“Which side?” Shiraishi sounded genuinely puzzled as she stood in front of the tree, holding the sanpo with the offerings on. It took Akiko a moment to understand her question, but once she did she was equally puzzled. She carefully put the mats and tables down, and started walking round the tree, looking at it carefully. Which side was the front?

The trunk was thick and gnarled, too large for her to reach around, the bark twisted into complex patterns, green with moss and lichen. The roots dove into the earth around the base, and the leaves rustled in the morning breeze, sounding almost like laughter. The white shide on the shimenawa fluttered in the breeze, and a small lizard ran down the bark.

All the sides looked about the same.

“I don’t know,” Akiko said, as she came back to stand beside the priest. “I can’t see anything that looks like a front.”

“In that case, we’ll suppose that it’s facing south. Which, I guess, is that way.” She pointed back towards the shrine entrance. “So, here, then.” Akiko nodded, and set the tables and mats up where Shiraishi indicated, one pair in front of the tree, and another pair off to one side. Shiraishi put the offerings on the table off to the side, and then knelt on the mat in front of the tree, while Akiko knelt beside the offerings.

The ceremony was short and simple. First, Shiraishi performed a harae to cleanse the area, then Akiko passed her the offerings, which the priest placed on the table in front of the tree. Then Shiraishi offered a short norito, before removing the offerings, and passing them back to Akiko.

As they walked back to the shrine house, Shiraishi sighed audibly.

“I suppose we’d better look at getting that flag up.”

“The national flag? Yes. Do we have a flagpole?”

“I think there’s one somewhere in a store cupboard.”

“You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”

“No. Nationalism makes me uncomfortable. That’s what got us involved in the war.”

Akiko did a quick mental calculation to confirm her impression, and then asked outright.

“But you aren’t old enough to remember the war, right?”

Shiraishi shook her head.

“No, but my parents remembered it well, and my grandfather. My grandfather never said much about it, but my father told me more. Apparently, my grandfather was quite enthusiastic about State Shinto, the supreme authority of the Emperor, and Japan’s manifest destiny to rule Asia, maybe the world. He raised my father and his older brother to be good patriots, as well as to be priests.

“In 1945 my uncle was nineteen, and a student. He wanted to fight for the Emperor, and my grandfather was enthusiastic. I think my father was, as well. They saw him off with flags and a special ceremony.

“A few days later, they got a letter from my uncle. He had decided to join the Special Attack Corps.

“Soon after that a messenger came to tell them that my uncle had died in his kamikaze attack.

“My father said that, had Japan avoided occupation, my grandfather might have accepted his eldest son’s death, but instead he came to believe that the whole war had been a waste of life, and that State Shinto was a perversion of what Shinto should be.

“We haven’t flown a Japanese flag here since.”

05: Spirit Busters, Episode 31 | 2 Comments »

Akiko was still thinking about what Shiraishi had said as she continued looking around the area for concentrations of kegare. Akira was still busy at work, so she was walking again, stopping to look around. She went to the park first, confirming that it still seemed fairly clear. She saw someone working on the toilet block, but otherwise the park was empty, of both people and visible spirits. Satisfied, she set off to look for more concentrations.

They had put the flag up in the end, digging out an old flagpole and setting it up beside the shrine house. Shiraishi had pointed out that she couldn’t remember her uncle, given that he had died twelve years before she was born, and, in any case, the current Japanese state was not an imperialistic war machine, so if it would keep such a generous donor happy it was a reasonable thing to do. It still made Akiko a little uncomfortable, though, and she was trying to work out why.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like the flag; that was obvious. And it couldn’t really be concern for Shiraishi’s feelings, since the priest was willing to put it up. It was also true that it was only a small thing, and that lots of other shrines did it anyway. So, why?

She had scanned several areas before part of the reason finally occurred to her. The shrine didn’t seem to have anything to do with Japan as a nation. Tamao only seemed to be concerned for the local area; he had never mentioned the country as a whole, or the Emperor. The flag didn’t seem to have anything to do with the shrine.

The second part of her concern quickly became clear after that. Mr Fujimura was using the influence he had gained from his donation to shape the way the shrine was acting. Yes, this was a small thing, and now that her reasons for disquiet were clear to her Akiko had to agree with Shiraishi that putting the flag up was the right thing to do. But she was still worried about what Mr Fujimura might ask for next.

At the next junction, her musings were brought to a halt by the sight of a building absolutely laden with kegare. Strips of faded material, stained red, yellow, brown, and green, the colours of human excreta, bundled it up, while spirits in the form of white cockroaches scuttled over it. The building seemed to be oozing liquids that looked, and, as the wind shifted, smelled, like mixed blood, urine, and faeces. Akiko gagged, and dropped her vision.

