To the Shining You, Part 40: "Leaving You Behind" Synopsis & Whatever You Want to Say This Week
Thanks to the efforts of the errand boy Yukinari, the Crown Prince becomes Atsunari. And Emperor Ichijo dies. Mahiro calmly observes.

This week's M-man is on duty. Emperor Ichijo has finally passed away. It was a very heavy and intense episode.

I felt like I was witnessing the birth of the so-called regent system (although historically, regent politics was already established over 100 years ago...)

Yukinari forced Prince Atsuyasu to give up on his role as Crown Prince and jogged off to Michinaga. He was literally a errand boy.

No matter how good his handwriting is, he might just be a jerk.

And Mahiro calmly observes all this intrigue. His eyes are those of a writer and recorder, and they are cool.

Mahiro fears the consequences of his sins. His brother's death was the result of those sins.

Prince Atsunobu (played by Sennosuke, sorry), who appears to be quite unhappy, casts a passionate gaze at Akiko.

In The Tale of Genji, Hikaru Genji and Fujitsubo end up having an affair, so the ladies-in-waiting must have looked at Prince Atsunobu and Akishi, who may be the models for these characters, in a negative light, and must have half-amusedly hoped that an infidelity would actually occur just as in the story.

Mahiro, for his part, fears the consequences of his sin of infidelity. Perhaps he even thinks of his brother's death as karma. Meanwhile, Michinaga is oblivious to his own infidelity, and only thinks of distancing Atsuyasu from Akiko and excluding him from the court. He has an almost hateful look on his face.

Emperor Ichijo gives in to Yukinari's persuasion and gives up on Prince Atsuyasu's position as Crown Prince.

Although he was a lackey of Yukinari, who had criticized him to the point of being a errand boy, Emperor Ichijo apparently summoned Yukinari frequently after the death of Ise and consulted with him about the next Crown Prince. Each time, Yukinari recommended Atsunari.

In fact, Yukinari was the head of the household who handled household affairs for Prince Atsuyasu. In other words, he had a very close relationship with Prince Atsuyasu, so it would have been reasonable to recommend Atsuyasu. So why did they choose Atsuyasu?

In trying to persuade Emperor Ichijo, Yukinari cited precedent; however, if we look at past examples, there had never been a case where the first son of an emperor whose mother was the Empress did not become Crown Prince. In an aristocratic society where precedent was valued, it would have been perfectly reasonable for Prince Atsunobu to become Crown Prince.

So why did Yukinari recommend Atsunari and why did Emperor Ichijo accept it? According to scholars, one reason is that Emperor Ichijo had a lot of trust in Yukinari. Another theory is that he feared the power of Michinaga, who already had a strong samurai army.

There is also a view that Yukinari calmly judged that it would be more stable for politics to have Prince Atsunari, who was a relative by marriage, become the Crown Prince while he was still alive, and convinced Emperor Ichijo of this. Perhaps in the drama, Yukinari was made to be Michinaga's errand boy to make it easier to understand.

In any case, the entry about this day in Yukinari's diary "Gonki" is unusually long, and it seems that Emperor Ichijo and Yukinari had a very in-depth exchange. (It would be interesting if we could read the original text...)

Michinaga is almost like a mafia member. It's too scary...

Angry at Michinaga for arbitrarily choosing Crown Prince Atsunari, Shoko stood up to go to Emperor Ichijo and try to persuade him to change his mind, but Michinaga grabbed her sleeve and wouldn't let her go. He then stood up and looked down at Shoko, threatening her, saying, "It is I, not the Empress, who carry out government affairs." Scary!!

He puts his hand on Yukinari's shoulder, smiles and says, "Michinaga is what he is because of Yukinari," and threatens the Empress. He's an anti-social force, a mafia. After that, no matter how much he leans on a pillar or broods alone, his dark side won't go away!

Mahiro stares intently at the battle between Michinaga and Akiko. Seeing Michinaga like this, she begins to worry unnecessarily, wondering if she can still love him. Even at the beginning, when asked about the Tale of Genji, Mahiro just nods.

As for Mahiro, he has few lines this time, and most of the scenes show him calmly observing the situation on the scene and changing his expression each time. That's wonderful in itself. It was because he was able to calmly observe the situation that he was able to write "The Tale of Genji". The writer Murasaki Shikibu is here.

A fragmented death poem that no one could quite hear.

Emperor Ichijo passed away. I almost cried. Thanks to the actor, Akihisa Shiono. There was no one who was as emperor-like as Shiono (although it is not clear what constitutes "emperor-like").

He was noble and dignified. I'm going to miss Ichijo a little. That's why I couldn't bear to see him so ill that he even took off his black hat. And on top of that, he even had his head shaved at the moment of his death...

The death poem is also choppy and difficult to hear. However, upon investigation, it turns out that the death poem of Emperor Ichijo that has been passed down so far is slightly different depending on the source, and there are a total of five different versions.

I guess no one could hear it properly after all. So that scene in the drama may have been true to reality. The title of this song, "Kimi wo Okitite," is a common line in all the songs that have been passed down. This part must have been heard by many people.

To whom did Emperor Ichijo write his death poem?

What is interesting is that at the time of his death, there were already two different views on who Emperor Ichijo's death poem was addressed to. One group believed that it was addressed to Shoshi, who was at his bedside.

Naturally, Michinaga thought so too, and he left a similar description in the Mido Kanpakuki. On the other hand, Yukinari saw it as a poem he composed for Teishi. It echoed the death poem Teishi had read 11 years earlier, meaning that Emperor Ichijo had sent a reply poem to Teishi in the afterlife.

It certainly seems like the two poems echo each other, and from the description in "Gonki," it seems that Yukinari interpreted it that way. It's so interesting!! That's why they included a scene of Michinaga and Yukinari writing their diaries after the Emperor's death. But no one in the audience will know that much...

What's even more interesting is that on the same day, exactly 1011 years before the death of Emperor Ichijo on June 6, 22, Emperor Kazan was tricked by Michinaga's father and brother into becoming a monk. Even though it's a coincidence, it's just too funny!!

The above is a quote from the masterpiece "The Age of the Tale of Genji" (published by Asahi Shimbun Publications) by Junko Yamamoto, a Japanese literature scholar. When I read it again, I often have an eye-opening moment, and I think, "So that's what that scene was like," so I recommend that everyone read it.

The appearance of Sojumaru, who has the same character as Naohide. Is that necessary?

Here is my first complaint in a while. What's with the sudden appearance of a fictional character called Sojumaru in the last 5 minutes? And his character overlaps with Naohide's who appeared in the first half. The scene where he saves Kenko who is cornered by thieves is so cliched that I can't bear to watch it. His interactions with Kenko are also a bit painful!

According to the cast relationship chart, he serves a samurai named Taira Tamekata, who is a retainer of Fujiwara Takaie, but I wonder. I wonder if it will depict the rise of samurai power? Since there is not much left, I think it would be better to focus on the imperial court and do a sticky story. Am I the only M-man who thinks this?

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!