Lore: The Town of Hirosaka

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Hirosaka is located a full day by foot north of Otosan Uchi, on the eastern bank of the River of the Sun. For nearly two hundred years, the town and the lands around it have been administered by the Imperial families in general, and by the Seppun family in particular. This places Hirosaka in some of the most fertile and fully developed land in the Empire, accentuating its importance as a hub for travel, trade, and commerce. The current population of Hirosaka is about five thousand people, but as the town is a center for both overland and river travel, this number swells and shrinks throughout the year, in parallel with the seasonal activities in the lands around it. For example, in the late summer and throughout the autumn, Hirosaka’s
population increases as harvested crops are brought in from the surrounding farms and villages to be taxed, sold, stored, and shipped to other destinations. Conversely, in the winter, the population decreases as the commoners return to their rural homes and hunker down against the cold weather.

The River of the Sun is born in the southern reaches of Yama no Kuyami, the Mountains of Regret, and flows southward through flat, open lands administered by the Seppun family. Its course eventually passes through Otosan Uchi before emptying into the sea through the Bay of the Golden Sun. The river’s periodic flooding, usually the result of the thaw following an exceptionally snowy winter, has made the land along its course particularly fertile and productive. As a result, this land is heavily cultivated, with numerous farms and villages typically producing rich crops of rice, barley, and other commodities. Hirosaka and similar towns were established as trade hubs, acting as central clearinghouses for this prodigious agriculturalas it avoided having large numbers of commoners bringing their harvests directly to the Imperial capital. Instead, agricultural shipments are gathered, enumerated, taxed, and stored in Hirosaka and other towns, with trade caravans moving these and other commodities to the capital and other locations in a methodical and orderly manner.

Because the River of the Sun is prone to flooding, Hirosaka is located on a broad series of low, rounded hills bordering the river—hence the town’s name. This allows the town to avoid the immediate effects of the river’s flood, although in rare instances, particularly prodigious floods may temporarily isolate the town atop its elevated site. The lower-lying lands around Hirosaka are home to numerous farms, many of which bring their produce directly to the town. The production from farms more than a few hours’ journey away is generally first collected at outlying villages before being transported to Hirosaka. It is important to note that only the farms and villages in close proximity to Hirosaka are governed by the daimyō. More remote settlements, such as Twin Blessings Village, are governed by other lords. This can, and does, lead to tension between the governor of Hirosaka and the other lords, as they bicker over matters like the boundaries of their authority and the apportioning of taxes.

Farmed crops are not the only commodity that passes through Hirosaka. Because the River of the Sun is generally navigable once it emerges from the Mountains of Regret, mineral resources such as iron, copper, and stone mined in the mountains are shipped southward through Hirosaka, as is timber harvested from forested areas along the river’s course. All of these goods can then be shipped farther south, and eventually to Otosan Uchi, using a combination of river transport and traffic along a well-maintained Imperial road that parallels the river.

Finally, because the land surrounding Hirosaka is quite flat and open, it provides little defense in times of war. Even so, Hirosaka has no external wall and few defensive works, instead relying instead on its location deep inside the Empire and its status as an Imperial holding for protection from those who might consider attacking it.

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Locations in Hirosaka
During their stay at Hirosaka, students are not permitted to leave the walled structure of the barracks and dojo. However, should some enterprising young samurai find a way to avoid the watchful eyes of the sensei at the dojo and to slip over the walls or get past the pair of guards at the entrance, they may explore the town of Hirosaka. Below are some locations in the town available for people to explore.


The Governor’s Estate
Central to the Governor’s Quarter, the governor’s estate is a sprawl of buildings enclosed in a walled compound on the highest piece of ground in Hirosaka. The largest and most central of the buildings—the four-story governor’s yashiki, or mansion—offers a commanding view of the town and its surroundings. The yashiki is one of the very few buildings in Hirosaka constructed largely of stone; only its upper two floors are predominantly wood. In times of strife, the governor’s estate, and particularly the yashiki, are intended to function like the inner fortifications of a castle, providing a final place of refuge and defense should the rest of the town fall. In practice, however, the wall surrounding the estate would offer little protection against a determined foe. Rather, it is mainly intended to keep out unwanted intruders and to clearly demarcate the estate’s borders. The stone bulk of the yashiki is more formidable and likely could hold off any attacking force not prepared to lay siege for a long time. However, although it is one of the largest buildings in the town, the yashiki can comfortably house no more than a few dozen people, with room for perhaps one hundred in a crisis.

