To the Shining You Episode 36 "The Long-awaited Day" Synopsis & What to Say This Week
Princess Akiko gives birth safely. The realistic birth scene and the debauchery of the nobles at the celebration banquet are all based on the descriptions in "The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu."

This week's M-man is here. Finally, Akiko is pregnant. The desperate pilgrimage to Kinpusen took place in August of the 4th year of the Kanko era (1007), and the birth took place in September of the following year, so the timing is perfect. Many people must have thought that it was a blessing from the pilgrimage to Kinpusen. And the birth scene was full of realism. There were some scenes that were almost like a horror movie. All of this was possible because it was written down in "The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu." Mahiro is amazing for writing this kind of reportage in addition to "The Tale of Genji."

Each person on the 4th floor has their own thoughts. Hey! Yukinari! Don't be so cocky!

The climax of this production was the birth scene, but the thoughts of the people at court leading up to it were portrayed in great detail.

As the guests on the fourth floor drink sake, they discuss what would happen if the Empress's son was a prince. While Nariyoshi is half-interested and half-curious as to whether it was a prince or not, the astute Kinto senses that if it was a prince, it would cause trouble. This is because Prince Atsuyasu, the son of Emperor Ichijo and Sadashi, would be a hindrance to Michinaga.

Yukinari said, "Lord Michinaga will not stop the guardianship of Prince Atsuyasu." Michinaga, who has been getting increasingly sullen lately, reluctantly dropped the topic. And Prince Atsuyasu, for his part, already knew what would happen to him if a prince was born.

Masochist-san has recently bought a bunch of books related to the series and has been studying them, so he knows what actions Michinaga and Yukinari will take, how Akiko will react to them, and what will happen to Prince Atsuyasu. I want to say, "Yukinari, don't be so cocky," but I won't write any more because it would be a spoiler. Anyway, there are a lot of hints!!

Bai Juyi's "Xin Yuefu" also appeared. It is a Chinese book that Michinaga once presented to Emperor Ichijo. Princess Akiko wants to get closer to Emperor Ichijo's heart, so she starts secretly studying with Mahiro as her teacher. She intends to keep it a secret from the emperor, but if she reads aloud in such an open space, everyone will know...

Although "Xin Yuefu" was written by Bai Juyi, it is not a poem favored by the aristocrats of the time, such as the famous "At the Changlu Peak...", but a book with a rather serious content. Shoko must have really wanted to get closer to Emperor Ichijo to want to study such a Chinese classic. She apparently continued studying for two years. She must have been a woman with a strong core. Her recent transformation makes her extremely likeable.

At the scene of the pandemonium, Mahiro calmly observes his surroundings.

The climax of the story is the birth. The most surprising scene for everyone was the scene where many women dressed as shrine maidens were screaming and crying, their hair in disarray.

According to the knowledge that a masochistic man with a dearth of knowledge has acquired, that woman is called "Yorimasa" and acts as a decoy to allow the spirits that are trying to possess Akiko to possess her, and the high priests who accompany her subdue the spirits. The origin of the Nagashibina festival is the same. In other words, the idea is that you transfer your bad luck to a doll and then flush it away to ward off bad luck.

But it was really amazing. It was a veritable hellish scream. One of the spirits fainted, screaming "Michinaga!", and it seems that a spirit appeared to curse not only Akiko but also Michinaga. And it turns out that it was Ise who summoned the spirit with his curse. Michinaga's face is getting worse, and Ise's eyes have gone wild recently, so it really does feel like a scary power struggle between Heian aristocrats.

Amidst all this, Mahiro was the only one who calmly watched the events unfold. She began the Murasaki Shikibu Diary at Michinaga's request to record the whole story of the birth. Rather than an official record written in classical Chinese by a man, Mahiro, who had given birth herself, recorded what she saw and heard from the sidelines of the birth room in the Yamato language, making it as real as it gets.

The surviving Murasaki Shikibu Diary begins with a description of when Akiko returned to her parents' Tsuchimikado residence to give birth, which tells us that the diary's role was to record Akiko's childbirth. It is because these detailed records remain that we are able to understand what childbirth was like at the time (even though the woman was of a very high social standing) and make it into a film. It's truly amazing.

Although it would save face for Michinaga, Emperor Ichijo still cared more about his first son, Prince Atsunobu?

The birth was safe and it was a prince. It was a difficult birth that lasted an astonishing 36 hours. As everyone prayed, they must have been thinking of Sadako, who had lost her life during childbirth.

Here, I have a simple question. After the birth, which was full of screams and cries, a pure music similar to a hymn was played after the birth. I thought it was great because it matched the situation, but what language was the beautiful chorus singing? I strained my ears to hear, but I couldn't figure out what language it was... Could it be Latin? It was a wonderful atmosphere, so I'm not complaining, I just want to know what language it was...

By the way, when Emperor Ichijo's first child, Prince Atsunori, was born, there are several documents that record Emperor Ichijo's voice of joy, but there seems to be no record of Emperor Ichijo's voice of joy regarding the birth of Prince Atsunori. Even in the Gonki by Yukinari, who had become Michinaga's errand boy, the birth of Prince Atsunori is only written about very briefly.

Emperor Ichijo must have loved his first child with Sadashi. However, even he came to the Tsuchimikado residence to see the child's face. It is said that it is extremely rare for an emperor to visit the residences of his vassals. It was probably out of consideration for Michinaga, rather than out of a desire to see the child.

Mahiro and Michinaga, who struggled for the same goal, are now comrades?

Now, here is Mahiro and Michinaga. They are leaning against one pillar, and it looks like a nice atmosphere.

