The CyberSybils Unroll Scroll Seven ~ Yose

YOSE

Samurai leader Masako Hojo had been trained in the art of war and the game of Go — two most useful skills for a warrior in 12th century Japan to possess — had she been a man and not a woman. Yet, her noble father, Tokimasa, reminded her often during her youth that the Imperial family had been founded by the sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, and that likewise the Empress Jingu had been a most fierce and mighty presence on the battlefield.

Tonight, now a grown woman, she would play a decisive match of strategy with her new husband, the future shogun, Yoritomo Minamoto. The contest would require all her stealth and cunning, but Masako was determined to win and show the future leader that her word would be need given before any policy enacted.

Going to her nuptial chamber dressed in the padded kimono and black-lacquered iron armour of the bushi, the lady of the white painted face did not pause to reconsider her decision to bring along her favourite weapon, the naginata. A katana would not have served the purpose she required, which was to have at her disposal an instrument of discipline, a long, wooden rod to move effortlessly as a flight of cranes across an empty gaming board.

A rice paper panel slid back inside a wall to reveal an elaborately robed man seated upon a tatami, black hair upswept and glazed with stiffening egg white, eyes dark and expectant. Rather than bow as would a subservient, Masako grasped her naginata with two hands, raising the stick above her head.

"Fuseki," she greeted, which in Go signals the opening stage of play.

Yoritomo eyed his bride suspiciously. "Do you suggest sabaki?" he inquired sheepishly.

"No, for this is no invasion," Masako replied, "nor need I develop a line of defense. But at least you did not commit keima and jump away."

The six-foot wooden staff with its attendant blade poked at Minamoto’s side, causing him to leap to his feet in an apparent panic.

"What foul trick, what hemete is this?" he demanded.

"Hasami," the richly costumed lady replied, using a free hand to remove headdress and liberate long strands of hair that matched her suit’s shine. "A pincer-play."

"You may be the daughter of master Tokimasa, who raised this once captive as a son, but I shall not abide this display — I am samurai."

"And so am I," came his answer, the sharp edge of the naginata, usually reserved for hobbling horses of the enemy, flying much-too-close past Yoritomo’s ear. "My father has agreed to our union, his mighty army will soon make you Seii-Tai-Shogun, and because of these things, you will respect me, you will agree to accord to me the bushido — the code of samurai honour — for your giri, your obligation, demands such conduct, do you understand?"

"And if I do not agree?" the young man wavered.

"Then uchikomi, tsumego."

The errant husband understood Masako’s threat meant she would engage him in a life and death struggle if he did not comply with her demands. However, thinking himself no fool, he held forth five long fingers.

"Give me the naginata, then we shall discuss matters."

When the woman would not yield, the equally determined Minamoto made a daring diagonal move, a Go master’s kosumi, pinning Masako to the floor with her own rod, scoring a perfect shibori, the ultimate squeezing maneuver.

"Your blocking osae is impressive," the disadvantaged party allowed, "but so is my ogeima."

Robes flew in billowing disarray as Masako dislodged her opponent and made the notorious samurai’s leap, her once-assailant left lying limbs askew amidst a pile of silk and tasseled cords.

Regaining her defiant stance, one satin-shod foot atop the vanquished one’s chest, the victor was surprised to hear her captive moan aloud, "Yose."

The Endgame. Yoritomo had conceded defeat.

Taking her pretty, posturing boot in his hands, the servile male covered its sole with grateful kisses.

"You capitulate?" Masako pressed. "You, arrogant beast?"

"My true nature is to serve," the Nippon prince revealed. "Yet, first, I needed to be certain that your true nature was to dominate, Yose Shogun."

Happy to have been well paired, the couple smiled at one another while the honorable naginata began its ascent into mid-air.

And as for the illustrious future of Yose Shogun Masako Hojo, she was to become one of the greatest leaders of the Samurai, defender of her clan and built many temples to reflect the strength of the Buddhist sect she was to found during her reign: the Zen.