In any case, defense is only a secondary role for the yashiki. It is primarily the governor’s home, containing apartments for them and their family. It also houses the governor’s most senior retainers. Much of the main floor is taken up by a large audience chamber, where the governor holds court (generally only when important samurai are in attendance; otherwise, the municipal court is used). The governor also greets visitors and hosts social gatherings and formal dinners there. To that end, the yashiki is relatively ornate and luxurious; in fact, appearance generally trumps utility and defense.

The remaining buildings in the compound consist of storehouses, servants’ quarters, a small barracks for the governor’s personal guard, and stables. For the use of important visitors, there is a well-appointed guesthouse, separated from the yashiki by a small but sumptuous garden that also encloses a bathhouse and a chashitsu, or teahouse.

Entry into the governor’s estate is strictly controlled. Even when the governor’s court is in session, only those with legitimate business are admitted. The governor’s personal guard, a small but well-equipped and highly trained cadre of samurai and trusted ashigaru auxiliaries, staff the two gates to the estate at all times and conducts regular patrols. The overall operation of the estate is overseen by the governor’s chamberlain, who has an office and apartments in the yashiki.


The Municipal Court
When important samurai are in attendance, court is held in the governor’s estate, in the audience chamber of the yashiki. Most of the time, however, the governor holds court in the municipal court, a large, primarily wooden building located in the Governor’s Quarter. Most of the building is taken up by a large chamber that mimics the layout of larger Rokugani courts. A raised dais at one end of the chamber provides a place for the governor, or their designate, to sit and hear petitions, render judgments, and issue decrees. The rest of the chamber is an open space where attendees can watch the proceedings and where delegates can present and argue their petitions and cases and engage in debate. Unlike courts held in the governor’s estate, which are closed to people who aren’t invited or entitled to be there, the municipal court is normally open to anyone who wishes to attend. The chamber can hold several hundred people; in practice, however, it is only full when particularly controversial, impactful, or important matters are brought to the floor. Most of the time, the only people attending are those who are immediately concerned with whatever petitions or other affairs are the subject of debate and judgment.

As might be expected, the vast majority of issues brought before the municipal court are of a local nature. Petitions tend to revolve around property disputes, requests for new construction, matters related to taxation, and similar affairs. While these are by no means of Empire-shaking importance, the fact is that much of day-to-day life in Rokugan is dominated by such minor matters. In the court, the governor or their chosen delegate hears petitions regarding these matters, listens to any ensuing debate, possibly consults advisors and those with particular expertise on the subject in question, and then pronounces judgment. The extent to which this judgment may be appealed is essentially also at the whim of the governor. Seppun Sora, the current governor, has only limited interest in such pedestrian matters and usually delegates his chancellor, Otomo Kazuko, to oversee the court. On rare occasions, Sora will deign to oversee court personally, but always on short notice. Many suspect he does it simply to keep everyone on their toes, or occasionally because he has some sort of particular, but inscrutable, interest in certain petitions and affairs.

In addition to housing the court chamber, the municipal court also contains offices for the town’s bureaucracy and the chancellor.


The Magistrate's Station
Although it is much smaller than the governor’s estate, the magistrate’s station is also a compound containing several buildings. Like the governor’s estate, it has a secondary, defensive role, its buildings and enclosing wall being constructed mainly of stone. In fact, it is probably a better defensive location, as it is more compact and utilitarian and much less concerned with appearance and comfort. The magistrate’s station is located in the Governor’s Quarter, close enough to the estate that it is rumored the two are connected by an underground passageway. It occupies a piece of relatively high ground and looms over the town. This is deliberate, because the magistrate’s station is the focus of law, order, and justice in Hirosaka, a fact that its prominent location and foreboding appearance are meant to reinforce.