Since the two of them fought for the same goal of getting the Empress pregnant, they probably felt like comrades who had finished their battle. Even so, it was too bold, and it would not have been surprising if people, not just Saemon's lady-in-waiting who had been peeking at the two, had suspected that the two were suspicious. Has Michinaga given up on the idea?

Recently, the moon seems to be in the scene where Mahiro and Michinaga meet, both in the final scene of the previous episode and this one. I can't help but wonder if it's a foreshadowing of the famous waka poem by Michinaga, "If only the full moon were to be eclipsed, I would think so."

This song is sung exactly 10 years after this. It's a little further in the future, but will the drama continue to drag on until then? Now that there are only three months left, I'm starting to wonder how the ending will turn out.

At first glance, it seems like the elegant atmosphere of a Heian aristocrat's mansion, but in fact, next door, drunk nobles are partying.

"Today is a free day." With Michinaga's call, the banquet began. It was a celebration of Prince Atsunari's safe growth until the 50th day.

Everyone is drunk. The Minister of the Right tears open the seam of a folding screen to peek at the ladies-in-waiting, and Takaie is doing something inappropriate with a lady-in-waiting in a corner of the corridor. All of the debauchery of the nobles is written down in "The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu."

There are people like that in every era. At a drinking party, when everyone is drunk and having a good time, there is one person who is sober and observes the people around him, remembers everything, and says, "Mr. XX, you did this the other day." That's scary.

What's funny is seeing Sanesuke touching the sleeve of his wife's twelve-layered kimono. You'd think he was trying to peek inside through the cuff, but being a stickler for court etiquette and customs, he was actually observing the color of her kimono. Akiyama Ryuji's Sanesuke doesn't look like that, which is really funny. And then there's Kinto's nonsense, "I wonder if Wakamurasaki is around here?" The fact that this one word has been preserved is said to be strong evidence in literary history that the Wakamurasaki chapter was completed in 1008. Even though he was drunk, it was a great comment, Kinto.

I found an interesting image here. It is from the "Murasaki Shikibu Diary Illustrated Scroll Fragment" in the Tokyo National Museum's collection, and is a "50th Day Celebration." It is a truly debauched night. The ones holding Atsunari are Michiko and Michinaga, the one whose face is not visible is Akiko, and the one peeking out at the bottom right is Murasaki Shikibu.

At first glance, it seems like a picture scroll depicting the elegant appearance of a Heian aristocrat's mansion, but when you think about the drunken nobles partying nearby, it's quite interesting and moving.

 Is Noriko angry because she is jealous of Mahiro and Michinaga's relationship?

At a banquet, Michinaga forces Mahiro to compose a poem. In modern terms, this seems like Michinaga showing off his "my woman" status. Michinaga immediately responds with a poem. Michiko then looks displeased and gets up from her seat. Mahiro is quick to spot the whole incident and records it in her diary. The scene is also perfectly portrayed of Michinaga, who is actually terrified of his wife, frantically chasing after Michiko, who has retreated.

However, in the Heian period, and with two people of very different social status, this was simply entertainment at a banquet, and it would not have been the kind of situation where the ladies-in-waiting would gossip about it and say, "We had prepared this beforehand." At the time, it was common for men and women to meet face to face at poetry gatherings and exchange pseudo-love poems.

However, I think it's great how Oishi Shizuka manages to move the conversation forward at the banquet as if doubts are beginning to build about their relationship.

The recent developments, which have focused on the completion of The Tale of Genji and Empress Akishi's pregnancy, have now reached a turning point, so the plan is to once again put the spotlight on the relationship between Mahiro and Michinaga.

Japanese literature scholar Junko Yamamoto believes that the reason Noriko left the table was not because she was jealous of the couple, but because Michinaga had made an indiscreet remark at the banquet, "Noriko was very happy to marry me."

Yamamoto sensei's interpretation is that Michiko, who is a proud person, was angry when Michinaga boasted that he made her happy because of the enormous wealth of the Minister of the Left, the family of Michiko's parents, and Prince Atsunari, which was only possible because Michiko gave birth to Akiko. He didn't touch on that, but instead developed the story as if she was jealous of Mahiro and Michinaga's relationship, which was really clever. As a drama, this version is 100 times more interesting.

Among the many memorable scenes, there is one touching scene that ranks in the top three!

The realistic birth scene and the debauchery of the nobles were quite interesting this time, but in fact, the scene that moved the masochist man the most was not these scenes, but the scene where Mahiro and Akiko, who had moved to the Tsuchimikado residence, talked about "Kizu (flaw)". I guess the kanji written in the script was "Kizu" (flaw) and not "Kizu" (scar).

While listening to Mahiro's interpretation of a passage from "Shin Rakufu," Akiko worries, "Will the Emperor soon be looking for my flaws too?" To which Mahiro replies, "Flaws are precious treasures. It is our flaws that make us who we are."

"Flaws" are ego and "individuality" itself. Mahiro must have been ostracized, so to speak, because she was well versed in Chinese classics despite being a woman and Michinaga favored her. Mahiro tells Akiko not to belittle herself and to be proud of herself, and teaches her the importance of "flaws."

It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is a word that is connected to "diversity" and "individual dignity." What a wonderful thing.

The scenes of debauchery may have been inspired in part by the descriptions in "The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu," but this conversation must have been original to Oishi Shizuka and was filled with her own thoughts. There have been some memorable scenes up until now, but for masochistic men, this one is sure to be one that will be particularly memorable.

Even Akazomeemon, Mahiro's only ally, is questioned about her relationship with the Minister of the Left. Sei Shonagon approaches with open hostility (or rivalry?). I'm really looking forward to the next episode!!

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!