Houjou Tokiyuki would not have felt especially welcome or secure in Kyoto around the time this episode is set. But that’s not the point of this fictional visit. This is Chojumaru, a simple son of a country samurai. When Mima asks Shizuku and Ayako what it is that they like about him, both unhesitatingly answer “his kindness”. A robustly honest reply, no doubt. But Mima is no fool, and has already begun to foster a suspicion that the gentle boy under discussion is more than he seems. That’s true of course, but in terms of that kindness, Chojumaru is exactly what he seems. And that might potentially be a serious problem.
Fubuki’s offer – to use Mima to get close to her father Sasaki Douyo, powerful and a betrayer of the Houjou – is one the Young Lord should have considered more seriously. Sasaki’s loss would be a not insignificant blow for the Ashikaga and a reminder to everyone that loyalty to them was not without risks. It would be a total betrayal of Mima to do what Fubuki says, of course, which is why Tokiyuki rejects the idea. But does someone like Tokiyuki, facing the odds he does, have the luxury of worrying about being true to himself if he truly wishes to reclaim his clan’s claim to power?
The Elusives’ time in Kyoto is enough for them to get a sense that Emperor Go-Daigo is not a popular figure at the moment. Especially – and crucially – among the warrior class. Uncle Yasuie knows this of course, as does Saionji Kinmune. Yasuie is posing as a carpenter, an area in which he seems to have some actual skill. And he and Saionji have hatched a shocking and daring plan – to invite the Emperor for a party celebrating Saionji’s new villa, and murder him in the baths. To murder the Emperor is a high crime beyond imagining, but Yasuie ensures the stunned children that Go-Daigo is a false emperor and thus, those taboos don’t apply to killing him.
Fubuki and the others are justified in their grave concerns about this plan. Is killing the Emperor really the way to rally undecideds around the Houjou banner? But Tokiyuki has been forewarned of this by Yorishige – who assured him that Yasuie’s plan (of which he shared no details) would fail. But it would succeed in throwing Kyoto into chaos, which would be the signal for the Suwa forces to begin the war in earnest. The key would be escaping Kyoto along with Yasuie in the aftermath, and that of course is Tokiyuki’s area of expertise.
But Tokiyuki isn’t the only one in Kyou who specializes in flight. While researching escape routes – and very much in his element – he and the others meet Kusunoki Masashige (Suzumura Kenichi). Kusunoki was another powerful figure on the Ashikaga side (he would come to be known as a paragon of loyalty above all, though it was to Go-Daigo). Here he’s presented as Tokiyuki’s kindred spirit, a fellow Nige Jouzu. They recognize the escape artist in other immediately, and while the others are horrified once Kusunoki introduces himself, the Young Lord isn’t inclined to let this opportunity to pick his brain pass him by.
This is the sort of intersection of fantasy and reality that Matsui specializes in with The Elusive Samurai. Kusunoki is indeed regarded as a brilliant military strategist but there’s no indication he specialized in fleeing, or indeed ever met Tokiyukil. He may even suspect the boy’s true identity but offers him good advice nonetheless – the key for the weak to defeat the strong is to escape the cage of preconception. If one fixates on fighting with swords or arrows, they will always lose to a stronger swordsman or archer. Any means of victory must be seized upon, no matter how unorthodox or underhanded.
The irony here is that Tokiyuki is presented with just such a means when the Elusives overhear a message from Ashikaga Takauji passed on to Kusunoki by his son (likewise an important figure in Muromachi history). In it Ashikaga reveals his planned movements for the following day, offering a rare opportunity to assassinate him (or at least try). Kusunoki is much more forceful this time – this is a chance that Tokiyuki would be unwise to let go begging, no matter the means by which it was presented. And does someone like Tokiyuki, facing the odds he does, really have the luxury of worrying about being true to himself if he truly wishes to reclaim his clan’s claim to power?
