Komachi Monogatari - or - Tales of Komachi.

I have had both enjoyment and employment in writing my book (still unnamed in English) on the 9th century Heian period Japanese poetess, Ono no Komachi.

Originally, I wrote the first story simply as a one-off that juxtaposed and obliquely contrasted the 1001 nights of Sheherazade with the apocryphal 99 nights that a would-be lover sat outside Komachi's window in order to gain her favour. The numerical part of the two stories appealed to me. Interestingly, once I had written the story and was checking details, I discovered the fascinating coincidence that the 1001 Nights was originally written down in the Arabic world at the same time that Komachi was at court in far-off Japan!

I had thought of other stories that bore similarities to one another yet with contrasting outcomes, and decided on writing a series of linked stories with Komachi's frame story to contain them. This then evolved (in the style of Japanese poetry) into four episodes in the life of Komachi, each being narrated in a different season of the year. Later I added an epilogue episode and a prologue that introduced the premise of the book.

The frame story is based on three episodes from the famous (in Japan) "Seven Komachi", a series of seven apocryphal events in the life of Komachi, each with a poem attributed to her that illustrates the episode. I also include one invented episode, in which nothing much happens per se, but which is important to the overall narrative. I have alluded to other episodes of the Seven Komachi at various points in the book.

The fun part was in weaving a number of disparate stories from different eras and countries into the life of Komachi as foci for a fictitious "background' to the writing of her actual poems - a storytelling device that I only discovered later was popular in the Heian Court as a way of illustrating and re-interpreting existing poems!

I did a fair amount of research on each story I told, whether it was one about Komachi herself or one of the "tales within a tale", because I wanted to retell stories that were both accurate and narrated from an original perspective. And so I looked at the earliest historical variants in each story and all sorts of detail surrounding the story at its earliest telling - related stories, religious beliefs, historical and social detail and so on (as any writer will do). Of course, the detail was not to be obtrusively written: a week's worth of research might contribute to a single phrase!

And so - the book contains stories retold or alluded to from as far afield from medieval Japan as Arabia, Britain, continental Europe, Mexico and Alaska. On the Japanese side, I retell the Japanese creation story and retell one of the most famous Noh dramas about Komachi - but giving back to this Buddhist play its original Shinto leaning. I also realised how profoundly Komachi has been misinterpreted in the West (and often by the average modern Japanese person also). Only by thoroughly understanding the old Shinto beliefs and practice can one truly understand and make sense of the Seven Komachi, the Noh dramas that feature Ono no Komachi, and a number of her poems.

Well - not all was hard work..... I tend to go into distraction mode quite frequently. I tell myself that I am allowing my brain time to digest things and come up with a novel story synthesis. But this is what can happen along the way.....

This, good people, takes practice and sustained dedication!!!!