Now she could see the sign; the building was an old folks’ home. She shuddered briefly at the thought of being housed in there to await the end of your life, and then walked over. They had to purify the place, and this was private property.

“You want to what?” The receptionist burst out laughing at the suggestion, shaking her head. “No, thank you. We don’t want religious groups targeting these vulnerable old people.”

Akiko wanted to protest, but realised that she had nothing persuasive to say. The receptionist didn’t even believe in kegare. Instead, she just nodded, and left.

She still knew that they needed to purify the place, for the sake of the people living there.

And if they had to do it without permission, then that is what they would do.

05: Spirit Busters, Episode 31 | 3 Comments »

There were no protesters waiting at the bottom of the stairs when Akiko got back for the shrine, and for a moment hope flared; maybe they had given up? Realism soon took over, however, and she hurried up the steps, hoping that they hadn’t caused any damage already.

Her heart sank as she reached the top. There were half a dozen of the protesters, including Mrs Watanabe, gathered under a large banner, two of them holding up the poles.

“Shinto Equals Fascism

“Just Say No!”

While Akiko was hurrying over to confront them, Mrs Watanabe noticed her and strode out to meet her.

“You show your true colours now!” she said, pointing at the Japanese flag hanging limply in the still air. “We cannot allow this kind of thing to continue.”

“It’s a Japanese flag, and we’re in Japan. Hardly fascism.”

Mrs Watanabe looked Akiko up and down, contempt on her face.

“You’re too young to remember the Pacific War. You don’t know the damage Shinto did to Japan, and to the rest of Asia.”

“You aren’t old enough to remember it either,” Akiko shot back. Mrs Watanabe was old enough to be her mother, but not her grandmother.

“My parents remembered it. I know what Shinto told people to do. I know what damage it did.” She sounded really angry, but Akiko wasn’t about to give ground.

“That was seventy years ago. Shinto isn’t the same now.”

“Oh? Then why do you have the flag?”

Akiko didn’t have a quick answer to that question, and Mrs Watanabe smiled, apparently sensing victory.

“And if Shinto isn’t about loyalty to the Emperor and conquering in the name of Imperial Japan, what is it about?”

Akiko did have an answer to that, at least the beginnings of one, but she couldn’t use it. Mrs Watanabe certainly wasn’t going to believe in kegare, and the need to purify it.

“In any case,” she said, at last, “we are not fascists, so take that banner down and get it out of the shrine grounds.” As she said this, Shiraishi came running out of the shrine house, looking flushed and nearly as angry as Mrs Watanabe.

“Get that banner, and yourselves, out of the shrine!” she yelled, coming to a stop in front of Mrs Watanabe and sweeping her gaze over the other protesters.

“No.” Mrs Watanabe wasn’t budging this time. “Shinto brings nothing but trouble. It nearly destroyed Japan. It destroys families. I’m not going to let you continue promoting it here.”

Akiko took a step back, astonished by the venom in Mrs Watanabe’s condemnation. She’d never met anyone who thought like that; most people barely thought about Shinto at all, but went along to shrines at New Year. Why was she so hostile?

“This is private property! Get off now before I call the police!” Shiraishi was really angry, and shouting back. The other protesters, Akiko noticed, were looking a bit uncomfortable, but Mrs Watanabe still wasn’t moving.

Then Akiko heard running footsteps, coming into the shrine, and looked round to see Mr Akiyama, breathing hard, hurry into the grounds.

“Mrs Watanabe! Please!” he called out. “Remember what we discussed. We have to stay within the law. Now, come on, let’s get off the shrine property, as the priest asked.” He turned to Shiraishi, and bowed deeply. “I am really very sorry, Revd Shiraishi. Mrs Watanabe just got carried away. We will leave the grounds now.” The other protesters were already on their way to the steps, and although Mrs Watanabe looked for a moment as though she would protest again, she didn’t, just giving Akiko and Shiraishi angry looks before walking off. Mr Akiyama bowed to them once more from the top of the stairs, and then they were gone.

05: Spirit Busters, Episode 31 | 4 Comments »

After Mr Akiyama’s intervention, Shiraishi decided against calling the police, observing that the protesters had got off the grounds, and that the police were unlikely to actually arrest them while they weren’t causing trouble. She did, however, want someone keeping an eye on the entrance at all times, to make sure that they didn’t try to come back in.

Which was why Akiko found herself wandering around the shrine precincts as dawn broke the following morning, having taken over from Shiraishi in the early hours. It had started to drizzle, and it was colder than Akiko thought it should be for the time of year, so she had a waterproof on over her vestments.

