Tales of the Otori - Question and Answer Page

	Otori Shigeru: rightful heir to the clan Otori Takeshi:: his younger brother, murdered by the Tohan clan. Otori Takeo: (born Tomasu) his adopted son. Otori Shigemori: Shigeru’s father, killed at the battle of Yaegahara Otori Ichiro: a distant relative, Shigeru and Takeo’s teacher Chiyo, Haruka: maids in the household Shiro: a carpenter Otori Shoichi:: Shigeru’s uncle, now lord of the clan Otori Masahiro: his younger brother Otori Yoshitomi: Masahiro’s son Miyoshi Kahei brothers: friends of Takeo Miyoshi Genba, Endo Chikara: a retainer Terada Fumihasa: a pirate Terada Fumio: his son, friend of Takeo’s Ryoma: Masahiro’s illegitimate son
	Iida Sadamu: lord of the clan Iida Nariaki: his cousin Ando , Abe: Iida’s retainers Lord Noguchi: an ally Junko: a servant in Noguchi castle
	Arai Daiichi: a warlord Niwa Satoru: one of his retainers Maruyama Naomi: head of the Maruyama domain, Shigeru’s lover Sachie: her maid Sugita Haruki: a retainer Sugita Hiroshi: his nephew Lord Shirakawa: her cousin Kaede: his eldest daughter Ai, Hana: his daughters Ayame, Manami: maids in the household Amano Tenzo: a Shirakawa retainer Shoji Kiyoshi: senior retainer to Lord Shirakawa
	The Tribe Muto Kenji: Takeo’s teacher, the Master Muto Shizuka: Arai’s mistress and Kaede’s maid Zenko, Taku: her sons Muto Seiko: Kenji’s wife Muto Yuki: their daughter Muto Yuzuru: a cousin Kikuta Isamu: Takeo’s real father Kikuta Kotaro: his cousin, the Master Kikuta Gosaburo: his younger brother Kikuta Akio Kikuta Hajime Kuroda Shintaro: a famous assassin Kondo Kiichi< Imai Kazuo Kudo Keiko
	Other Characters Lord Fujiwara: a nobleman, exiled from the capital Mamoru: his protégé and lover Ono Risako: his cousin Matsuda Shingen: The Abbot at Terayama Kubo Makoto: a monk, Takeo’s closest friend Jinemon: a bandit Jo-An: an outcaste

Background on the World of the Otori
The three books that make up the Tales of the Otori are set in an imaginary country in a feudal period. Neither the setting nor the period are intended to correspond to any true historical era, though echoes of many Japanese customs and traditions will be found, and the landscape and seasons are those of Japan. I have used Japanese names for places, but these have little connection with real places, apart from Hagi and Matsue which are more or less in their true geographical positions. As for characters, they are all invented, apart from the artist Sesshu who seemed impossible to replicate. The Three Countries where the story takes place are situated at the Western end of a string of islands (the Eight Islands) nominally ruled by an Emperor but in practice at the mercy of clans and warlords who struggle to expand their power and territory. The clans of the Three Countries, the Tohan and, the Seishuu and the Otori, hold sway over the fiefs of the West, the East and the Middle Country, while smaller lords hold their own domains within the fiefs. Trade is carried on sporadically with the mainland but otherwise there is little contact with the rest of the world. Most of the country follows the religion of the Enlightened One, which sits amicably alongside worship of the Old Ones, the gods of the countryside, river, mountain, forest, and so on, but a small sect, the Hidden, brought years before by teachers from the mainland, worship the Secret God, and are persecuted for it. Society is theoretically divided up into rigid classes: nobles, warriors, merchants, craftsman and workmen, monks and outcasts, each with their own codes of behavior, but interaction between the classes is fluid. A network of families, the Tribe, have retained skills from the past that seem like magic and work as assassins and spies. I hope I will be forgiven by purists for the liberties I have taken. My only excuse is that this is a work of imagination.