The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy, Book 5: Noriko’s Journey

Prologue

Japan is a real place and the Meiji Era is a real time, running from 1868 to 1912. This was a wonderfully exciting time around the world as new inventions changed how people worked and how people lived. New ideas and ways of thinking changed how people viewed the world around them, their systems of government, and their relationships with each other. Nowhere was this truer than in Japan, which leapt from a crumbling feudalism to a modern first-world power in that incredibly short period of time.

In the World of Make-Believe there exists a Japan that incorporates both the real and Japan's colorful, adventurous folklore. It comes to life with stories that reflect the lives of normal humans and the not-so-normal folkloric beings who shared this space and time with them.

In the northern part of Kyushu at this time there lived a family that straddled the Artisan and Samurai classes, yet owned their own land without being either nobles or peasants. They worked hard, they paid taxes and they acquired, by adoption, their daughter, Azuki, who could become a Japanese Crested Ibis or toki, and their son, Shota, who could become a sparrow. Greed and a lust for power resulted in the deaths of the parents and the flight of the children who found only war and tumult on their doorstep when they returned.

How they regain their human heritage, how they cope with their changing world while still remaining their individual selves, how they make friends and help others despite the total lack of certainty in and about their lives gives rise to tales and adventures of the Meiji Era for them, their family and friends. The Toki-girl and the Sparrow-Boy series combines history and folklore in a unique blend of historic fantasy that allows an accurate portrait of Japanese culture and civilization with all its relentless integrity and quirks.

www.tokigirlandsparrowboy.com contains links to reviews of these enchanting books, a way for you to (please!) leave your own and a glossary of Japanese words used — in a form that can be amended as the series progresses. It also has a list of characters, so they are easier to track through the successive books.

All the books are listed and updated on the website with information about what happens in each to allow readers to start with any book in the series, or review previous events. There is also information about the art that illustrates the books and more about the history of this fascinating period.

This was a time when anything could happen and probably did.

Noriko's Journey is the story of an apparently ordinary citizen seeking her personal history in the context of her wider, changing and very different new world as she finds her place within her unusual new family.

Join Azuki, Shota, their family and friends in all their intriguing and captivating adventures as they live their own tales of the Meiji era!

Chapter 1

The morning following the third of the three nights they’d spent together, Noriko smoothed her cotton yukata kimono and tightened its belt over the thin under-kimono she wore for sleep. She pulled a boxwood comb out of the pocket formed by her sleeve and regarded her new husband.

Yuta still slept, a small smile marking the perfect relaxation of his round face. He was kind even when he slept, she thought. She pulled the comb through her long hair and smiled in return. She had no regrets.

Today marked the beginning of her new life. As his wife, she would travel from the Inn of the Golden Phoenix in Tokyo, where she worked as the manager, to his home in the mountains of Kyushu. There, tradition dictated she would take over as manager of his household, keep the books, raise the children and control the finances while he did — whatever he did. At times she thought she’d lost her senses to have jumped into this marriage so quickly. At other times, she realized that the way they had come together, as colleagues and comrades in arms, revealed character like no formal courtship period could and she could follow her instincts with confidence. Then, she’d remember how little she actually knew about the circumstances into which she had leapt so heedlessly.

He ran a school, she knew, but he’d come to Tokyo for the first national educational conference, so he was somehow important. That conference established national schools and would set a curriculum that would be the same all over Japan. Shinto — rather than Confucianism or Buddhism — would be emphasized, and the importance of the Emperor, descended from the Creator Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, as the basis for national unity would be paramount.

It made him happy that girls would be included in the national school system, not just the private ones, for he had a niece he loved, and that warmed Noriko’s heart, for though she had been educated, many girls were not.

She wondered what would happen to his school now. She gathered up her hair and twisted it into a rope, which she wrapped around itself, holding the bun with one hand while she fished in her sleeve pockets for the pins that would fasten it in place.

The Inn was of typical Japanese construction: walls were thin, doors were at least in part made of paper, and it was entirely obvious to everybody in the place that she had spent the last three nights with Maeda Yuta-sensei, rather than in her own room downstairs. They’d been given privacy, as that was only polite, and his room was a large second-floor guest room. Her own was off the reception area and also served as her office.

She was not in the habit of spending her nights with guests. In fact, her relentless respectability was one reason she had risen so quickly from night maid to manager after she had lost her position at the Shogun’s Court. Of course, the Shogun and his family had lost much more and were unable to simply go get other jobs. They were rich, though, and remained rich, hovering in the national commercial background. From what she’d heard, the Tokugawa family was in negotiation with other great families among the former nobility to build business entities that would ensure the continuation of economic power among the same families even though ranks and classes had been officially abolished.

