Shakuhachi – The Shining One

By Will Cumberland

Based on a dream…

For my friend Carrie Anne Hunt, of whom, the main character Shakuhachi is based.

Japanese Lexicon

Ama-Terasu: Creation Goddess of Japan and steward of the Emperor of Japan.

Kor-orono-kinsen: literally "special soul", body and soul, a soul unlike any other.

Senken: Plural for Sensei, Wise men, wise teachers

kijo: female demon, similar to Western belief.

majikku: Magick

kojou: Fortress

Shakuhachi: Bamboo Flute, the heroine

Rakurai: lighting bolt, bright warrior, chaste warrior dedicated to the goddess

ikkatsu: A thundering cry, a cry like thunder, thundering voice, spirit song that destroys evil creatures and stuns humans.

Maiko: a skill Japanese dancer, geisha in training.

yuushi: honorable or brave warrior iitou: sword, blade

kouzan: mountain, literally "a tall mountain"

kamaitachi: monsters of Japanese folklore

fukumaden: hordes of demons

Sanshou: singing three times, also a type of Japanese pepper

Akage: red headed one Akage-Ru: formal

Shakuhachi – Based on a Dream.

By Will Cumberland

Ama-Terasu looked down at the world and was sad. Man had continued to fight for two thousand years. Slowly, she began to place doushi (kindred souls) everywhere that she could. One soul in particular, the Kororonokinsen, was so much a part of her, that the Sacred Council of the Wise called her The Shining One. Her name was Shakuhachi, because of her beautiful voice and poetic speech. She was found wandering by an older couple picking young shoots in a takamura (bamboo grove).

The older couple took the small child to the Senken (Ancient Sages). Upon finding out her true nature, the Senken requested that the girl should stay with them and learn the ways of her kind.

Shakuhachi lived with the Senken and grew up into a wise and beautiful young woman. From the town’s women, she learned dance and was a very reputable Maiko. Her dance was said to attract people from across the land and sea. Never once did she utter an unkind word to anyone she met and was well loved by everyone. From the Senken, she learned the ways of majikku, jujutsu and was an expert in the art of calligraphy. Those that saw her writings said that it had been penned in majikkuinki (magic ink).

A young warlord and majutsushi (sorcerer), Akage-Ru came into town one evening and saw Shakuhachi. He was captivated by her beauty and voice. The townsfolk knew of him and wished he would leave their village at once. It was rumored he practiced burakkumajikku (black magic) and had a kojou (fort) surrounded by fukumaden (Hordes of demons). Akage-Ru’s power came from a yasha (female devil) he worshiped. In order to speak to her, he would allow the demoness to posses the body of his mother on nights of the Dark Moon. He was so enamored with Shakuhachi that he performed a koumajutsu (black magic rite) to bring her under his spell.

The Senken heard of Akage’s plan, but failed to act quickly. Shakuhachi was trapped by Akage’s spell and did not see that he had evil in his heart. She accepted an invitation to his home and was gone before the Senken could act. Akage, upon Shakuhachi’s arrival, put her to sleep. He could not remove her dress and shoes because the Senken magically protected them. The dress’s colors; black, green, red and blue, signified the powers that made up the Senken’s strength and they were a symbol of Shakuhachi’s own purity of soul. Akage would try to influence her through dreams and change Shakuhachi into a kijo to serve him and his evil mistress.

The wrath of the Senken was not Akage’s only concern, a rival warlord had employed three assassins to destroy Akage’s household. They were told not to spare one life in the kojou. This would include the Shining One, Shakuhachi.

The Senken learned of this and were saddened. They had acted too late and the Dark Moon was approaching. Either the Yasha would take her soul or assassins would seal Shakuhachi’s fate. It would appear that there was no hope for Shakuhachi, but a wise Senken knew of one Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior) that lived in the land, Rakurai. He was a yuushi who had been given special powers by Ama-Terasu herself. His blade, ittou, was imbued with the power of the Sun and bore the same colors as the Senken and Shakuhachi. He was the pure soul warrior that the Senken believed might be able to make it up the kouzan (mountain) to the fortress to rescue Shakuhachi.

The Senken summoned Rakurai to their temple and explained what happened to Shakuhachi. The warrior knew of Shakuhachi and had seen her perform as a Maiko, when she gave performances to the town folk. He was enraged that Akage would steal such a jewel and try to bend her to his ways. The sages told Rakurai of the plans, by a rival warlord, to wipe out the household of Akage-Ru and that assassins would be there on the Dark Moon to finish off the young warlord. The Senken informed Rakurai that it was not only was Shakuhachi’s life in danger, but also her soul. The Yasha, fearing that Akage’s mother was too weak, would gladly take the body and soul of Shakuhachi. There would be no hope for her. For the Light of Ama-Terasu never reached the fortress, it was forever surrounded by Darkness because of the evil that lived there.

