An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography

"You cannot understand the magnitude. Just try! Eight hundred thousand lives snuffed out in one hundred days. That's eight thousand lives a day. More than five lives per minute. [...] At the end, the best you can say is that my hotel saved about four hours worth of people. Take four hours away from one hundred days and you have an idea of just how little I was able to accomplish against the grand design." - p. xi

There are times when I read a book and it scares me. It honestly really scares me. If you've watched the movie Hotel Rwanda, you will know all about Paul Rusesabagina's story. You will know that during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Rusesabagina kept the doors to the Mille Collins open to refugees, ultimately saving over 1,000 lives. As of late, the accuracy of his story has been questioned, but I think it's important to note that Rusesabagina himself states many times throughout the book that in order to save lives, he worked with the enemy. He offered them gifts, drank with them, made deals and worked the international connections he had in order to save his family and the lives of all those within the Mille Collins. Ultimately, this story is one of survive, not heroism - survival in the face of one the most terrible recorded genocides in history.

Manga Review: Ōoku The Inner Chambers

History teaches us that during the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu  and extending until 1853, Japan was an isolated country.  Contrary to popular belief though, the country wasn't entirely closed off - it continued to conduct trade with a Dutch factory as well as with its neighbors China and Korea. Little is known about what occurred within the country during these years and taking this historical event into account, author Fumi Yoshinaga depicts an alternative history of Japan - one where women, not men, rule the country.

Ōoku the hidden chambers begins during the reign of the shogun Yoshimune and follows a young man named Mizuno Yunoshin. Mizuno joins the Inner Chambers - a harem of men at the disposal of the shogun - after realizing that he will not be able to marry the woman he loves. However, anyone who enters the chambers can never leave and must live their life out as a member of the Inner Chambers. Within the first month Mizuno uncovers a shocking secret - the shogun is really a woman! The story then shifts to follow Yoshimune, the current shogun and her quest to learn the reason why female Shogun's must be presented as male to all but those within the Inner Chambers. She seeks out the oldest member of the Inner Chambers and from a chronicle that begins with the reign of Iemitsu, Yoshimune learns that the shogun was once a male and that in fact, the female line has been kept only because of the red face pox. This deadly disease affected boys and young men and almost always resulted in death. Unable to stop its spread, the male population of Japan dwindled away eventually killing the shogun as well. Japan converted to a matriarchal society, where men became precious treasures to be protected and where they could sell themselves as prostitutes to women willing to pay the high price to have a child. Reversing the roles between men and women affected every level of society, including the shogunate where Tokugawa Iemitsu became the first female shogun.

Manga Review: Saiunkoku Monogatari

Left to Right: Seiran Shi, Ryuuki Shi (the Emperor), and Shuurei Hong

Perhaps one of the greatest things that can happen to an avid reader such as myself, is being recommended a good book. About one month ago, I decided to pick up the manga series, Trinity Blood. I am still in the process of reading it (I'm on volume 10) but while I added the volumes I had read to my account, I noticed that Goodreads had a list of manga it was suggesting based on my choice. One of those manga was Saiunkoku Monogatari, or, if we go by its English name, The Story of Saiunkoku. 

The story is set in the fictional kingdom of Saiunkoku, where according to legend, a great hero saved this land from chaos with the help of the Eight Sages. Each sage represented a different color. Saiunkoku's eight provinces were then named after these Eight Sages and each noble clan from each province took on the name of the color as a surname as well. Shuurei Hong is a descendant from a noble clan whose father works as an Imperial Archivist. However, Shuurei must work odd jobs in order to make ends meet. One day, she is approached by an royal advisor who asks her to become a Royal Consort for 6 months for a hefty sum. Shuurei hesitates, but the noble quickly makes it clear that her only duty would be to get the young Emperor in line. At 19 years old, the Emperor refuses to complete his duties and does not study seriously. This has caused a huge burden on his advisors. Furthermore, the Emperor is gay, so Shuurei would not have to worry about nighttime visits. 

How is that not an interesting premise? I was insanely curious to see what would happen with Shuurei and with the Emperor. Shuurei is a strong and smart girl who takes on the challenge head on. Her interactions with the Emperor were interesting and while it started out as a love story (because Shuurei's family has a very loyal servant named Seiran who is very protective of her. He doesn't stop her from becoming a consort but he doesn't exactly seem pleased about it either), it quickly becomes something more. I think I became even more interested once we moved away from the Emperor and started to look into the politics at play behind the scenes. There are many individuals vying for power and the very first instance in which you see this is actually during the 6 months Shuurei is a consort.