William Crum March 5, 2010
Seikei’s Journey
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler tells the story of a young Japanese boy who yearns to be a samurai. Because his father is a tea merchant, Seikei thinks there is no hope of his ever becoming a samurai. While staying at the Tokaido Inn, Seikei wakes up at night and sees a ghost. However, he finds out that he actually witnessed a robbery and becomes involved in helping to solve the crime. The thief, an actor named Tomomi, has a good reason for stealing a jewel which originally belonged to his family. Tomomi, a former samurai, has great sword fighting, acting, and acrobatic skills. Surprisingly, he and Seikei become friends. Tomomi finally gets revenge on the man who stole his family’s honor and jewel. But, Seikei is the main character of this story. The loyalty, bravery, and respect found in Seikei lure you into the story of his journey to become a true samurai.
The loyalty of Seikei may be the most important element in this story of a merchant’s young son. Seikei’s journey begins when a ruby is stolen from the daimyo, a local nobleman, and is found in the room of a girl named Michiko, but Seikei saw the real thief and truthfully tells the judge, whose name is Ooka, what he has seen. This was loyal because Seikei rescued Michiko from trouble. Seikei soon becomes the judge’s assistant. Seikei proves his brilliant loyalty to Judge Ooka by doing everything in his power to safely retrieve a magnificent wooden sword, which was given to him by the judge, after it was taken from him in a fight with Tomomi. As the book, continues Seikei is told by the judge to stay with Tomomi whose real name is Genji. Unexpectedly, he finds out that Genji is a Karishitan (Christian). This is against the law. Seikei, loyal to Genji, does not turn him in. Because of the many things Seikei does for his friends, he shows the passion to be a loyal samurai.
Since it is extremely important to a samurai to be fearless, courageous, and brave, this is exactly how Seikei acts. He is dauntless. First, Seikei fearlessly follows what he thinks is a jinkininki even though he believes the jinkininki, which is a ghost that eats people, might devour him. Secondly, when Judge Ooka found a dark, creepy tunnel in the ground into which he thought the criminal had escaped, Seikei bravely crawled down into the pitch-black hole. Convinced that a samurai would do the same thing in his position, Seikei courageously continued. Finally, Seikei valiantly walks to the Shogun’s palace by himself not knowing what will happen. Unmistakably, Seikei not only knows a lot about samurai courage, but acts bravely and fearlessly himself.
Seikei is polite and respectful. From the beginning of the story to the end, this young man, although only a merchant’s son, shows respect to Tomomi and the Judge even though he may not understand their requests. Even when Seikei did things or knew things better than others, he never bragged. At one point in the story, Seikei and Genji have a sword fight. Seikei sees Genji’s next move, which is a blow to the head; skillfully dodges it; and knocks him down. Although it is just a play fight, Seikei does not boast about defeating the master. Back at the Shogun’s magnificent palace we observe how polite Seikei is. The Shogun is hosting a tea ceremony and brags about his tea. Because Seikei’s father is a tea merchant, Seikei has tasted better tea but says nothing. Seikei shows the politeness and respect of a samurai.
Although Seikei was not born into the samurai class, he had the character and heart of a true samurai. Seikei works hard to become loyal, brave, and respectful. These characteristics should be true of Christians, too. Just as Seikei strives to be a samurai, we should strive to be godly. Loyalty to Jesus, bravery in sharing one’s faith, and respect for others are the character and heart of a true Christian.