Empowered with his blade, his skill and an ancient flute called Sanshou that allowed him to turn any human into whatever form he wished, he would set out to rescue her. Sanshou had been a gift from Ama-Terasu, to Rakurai. Sanshou’s music had saved the warrior in many battles. Still, there was a price to be paid for wielding such power. The Goddess warned that if Sanshou’s music was ever directed at the player of the flute, then he would stay in that form forever. The Senken blessed Rakurai and told him that he bore the Heart of the People and the Love of the Sun, but he, unfortunately, would have to go alone. The evil that abided in the mountain fortress of Akage-Ru was too much for a normal soul to bear.

The forests and the mountains surrounding the Akage-Ru fortress were filled with kamaitachi and fukumaden, who would certainly try to stop Rakurai from reaching her. The Yasha would know Rakurai was coming and send her children to destroy Rakurai. Upon these monsters, Sanshou would have no affect. Only Rakurai’s legendary skill, magic and blade would save him.

Rakurai prayed to Ama-Terasu and asked for Her blessing and safekeeping, for where he was going, Her light would not shine. She had never forsaken him in battle, surely now, She would see him and Her daughter safely back home.

At Sunrise the next day, Rakurai set upon the path to the Akage-Ru mountain. An old Shinto priest met him on the road and offered to wash his eyes with spring water. Curious, Rakurai accepted the priest’s offer to wash him. Afterwards, the priest explained the washing was a blessing, it would give the warrior teikan, true sight, because Akage would have hidden Shakuhachi with dark powers so the Senken could not see her. The sight would only work if one were close to the young woman. Unknown to Rakurai, this was the juuji of the Senken temple he had just come from. He had come to see the warrior off and to bless him personally before he left.

Rakurai thanked the priest and continued up the mountain. The kamaitachi fought him every inch of the way. They came from every tree, a few flew from the sky and some came from the ground. Their shrieks and cries filled the air with sorrow and pain, but Rakurai did not bend. His holy blade of light cut down those that attacked him and his ikkatsu, thundering voice, split the ears of the kamaitachi and sent them running away in pain. Those demons that stood too close to Rakurai simply vanished when he sang, because his voice rang out like the morning Sun. Rakurai fought his way up the mountain for two days, never sleeping. The demons employed all the evil trickery that they knew to tempt the man away from his goal, but Rakurai would not bend. He did not stop until he reached the top of the mountain.

He reached the fortress and saw what the Senken had meant. A cloud of darkness surrounded the ramparts and the wind whirled around the mountain in every direction. The fortress looked like an ancient Shinto temple, but demons and images of the Yasha had been carved into its walls and her letters adorned all the flags. Only the family name of Akage-Ru marked the fortress as Akage’s home. Everything else seemed to be dedicated to the demoness.

Entering the fortress was easy because the Light of Ama-Terasu surrounded Rakurai’s soul, making him almost invisible to the evil men who lived there. Not one of Akage-Ru’s men heard him enter or saw him stand in the courtyard. Once inside, Rakurai pulled out his flute, Sanshou, and started to play. He turned all of Akage’s men there into stone and his servants into trees. Only those inside the house were protected from Sanshou’s music.

Still Rakurai did not go totally unnoticed, for even the heart of darkness knows some things. Akage realized that his house had been invaded, but by what or whom, he did not know. It was the night of the Dark Moon, so he tried to consult the Yasha to find out what was going on, but his mother was too sick to allow the demoness possession, he was unable to find Rakurai. His attention at this point was directed at his mother. Her old heart was failing and Akage attended to his mother who lay ill before him, her pale form betraying the fact death was only a few steps away. Years of summoning the demon through her had sickened his mother and turned his father into a shade that roamed the halls of the fortress. Akage had paid a high price for allowing the Yasha into his home, it was proving to be his undoing.

Upon seeing that her condition was getting worse, Akage gave up searching and attended to his mother, forgetting about Shakuhachi. Without the demoness’s powers, he could do little if he failed to keep his mother alive. Rakurai took advantage of this. First he entered the same room as Akage and thought about cutting the man down, but upon seeing that the warlord was attending to his sick mother, the shining warrior thought it better to leave Akage alone. The mage’s doom would be sealed with the coming of the assassins, besides, the warrior had little time to find Shakuhachi before they arrived.

