"To the Shining You #26 Sacrificial Princess" Synopsis & What I Say This Week
Michinaga-sama makes an unexpected appearance at Ishiyama-dera Temple! A shocking turn of events

This week's M-man is here. First of all, I must apologize for something. It's about the Song Dynasty medicine man, Zhou Ming, also known as Matsushita Kohei. In the previous post, M-man wrote that "Zhou Ming will still appear. Because he is a highly regarded actor," but I was completely wrong. He was gone with the Echizen chapter. My apologies. If you think about it, it's only natural. I'm sorry. I'm ashamed of my own lack of insight.

Starting this week, we escaped from the stagnant Echizen arc and returned to Kyoto. Things are getting a lot more interesting. There was a shocking scene at the end. I was so surprised. More on that later.

Didn't Michinaga have his daughter become a consort in order to gain power?

"Sacrificial Princess" is a shocking title, but Michinaga's daughter, Shoshi, finally becomes his consort. It is a difficult decision for Michinaga. Michiko objects with a rather exaggerated line, saying, "Please kill me first." But wait? Didn't Michinaga willingly allow Shoshi to become his consort in order to expand his influence as his maternal grandfather?

The story we learned in history has been turned around 180 degrees, to a setting where, to use Senko's words, Michinaga "sheds his own blood" in order to correct the misrule of Emperor Ichijo. Well, it can't be helped. Otherwise, the fundamental setting of the drama, that Michinaga was not power-minded, would be destroyed.

However, I still feel sorry for Emperor Ichijo, as he ended up pushing the responsibility for the natural disasters onto him, no matter how devoted he was to Sadashi.

A weak-willed girl? Princess Akiko was actually a brilliant young woman

Akiko was portrayed as a weak-willed woman who could only say "As you command," but she was only 12 years old at the time. She was more of a girl than a woman. That's only natural, right?

However, according to historical fact, this weak-willed girl eventually became a wise and thoughtful empress, so much so that Fujiwara no Sanesuke wrote about her in his "Shoyuki" as a "wise empress." She then became the mother of Emperor Go-Ichijo and Emperor Go-Suzaku, was also known as "Dainyoin," and lived to the ripe old age of 86.

The highlight of the drama will probably be the transformation of this airheaded girl into a wise and intelligent princess. I'm looking forward to it.

Princess Akiko's wife is Fujitsubo. We are finally entering the world of The Tale of Genji.

It is said that Mahiro (I'd like to say Murasaki Shikibu soon) begins serving Akishi as a lady-in-waiting 6 to 7 years after Akishi enters the Imperial Court. It's been more than half a year since the start of the broadcast, and I'm deeply moved that we've finally made it this far.

And what's more, the office that Akiko was assigned to was Fujitsubo. When you hear "Fujitsubo," you think of Fujitsubo no Nyōgo, the eternal female figure of Hikaru Genji.

It's getting close. In the previous episode, the episode where Mahiro wanted Echizen paper was casually featured. Will Michinaga give the paper to Mahiro as a gift?

Mahiro loses his temper at Nobutaka's ignorance. He throws ashes at Nobunaga Oda.

Life with Mahiro as a married woman (?) soon begins to become turbulent. One would think that this is inevitable, as he married her knowing that she would be a concubine, but his partner is a woman much younger than Mahiro. Not only that, he is also insensitive, showing off letters from Mahiro everywhere. The final blow is when he says, "The Left Minister must have lost patience with you because of that."

Of course, anyone would be angry at Nobutaka. Mahiro loses his temper and throws ashes at Nobutaka's face. I had expected this scene to happen because it was briefly shown in the trailer, but it was still amazing! Even Oda Nobunaga, who threw ashes at his father's memorial tablet, would be enraged by this.

I'll say something stupid here, but this scene was probably shot in one take, without any retakes. Otherwise, Sasaki Kuranosuke would have been covered in ash (although it probably wasn't actually ash) several times, which I feel sorry for. (Yoshitaka Yuriko uploaded a smiling photo of herself and Kuranosuke with white face after the recording, saying "It was a one-take shot. I was so nervous," according to information from Ms. N. So there were no retakes after all.)