The weather, however, matched her mood. She could not forget what she had seen at the old folks’ home, and she still hadn’t had a chance to talk to Shiraishi about going to purify it. Mrs Watanabe’s question also preyed on her mind. What was Shinto for? Or, at least, what was this shrine for? Was it just for keeping Tamao happy and stopping him from cursing the area? That seemed unpleasantly possible, and Akiko wasn’t happy with the implications if it were true.

She continued walking around the precincts, avoiding the woods, trying not to look at the iwakura or the empty plot waiting for a new shrine. She didn’t want to see anything that might force her to deal with the kami right here and now.

Which was why Akira had been standing near the entrance for some time before she noticed him. Berating herself for not paying attention — some guard she had been! — she hurried over to greet him.

“Mr Takenaka! Good to see you again.”

“I’m sorry I’ve not been around much recently.” He didn’t sound very sorry. In fact, he sounded really quite cheerful. “I’ve been busy with the business.” That sounded very cheerful, Akiko thought, and when Akira paused she decided that he wanted to be asked.

“How is the business going?”

“Great!” He broke out in a grin. “We’ve just got a major commission for a new apartment block over in Tokyo. Enough work for everyone for the next six months, and a good chance of further jobs from the same consortium. Even Unc… er, Mr Nakayama is pleased with the terms. He said I did a good job in getting the contract.” Akira was grinning like a schoolboy who’d just been praised by his teacher, and Akiko found herself smiling as well.

“That’s great!”

“Yes. Anyway, now that the negotiations are over, I have some more free time. I can’t supervise the work like my father did, and Mr Nakayama said that they want to get started before they have me hanging around and getting in the way while I learn the ropes. So I thought I’d come and see whether you wanted any help at the shrine.”

“Oh, yes.” Akiko was sure her relief was obvious in her voice. “There have been more problems with the protesters, so we can’t leave the shrine unoccupied, but I found another concentration of kegare. Could you look after the shrine while we go to deal with it?”

“Of course.” Akira sounded a little disappointed, for reasons Akiko couldn’t understand, but he soon brightened up. “So, are you going to leave now?”

“Er, actually, I’ve not talked to Revd Shiraishi about it yet. I don’t suppose you could keep an eye on the grounds while I do?”

05: Spirit Busters, Episode 31 | 4 Comments »

Akiko found Shiraishi in the kitchen, fixing herself some breakfast. The priest looked at her sharply.

“Why are you in here?”

“It’s OK. Akira just arrived, and he’s watching the grounds.” Shiraishi relaxed immediately.

“That’s all right, then. We should ask him if he wants breakfast. Do you mind if I eat first?”

“No, go ahead.” Akiko paused for a moment, to gather her thoughts. “Ah, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Shiraishi just nodded as she got on with eating, so Akiko pressed on.

“It’s about the kegare in the area again, of course.” Shiraishi nodded again. “When I was out yesterday, I found a high concentration at an old folks’ home. I dread to think what it must be like for the people who live there; it looked like it might be even worse than the Tanakas’ house.” The priest nodded again, and Akiko paused once more before going on.

“The problem is that I went in and offered to perform a harae, and they told me not to.” Shiraishi finished her rice, the speed at which she could eat still surprising Akiko, and put it down, looking up.

“Well, then we can’t do anything, can we.”

“But we can’t just leave it!” Akiko protested. “The whole place was laden with kegare; the people inside must be suffering. Who knows what will happen next?”

“Akiko, kegare comes from illness and death. An old folks’ home is bound to have a lot of it.”

Akiko stubbornly shook her head.

“There was more. The whole building was hidden by it.” The priest looked at her, a little quizzically.

“Can you measure the amount of kegare?”

Akiko was floored for a moment. Could she? She had been assuming that the amount she saw corresponded to the amount that there was, but did she have any proof?

“I think so,” she said, a little hesitantly. “Certainly, I can see different amounts, not just presence or absence.”

“Hmm. And there was a lot at this old folks’ home?”

“Oh yes, far more than on the buildings around it. Probably more than there was on the park.”

“But what can we do if they won’t let us perform a harae?”

“Sneak in. We can do it from outside the building, I’m sure.”

“Akiko! That would be trespassing. What if we got caught?”

“What if we do nothing? The kegare will just keep building up, I’m sure. And, even if it has no other effects, that will anger Tamao.”

The priest still looked sceptical, but she also seemed to be thinking about it.

“Could we do it from the street?”

Akiko thought about that for a moment, and then slowly shook her head.