He looked all over the fortress for her. His sight allowed him to see through the walls of the building and through the evil cloud that surrounded her. He found the room that she was in and quickly entered. Even though the room was filled with darkness and evil, Shakuhachi’s brilliance blinded the warrior’s eyes. She shone like the Goddess Ama-Terasu herself and the young Maiko appeared to be asleep. He tried to awaken her quickly, but Rakurai’s attempts to wake Shakuhachi were futile and he could not move her.

Once again, Rakurai called upon Sanshou and turned Shakuhachi into a kohon, an ancient book, so he could safely take her down the mountain. He ran out of the room, into the courtyard and was about to leave before Akage stopped him. Disregarding the fact that this may be the person he was looking for, he asked the warrior why he had come to his household and wondered had become of his men and his servants. Rakurai’s only reply to him was that they must have heard the sweet song of the forests and left the fortress. Upon hearing this, Akage ran back to check on his mother, to make sure she too had not been taken away by the spell of the song. Akage failed to see that his men surrounded him like statues and his servants, once vile and almost un-human, had been turned to trees and filled the courtyard like a garden.

Rakurai took the moment and fled just outside of the house, into a stable. He saw three men enter the stable behind him. Being men of near equal skill, they cornered him and talked to him in a strange language. Seeing that Rakurai was not in the house and bore the colors of the Senken, the assassins left him alone. Rakurai did not understand the language they spoke, but pointed to the house and then ran to the forest. He would not fight the assassins, it was not his place to do so. Besides, they had come for House of Akage-Ru and not him.

But the Yasha knew that Rakurai had Shakuhachi and sent her children once more to stop him. But Rakurai eluded them. They closed in on all sides and the warrior, weary from fighting, was concerned he could not fight them off, for they were many and he was only one. He produced his flute once more, turning Shakuhachi into human form so he could wake her. Surely he could hold off the demons while she fled the mountain. But, she would not awaken, the Yasha’s power was strong and the young woman was still asleep.

He then stopped, prayed to Ama-Terasu once again, seeking her guidance in the matter. She answered him with the cry of a yotaka, a mountain hawk. He understood what the Goddess wanted him to do. After much thought, the warrior pulled out his flute, changed the sleeping one into a red ribbon, which he tied around his left foot as tight as he could. He ran playing the flute, the last song he would ever play on Sanshou and disappeared into the side of the mountain, swallowed up by the green moss that covered it.

Suddenly, a giant hawk flew forth, bursting out the other side of the mountain. The yotaka’s wings spread out from end to end and its cry filled the mountains. The demons looked for Rakurai but could not find him. The evil horde looked up to see the hawk with a red ribbon tied around its left claw, flying free from the mountain. Surely it was Rakurai. The Yasha had been defeated.

The hawk flew back over the mountains and back to the temple, where the old priest was praying. Upon seeing the beak that shined like lighting and the brilliant red ribbon that it bore, the priest cried out to the hawk, “Rakurai, great warrior, thank you! You are joubutsu.” The hawk flew down and lighted on the priest’s staff. The priest untied the ribbon from its claw and thanked the bird. For the great warrior, Rakurai had sacrificed himself to save Shakuhachi and would never know the form of man again. But it was not too late for Shakuhachi. The Senken prayed to Ama-Terasu and the Maiko was restored to her true form.

It was also said whenever she went on her walks in the morning, one could see a hawk flying watchfully over the path she walked and on those days, the Sun shined bright and the yotaka’s song could be heard on the air.

The people of the village never forgot the story. It was said that all that came to see Shakuhachi were amazed at her song, her dance and the wisdom that came through her when she spoke. She brought back peace to hearts of men and drove the Darkness from the land.

About the Author:

Will Cumberland is a writer and a journalist. He has written several political columns for the Backpacker Magazine, Bluegrass Jam, JamBase and other ecologically or musically concerned publications. He has written for The Herald and was the managing editor of The Brigadier. He writes for the Appalachian Mountain Free Press and spends too much time behind a computer. This work was based on a dream of his and Shakuhachi is his first completed work of fiction in 15 years. He resides in the Carolinas and practices Aikido.

Most of the Shakuhachi comes from a dream, but was combined with elements from these two myths; the Bamboo Princess and the creation story of Japan. The name Ama-Terasu is the actual Japanese Goddess of the Sun, who holds stewardship of the lineage of Japanese emperorers.

Ref: The Legend of the Japanese Sun Goddess Myth by Saki I. - http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/creation/csjapan.html

Ref: Kaguya Hime no Hanshi : The Legend of the Bamboo Princess - an old love story. http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/averbuch/nihonbunka/basic_story.html