"Around that time (1326)," we read in the anonymous 14th-century chronicle "Masukagami" ("The Clear Mirror," translated by George Perkins), "it was reported that Empress Kishi was with child. The news delighted Emperor Go-Daigo. ... How splendid if she were to produce a son! He commissioned countless esoteric rights.

"But what was going wrong? The proper time for the birth came and went. ... And when the Empress' condition had remained unchanged for 17, 18, 30 months, it began to seem that she had never been pregnant in the first place. ... The whole affair was indescribably strange and unpleasant." An omen, perhaps?

Time passed. "In the spring of the following year (1331), the Emperor went to view cherry blossoms in the northern hills." Who played the lute under the blossoms? Minister of the right, Kanesue. Who played flute? Fuyunobu, master of the Crown Prince's household.