Japanese girl who has spent most of her life in anglophone countries. Found slightly left off mainstream, the paradox of East meets West, closet introvert (one day I'll come out and stay in).

On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essential est invisible pour les yeux.
Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Profile picture by Amano Yoshitaka from: http://www.amanosworld.com/

My heartfelt gratitude to Hakubaikou who most kindly featured "The Courtship of Lady Tokio" on her beautiful site. I strongly urge anyone not familiar with this amazing fanworks site to go look (and also leave a note of appreciation for the web mistress): http://www.hakubaikou.com

Doujinshi for "The Courtship of Lady Tokio":
Never in the course of thinking about this fic did I ever imagine that one day, somebody would render this into doujinshi format for me. The mind boggled, the eyebrows leapt off my face, and I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Please say thank you to "Eeni" for her wonderful work.

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Re: The Courtship of Lady Tokio

I've received enough emails, comments and reviews to warrant a FAQ list of sorts, and so, as irrelevant as it may be to most people who stumble across this page, here it is.

1. Your story seems very Japanese, are you Japanese? / There's too much Japanese history, it's hard to read.

As the first line of my profile says, I am Japanese. As Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese pseudo-historical work, I felt strongly about trying to keep this fanfiction as true to the world and story-telling that Watsuki Nobuhiro created as I could. Like Watsuki, I'm sure that Japanese history buffs want to chop my head off for the many liberties I have taken. And although I apologise if readers don't understand all the historical and cultural references, I do try to include the most important in my author's notes. As well, if readers are interested enough, I would hope that they would not mind asking me for more details or googling.

2. Is your Tokio based on the "real" Tokio?

"My" Tokio is a figment of my imagination. I readily admit this. However, I have of course fleshed out her character using the historical records that are available on her life. For instance, she was a scribe in the court of Aizu, though she worked for Teru Hime, Matsudaira Katamori's adopted sister. And she was a pretty darned capable woman, as Saitou said. For more information about Tokio and Aizu, I direct you to the most dedicated Shinsengumi historians online in English (plenty of Japanese sites out there too): www.shinsengumihq.com

3. Timeline: I had a question regarding the timeline and which are actual events and which are not. The list was available in the author's notes of Chapter 20 (or 21 according to ffnet) but here it is:

- Chapter 1: Meeting between the Mibu Roushi Gumi and Matsudaira Katamori
- Chapter 2: Fighting demonstration by the Roushi Gumi for Matsudaira
- Chapter 3: The Roushi Gumi are officially renamed the Shinsengumi, in the service of Aizu; Shinsengumi trip to Osaka where they fought with Sumo; Mibu Sumo Festival and the burning of the Yamato-ya
- Chapter 4: Assassination of Serizawa Kamo
- Chapter 6: Saitou's trip to Osaka
- Chapter 7: Matsudaira visiting the Shinsengumi and watching Mibu Kyougen
- Chapter 11: The Ikedaya Affair (from the Furutaka store to Hijikata's torturing to the triumphant march back to Mibu)
- Chapter 12: Assassination of Sakuma Shouzan (important historical figure)
- Chapter 13: Kinmon no Hen
- Chapter 17: Choushuu vs Great Britain
- Chapter 20: Kondou's trip to Edo to see the Shogunate and recruit new members, under the auspices of Aizu
- Chapter 24: Yamanami Keisuke's defection and seppuku, including his final farewell with Akesato
- Chapter 26: The Shinsengumi move their headquarters from Mibu to Nishi-Honganji
- Chapter 27: Dr. Matsumoto Ryoujun visits the Shinsengumi; Saitou, Hijikata & Itou travel to Edo; Satsuma-Choushuu Alliance; the call for and then calling off the second Campaign against Choushuu; Death of Shogun Iemochi

4. Is this a story about Tokio and Saitou or about the Shinsengumi?

This is the story of Tokio and Saitou set against the backdrop of the Bakumatsu. Therefore, it could be taken as a story about the Shinsengumi with a slant. I consider the Shinsengumi to be the most important defining factor in shaping Saitou (after all, he is remembered in history as Saitou Hajime, Third Captain of the Shinsengumi) and the experiences he went through while he was a member shape his development and growth as a man.