The Ghost In The Tokaido Inn

Seikei camps with the actors. Tomomi has promised them a new play in a few days, but he keeps its subject secret. Seikei recalls Ooka’s instruction to find out why Tomomi became a bent, solitary tree. Kazuo remembers that Tomomi went out, still in costume, on the night the troupe stayed in Kameyama, and when he returned, the costume was covered in mud.

Tomomi and several others swordfight to earn their lunch, and Seikei is impressed by Tomomi’s grace and skill. He asks the actor about his other name, and Tomomi tells him to forget it, though he insists that birth does not qualify a person to use a sword. Tomomi offers to teach Seikei how to use a sword if Seikei agrees to perform a part in the new play. Seikei agrees.

Seikei wonders if he is, indeed, following the “correct path,” as Ooka instructed. He found the thief, but now he depends upon the thief’s charity to survive. When the troupe reaches a town, Kazuo and Seikei go out to spread the news of that night’s performance of The Double Suicide at Sonezaki.

A komuso appears from nowhere and throws Seikei over his shoulder. When the komuso carries him into a nearby inn, Seikei is about to draw his sword when Ooka appears, ordering him to apologize to the komuso. Seikei does so without hesitation, and Ooka applauds his discipline.

The komuso removes his basket and Seikei sees that it is Bunzo, whom Ooka sent to watch him. Seikei tells Ooka about the name Tomomi claimed as his own, and Ooka identifies Tomomi’s father as Takezaki Kita, a Kirishitan daimyo who was killed when he refused to relinquish his faith. Seikei also describes seeing Tomomi leave the ruby for Amaterasu and how Tomomi wanted Seikei to tell Ooka about it. Ooka directs Seikei to obey Tomomi, but not to divulge that Seikei spoke to the judge. Bunzo will follow Seikei and report back to Ooka.

Seikei and Kazuo make their way to the theater. Tomomi is dressing as a woman for the night’s performance, as women are not allowed on stage. Another actor tells Seikei that, in the theater, it is often impossible to tell what is real from what is not.

When Seikei sees Tomomi dressed as a geisha, he realizes this is the figure he saw in the inn at Kameyama. He marvels at how convincing Tomomi is, though he wonders why Tomomi gave up his life as a samurai to be an actor. In the play, a man and woman love each other, though they are forbidden to marry. They want nothing more than to be together but recognize the “importance of family,” which “everyone” is taught as children (138). Neither can reject their parents’ wishes.

Backstage, Seikei goes to Tomomi’s dressing area and finds an expensive and beautiful sword, covered in Kirishitan crosses. It is real, not a prop. Tomomi, still dressed as the geisha, Motoko, finds Seikei with the weapon and asks, with gentle eyes and a woman’s voice, what Seikei thinks of “[her] son’s” sword. Seikei replies as though speaking to the woman and not to Tomomi, and “she” explains that her son’s name was Genji, though he goes by “Tomomi” now. “She” says Genji had to change his name because of “her.”

Another actor calls Tomomi to the stage, where “Motoko” and her beloved die by suicide. Kazuo doesn’t understand why audiences seem to like death by suicide so much, but Seikei understands that “It was the only honorable thing to do. By choosing to die, [the lovers] showed that their love for each other was stronger than the fear of death” (144). When Seikei objects to performing in a play, Tomomi reminds him that he is already playing a part by carrying a sword despite being a merchant’s son. Tomomi begins instructing Seikei, and when he slaps Seikei’s right cheek with his prop blade, he tells Seikei to say, “I swear that I will see you disgraced” (146), telling him that this is the play’s most important line. He also advises Seikei to watch his opponent’s eyes.

Seikei now knows that it was Tomomi, dressed as a geisha, whom he saw at the inn at Kameyama. Kazuo tells him that samurai often dress in disguise and come to the theater, though it is forbidden. Tomomi spreads the word that the shogun will be at their next performance in Edo. Tomomi sneakily attacks Seikei again and again, compelling the boy to practice his most important line. He tells Seikei never to draw his sword when he is angry, and that he must be calm to fight well. Tomomi says one must catch one’s enemy unawares, and Seikei keeps thinking about the Kirishitan sword in Tomomi’s trunk.

After lunch, Tomomi challenges Seikei to another swordfight, and Seikei realizes how much he has already learned. He sees Tomomi’s eyes flick to his cheek, and he anticipates the actor’s next move, blocking it and causing Tomomi to drop his sword. Outside Edo, Seikei sees three heads on spikes—a reminder of the punishment for disobeying the shogun’s laws.