(Voice actor) Ms.Carolyn Miller

The Ooku is where the shogun, top of the Tokugawa regime which ruled Japan in the Edo period, lived. In Edo castle, the area where politics were conducted was called “Omote (front)” and the private space where the shogun lived was called “Oku (back).” “Oku” was also known as “Ooku.” Many women, such as the wife and concubines of the shogun, and the court ladies who served the wife and concubine, lived and worked in the Ooku. The number of women who worked in the Ooku is said to have been 1,000 or 3,000. The only men who were allowed to live here were the shogun and the sons of the shogun. It was a completely private space, so almost no materials regarding the Ooku are left. However, it is also said that there were power struggles among women in the Ooku. The women who gave birth to the shogun’s heir would gain more of a voice, so their biggest goal was to bear an heir. It was what one might call a woman’s world, but it was always a topic of conversations. Stories of huge scandals are told as well. One such scandal is the Ejima-Ikushima affair. In 1714, a woman who worked in the Ooku named Ejima was sneaking out of the Ooku and was secretly meeting an actor, Shingoro Ikushima. This affair prompted the enforcement of strict discipline in the Ooku. The other is the Kannoji incident. From the 1830s to the 40s, Omiyo no Kata, a concubine, was most loved by the 11th shogun Ienari Tokugawa. Omiyo no Kata’s father was a Buddhist monk called Nikkei. Omiyo no Kata pleaded with Ienari to build a temple called Kannoji for her father. Many people visited Kannoji as it was the temple that Ienari cared for. It was especially endorsed by the Ooku. There was a gimmick behind this endorsement. Nikkei implemented an idea to make the temple richer. That idea was to hire handsome men as the monk or bonze. He employed a system where if one donated a large amount of money, a handsome man would return the favor. The women of the Ooku liked this and donations were made to Kannoji almost daily. To gain more power in the Ooku, Omiyo no Kata aggressively recommended donating to Kannoji. Also, there was a twist behind the donations so that others wouldn’t find out about it. What was that twist? What happened to Kannoji later on? Enjoy the whole story of a huge scandal in Ooku.