None of that affected her. She smiled at her new husband and slid open the door.

There, on a small tray set carefully where she couldn’t miss it, was a stack of Third-Day cakes.

The kindly gesture took her breath away. She knew that everyone knew, but that Cook would take the time to provide them with this formality touched her heart.

Does that mean we’re officially married? Yuta said drolly.

In every way that matters, Noriko replied, picking up the tray and closing the door. She brought it to him, settling gently onto the futon beside him.

You don’t mind doing it this way? He rose up on one elbow, to take a bite from the small cake of red bean paste wrapped around mochi that she held out for him.

It’s what makes sense, Noriko said. He handed her a piece of the cake. She laughed as she took it from his fingers with her lips. The custom of marriage being formalized by the couple spending three nights together in sequence was very old. This would usually be preceded and followed by numerous rituals, visits, writing of poems and exchanges of gifts before the couple moved into their own home or with one partner’s family, depending. Sometimes they didn’t move in together anywhere until after the first child was born. As the Meiji era progressed, a more Western formality and morality entered the surrounding ceremonies, especially regarding intimate relations, and the three-night custom was often postponed until after the legalities were complete.

Both Yuta and Noriko were independent adults, and so they agreed to formulate their own ceremonials and proceed in the ways that seemed right to them.

They spoke their poetry, quietly slipping written versions each into the other’s sleeves. They made their vows privately, sipping the special strong wine three times each from three different cups, for the three times three equals nine ritual, or san-san-kudo, a formality that was always part of a marriage ceremony.

Soon, Noriko would leave her job, collect a chit representing her savings from the moneychanger and travel with Yuta to his home in the mountains of the far southern island of Kyushu, where the entry of Noriko into the Maeda family register would make their marriage formally legal, and a Buddhist temple ceremony would satisfy any spiritual requirements.

Usually, any religious ceremony would be Shinto, and Noriko was far more Shinto than Buddhist in her religious practices and beliefs, but Yuta used to be a Buddhist monk before becoming guardian to his orphaned nephew and niece and continued to be devout. Noriko had already decided that, whether or not he insisted on it, she would at least give Buddhist practice a serious try. There was much he needed to understand about her; she would make an effort to understand him.

Buddhist ceremonies were conducted for those with that preference, and Noriko had no objections at all to performing the san-san-kudo ceremony again in his local Buddhist temple with his family present. She wondered if he wouldn't consider them fully married until that, and the legally necessary entry of her name into his family register, occurred. She thought she might like the additional formality and celebration, and the inclusion of his family, for as far as she knew, she had none.

She knew she was taking a huge risk by abandoning the life she’d carefully built for herself, making a huge leap of faith that the man who had fought at her side, the man she trusted in battle, and with whom she was so incredibly comfortable, would continue to be the man she wanted to stand beside when law and custom gave him so much power over her life and when her happiness depended as much on his family as on him.

That worried Yuta as well, though not quite in the same way. His family was not what one might call usual. His talented niece, Azuki, could become a Japanese Crested Ibis, or toki, at will. His headstrong nephew, Shota, turned into a sparrow. Their friend, Tsuruko, closest to Noriko in age, when not a crane, was a young married woman expecting her first child with her human husband, and then there was Renko. Renko was a Dragon Princess and the very idea of her parents terrified Yuta when he stopped to think about them. Talking horses, a formerly outcast mute serving as their housekeeper, the crusty one-legged sea captain who operated Shota’s boat and taught the boy about the sea — the regular humans in his life were as much as any normal woman might be asked to bear, but the others…. He worried.

But Noriko herself wasn’t normal, Yuta reminded himself. Selected and schooled in shinobi since her childhood, a master of ninjutsu, she was privy to martial arts and secrets that surpassed his own, which he had acquired as a sohei, a warrior monk, in what now seemed a far distant past. Nominally a cross between an upper-level lady’s attendant and a lady chaperone in the women’s quarters of the Shogun’s Court, she was in truth a guard and a spy. If ever a woman could accept and cope with the vagaries of his abnormal life, it would be her. It was her training that allowed her to free a whole dormitory of imprisoned mill workers with the help of his odd family and gave her the acceptance and ability to use any weapon, any advantage, in a pinch. That had made him realize that she was the only woman he’d ever met he could consider marrying.

