Afterword
NEW readers, hello. Old readers, hello again. Yamori Mitikusa here.
Thank you for picking up this copy of Romance of the Imperial Capital Kotogami: A Tale of Living Alongside Spirits.
I’ve always wanted to read a really traditional Japanese story like this one. That’s actually why I got into writing novels in the first place. I’m so glad I’ve been able to make that happen with this title.
Personally, I just love that late Meiji (1868–1912), early Taisho (1912–26) period when Japan was undergoing rapid modernization, but at the same time, old folktales about yokai, spirits, and the underworld still persisted.
So when I was having trouble coming up with things to write about, a friend of mine said, “Why don’t you just write what you like?” and I thought of writing a story set in that time.
Then I had to decide what it was that really fascinated me about the Taisho period, and I came up with a story based on books and the power of words.
In Meiji, and then in Taisho, the folktales of gods and yokai increasingly began to disappear, to be replaced by scholarship and research. People began to write down detailed accounts of these creatures of folklore. And I thought: What if the very souls of the yokai themselves lived on in these written accounts, as enshrined spirits? And what if we could manifest them?
But there were other things I wanted to write about too. For example, I love stories with action scenes. And my character archetypes of choice are handsome guys, cute little girls, and boorish middle-aged men. What if I incorporated all those elements into my story? And so I tried it. I just went for it. It took a lot of agonizing and soul-searching to squeeze and cram everything in together, but when I was done, I was able to puff out my chest with pride and yell: “Yes! This is it! The Taisho-period fantasy I’ve always longed to read!”
And so, when I got the news that my story would be made into a novel, I felt like shedding tears of joy.
It may be fate that this story about spirits born from words (or koto no ha in Japanese) has been released by the Kotonoha Label in Japan.
To my friends, who encouraged me to keep writing when I was facing difficulties…
To everyone involved at Kotonoha, who afforded me this opportunity and worked with me to get this novel published…
To Tokihito Saiga-sensei, whose artwork brought the world of the Kotogami into such colorful, tangible form…
To all who contributed to the distribution of this work into the wide world…
And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, to you, reader, for picking up a copy of my story…
I say thank you.
“Listening” to the fragrance of Japanese apricots—Yamori Mitikusa