With the power of search engines, those curious about their ancestry are able to research family histories, oftentimes with shocking results. The ultimate trip, however, would involve not just discovering relatives in cyberspace, but actually traveling back to meet them. Tinkering with time can be tricky. Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future, almost erased himself when he boarded a time machine and met his teenage parents.
Isla MacKenzie, who was born and lives in Scotland, has traveled to Japan to research the life of her third-great-grandfather Hisakichi Kuroki, a famous samurai. One evening she leaves her hotel for a run and comes upon an ancient shrine. Suddenly, the weather takes a turn and she finds herself in the midst of a typhoon, rain pounding down. Passing through a gate, the clouds clear but she is no longer in the bustling city but in a bamboo forest. The year is not 2005, but 1877, when the samurai will fight for their way of life against the government’s imperial army. And Isla will find herself caught up in a bloody battle that she knows will not end well for the samurai and possibly for the relatives she hopes to meet.
Several of the locals believe Isla is a spy sent by the imperial government. Fortunately, she is befriended by a young samurai, Keiichiro, and finds shelter with him, his sister, Kana, and Kana’s daughter, Yura. Isla speaks some Japanese, but has trouble keeping up with the native speakers. She learns enough to know that without Keiichiro’s protection, she could be in danger. Her one effort to escape to find the gate and a way back to present time ends badly. The forest is filled with wild animals and she’s lucky that Keiichiro finds her before she encounters one of them. Until she can figure out a way back, she’s dependent upon Keiichiro and his sister.
Isla knows they won’t believe she is from the future, but she warns Keiichiro that the samurai will not win this battle and many of them will die fighting. The Satsuma Rebellion is lead by Saigo Takamori, a real life character who is known as the last samurai. His wife, Hisa Kirino, trained and leads the women who accompany the men into battle.
Isla develops feelings for Keiichiro, but tries to hold back when she learns he has been betrothed to Nene. However, Nene is in love with a farmer, and the couple leave the battle to go back home to work a farm. Keiichiro and Isla are now free to explore their true feelings.
Isla, however, no longer knows what she feels or where she belongs. She misses her life in Scotland, but she knows she’s in love with Keiichiro. When another storm rages, she sees the gate and can return to 2005, but the pull to remain with Keiichiro is too strong.
Like her heroine, author Poppy Kuroki was born in Scotland and now lives in Japan. Her research for The Gate to Kagoshima is impressive. While real life people are dropped into the story (Saigo Takamori and Hisa Kirino, the most notable ones), others are created but so credible they might also have lived in what was certainly tumultuous times in Japan. The battle scenes, some described in detail, are violent and tragic as the last remaining warriors fight to preserve their heritage against incredible odds. Included at the back of the book is a timeline, showing how the Satsuma Rebellion unfolded.
The Gate to Kagoshima
Poppy Kuroki
Top photo: Bigstock
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