Japanese girl who has spent most of her life in anglophone countries. Found slightly left off mainstream. Apparently, only writes about Saitou Hajime.

* Avatar design by Eeni

UPDATES & NEWS: July 5th 2013

CELEBRATE! Rurouni Kenshin Live Action sequels announced for Summer 2014!

Eeni's Doujinshi for "The Courtship of Lady Tokio" - Chapter 6

Meiji Keikan Romantan - Chapter 5 notes

Saitou & Tokio have finally met in Yae no Sakura - reviews, recaps and more

Meiji Keikan Romantan: http://

Eeni and I decided to set up a tumblr site in order to keep people up to date with our work. Here you'll find the CLT doujinshi, Eeni's doodles, annotated pictures for historical and cultural reference, as well as other fandom fun (lots of RK and Saitou posts). It will regularly feature bits and pieces from Meiji era Japan. I also post about 'Yae no Sakura', a historical drama focusing on Aizu and featuring Takagi Tokio.

If you haven't checked out Eeni's work, you're missing out! And we will happily take fanworks submissions so please get in touch if there's anything you'd like to add to our blog.

Historical and cultural notes: Notes for previous chapters can be found here.

Doujinshi for "The Courtship of Lady Tokio"

Eeni's project is a dream come true for me - I never had the artistic chops to try drawing manga, and I can't thank her enough for her fantastic rendition of this story. She's put her own unique touch and sense of humor into it, and I think it's just brilliant! Please check it out and show her some love and support for all her hard work! (Her earlier work from Chapter 21 can be found here: http:///art/RK-doujinshi-p-1-24970162)

Arget Cross' spin-off fanfic: "The Funny Threads of Life" A wonderful vignette about an unexpected meeting in Meiji Year 20. I was delighted when I read it; it fit into the timeline so well, and the character portrayals were spot on. I'm sure many others will love it too, whether or not they've read CLT and I hope readers will show the writer a little love.

Yae no Sakura: a glimpse at Saitou/Tokio romance! NHK's 2013 Taiga Drama (historical drama and always one of the most highly anticipated shows of the year) will be about the life of Yamamoto Yae (introduced in CLT, Chapter 30). Tokio will be featured as Yae's best friend and Saitou will also make his appearance. Tokio will be played by Kanjiya Shihori (I like her!) and Saitou by Furuya Kenji (he's a member Dragon Ash).

The Courtship of Lady Tokio - Completed

It took me eight years, but I finally did it. A million thanks to all the readers out there who put it on their favorites list, who wrote to me and reviewed and kept encouraging me to finish. I have been truly humbled and gratified by your support, and I really hope that people are not disappointed with the outcome. As always, I would be delighted to hear your thoughts. The writer's block, the long hiatuses, the research and all the other frustrations have been worth it for me, personally. I won’t ask reviewers to go easy on me, but as always, I would very much appreciate your honest feedback. Your kind words and support mean the world to me - please spread the Saitou x Tokio love!

Thank you all so much for being patient with me.

"The Courtship of Lady Tokio" is dedicated to Hakubaikou, a legend in the RK fan community, who is very much missed by all her friends and fans. She most kindly featured the story on her beautiful site, which was kind of like giving me my "big break". I urge anyone not familiar with this amazing fanworks site to go look (and also leave a note of remembrance for the web mistress): http://

* Live action "Rurouni Kenshin" movie: I hope that people have had a chance to see this wonderful adaptation (I completely fangirled over the casting) http://www.youtube.com/user/RUROUNIKENSHINMOVIE

I've received enough emails, comments and reviews to warrant a FAQ of sorts.

There were a few questions in my mind when I started to write about Saitou Hajime and Takagi Tokio:

- How did Saitou become the unrelenting Miburo that is portrayed in Rurouni Kenshin?
- Why did he remain in Aizu after Hijikata took the Shinsengumi to Hokkaido, instead of following his superior that he had served so faithfully in Kyoto?
- What kind of woman would he have acknowledged as a ‘capable woman’, and what kind of woman would be willing to put up with him as a husband?

CLT is a story about Tokio and Saitou set against the backdrop of the Bakumatsu. Therefore, it could be taken as a story about the Shinsengumi and Aizu with a slant. I consider the Shinsengumi to be the most important factor in shaping Saitou (after all, he is remembered in history as Saitou Hajime, Third Captain of the Shinsengumi) and the experiences he went through while he was a member defined his development and growth as a man. However, he also spent a very significant period of time in Aizu (during the war and their subsequent defeat) and with Aizu people, married a woman of Aizu, and he ultimately decided to be buried there, in a grave at Amida-ji Temple in Wakamatsu that had been awarded to his wife for her efforts on behalf of the war dead of Aizu. He must have liked something about the people and the place.

As Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese pseudo-historical work, I felt strongly about trying to keep my writing as true to the world and story-telling that Watsuki Nobuhiro created as I could. Like Watsuki-sensei, I'm sure that Japanese history buffs want to chop my head off for the many liberties I have taken. And although I apologise if readers don't understand all the historical and cultural references, I do try to include the most important in my author's notes. Readers are always welcome to ask me any questions they might have.

This portrayal of Takagi Tokio is absolutely a figment of my imagination. However, I have fleshed out her character using the historical records that are available on her life. For instance, she really was a scribe (secretary) in the court of Aizu, though she worked for Teru Hime, Matsudaira Katamori's adopted sister. And she was a pretty darned capable woman, as Saitou said. For more information about Tokio and Aizu, I direct you to the most dedicated Shinsengumi historians online in English:

As regards Saitou, I have tried to draw on Watsuki's tone inasmuch as possible. I hope readers don't find him too out-of-character, especially as it applies to Tokio. After all, he's the kind of man who unabashedly announced to Kenshin and Misao that he is in fact married, and even calls Tokio a 'capable woman' (the phrase in Japanese has a much stronger connotation than in English): men back in those days generally never praised their wives in public, so a lot of Japanese fans took it as a sign that Saitou was in fact a loving husband. It's those little nuances that have made him so interesting to me and so many others. From his advice to Sano in the Kyoto arc to his opposition to Shishio, the fact that he was prepared to protect Misao and Eiji at Shingetsu-mura and that he made sure Eiji was cared for, his sense of humor, his sense of duty and honor - I have tried to incorporate all of those facets of his personality.