| Please note: This article is about the father to Kakita Maratai. For other uses of the term, please see Hiro (disambiguation). |
| Kakita Hiro | |
|---|---|
| Born: | Unknown |
| Died: | 1199 |
| Spouse: | Un-named Otomo |
| Children: | Kakita Maratai |
| People | |
Kakita Hiro was the master playwright of Shizuka Toshi. [1]
Falling in Love[]
Hiro was descendant of the famous playwright Kakita Morushijin, and he used to write stories based on historic events. [2] He fell in love with a maiden of a higher station. He pined for her, so he resolved to impress her father by writing a play. [3] His first play caught the attention of many connoisseurs, and as a result, he was adopted by an Otomo patron. [2] His plays made him famous, and eventually, he grew influential enough to marry her. [3]
Famous Playwright[]
Retirement[]
Hiro remained as a jidaimono playwright for years. As he progressed, his works grew more controversial, and his critics more vocal. He continued to publish acclaimed works for many years, as The Dangerous Popinjay, until late 1170, when he announced his retirement. [2] Hiro had been indebted to the Spider, for they had written the play he had presented as his own, the one that won him the heart of the Otomo he loved. The plays were merely a front, supplied to him by his Spider blackmailers. His last play before his retirement had contained the last set of instructions for the Spider infiltrators to kill prominent samurai of the Empire, such as Tamori Shaitung, Doji Nagori, Moshi Amika, or Shosuro Jimen, among others. Hiro retired in 1170, after the event known as the Night of the Assassins. [4]
The Folly of Chagatai[]
In 1196 he begun his last play, The Folly of Chagatai. [2] After Chagatai was elevated to Fortune status, Hiro was advised to abandon this work, but he instead debuted it at a Winter Court in Oyomesan province. Hiro was universally panned and shortly after he was appointed as retainer within the castle of Shizuka Toshi. [5] Another play, less famous, was Go Rin No Sho. [6]
Exiled Daughter[]
Hiro had a daughter, Kakita Maratai. When she was young Hiro called her daughter Little Hana, and she quickly displayed aptitude for sculpture. [1] By accident, Maratai witnessed him in conversation with the blackmailer, learning Hiro was not writing his own plays. She tried to do the right thing, but her father denied everything and his daughter only succeeded in shaming herself, [7] so was Maratai who took the blame. When guards caughter her, Hiro remained quiet. His pride had driven his only daughter away, his neglect had killed his wife, and his stubbornness had ruined his reputation. Maratai was sent to exile in the Colonies. [1] His wife committed jigai, and her death poem blamed his coldness. [3]
Death[]
Unfinished Play[]
In 1199 his apprentice Kakita Ochi found Hiro dead, [5] hunched over a scroll which appeared to be a play he was commissioned to write, depicting a blackmail to a man named Hachirou. Hachirou fell in love with a woman of a higher station, but his feelings were unreciprocated. While walking through a forest, he met a tree spirit, who in exchange for a favor, gave him the script to a play. Hachirou used it to win the hearts of both the lady and the Empire. A man who knew Hachirou didn't write his masterpiece, blackmailed him [8] and forced Hiro to produce plays that were fed to him. The scroll was Hiro's autobiography, under pseudonym, a confession that he never wrote any of his own plays. [5] When Hiro came out of retirement the Spider felt threatened, because others might suspect that he had not written his prior plays, and killed him. [4] One of these playwrights was Susumu Hirohashi. [9]
Investigation[]
His wakizashi was discovered by his side, bloodied, with the first two cuts of a seppuku on his belly, but not the third. The magistrate Kakita Ichigiku was appointed to investigate, and with the aid of Kitsuki Kinaro they realized Hiro had been poisoned. [2] His final play, Sins of the Father, had a code hidden in the writing. All the plays he had been authored conveyed hidden messages to Spider Clan members in public. [3] A group of samurai eventually exposed his assassins, alongside with the implication of the Spider in the Night of the Assassins through his plays. His daughter's honor was restored and the Spider gifted her an estate at Toshi Ranbo. [4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Scenes from the Empire, Part 25, by Yoon Ha Lee & Robert Denton
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Sins of the Father, by Robert Denton
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Sins of the Father: Leverage, by Robert Denton
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Sins of the Father: the Shadows of our Pasts, by Robert Denton
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Sins of the Father, Part 2, by Robert Denton
- ↑ Book of Water, p. 16
- ↑ Scenes from the Empire 29, by Robert Denton & Seth Mason
- ↑ Scenes from the Empire, Part 26, by Robert Denton, Shawn Carman, & Yoon Ha Lee
- ↑ Why He Wrote, by Robert Denton
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