“No. The roads are too narrow; I don’t think we could set up the himorogi without getting onto the home’s land. And I’m not even sure that the harae would work from outside. The building surely has to be present, in some sense, to be purified.”

“You’re sure this is urgent?” Akiko could tell that Shiraishi was almost persuaded.

“Yes. Definitely.”

The priest sighed.

“All right. If Akira can watch the shrine tonight, we’ll go and do it.” She looked at Akiko, and then shook her head slightly. “You’d better be right about this, young lady. We’re risking a lot of trouble.”

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Akiko was pacing in her room, waiting for Shiraishi to be ready to go, when her cellphone rang. She picked it up, grimacing as she saw the calling number. Her mother. She thought about not answering, but decided it would be worse to have her mother calling her while she was helping with the purification.

“Hello, mother?”

“Akiko. Why do you never call?” Akiko felt brief stabs of guilt and irritation, although irritation was stronger.

“I’m very busy at the moment.”

“Busy? Doing what? You don’t have a proper job.”

“I’m working at the shrine, mother. I’m a miko, and I have duties.”

“Yes, but they’re hardly that important.”

If only you knew, mother, Akiko thought, but she knew she couldn’t tell her mother everything that was going on. She had enough trouble accepting that Akiko wasn’t just working in an office while looking for a husband; talk of kami and curses would lose her completely.

“Anyway, why did you call?”

“Isn’t it enough to want to talk to my only daughter?” Akiko could tell from the tone that her mother did have something particular in mind.

“Of course that’s enough. But I still think you have something on your mind.”

“Humph. Well, yes. I have some good news!” She was trying to sound enthusiastic, but Akiko instantly suspected that she wasn’t going to like this “good news”.

“Yes?” She tried not to sound too negative, but she was painfully aware that she hadn’t kept all the suspicion out of her voice.

“I’ve organised a miai for you here, this weekend. I’ll pay for the train tickets, and you can stay in your old room for a couple of nights.”

“Mother! I am not going to a marriage interview.”

“Akiko! How can you say that before you’ve even met him? He’s a very nice young man, excellent family, I’ve known them for years.”

“I don’t care. I have other things to do here. I’m not going to drop them to go all the way home to meet some random man you think I should marry.”

“Akiko, you have to think about your future.”

“I am!” Akiko realised that she was almost shouting, and took a deep breath to calm down. “I am thinking hard about my future, and I’m not going to marry someone I hardly know.”

“You aren’t getting any younger; you’ll lose your chance.”

“Lots of women get married in their thirties these days.”

“Your thirties?” Her mother almost screeched it. “How long would I have to wait for grandchildren?”

“Oh, for goodness sake. Maybe I’ll never get married.”

“You’d throw your life away?”

“There’s more to life than getting married.” As she said it, Akiko realised that she actually believed it. There were other things she could do with her life, things that didn’t involve getting married.

“But nothing so important! Nothing that means anything if you aren’t married!”

“Mother, do you really think that?” Akiko was annoyed at the blatant manipulation.

“Yes. Of course.” Her mother sounded genuinely puzzled, which brought Akiko up short. Did she really believe that?

“Well, I don’t. I think I could have a good life without getting married.”

“But…” At that point Shiraishi appeared in the doorway, and Akiko realised it was time to go.

“I’m sorry, mother. I have to go. And I can’t attend the miai. Good bye.” She hung up before her mother could say any more, and then turned off her phone. She saw that the priest was watching her from the doorway, but she turned away as soon as she noticed Akiko had noticed.

“Shall we go?” she asked.

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This time both Akiko and Shiraishi remained sitting in the car after they had parked.

“This is silly,” Shiraishi complained. “How are we supposed to set up the himorogi and perform a proper ceremony?” Akiko nodded; she had been thinking much the same.

“Well, do we need the himorogi?”

“We need something for the kami to inhabit.”

“But we aren’t actually going to summon a kami, are we? We’re just trying to purify the area.”

“True, but…” The priest’s voice trailed off. “Actually, you’re right. We don’t need it. It was just that I always used it for external ceremonies, but they were never pure harae.” She took a deep breath. “OK. That makes things a bit more practical.” She turned to look directly at Akiko. “You are sure we need to do this?”

Akiko only hesitated a moment before nodding.

“Then let’s get on with it.” Shiraishi pushed her door open, and Akiko quickly followed suit. They collected the ohnusa from the boot, leaving the rest of the equipment there, and hurried over to the home, glancing around all the time to make sure that no-one was watching.

They thought that they got to the wall without being seen.

“Now what?” Shiraishi whispered.

