[D6LA - Fukawa's Yurt] The House of Culture

[Shinjo Taichi]

Having cleaned himself up after his miscalculation during the afternoon's event, Taichi was resolved to finally go and see the Crane. Everyone talked about them as the heads of the empire's culture, and he was hoping to learn more straight from the source during this miai. Sadly, they all seemed too shy to approach him. Clearly they were demonstrating the restraint that one must show in court, but it would be troublesome if this prevented them from talking to him at all.

And so he showed up to the yurt that had been allocated to one of the Doji, dressed in the fine kimono he had bought for this miai. By way of introduction, he said from outside the yurt "Doji-sama. If you would permit me to utilise some of your time?" That should be formal enough.

[Doji Fukawa]

Having little to do, Fukawa had been reading a pillowbook, after watching the lancing follies.

She rose, went to the yurt's door, and opened it.

She bowed to the Shinjo that was there.

"Shinjo-san, I am Doji Fukawa, it is an honor to meet you." she offers as an introduction. "How can I help you?"

[Shinjo Taichi]

Taichi bows almost the instant that Fukawa finishes hers, matching the depth exactly. "A pleasure to meet you as well." A winning smile is flashed "My name is Shinjo Taichi. I have been a student of the empire's culture since my clan's return, but regret that I have yet to visit the lands of your clan, or made the personal acquaintance of one of your clansmen."

"I have been told by all that I've met here that the Doji are the family to see in regards to learning more of the customs of our homeland, and that you yourself are an expert in matters of court." He spreads his arms slightly in an open gesture "It was my hope that you would be able to further my understanding on such matters that I may better instruct the other members of my clan."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa bows at the praise.

"I cannot teach you everything within the next four days, Shinjo-san, but I am happy to answer any questions, or offer any insight that would appreciate." she says.

She gestures inside the yurt.

"Please come in and make yourself comfortable." she says.

[Shinjo Taichi]

He bows again for good measure, saying "ojamashimasu" as he enters. Best to let her know that he's not a total novice at manners.

"I understand of course that everything cannot be taught within four days, Doji-san. But as one of the forward thinkers in my clan, I feel it essential to develop a strong foundation of etiquette that will smooth their interactions with the rest of the clans."

He pauses for a moment. "I guess the first thing that I'd like to hear about would be your feelings about my clan from your interactions thus far. Some insight into the most noticeable issues from one such as yourself would be most valuable."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa dips her head in acknowledgement, and gestures to the rokugani blanket laid out in the middle of the yurt.

"Please make yourself comfortable, Shinjo-san." she says, taking up the seiza position on one end of the blanket.

Fukawa thinks for a moment on the question while the Shinjo settles himself.

"From what I've found, your people are an honorable people, very honest, and very friendly." she says. "The main problem I've encountered is while in their pursuit of honesty, they get frustrated with some of the smaller forms of courtesy, mistaking them for a desire for deception. I understand that life on the battlefield, which is similar to what you experienced during your long ride, efficiency in speech can be the difference between life or death, outside the battlefield, it comes across as rude and an indicator of lack of thought."

[Shinjo Taichi]

He sits in the position indicated, mimicking her stance.

He smiles broadly and nods at the praise to his clan, then turns thoughtful as the critique begins. "Honesty and Compassion are the two Virtues that we most heavily associate with Shinjo-kami, so that is not surprising. And as you say, many of the places we have been to do not allow for niceties. Were there any notable examples of this problem?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa thinks a moment.

"Probably the most notable examples come from fans and stories." she admits.

She takes her fan and opens it, holding it before her.

"Fans are not an uncommon accessory for a courtier, and they serve a variety of purposes. But I got the distinct impression Moto Butaj-san felt I was hiding something from him explicitly when I met with him with a fan." she explains.

[Shinjo Taichi]

As she starts to mention specifics, Taichi pulls out some paper and charcoal and starts to take notes. "so fans and stories, hrmm." His handwriting is really quite bad.

He looks back up at her "Butaj-san is a notable example of the virtue of Honesty taken to an extreme. He is a good man, but this is a new place for him. From my understanding, fans in a court setting are to conceal the mouth and display modesty. Would this be accurate?"

"With regards to the stories, were they perhaps... overly graphic?"

[Doji Fukawa]

A small shrug from Fukawa.

"Fans are used for communication in many ways. You can call attention to a point with a sharp snap of a fan. You can indicate boredom in a speaker by opening and closing your fan. You can slyly show off who you are courting by gifting them your fan. You can champion artists or ideas by what you display on your fan. As well as what Shinjo-san listed. Although covering the mouth is really more about respecting the emotional boundaries of others as much as it is preventing lip reading. " she lists off.

She shakes her head about the stories.

"Ah, no. It's more that I told him a story about why courtly manners were important, and instead he envisioned himself the villain of the story." she explained.

[Shinjo Taichi]

Taichi furiously scribbles down the list of meanings, desperately trying to keep up. His bad handwriting gets worse.

At the end of it, he simply asks "..and all Rokugani citizens are aware of all of these uses?" He pauses for a moment "If the story was an example of what not to do, I can perhaps understand the issue. As a clan, we tend prefer positive images to aspire to rather negative images to avoid, partly due to that fact that our history is spoken rather than written, taking the form of tales of heroic individuals. Different people approach problems differently after all, and there is not always one right answer. "

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa ponders the Shinjo's response.

"Hmm, well, fan etiquette is well known to individuals who spend a decent amount of time in court. More martial samurai who do not attend court would probably not known it to such a deep level." she offers.

Too busy studying how to hurt people. she mentally added.


"As far as stories go, we have tales of heroism as well. However, stories with a tragic ending tend to be viewed as better than stories with happy endings, so cautionary tales fit in well." she explained.

[Shinjo Taichi]

He definitely seems relieved about the fact that not everyone is expected to remember all the millions of uses that fans apparently have.

He looks a little confused. "I understand that cautionary tales can have value, but what makes the a tragedy a better story than a triumph? Surely it is the desire of all people for a happy ending to be achieved?"

"Perhaps there are not enough recent stories of triumph in the empire?" he muses aloud.

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa looks thoughtful at that.

"A possibility, certainly, Shinjo-san." she offers. "It also might be a difference in what our respective people's have been attempting to achieve. The Unicorn, always moving forward towards their goal of returning home preferred stories of hope, so as to not despair of their own goal. Meanwhile, the Empire sought stability, which cautionary tales are better at. While there are inspirational tales, it seems that they are not finished on their own until the eventual sad ending."

[Shinjo Taichi]

This seemed like a chance for the great ambassador of Unicorn culture to make his statement. Suddenly he seemed much more passionate "Everything changes with time. The key is changing with it without losing what defines what you stand for. If you always tell sad stories, I think you might eventually forget that we should be looking for more."

There was a glint in his eyes. "Perhaps the return of my Clan can help with this. A fresh perspective, new ideas to be analysed and tried."