Asako Kinto

SHIGEKO'S DOSSIER: He is something of a recluse, preferring the company of his home and his library to that of his peers. I did, however, consult him one time on a question of botany when a strange blossom was found in a footprint left by bandits. 

He is a tiny man of tremendous age, and gives an impression of distance common to many who are closer to the next world. I had to remind him of my name several times, and at least once recall to him why I had visited. He did, however, inform me that the blossom was from a creeper which grew only along the banks of the River of Gold at high altitudes. This clue eventually led me to the bandit hideout and the extermination of those particular criminals. It is my understanding that he is also some thing of a historian.

MEMOIRS OF AN OPIUM EATER: Nineteenth Year in the Reign of Hantei XXXVIII, Ninth Day, Month of the Horse It had been several years since I visited Ryoko Owari - but still, its walls upon the hill, and the great jagged stones of the Gate of Oni's Teeth still made my eyes widen with wonder, just as when I was a girl. Uncle Kinto, however, seemed to have shrunk. I did not recall him as being so tiny, so white haired, so frail! He looks like a rice paper kite to be blown away in the lightest wind. He was delighted to see me, as always, and begged me to spend my first night in the city as his guest; although I was eager to see my own home, I couldn't refuse him. After a fine supper, he took me out back to his garden. That at least, has not shrunk! In fact, he has obtained a parcel of land in back of his, leaving his modest home at the front of a large and as always - but he had something else to show me as well. While digging in his garden, he found the stones of an ancient foundation. He told me he used a scroll to speak with the spirits of the stones, and they answered him in a foreign tongue! Convinced that he had found an ancient site, he has been digging industriously in the area and has unearthed several strange statues. He showed them to me - their craftsmanship is very unusual. They appear very detailed, but strangely stylized - as if they weren't trying to show the thing they obviously are. He says that they are statues of Naga - women and men who are great serpents below the waist.

"MEMOIRS OF AN OPIUM EATER": Twentieth Year in the Reign of Hantei XXXVIII, Second Day, Month of the Sheep I have become sick unto death of the nagging of Uncle Kinto. I have tried to be a dutiful relative, but I can no longer stomach it. Last month he came and criticized my choice of companions - not stridently, of course, but in his tenuous, hesitating, cautious way. He couldn't come out and condemn my life, but he tried (in his bumbling fashion) to make it clear that he felt Shosuro Jocho was a bad influence and that I should spend my time on more "enlightening" pursuits. Every time I received him, it was the same. It got to be so unpleasant that I left instructions for the servantsto tell him I was out, or indisposed. He finally realized I don't want to see him, so now of course he's writing letters. It's agonizing; I know that he loves me, and is only doing what he thinks is best - but he's trapped in the past, and wants what's best for the little girl I was. If only he knew how things have changed for the woman that I am. Poor Uncle Kinto. I suppose I can't blame him for living in the past. After all, what does his present offer him? A frail body, a wandering mind, and a shameful, decadent niece.