“There’ll be someone on duty in the front, so we can’t go in that way,” Akiko whispered back. “We’ll have to go over the wall.” Shiraishi looked at it, her face sceptical. “Come on, Revd Shiraishi. It’s not that high.” It wasn’t; it didn’t even come up to Akiko’s chest. It wasn’t really designed to keep people out, just to let them know that they shouldn’t cross.

“Shinto vestments are not really designed for climbing over walls,” Shiraishi complained, and Akiko had to stifle a giggle. That was certainly true; there were too many layers of cloth, and the shoes were entirely the wrong sort of thing.

“Come on, let’s go a bit further round,” Akiko urged, and Shiraishi quickly followed her. Akiko looked around as they went, paying attention to the surrounding houses.

“Here,” she said, at last. “Nobody’s windows are overlooking us.” Shiraishi looked startled, then glanced around for herself, before nodding. “I’ll go over first,” Akiko continued, “then you can pass me the ohnusa and follow.”

“OK.”

Akiko put her hands on the wall and boosted herself up. On her first attempt to get her leg up onto the top of the wall, she got tangled up in her robes and had to drop back down. On the second attempt, she got up, but when she tried to swing her legs over to drop down onto the other side the vestments caught on something, sending her tumbling over.

She suppressed a cry as she fell onto a flower bed beyond. Her hands sank a little into the soft earth as she tried to push herself up, and she had to scrabble for footing. Shiraishi was peering at her over the wall, obviously trying to suppress giggles. Akiko gave her a stern look as she stood up and tried to brush some of the dirt from her vestments.

“Give me the ohnusa.” Shiraishi handed it over, and then put her own hands on the wall. It took the priest three attempts to even get a leg onto the top of the wall, and then Akiko had to catch her to stop her falling off. With a bit of support, however, Shiraishi made it down without falling over, and started brushing Akiko down.

“Revd Shiraishi! We don’t have time!” Akiko whispered.

“You have to be at least passably clean for a purification,” the priest shot back. “Hold still!” She brushed a bit more. “OK, that should do. Right, where should we stand?”

Akiko switched her sight over, looking for a good vantage point. The wrappings on the building were obviously soiled bandages now, and the cockroaches seemed to be wearing nurses’ uniforms. Akiko wondered what that meant, and then shuddered at the possibilities that occurred to her.

“Over there,” she said, pointing at an area that seemed close to the main concentrations of pollution. Shiraishi set off immediately, crouching down, as if she was a secret agent in a movie or something. Feeling very self-conscious, Akiko followed, also crouching.

“How am I supposed to do a norito quietly?” Shiraishi asked as they reached the spot. It was a good question.

“Can’t you whisper?” Akiko asked.

“There are fixed ways to pronounce them, so that the kami will hear and understand.”

“Oh.” Akiko thought about it, looking around. “You don’t have to shout, right?”

“No.”

“Well, I don’t think anyone will hear us. Those are obviously kitchen windows, not bedrooms, and there’s no-one there at the moment. Just say it as quietly as you can.”

“If you say so.” The priest still sounded a bit sceptical, but she stood, and bowed to start the proceedings.

The norito sounded louder to Akiko than she had expected, and she looked around, nervously, searching for any sign that they had been noticed. When Shiraishi finished the prayer, apparently without attracting attention, and asked for the ohnusa, Akiko handed it over and switched to looking at the kegare.

The ohnusa was shining brightly, enough to dazzle Akiko for a moment, and the priest had already swung it once by the time her eyes recovered. She could see the light burning into the bandages, splitting them open and consuming them, as the cockroaches scattered, scuttling for cover wherever they could find it. As the priest swung the ohnusa for the third time, the kegare was burned away from that side of the building.

“Well?”

“We’re clear here. I’m worried about the other side, though.”

“OK, let’s go and look. Round the back, right?” Akiko nodded, and they set off, as quietly as they could manage, picking their way between the flower beds. Akiko noticed now that most of the plants looked diseased or dead, and that the ground underfoot, intended to be a lawn, was mostly bare earth.

As they came round the corner of the building, the bandages came into view again, with all the cockroaches massed on this side, chittering to each other. Akiko sucked her breath in sharply, and Shiraishi turned to look at her.

“We have to…” she began, but was cut off by a man’s voice shouting from ahead of them.

“Hey! What are you doing there!”

“Time to go!” Shiraishi said, and ran for the wall. Akiko didn’t argue, coming up behind the priest and pushing her over before jumping herself, not caring that she fell down on the other side, helping the priest to her feet as they both ran for the car.

Half-done was better than nothing. She hoped.

05: Spirit Busters, Episode 31 | 1 Comment »