I found this chapter less engaging but I also think it must be a lot harder to write.
Previously we were mainly dealing with made up people having made up stories based on archeological artifacts. The point was to display a somewhat realistic reconstruction of the daily lives of these ancient peoples.
But Himiko is a real person that really existed, so the authors can’t make up mythological adventures for her to have a compelling arc. Yet at the same time the total amount of historical knowledge we have of her fits on a postage stamp, so there isn’t a lot to work with.
I felt the same. And it was even more noticeable with Toyo. I was sort of expecting this chapter to have some neat resolution for the main characters, because for many if not most historical characters, we at least know how and when they died and that at least makes for a neat ending if not exactly a satisfying one - but then, Toyo story was like “Everything stayed as it was…and that’s all we know…” zip…curtain falls…next chapter.
Gah! So anti-climactic! I wonder if Toyo and Himiko are explored in Japanese literature very much … Like, Helen of Troy gets novels. I would love to see Japanese women/feminists riffing on the little historical information we have about Himiko and Toyo. If anyone knows of anything like that, please share!
glad to hear that this week will make up for it
