no longer return, but I believed that you would.”

“Yes, My Lord, I have.”

“You must be exhausted. You should have a good rest.”

Kansuke stood up and walked to the altar and burned incense for the repose of the departed soul. On the mortuary tablet it was written Shukoin Koran Seigen Daitei. 74

Kansuke stepped back from altar and sat in front of Shingen.

He was about to offer his condolences, when before he could open his mouth, Shingen said. “The people of Ina 75are in an uproar.”

“Ina? Why wouldn’t you suppress them?”

“Nagano Shinano-no-kami in the Joshu 76district and Ota Nyudo of the Bushu 77district would not leave us alone.”

“Then, you should destroy them too.”

“Destroy them?!”

“Yes, anybody who opposes you, My Lord, should be destroyed.”

“But it will delay the attack on Kenshin Kagetora.”

“I don’t think it will delay it that much. Suppress Ina, destroy Joshu and Bushu, and immediately after we will extinguish Kagetora’s life,” Kansuke lifted his head straight up and stared at Shingen. “Within the next three to four years, we have to kill this man.”

“Three to four years!? You are too hasty Kansuke.”

“But if you don’t do it, I am sure you will not feel safe either, My Lord,” said Kansuke. Shingen did not respond to him this time. To destroy Ina, Joshu, and Bushu and at the end of it all destroy the ultimate enemy Kagetora were his goals for the next few years. He could not think of any better way of living. Kansuke felt Shingen had much the same goals.

“Kansuke, you injured your face again. How many scars do you have?”

“I believe thirty-six scars. How old are you now, my Lord.”

“You must be getting senile, forgetting my age. I will soon be thirty-six. The same number as your scars.”

Only the people who were sitting near them heard the conversation between them. The rest of the people could not hear because the chanting of the sutra swallowed up the conversation.

This year, the twenty-fourth year of the Tenbun era was the turning point to the era of Koji 78and the first year of the Koji was about to end in fifteen days.

Kansuke left the room and went to the veranda. The bonfires along the lakeshore were still burning brightly. He thought he had no other way to fill his empty days without Princess Yuu but by fighting his enemies. He was satisfied with the fact that Shingen also agreed.

Kansuke went toward Katsuyori’s room. Katsuyori was asleep from fatigue, as he had not slept for two days and nights.

Kansuke entered his room very quietly.

“Who is it?” with an awe-inspiring voice, ten-year-old Katsuyori sat up. Kansuke felt that was a very promising sign.

“I am the old man, Kansuke.”

“ Jii [old man], you are alive!”

“How could I die? How can I be happy in another world if I die before I see your first campaign?”

“Fastidious Jii is still alive. Since my mother died, I thought you might have died too. If you are still alive, I want you to live at least another five years.”

“Why five years?”

“I will be fifteen then. I, too, want you to see my first campaign.

“Oh!” An emotional feeling went through Kansuke’s old body. “Your Jii, Kansuke, will…” He could not continue any longer. A violent wave of emotion swept over him like a flood. He was imagining Katsuyori in his first campaign. In Kansuke’s mind, a young girl whom he saw ten years ago for the first time in Takashima Castle replaced the young face of Katsuyori. He could not tell the difference between the two faces. The faces of Princess Yuu and Katsuyori were mixed up in his imagination. It was like the princess who had disappeared from this world had been revived again.

Princess Yuu is still alive. She is still alive. It was as if a beautiful beam of light had entered from nowhere into the coming miserable days and nights of battle after battle, which were to follow in the next few years.