A writer travels deep into the mountains of Yoshino chasing a historical novel about the hidden Southern Court prince Jiten-ō, while his friend Tsumura follows the trail of his own dead mother through a fox-ballad and a village of paper-makers and arrowroot. Legend, folklore and memory blur until the novel the narrator planned never gets written.
Books mentioned in Arrowroot (13)
Taiheiki: “I too loved the Taiheiki in my boyhood, and this led me to take an interest in the secret history of the Southern Court. I had long harbored a plan to build a historical novel around the deeds of King Jiten (Jiten-o). [auto-translated]”
Nanzan Junshuroku: “Accounts differ somewhat from book to book, but these events are recorded in the Nanzan Junshuroku, the Nanpō Kiden, the Ōunki, the Totsukawa no ki and others. [auto-translated]”
Kyōkakuden by Takizawa Bakin: “Bakin is said to have an unfinished work called Kyokakuden. I have not read it, but I hear it centers on an imaginary Kusunoki daughter, so it seems unrelated to the deeds of King Jiten. [auto-translated]”
Imoseyama Onna Teikin by Chikamatsu Hanji: “The author of Imoseyama Onna Teikin probably got that conception from the real scenery here, though at this point the river is wider than on the stage and not as narrow a gorge as in the play. [auto-translated]”
Yoshitsune Senbonzakura by Takeda Izumo: “"After Imoseyama comes Yoshitsune Senbonzakura, you know," Tsumura said. Later he suggested that the author of Senbonzakura, as the author of Imoseyama did from real scenery, may have visited the Otani house or heard of it and thought up the drum. [auto-translated]”
Futari Shizuka: “Surely it is much the same as the Tsurube-zushi house. There is the Noh play Futari Shizuka, so some prankster of long ago must have thought it up. [auto-translated]”
The Tale of the Heike: “There is no need now to explain what age the Genbun era was, or to cite the Azuma Kagami or The Tale of the Heike on the life of Lady Shizuka. [auto-translated]”
Azuma Kagami: “There is no need now to explain what age the Genbun era was, or to cite the Azuma Kagami or The Tale of the Heike on the life of Lady Shizuka. [auto-translated]”
Nanpō Kiden: “The accounts differ somewhat from book to book, but the events are all recorded in the Nanzan Junshuroku, the Nanpō Kiden, the Ōunki, the Totsukawa no Ki and others. [auto-translated]”
Ōunki: “The accounts differ somewhat from book to book, but the events are all recorded in the Nanzan Junshuroku, the Nanpō Kiden, the Ōunki, the Totsukawa no Ki and others. [auto-translated]”
Totsukawa no Ki: “The accounts differ somewhat from book to book, but the events are all recorded in the Nanzan Junshuroku, the Nanpō Kiden, the Ōunki, the Totsukawa no Ki and others. [auto-translated]”
Akamatsu-ki: “According to the Kōzuki-ki, the Akamatsu-ki and others, thirty remnants of the Akamatsu clan under Mashima Hikotarō, who had pretended to submit to the Southern Emperor, struck suddenly in a heavy snow on the second of the twelfth month of Chōroku 1. [auto-translated]”
Yamato Meisho Zue by Akisato Ritō: “The Yamato Meisho Zue and others also say, 'In the village of Natsumi there is a famous spring called Hanakago no Mizu, and the site of a house where Shizuka Gozen once lived,' so the tradition is clearly old. [auto-translated]”