But how would she handle the daily oddities that constantly threatened to upset the normal balance of his household, the balance he struggled so hard to maintain?

Chapter 2

Yuta? Noriko’s voice called Yuta back to the present. I must go downstairs and dress.

What will you do today?

What I always do, she said with a smile. Check the guests out, set the menu for dinner and also tomorrow’s breakfast, balance the books and — she looked at him solemnly — "I will go to the dojo. Will you come with me? I want to present you to my master."

I’m meeting Kawabata-san for a midday meal. Will there be enough time?

Noriko handled chores around the inn until the head housekeeper came in to organize the day’s cleaning. Then it was her custom to attend to her own affairs and also attend a dojo to continue her training in martial arts. Yuta grimaced internally. He needed to do that; his own skills were rusty from lack of use, as he’d found out when he fought the mill guards at her side.

Kawabata-kyoju was a professor at the Institute of Western Studies. Yuta had met him during the conference. Together they were working out a way to incorporate Western Studies into the national curriculum.

Yes, of course, Noriko said as she rose smoothly. She placed the Third Day cakes on the low table and dusted off the tray. She’d take that down to the kitchen and thank Cook. I just want to present you, and let my teachers know I will be leaving. It won’t take long. At the door, she turned and asked, When are we leaving? It’s a very long trip and winter is coming soon.

I need to make arrangements, Yuta said. You’ll want to give notice here.

Yes, I want to do that. The arrangements should be simple enough and not expensive at all. I can ride a horse, you know, so I don’t need a sedan chair, and I own very little. My own saddle-bags should hold my things.

Yuta nodded. Except for your books, he said with a smile. We can send your books by post. You won’t want to leave those. Very well. I will be down for breakfast shortly.

With a soft smile, Noriko slipped out.

Yuta folded his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Money wasn’t an issue any more, though Noriko didn’t know that yet. The Dragon Queen, Rizantona, at the behest of her Princess daughter, had made sure he was very well provided for. They wouldn’t need horses, either, or much time. He had come to Tokyo with the Dragon King, and the Dragon King expected to take him home. He and Noriko had never really discussed Renko’s other nature after that first wild night. He smiled. They’d been busy.

Noriko had revealed herself by taking every advantage on offer in rescuing the mill girls, and that included traveling with Renko, instantaneously as only a dragon could, to bring reinforcements to escort the girls to safety. He’d let slip something of Renko’s abilities, as had Renko herself, but Noriko had never questioned them or referred to them since.

Chapter 3

Here she is! The scullery maid called as Noriko pushed at the noren curtains identifying the kitchen door.

She’s here! The newest and smallest housemaid reached out to take the tray, her childlike hands quivering with happiness.

Congratulations, my dear, Cook said with a smile. You look happy.

I am. Surprised, though. It’s all happened so fast! Thank you so very much for the Third-Day cakes. Noriko bowed to the older woman.

How could I let this occasion go unnoticed? Cook set aside her spoon and wrapped Noriko in a warm embrace. She thought it would surprise Noriko to find out how much they all liked her; she was so reserved she resisted intimacy. She’d be missed. I suppose you will be leaving us?

I will, Noriko replied, smiling. I am not sure exactly when.

Toyoda-san’s coming today! Masa, the Inn’s porter and errand boy, dashed into the kitchen bearing a note.

What time? Noriko said, taking it from him. She glanced around the room. It says ‘after noon,’ but you know how she is. The Inn’s owner would expect tea and snacks to be waiting for her and the housekeeping and books to be in perfect order. The books always were, because Noriko kept them that way, but housekeeping was a daily affair that always needed doing and might not be finished by noon.

I’ll tell Ine-san when she arrives, the littlest maid piped up. Her name was Sawa. Ine-san was the head housekeeper.

Does Toyoda-san know about Sensei? Noriko asked Cook.

I don’t think so, the older woman replied. She issued quick directions to the scullery maid to purchase snacks and the ingredients that would allow Cook to produce some fresh ones when the owner arrived.

Unless the police told her, Masa chimed in.

Noriko glanced at the impudent child and returned her gaze to Cook.

Surely you remember — well, perhaps you don’t. It would have happened on Noriko’s first night with her new husband, before anyone could have guessed what was up in that quarter.

Cook continued. Three nights ago, there was a huge commotion at the mill dormitory behind us. There was a fire. And there was some kind of fight. All the mill girls vanished. All the mill guards were injured, two seriously. Some of them talked about fighting birds and a girl with yellow hair, a foreign man with a fighting staff and a woman with a sword. Someone even said something about a dragon. Nobody here knew anything, of course. Cook was aware of Noriko’s general involvement with freeing indentured workers contracted to mills, but she surely couldn’t have been involved in this latest incident. Could she?

