Intro

When Pikachu [Pikachu shall be used instead of his SCA name] was announced for knighthood who has a Japanese persona, I offered to do his scroll as I already had an idea from the very beginning – I wanted to take inspiration from Japanese epics – to tell a tale with accompanying paintings. The first thing I had to do for this was find a scroll to paint on. While it would be cool to make my own scroll, I didn’t have the time for this one nor did I trust myself to get it right the first time (or first few times), so I bought my scroll instead. I ended up choosing this one as the pattern was feasibly period (geometric patterns such as this are pretty common in East Asia; however, the closest pattern to this I found was Ming 15th/16th CE) even if the scroll/scroll case was probably not 100% silk.

The Story

In writing the script for this scroll, I wanted to take inspiration from historical Japanese epics. My main sources were the Heike Monogatari, Shuten Dōji, Ōeyama ekotoba, and Tale of an Earth Spider. These tended to have the following components:

Component	Example
Beginning paragraph that sets the scene	“When the emperor rules his country benevolently, Buddhas and Shinto deities protect his people, responding kindly to their wishes. When the emperor prays for the world in good faith, stars rejoice and shine their benevolent light on his reign. However, even in ancient times when the supernatural and emperors were honest and humble, evil demons and goblins stalked the land” from Shuten Dōji
Introduction to the main characters	“Minamoto no Raikō, descendant of the emperor [Seiwa], was renowned as a courageous, daring, and resolute warrior. Around the twentieth [day] of the tenth month, he journeyed to Kitayama, reaching as far as Rendaino. He was [ . . . ] accompanied by his loyal retainer,” – from Tale of an Earth Spider
A problem is presented	A mysterious sight occurs, a village is kidnapped, etc.
The character(s) are warned from helping	[She said] “You should immediately return home. This is a place far away from human habitation. How interesting to see people, especially those in their prime.” – From Shuten Dōji
The big bad is defeated. However, the character(s) needed to be clever to do so and strong enough to let their cleverness come to pass.	Able to defeat the main enemy, but had to be clever enough to grab multiple helmets so the flying head does not kill him.
Character(s) are honored for their work	“The emperor, when he heard the story, was impressed and grateful to his retainer for his valiant service. So he appointed Raikō the governor of Tsu Province⁴⁴ and bestowed upon him the court rank of senior fourth lower. Tsuna was given the Province of Tanba⁴⁵ and was given the rank of senior fifth lower.” from Tale of an Earth Spider

Additionally, phrases were directly used for the story. Please note that I used translations of my sources so some things may have been lost or twisted in the translation. The resulting story is below with the notes for the story in brackets and italicised like so [notes]. This script was then translated into katakana.

Script for the Scroll:

Since ancient times, evil demons and goblins have stalked the lands of Meridies. [from Ōeyama ekotoba, “evil demons and goblins stalked the land”] The emperor, seeking to protect their people, prays for the world in good faith. [from Ōeyama ekotoba, “When the emperor prays for the world in good faith”] However, despite the emperor’s honesty and humbleness, evil sometimes slips into our world, requiring the fast actions and quick-wittedness of a loyal warrior. [This paragraph is the component setting up the story]

One such warrior was [squire to be knighted’s name thus referred to as Pikachu from now on], renowned for his courage, daring, and resoluteness. [These three attributes were chosen because it was used in A Tale of an Earth Spider “Minamoto no Raikō, descendant of the emperor [Seiwa], was renowned as a courageous, daring, and resolute warrior”] He was known particularly for his talent in wielding a naginata, able to strike more quickly than a dragon ascending the clouds. [This compliment was taken out of the Heike Monogatari “His posterity too attained high office more quickly than a dragon ascends the clouds”] As to his ancestry, he was the second eldest student of [knight’s name], grand student of [grand knight’s name], and descended in the seventh generation from [super super grand knight’s name], first prince and fourth emperor of Meridies. [This paragraph serves to introduce the main character, the lineage text was directly taken out from the Heike Monogatari “As to his ancestry he was the eldest son of Ason Tadamori chief of the department of justice; grandson of Masamori Sanuki no Kami, who was descended in the ninth generation from Katsurabara Shinno, Prince of the first rank and chief of the department of Ceremonies, the fifth son of the Emperor Kwammu.”]

