Five Kasen Summary

Five Kasen Summary is a Quest Item obtained during the Event Story Quest The Strange Tale of Suikou's Tipsy Tincture in Hues of the Violet Garden: True Tales of the Violet Garden: Act I - The Strange Tale of Suikou's Tipsy Tincture.

Text[]

About The Five Kasen:
Long ago, there were five legendary poets in Inazuma. Supremely gifted in music and writing, they were honored as the Five Kasen — meaning five fairies of singing and poetry. It is said that the Shogun loved their works profoundly, and that every year one of them would go to Tenshukaku and present their new poetry collection for the Shogun's perusal.
The Five Kasen are known as Suikou, Aoi no Okina, Akahito, Sumizome, and Kuronushi, respectively.
But their real names were lost in history. According to a widely accepted theory, tales of The Five Kasen had once been repeatedly adapted and performed on stage, with the five characters each dressed in a distinct color — green, blue, red, white, and black. Over time, theatergoers started referring to them by these colors, hence the names we see today. Still, there exist other theories. For instance, some believe Suikou was named after his dwelling, a thatched cottage called Suikou Hut. Some also say that the 'Aka' in Akahito was derived from the poet's habit of marking his works with a scarlet red seal.
...

About the tales of The Five Kasen:
Everyone in Inazuma knows the tale of The Five Kasen, and stories featuring them were once all the rage in Inazuma.
What is unfortunate, however, is that despite their popularity and abundance at the time, not much detail survived till today — most were probably lost during the great calamity five hundred years ago.
According to existing literature, during the golden age when many such stories were being created, they usually followed the same set of rules: Four poems in succession, each telling a fragment of the story from a Kasen's point of view, with the four together completing the whole tale. What was curious was that no single chapter seemed to be narrated from Kuronushi's perspective.
...

Five Kasen Summary
Suikou: A free, sake-loving soul born into an ordinary family. Some say he got the name "Suikou" from Suikou Hut, the thatched cottage he lived in.

Aoi no Okina: An old man accomplished in chess. In addition to poems, he has also left behind a few novels. Some say he was actually a Shogunate official who had not made a name until his senior years. Others say he was not a human, but a very old kitsune in human form.

Akahito: A talented swordsman who most likely came from a martial family. Some say his name was derived from his habit of marking his works with a scarlet red seal.

Sumizome: She was once a shrine maiden skilled in floral arts and dancing. Later, she became the Shogun's personal attendant. Some say she resigned from her position after she became famous, and devoted herself to artistic creation. Others say she kept serving the Shogun into her old age.

Kuronushi: Little is known about him, nor does anyone know who he really is. Maybe this explains the more varied versions of his identity and personality from story to story as compared to the other four Kasen.
...

Other Languages[]

Change History[]