Guardian of Heaven and Earth
-
New Yogo
Afterword
Chagum and Balsa’s long story comes to a close here…at least for now.
There is the seed of a story in my heart that involves Balsa during her
childhood, but the full story of the Guardian of the Spirit series has
its proper ending in this volume. Nayugu and Sagu met and melded, Chagum
confronted his father, Balsa found Tanda again…I was happy that I could
write all these things. Thank you for taking this long journey with
me.
Futaki Makiko, an animator at Studio
Ghibli, continues to provide stunning illustrations for this series. More
than ten years have passed since we started working together. I would like
to thank her personally, along with all the wonderful people who have made
these books possible.
And you, too, again. Thank you.
Uehashi Nahoko
September 18, 2006
Abiko
Story Notes on Guardian of Heaven and Earth: Writing Through Magic
This is the end of the
Guardian of the Spirit series. I knew from the start that it would
end with Balsa leaning her spear against the wall of Tanda’s hut and going
inside, but I had absolutely no idea how Balsa or Tanda would get there.
Much of the way was unclear to me while writing, but there was one other
thing that I had to have for certain: Chagum had to confront his father.I
didn’t want to write about Chagum trying to kill his father or being
complicit in his father’s assassination. That definitely wasn’t the kind
of story I wanted to tell.
Most of the novel grew organically from
these two seeds. I began writing without knowing anything else for sure.
But while writing, I heard Chagum and Balsa speaking, as if by magic.
While Chagum was confronting his father, I heard him say, “Farewell!”, and
understood that both he and the Mikado would be parting from one another
forever—but not as enemies. I felt the significance of their last meeting
deeply. It is the end of their relationship, just as this book is the end
of the story. The Mikado kept his gaze to the heavens while his son kept
his feet on the ground. For me, the most important scene in the novel
shows these positions reversed, with the Mikado sleeping forever under the
earth and Chagum living between the earth and sky with his brother and
sister.
The field of flowers is based on one I
discovered while doing fieldwork in western Australia. There were so many
flowers that I couldn’t see the end of them in any direction. Needless to
say, that field made a powerful impression on me. Instead of focusing on
the heavens or the earth, the scene locates people in the space between
the ground and the sky. That’s where everything alive must make its
way.
I used to make grass flutes all the time
as a child. Tanda taught Chagum how to make one in Guardian of the Spirit,
so I wanted Chagum to teach his siblings how to make one, too.
***
Some people might think that there’s
still a lot of Chagum’s story to tell, and I can understand that
perspective. But for me, the Guardian of the Spirit series was always
Balsa and Chagum’s journey together. Now that they’ve both come home, that
is their ending, though their lives certainly aren’t over. It’s difficult
for me to chart the path ahead for both Balsa and Chagum, especially
Chagum as the new Mikado.
I also tried to bring Tanda and Balsa’s
long-held love to a satisfying conclusion. They’ve known one another since
childhood and have lived most of their lives knowing one another, even if
they’re not always together. It was difficult for me to select a label for
their relationship, since “husband and wife” was too pedestrian and
“spouse” or “partner” was too generic. I settled on
つれあい、tsureai, a gender-neutral term with the same meaning as “spouse” but with
an emphasis on being both led and followed. In such a relationship, the
two follow and lead one another at different points, and I think that’s
exactly right.
That’s not to say that writing a
conclusion to their relationship was easy. I wanted to emphasize that
Balsa would still be a bodyguard and Tanda would still be a magic weaver
in his hut, but they would always be in one another’s lives and completely
committed to one another. The breakthrough I had for their relationship
was when Balsa spoke to me, again as if by magic: “Tanda, I need to cut
your arm off.”
I could see the scene so clearly, but I’m
not a doctor, so I am grateful for my cousin, Dr. Matsuki Takamichi, for
giving me advice on how to write an amputation done in an area that was
anything but sterile. Some of the details of the scene, like cauterizing
the wound, are somewhat gruesome, but they are necessary; without
cauterization, Tanda would have either bled to death or died of infection.
I could clearly see Balsa tying a tourniquet, making the swift cut, and
burning the edges of the wound.
Balsa’s path led her to shed the blood of
many people through fighting. I wanted her to shed blood to save someone.
That seemed to be a fitting sort of end for her.
***
I have a lot of people to thank: my
longstanding editors at Kaseisha, my brilliant illustrators Futaki Makiko
and Satake Miho, who have been with me all the way to the end, my friends
and family, who have been with me from the beginning, and to all of my
wonderful readers for taking this long journey with me. I thank you all
from the bottom of my heart.
Uehashi Nahoko
October 12, 2008
Abiko
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