Doji Tetsuo - A History

Tetsuo should have been a courtier. The Doji family of the Crane are renowned for being courtiers. His father (Doji Ryu) is a courtier, and comes from a long line of courtiers. His mother (Doji Kei), although a Kakita by birth, is a courtier. His sister Kaori first attended court when he was four. As a child he virtually grew up in court.
Tetsuo should have been a courtier, but that was not his destiny.

A few months before Doji Ichiro left his parent's care to travel to the Doji Courtier School, his uncle (mother's brother) Kakita Kurosawa died. Kurosawa was a bushi of some renown, whose star was considered to be in the ascendant. Most notably, he bore the exceptional Kakita blade forged and named for him: "Kurosawa". Kurosawa had died childless, and so had no obvious heir. It was thought by most that the blade would pass to his wife's family, the Bayushi of Clan Scorpion. The Crane did not like the sound of that, but upon the reading of Kurosawa's will, it was revealed that he had made provision for the situation that had arisen. Kurosawa had no love for his wife, or her Clan, so if he died childless, a place (otherwise reserved for his first son) at the Kakita Academy's Bushi School would go to his nearest Crane relative who had not yet attended a School. To this child would also go his possessions (read: weapons). Only if the place were turned down would his wife's family get their hands on them.
The child in question was, of course, Ichiro, who was at the time almost seven years old.
To withdraw your child from their family School mere months before they are to begin attending would, under normal circumstances, be horrendously dishonourable, but these were not normal circumstances. The honour of the Crane was at stake here (letting a Kakita blade go to another Clan when it could be prevented) and so the Clan pulled together. Ichiro was enrolled in the Bushi School.

Eight years later he graduated and left the School to return to his home province of Kisarazu, which is situated quite near the Crane/Scorpion border, for his gempukku. It was on this journey Tetsuo (Ichiro's nickname at the Bushi School and the adult name he had chosen for himself) began to be fascinated by the peasant stories of the 'ninja'. It seemed to him that these tales were far too common to be completely groundless, and began to believe the old maxim "There is no smoke without fire." Or, as he would put it if asked:
"Why are those like yourself who believe in the existence of so-called 'ninja' not dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary?"
"Because all the evidence to the contrary is not entirely dissuasive."

Tetsuo's gempukku occurred shortly before the time of the incident involving his cousin Doji Toshiro and his wife Akiko that led to Toshiro's death.
Akiko accused Kitsuki Tanari of murdering her husband, but found little support due to the difference in rank between them. Tetsuo was one of the few that believed her, but the belief of one who had only just come-of-age was of no practical help, besides which Tetsuo was obliged to remain publicly silent or risk ruining his reputation before he had even begun to build one.

The newly named Tetsuo returned to the Kakita Academy where he was taught The Way of the Crane by his sensei, Kakita Yamagata.
During this time Bayushi Kaneda, stepson of Kurosawa and therefore the man who would have inherited "Kurosowa" had it gone to his family, began a plan to dishonour Tetsuo's family and force the return of the blade to his. Doji Kaori, Tetsuo's sister - elder than him by ten years - was still unmarried; her original betrothed had died of plague. She was now betrothed to Kitsuki Tokemizu, an influential Magistrate. This was a politically advantageous match for the Doji, and so Kaneda set out to ruin it by seducing Kaori, and letting their resulting affair become known to Tokemizu.

Tetsuo arrived back in Kisarazu province in time to see his sister being challenged to a duel by her betrothed. If she lost the wedding would be off, and her reputation and honour would be ruined. As a courtier, Kaori would not fight the duel herself but would require a champion. Tetsuo did not hesitate. The following morning he fought his first real iaijutsu duel against Tokemizu. It was the first time "Kurosawa" had drawn blood for its new owner. The honour of the Doji was thus satisfied. Tokemizu publicly accepted his betrothed was above suspicion, but the marriage was now destined to be a bitter one for both parties.

Only after the duel did Kaori confess to her brother the truth behind the challenge. Enraged at Kaneda, and still triumphant after his victory, Tetsuo sought permission from his Daimyo, Doji Kuwata, to challenge Kaneda to a duel to the death. Permission was denied. Kuwata had a better use for Tetsuo than for him to die in a pointless duel, over a matter that should be considered closed. The mutual hatred between Tetsuo and Kaneda was left to fester, as Tetsuo was appointed a magistrate and sent out from Kisarazu.

As Tetsuo travels the lands of the Crane in the service of his lord and Clan, his parents use their influence to try to find him a politically valuable bride, whether he likes it or not...

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Autumn wind of eve,
blow away the clouds that mass
over the moon's pure light
and the mists that cloud our mind,
do thou sweep away as well.
Now we disappear,
well, what must we think of it?
From the sky we came.
Now we may go back again.
That's at least one point of view.

-- Death poem of ancestor Doji Ujimasa

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