Ikedaya Inn Sketch and Haiga
by Dibyasree Nandy
by Dibyasree Nandy
The new candles still
burn with the colors of old
blood. That inn of sin.
burn with the colors of old
blood. That inn of sin.
Note about the Ikedaya Incident
On the night of July 8, 1864, a group of masterless samurai (rōnin) met at the Ikedaya Inn in Kyoto to finalize their plans to burn Kyoto, kidnap the Emperor to remove him to modern-day Yamaguchi prefecture, and kill anyone who tried to rescue him.
So said Furukata Shuntaro, a member of the rogue band of rōnin, after he was caught by the Shinsengumi, an elite force meant to protect the shogunate representatives as Japan transitioned from the Edo period to the Meiji period.
On that hot July night, as the rōnin ate, drank, and conspired, the Shinsengumi forces surrounded, then stormed the inn. The ambush led to the massacre of ten rebels and the arrest of 23 more.
The problem was, Furukata had been tortured in unimaginable (unimaginable, at least, to normal people like me and most people) and horrific ways. The surviving rōnin claimed they met only to plan their rescue of Furukata.
The inn was re-built in 2009 and is now an izakaya with a theme related to the famous, if questionable, incident.
On the night of July 8, 1864, a group of masterless samurai (rōnin) met at the Ikedaya Inn in Kyoto to finalize their plans to burn Kyoto, kidnap the Emperor to remove him to modern-day Yamaguchi prefecture, and kill anyone who tried to rescue him.
So said Furukata Shuntaro, a member of the rogue band of rōnin, after he was caught by the Shinsengumi, an elite force meant to protect the shogunate representatives as Japan transitioned from the Edo period to the Meiji period.
On that hot July night, as the rōnin ate, drank, and conspired, the Shinsengumi forces surrounded, then stormed the inn. The ambush led to the massacre of ten rebels and the arrest of 23 more.
The problem was, Furukata had been tortured in unimaginable (unimaginable, at least, to normal people like me and most people) and horrific ways. The surviving rōnin claimed they met only to plan their rescue of Furukata.
The inn was re-built in 2009 and is now an izakaya with a theme related to the famous, if questionable, incident.
L. G.
Sketches of Traditional Japan
by Dibyasree Nandy
by Dibyasree Nandy
An old street in Edo-sanmachi
Nagoya Castle
Tea Ceremony
Dibyasree Nandy is a writer who sketches for fun. She began writing three years ago while pursuing the final semester of M.Tech. She has authored poetry and short-story collections as well as full-length fiction. Her individual pieces have appeared in fifty anthologies and literary journals. An admirer of Japanese culture, she has begun learning the language. A patient of acute epilepsy, she lives in Kolkata with her parents and grandma.