Teito Monogatari:
The Tale of the Imperial Capital
Part 3: The Book of Catastrophe
Author: Hiroshi Aramata
Preface
This volume, which may be called one of the highlights of the Tale of the Imperial Capital series, is an extraordinary fantastical tale set during the historical reconstruction of the imperial capital after the Great Kanto Earthquake. At the time of this writing, there is daily news concerning the Great Hanshin Earthquake. It pains me to see the disparity between the reconstruction efforts depicted here and those of the present.
This volume makes clear that urban development after the great earthquake was planned on the basis of two ideas. One was Gotō Shinpei’s radial city, and the other was Terada Torahiko’s underground city.
Yet now, in 1995, as we find ourselves forced to rebuild from a similar disaster, we have neither Gotō Shinpei nor Terada Torahiko! Still less do we have a writer of the caliber of Kōda Shigeyuki, who urged citizens toward “calm reconstruction” from the perspective of a man of letters.
Amid such circumstances, The Tale of the Imperial Capital turns its attention to feng shui. In this volume, the fundamentals of city planning according to feng shui are explained through the words of Shibusawa Eiichi:
“The dragon vein is said to be the most important concept in feng shui. It may be understood as the force of the earth—what, in fashionable scientific terms, might be termed ‘energy.’ Land through which this flows unobstructed is blessed with the earth’s energy and protected from natural disasters. In China, when people build a house or dig a moat, they consult a feng shui master. Using a kind of compass called a luopan, the feng shui master measures the direction of the dragon vein and takes care not to obstruct the flow of energy through the building. If this is neglected, the geomantic conditions of the house or moat will worsen. In cases where a dragon vein is excessively powerful, one may create an artificial hill or create a moat to seal it off from a given area.”
If this dragon vein is severed, Tōkyō will decline. Katō Yasunori plots to destroy Tōkyō by severing this dragon vein.
There is a historical instance from the Edo period in which the city’s decline was feared because a dragon vein had been severed. This was during the time of Yoshimune, the eighth shogun.
At that time, Edo laid waterworks throughout the city, carrying out construction that severed dragon veins. As the terrestrial veins that carried the energy of water were cut, the water dried up, hot winds raged, and fires occurred frequently in Edo.
Yoshimune, acting on advice from Muro Kyūsō, ordered that all waterworks other than the two systems at Kanda and Tamagawa be filled in.
The same kind of thing has happened in Tōkyō since 1927. Of particular importance was the opening of the subway. Tōkyō’s dragon veins were cut by the subway.
The character who rises up to save Tōkyō is Kuroda Shigemaru, a feng shui master. He is none other than the grandfather of Kuroda Ryūto, the protagonist of the new series Sim-Feng Shui (published by Kadokawa Horror Bunko), which the author continues to write today.
It is my hope that, after finishing The Tale of the Imperial Capital, you might also turn your attention to Ryūto’s exploits.
Aramata Hiroshi
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