The largest building in the compound is the magistrate’s station proper. It is here that the town’s chief magistrate, Seppun Ishima, lives and maintains her office. Fronting this building is the “White Sands of Justice,” a small plaza covered in white sand, adjacent to which is a covered gazebo. People accused of crimes are brought there and made to kneel in the sand, the harsh light of Lady Sun beating down as their crimes are declared and judgment is rendered upon them. In inclement weather, an adjacent judicial court building is used for this purpose. The vast majority of crimes requiring a trial are conducted here; those rare crimes involving grave or serious charges or defendants of high social standing are generally held in the municipal court. The “White Sands of Justice” are also used for duels and for punishments such as executions and floggings.

The remaining buildings in the magistrate station compound include a small guesthouse for visiting Emerald Magistrates or clan magistrates, quarters for other municipal magistrates, a dour and secure building that functions as a jail, storehouses, and a stable.

All of the magistrates who normally work there, including the chief magistrate, are municipal magistrates appointed by the governor. Their jurisdiction includes Hirosaka and, by custom, all land that can be seen from the highest vantage point of the governor’s yashiki. The various magisterial auxiliaries, such as yoriki and dōshin, generally live in their own dwellings in the town, while hinin deputies, such as corpse-handlers and torturers, live in the Unclean Encampment


The Temple Square
This small square, located adjacent to the Samurai Quarter, is the spiritual heart of Hirosaka. Each entrance to the square is framed by a torii arch that represents the passage from the secular world to the spiritual world and symbolically cleanses those who enter.

One side of the temple square is dominated by the Temple of the Fortunes: a single large wood and stone building that contains smaller shrines devoted to each of the Seven Great Fortunes and several more shrines dedicated to Lesser Fortunes considered important to the life of the town. The latter include Hamanari, the Fortune of Plentiful Meals; Hujokuko, the Fortune of Fertility; Kojin, the Fortune of Peaceful Homes; and Musubi, the Fortune of Fated Bonds. The remaining Lesser Fortunes are represented by a single shrine. Directly across the square from the Temple of Fortunes is a shrine to Inari, the Fortune of Fertility and Rice. The dedication of a separate shrine to Inari reflects the fact that this “Lesser” Fortune is nevertheless central to the lives of virtually all Rokugani.

Given the close and prominent connection between the Seppun family and Shinseism, a third side of the temple square is dominated by the Temple of Shinsei. It is here that Hinata, the temple abbot and most senior holy person in the town, presides. ].

Surrounding the rest of the temple square is a variety of other shrines.

The monks, priests, and others who maintain the various temples and shrines, conduct services in them, and generally minister to the spiritual well-being of Hirosaka’s people live in austere quarters discreetly located near the temple square.


The Market
Hirosaka has several markets where merchants sell goods and conduct trade. However, when residents refer to “the market,” they are commonly referring to the trading grounds, the largest commercial space in town. The trading grounds is an expansive, open-air market that sprawls amid the Commoners’ Quarter, close to the Samurai Quarter. Merchants and traders erect stalls and pavilions across this wide, flat space, peddling their wares to customers and making deals with their fellows.

All of this commerce is subject to taxes collected by the municipal magistrates, although some governors, including the current governor, have preferred to collect flat license fees for the use of the trading grounds by sellers, to avoid the complexity of assessing and collecting taxes. This is particularly true for merchants who primarily conduct their commerce by barter, rather than sales for currency. A small but well-used shrine to Daikoku, the Fortune of Wealth, sits adjacent to the trading grounds, offering spiritual encouragement to all who do business there.

A portion of the grounds is set aside for trade in bulk commodities such as rice, grain, and timber. During the harvest in the late summer and fall, this type of activity can monopolize much of the space, even spilling into the surrounding streets in particularly bountiful years. Merchants, sometimes traveling from distant places, vigorously haggle to buy up surpluses, usually on behalf of samurai patrons who maintain a discreet distance from such unseemly commerce. The result is a restless, raucous throng of buyers and sellers. Even when the trading grounds are not overtaken by large-scale commercial trading, however, it is still a boisterous place, and the municipal magistrates keep a watchful eye on them.