Your husband doesn’t have a fighting staff, does he? Cook asked. Masa nodded and looked about to speak, but Noriko spoke first.

He has a Western cane, Noriko replied, quelling the boy with a glance, and a hiking staff. It’s different. In truth it was a sohei’s shakujo, bereft of the clanging rings designed to set small creatures scurrying as Yuta was no longer a monk. It was in fact different from the usual staves used in stick fighting, being longer and of a harder wood, since it did also serve as a hiking staff. His damaged jacket, now mended, brushed clean and scented with incense, he could wear. The cane was a swordstick and even Yuta hadn’t known what it contained until Noriko began to use it.

The police never spoke to us, she added, but I am afraid we heard nothing at all.

And that’s what I told them, Cook said decisively. Considering the situation and all.

They must have questioned Toyoda-san, Noriko said, not revealing her relief. It’s just as well. I was going to have to let her know soon. Things are moving so fast my head is spinning!

She enveloped them all with a warm gaze. She would miss her life here, and all of them, but now she could look forward at a future that wasn’t quite so lonely.

"Let me dress quickly and take my husband some tea. I have to attend the dojo to present my husband, then he has a meeting and I must be back for Toyoda-san!"

Chapter 4

Noriko was a skilled quick-change artist. It took her bare minutes to switch into her dressy but not fancy kimono. The under-kimono were in fact fake edgings, not full garments at all. She had a trick she used with her obi, too. The big knot in the back was pre-tied so she only had to tie the sashes to her body in two places, fastening the entire garment shut. Her hair was fine as it was. She liked the simplicity of modern hair fashions and that she had never had to wear it lose and down.

While married women normally wore their sleeves much shorter than unmarried ones did, as an older working woman, Noriko was considered middle-aged, as she now was, she thought with a grimace. She dressed her social position: married or not, she was presumed to be married, widowed or divorced. She didn’t even need a new wardrobe, which pleased her sense of economy.

Yuta shrugged into his under-kimono as she opened the door.

You’re quick!

You don’t know how quick I can be, she smiled. Cook told the police that we saw and heard nothing and I confirmed. Toyoda-san — the owner —

Congratulations! Two teen-aged girls holding hands flickered into existence.

Noriko-san, we are so pleased! the fair-haired one cried.

I suppose I should call you ‘aunt!’ and I couldn’t be happier! said the Japanese girl with the long nose and her head covered by a scarf. The girls looked at each other and squealed in excitement. Uncle, all of us send our very best wishes to you both.

Noriko is fine, from both of you, but you can call me aunt if you prefer, she flashed a glance at Yuta. Either of you. When did you hear?

When are you coming home? Renko interrupted. Can I bring you?

Yuta rolled his eyes. Girls, we are not yet dressed for the day!

Oh, we don’t mind, Azuki said. She took the tea tray from Noriko and said, Please sit down and allow me to serve you!

"Will you have a temple wedding? Will Azuki-san be the sake-server?"

Azuki noticed the finer points of Noriko’s costume charade. She didn’t know if it was job-related or due to poverty, but it didn’t matter when textiles were her particular talent.

You will need some new clothes, Aunt, to suit our climate, she said diplomatically. Please allow me to make them for you! She handed her uncle a cup of tea, bowing prettily, and poured a second, which she handed to her new aunt. Uncle! I must tell you! Lady Anko has asked me to make her trousseau!

Why isn’t Tsuruko-san with you? Yuta inquired drily.

She said she shouldn’t travel much because of her pregnancy, Renko answered. But she wants to see you and give you her best wishes herself very soon, Renko advised Noriko. Oh, and we had the best idea.

The girls looked at each other and squealed again.

Renko-san, Yuta said in his best professorial voice. This is nearly a public place! Silence!

I’ve dampened the sound, Sensei, Renko assured him. Otohime showed me how.

We can’t keep quiet, Azuki added. This is too exciting! Uncle, we are all so very happy for you both! Aunt! We have an aunt!

A ball of light formed next to Renko. Here she is now!

The ball of light expanded to reveal a miniature woman in ancient Court clothing, her long hair loose and flowing. On her extended hand perched a sparrow.

May I present, Renko said in her most elegant princess voice, the Lady Noriko, wife of Yuta-Sensei.