Characters
Kajiwara Genda
Handsome eldest son of Kajiwara Kagetoki. His name and armor were granted to him by the Genji general Yoritomo. In order to repay his enemy Takatsuna’s generosity in covering up for his father in the past, he intentionally allows Takatsuna to win a key battle. The father became angry without knowing the full story and has called him back to the mansion in Kamakura.
Chidori
Servant at Kajiwara’s mansion. She is sent by her father to serve a different family than her older sister Ofude. She is in love with Genda, a relationship that Genda’s jealous younger brother tries to break. She and Genda have been expelled from their household. To save him, she becomes a prostitute under the name Umegae.
Enju
Mother of Genda and Heiji. She has been ordered in a letter from her husband to have Genda commit ritual suicide. Hoping to win a reprieve for her son, she pretends he is mentally unstable and disinherits him. Upon his departure, she gives him armor – and Chidori.
Kajiwara Heiji
Second son of Kagetoki. When his father and brother are fighting Kiso Yoshinaka, he pretended to be ill and stayed back from the battle, all the while trying to seduce his brother’s lover Chidori. Aiming to take over the family’s fortune, he constantly criticizes his brother upon the latter’s return to Kamakura.
Yokosuka Gunnai
A servant of Heiji. He delivers the message to Enju from her husband to ensure the son’s death. He takes advantage of Heiji’s influence to advance his own career, but is ultimately killed by Genda.
Matsuemon, actually Higuchi Kanemitsu
One of Yoshinaka’s retainers. When Yoshinaka is killed by Yoshitsune, Matsuemon is with his army in a different location. To avenge his master’s death, he disguises himself as a master boatman and approaches Yoshitsune. He marries Gonshiro’s daughter and assumes Gonshiro’s former name Matsuemon.
Gonshiro
Boatman in Osaka. He passes the secret of sakaro (reverse rowing) to his son-in-law and effectively retires. He is stubborn, but after overhearing Higuchi’s intentions, he realizes that the rescue of Komawakamaru is a top priority.
Oyoshi
Gonshiro’s daughter and Tsuchimatsu’s mother. She was widowed three years earlier but has remarried and now leads a happy life. She goes on a pilgrimage with her father and son to mourn her late husband, where she unwittingly becomes involved in a tragic incident at an inn.
Ofude
Kamata Haito’s daughter and Chidori’s elder sister. She serves Kiso Yoshinaka. After his death, she accompanies his wife and son in their escape, where they encounter her father. She and her father protect her charges. She boasts great strength and fights off a would-be assassin sent by Kajiwara on her own. Her father and mistress are killed, and she searches for the prince, who has gone missing.
Komawakamaru
Son of Kiso Yoshinaka and Yamabuki Gozen. He is mistaken for another child during a raid at an inn and ends up being raised by Gonshiro’s family.
Tsuchimatsu
Son of Oyoshi and her late husband. During their stay at Otsu Inn, he is mistaken for the child prince Komawakamaru, who is staying at the same inn, and is killed.
Yamabuki Gozen
Kiso Yoshinaka’s wife. She escapes from Kyoto, assisted by Ofude. She heads to her husband’s hometown disguised as a pilgrim, but is discovered by the enemy and meets an untimely death.
Hatakeyama Shigetada
Major Genji warrior. He is a compassionate individual with wisdom and strength. He is a member of the Chichibu family ruling over the Musashi Province and is sometimes known as Chichibu Shigetada.