As a loyal subject of the realm, he journeyed immediately to the great war upon receiving an order from the emperor, accompanied by his household. After spending many days and nights, going through peaks and valleys, rivers and clouds, mountains and gorges and mists, they encountered a most mysterious sight. [This description of travel was taken from Shuten Dōji “After spending many days and nights in search of the demons of Mt. Ōe, going through peaks and valleys, rivers and clouds, mountains and gorges and mists”]

Before their eyes was a small mountain village, completely devoid of any soul. The only signs of life were the banners, stalls, and unlit lanterns from a festival held many months ago. It was as if all life had simply vanished on a cool night originally meant as a joyous occasion. In the center of the village, the group was shocked to find a spring willow swaying in a gentle breeze, the blooms casting soft light onto the snow below. [This paragraph serves to introduce the problem]

Upon investigating the curious willow, [Pikachu] found a gate to another world. [Pikachu] ordered his household to stay behind and then carefully proceeded alone through the gate back in time to the festivities the village had prepared for months previously. Each villager shuffled slowly back and forth, sullenly hanging fabric and lights and stocking the stalls for the festival. Though they appeared distant and unapproachable, [Pikachu] approached the nearest villager. Shocked at the newcomer, the villager implored [Pikachu] to return home through the portal, to save himself from the very same fate as the village. [This paragraph serves as a warning for the main character]

It was many moons ago that the village had held their festival, excitement and joy rising as the day progressed. But when the moon started to rise and before any festivities could begin, a demon had appeared in the very center of town and attacked the villagers, forcing them to submit and serve the demon. Every day, the demon would appear again when the moon rose and partake of all food, drink, and entertainment the villagers had worked tirelessly to prepare during the day.

Despite the warning, [Pikachu] resolutely stood his ground and vowed to defeat the demon that night. He found the biggest stone in the village, free of imperfection, and rolled it slowly to the front of the spring willow. When the demon appeared, [Pikachu] struck with his naginata; however, the demon was strong and its force, it seemed to the warrior, could move a huge mountain. [This comment on the demon’s strength was taken from A Tale of an Earth Spider “Indeed, the monster’s force, it seemed to the warriors, could move a huge boulder.” I changed boulder to mountain as I thought it would be weird to use boulder when the demon is about to be bound to a rock.] But [Pikachu] kept attacking, kept standing up after every blow he took, throughout the night as the moon rose to the highest point in the sky and slowly lowered back down. But that was [Pikachu]’s plan, and as the morning sun peeked over the mountains, it blinded the demon and [Pikachu] was able to behead the demon at that moment. Working quickly, he took a length of rope and tied it around the stone at the willow’s roots, sealing the demon’s spirit within. [So it was important to me to have Pikachu defeat the demon through being clever but only able to let that cleverness come to fruition through Pikachu’s strength and will. The use of a rope being tied around a rock was inspired by this story https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-japanese-stone-said-to-contain-demon-cracks-open-180979729/]

The village and its villagers, now freed and returned to the present world, celebrated with [Pikachu] and his household, finally able to hold the festival the village had prepared for before the demon’s treachery had taken place. [Pikachu] and his household soon resumed the journey to the great war; however, the tale of his heroism spread throughout the kingdom, to the people inside and outside the capital, high and low. [This phrase was taken from Shuten Dōji “Raikō is held in awe by people inside and outside the capital, high and low, more than the sum of these four generals.”] The emperor, when they heard the story, was impressed and grateful to their loyal subject for his valiant service. So he appointed [Pikachu] as an advisor in his court and bestowed upon him a place within the Order of Chivalry around the fifteenth of the third month in the year of our society fiftyseven. [This phrase was borrowed from Shuten Dōji “The emperor, when he heard the story, was impressed and grateful to his retainer for his valiant service. So he appointed Raikō the governor of Tsu Province and bestowed upon him the court rank of senior fourth lower. Tsuna was given the Province of Tanba and was given the rank of senior fifth lower.”]

Illumination

I took the feel of the illuminations from scrolls such as The Origin of Tengin (1596-1615) which can be found here and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (17th CE) which can be found here. In both of these, painting are in between paragraphs and the paintings are surrounded by golden clouds. Then paintings from various scrolls were lifted and edited to suit what I envisioned for each painting. The result was four paintings in between paragraphs of the story above. Additionally, I painted Pikachu’s arms on the frontispiece and the seals of the King, Queen, and Principal Herald of Meridies on the endpiece.

I had a rough sketch of the paintings done on the scroll first. Later I tried to erase the pencil markings; however, this turned out to be a mistake as rice paper is fragile and rubbing like erasing took off a top layer of the rice paper. Fortunately, I painted over this and managed to hide this mistake. I then went and outlined everything with ink made from an inkstick. I then filled in and shaded using paint I have made. After finishing touches, I did the calligraphy in between each painting.

Final Product

The final scroll stretched out pretty wide and required two people to present it:

Conclusion

Overall, I am happy with this scroll. It did take quite a bit of time to complete (maybe 60ish hours of work on the scroll itself not including the planning and prep). I was fortunate to already have all the materials besides the scroll itself which cost ~$50. I know I definitely overdid it on this one but I had a lot of fun doing it and it seemed like Pikachu liked it too!