Supplementing the trading grounds, several smaller squares in Hirosaka serve as markets as well. Additionally, wealthier and more-established merchants who are permanent residents of Hirosaka work out of numerous shops and storefronts lining many of the town’s streets. Only in the Samurai Quarter is all overt commerce prohibited—aside, of course, from the sake houses, noodle shops, and geisha houses that provide services to the samurai who live there. Even the handful of samurai artisans who produce goods such as armor, weapons, and works of art only conduct very discreet business in the Samurai Quarter or make use of heimin merchant intermediaries in Hirosaka’s market.


The House of the Winding Path, and Other Inns
As they do elsewhere in Rokugan, inns in Hirosaka offer some combination of accommodations, meals, and entertainment. They span a wide range of quality and respectability, from luxurious to merely adequate.

The House of the Winding Path, located in the Samurai Quarter close to the governor’s estate, is a classic ryokan, an inn constructed and decorated in a very traditional style. It features a large entrance hall that functions as a common room where guests sit at polished tables enjoying food, drink, and conversation. Various types of sake—some of very fine vintage—are served, as is umeshu (plum liqueur), hhi (alcoholic fruit juice), and a variety of teas. The food is also of fine quality. Hallways lead from the common room to the guest rooms, which occupy two wings enclosing the garden. The guest rooms are well-appointed, with tatami flooring and comfortable futons. Each room opens onto a garden featuring a riot of flowering plants, a koi pond, and an arched bridge over a small stream. A stone path that winds through the garden gives the ryokan its name. At the back of the garden is a bathhouse that is kept amply supplied with hot water throughout the day, so that guests may bathe and refresh themselves at any time that suits them. The kitchen, storerooms, and quarters for the staff are tucked discreetly away behind the bathhouse, at the back of the property, while a stable for guests’ mounts is located across the street from the main entrance.

Entertainment is provided by hired performers. Music, song, poetry, and dance are most popular. On special occasions, such as during festivals, more elaborate presentations like Kabuki theater or Bunraku puppet plays are performed in the garden. Two function rooms are set aside for use by geisha, hired for the purpose of entertaining samurai guests.

Despite being heimin, the proprietor, a woman named Aia, is entirely comfortable dealing with samurai, as are all of the various servants, cooks, and attendants she oversees. Her lord, and the owner of The House of the Winding Path, is reputed to be a Crane samurai of considerable renown—something Aia neither confirms nor denies.

There are several other inns in Hirosaka, all of decent quality, albeit not as luxurious as The House of the Winding Path. Sun Glowing on Mist is the closest competitor, while The House of Evergreens and The Lark’s Song cater to a more midrange clientele.


Dwindling Fortunes (Gambling House)
Although Hirosaka’s inns are of decent quality, the town has a number of other establishments that could best be described as “seedy.” Places such as The House of the Winding Path are not suited for use by most commoners; moreover, samurai sometimes wish to indulge in less-refined pastimes, such as hard drinking, gambling, and even less savory activities. Most such downscale establishments are located in the Commoners’ Quarter or riverport.

Dwindling Fortunes is such a place in the river port. A shabby sake house, it features a single dingy common room containing a number of tables, all securely fastened to the grimy floor, and a bar of plain wood. Cheap sake, beer, and shōh (a strong liquor distilled from buckwheat, chestnuts, rice, sweet potatoes, or barley) compose most of the menu, although a dark and acrid tea is also available. There is no food service; if patrons are hungry, they are directed to a nearby noodle shop called Good and Plenty. Nor does Dwindling Fortunes offer accommodations, although those found asleep on the floor are usually just allowed to remain there until they come to. Finally, no formal entertainment is provided, although this is rarely a problem, as the patrons generally provide their own amusement in the form of bawdy songs, the occasional brawl, and gambling.

The latter happens behind the common room, in a smaller room that reeks of tobacco, stale shōchū, and desperation. There, patrons play a variety of games, including dice games such as Fortunes and Winds and ChōHan card games such as abufuda and Hanafuda, which use numeric and flower suits, respectively; or even gaijin games such as Moksha Patam from the Ivory Kingdoms. These games aren’t just amusing pastimes, however. Money—sometimes large sums of it—is won and lost in them. Gamblers unable to pay their debts quickly run afoul of Hirosaka’s small and low-key but still ruthlessly unforgiving criminal underworld. The enigmatic gangster known only as Tamiko maintains a stake in the action at Dwindling Fortunes—and at virtually every other gambling house in town.