And to say something even more stupid, when Nobutaka's face turned white after the ashes were thrown at him, for a moment he looked a bit like Shimura Ken's Bakatonosama... Sorry for this really stupid story.

"Shimizu Market" where Noriyoshi was walking with a young woman. Did it really exist?

Here's another nit-picky tidbit of trivial information. The wet nurse said that the place where Nobutaka was walking with the young woman was "Shimizu Market." At this moment, the suspicious M-man had a simple question: "Wait, were there markets in the Heian period?"

After watching the show, I looked it up and found out that there was already something called a city in the Heian period. Apparently there was one in the east and one in the west. Once again, I learned something new. However, the problem is the location of the city. According to a paper by a scholar who did a thorough investigation, the eastern city was around the current Horikawa-dori and Shichijo areas. It's not Shimizu. They should have just said "city" instead of "Shimizu City".

By the way, the Imperial Palace in the Heian period was located quite a distance west of the current Imperial Gardens, west of Horikawa-dori Street. This is why To-ji Temple, which is located more west than east according to modern perception, is called "east."

The unexpected arrival of Michinaga-sama @ Ishiyama-dera Temple

Well, such small details are not important, and now we come to the shocking scene. It is none other than Michinaga who appears at Ishiyama-dera Temple. He doesn't just appear, he almost descends upon us. Even though he had become estranged from Nobutaka, I thought it was a bit abrupt for him to suddenly say, "Let's all go to Ishiyama-dera Temple," and then, there it was!

Surely it can't be that it was all just a dream, with Mahiro falling asleep after getting tired from chanting?

A halo was shining around Michinaga-sama. And something sparkling was falling from the sky. What? I've seen this sparkling thing before... That's right, it was also falling from the sky when Mahiro and Michinaga were united in the dilapidated mansion.

That means, perhaps, at Ishiyama-dera Temple as well... I wrote before that "Michinaga would appear from time to time and they would meet", but what about a meet-up?

Upon investigation, I found that about three or four years passed between Echizen Hemahiro's departure and Akiko's entry into the Imperial Court, so strictly speaking it is not a "little by little" period, but as a viewer it does feel like it does happen a little by little.

At this point, M-man remembered that N-san had written that Mahiro would become pregnant after marrying Nobutaka, but that it would be a child conceived between her and Michinaga. At the time, I thought that this was a ridiculous idea, but it was no way.

However, after throwing the ashes at Nobutaka, there was a narration that wasn't really necessary, saying, "Since that time, my relationship with Nobutaka became estranged."

Is the reason there are so many illegitimate children in The Tale of Genji because Murasaki Shikibu's daughter was also an illegitimate child?

Murasaki Shikibu's daughter was Michinaga's child. What a bold interpretation of history. Just as this episode was aired, on June 6th, the Asahi Shimbun morning edition featured an interview with Oishi Shizuka, which seemed to coincide with the timing. In the article, Oishi said, "I have not written anything that is historically impossible, as it has been checked by a professor of historical accuracy."

From the perspective of the "Devil's Proof" theory, there is certainly some truth to that. There is no way to prove that Mahiro's mother was killed by Michikane, or that Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu were friends. None of this is impossible.

So, in conclusion, M-men, instead of taking a stand and saying "That can't be true" as usual, please do the opposite and let your imagination run wild, Oishi-san. That's my stance. Because it's more fun that way.

Even though both Mahiro and Michinaga knew the truth, Michinaga made Mahiro Akiko his wife, and Mahiro accepted the offer, and even wrote "The Tale of Genji." It would have been much more meaningful as a drama if it had turned out that way.

I somehow found it convincing that this is why so many of Hikaru Genji's children were illegitimate. Perhaps this was also calculated by Oishi. Amazing!!

I can't wait for the next episode. But then I realized that there will be a break due to the Tokyo gubernatorial election coverage. What a shame!

What is the review of “To Shining You”?

"Premium Japan Literature Club" (exaggeration) was formed by people who love literature within the Premium Japan editorial department. For literature lovers, the 2024 taiga drama ``Hikaru Kimi e'' was a perfect opportunity to discuss this and that. Volunteers from the editorial department will continue to freely review articles. Editor S and Editor N reviewed the differences between historical facts and dramas, a deep dive into foreshadowing, and more!