Dwindling Fortunes’ proprietor, a burly heimin named Three-Scar, claims that his namesake facial wounds resulted from his days as an ashigaru fighting for the Lion Clan. Given his reputation for explosive violence, few are willing to challenge him about this. ThreeScar employs a trio of scruffy rōnin as his “staff.” The rōnin oversee the common room and gambling den and generally ensure order among an often unruly clientele. This inversion of the Celestial Order— samurai, even rōnin, being subordinate to a heimin—is just another thing “wrong” with Dwindling Fortunes.

Dreams Fulfilled, a combination opium den and gambling house, and The Grinning Mujina, another sake den, compete with Dwindling Fortunes for Hirosaka’s more nefarious sorts of customers. Sometimes, this competition devolves into vicious, spiraling cycles of intimidation and vandalism, culminating in attempts to incite violence in order to direct the unwelcome attention of the magistrates toward a competitor.


The Granaries
The granaries are a collection of storehouses designed to protect foodstuffs from the elements and, to an extent, vermin. They are absolutely vital to the town, so they are stoutly built of wood and stone and are carefully watched over by the municipal magistrates. Virtually everyone in Hirosaka, including the most egregious of criminals, recognizes the critical importance of the granaries, giving them a wide berth and immediately reporting anything that seems unusual or out of place. Not to do so would risk food shortage or famine, especially in the long winter months.

Located roughly equidistant from the River Port and the trading grounds, the granaries are allocated according to the types and quantities of foodstuffs brought into Hirosaka. After setting aside what they are allowed to keep to feed themselves and their families, heimin farmers bring their harvests here to be carefully weighed and then stored. After magistrates and bureaucrats assess and apportion of municipal, clan, and Imperial taxes, merchants compete to purchase the remainder to sell in the local market or elsewhere in the Empire. Virtually all of these transactions occur on paper; actual, physical goods such as rice and barley are only moved when it becomes necessary for shipment to some final destination. This minimal handling of the various commodities not only increases efficiency but keeps the various products cleaner and more secure. Facilities for drying, hulling, and milling rice and other grains meant for local sale and use stand adjacent to the granaries.


The Sake Works
Hirosaka is home to a small sake brewery, Clouds above Hirosaka, which produces two varieties of sake. One, called Winter Jasmine, is a clear, pale-golden brew of fine quality, made in small batches that are sold primarily in Otosan Uchi as a premium product. A variety named after the sake works—Clouds above Hirosaka—is a cloudy, nigori type of sake that is quite good but somewhat too sweet to be considered fine quality; it is mainly consumed locally. Both provide a consistent stream of revenue for the Scorpion samurai Bayushi Touma, who owns the brewery. Touma maintains a house in Hirosaka near the sake works, but he spends little time in the town and relies on Sana, his heimin ōi, or brewmaster, to run the works and oversee its sales on his behalf. The town also benefits from the taxes collected on the sales of sake produced.


The Hinin Encampment
There are aspects of the daily life of a town like Hirosaka that are essential, but profoundly unpleasant. Handling and disposing of corpses, cleaning up and carting away trash, collecting and removing human and animal waste (also known as “night soil”), killing vermin, and cleaning streets are all very necessary tasks. They are, however, of such a nature that no samurai could do them without imperiling their honor and glory. Heimin, meanwhile, must remain focused on the vital tasks of growing food, making finished goods, and engaging in commerce. The “unclean” tasks therefore fall to the lowest social class, called hinin or burakumin. As is typical in Rokugan, the hinin of Hirosaka live in their own district, which is set apart from the rest of the town. A pair of well-traveled paths—one strictly a footpath, the other suitable for draft animals and wagons—lead northward from Hirosaka to the hinin encampment about a fifteen-minute walk away. Hinin use these paths to travel to Hirosaka, do their work as unobtrusively as possible, and then immediately return to their encampment.