OYASHIMA: GUSHIKEN 具志堅

[Islamadon 4560]

GUSHIKEN 具志堅

 

 

Gushiken is one of the Eight Great Islands of Oyashima and is located due north from the Cathantese province of Lu Zhou. The homeland of Clan Shimazu, this Island has become the symbol of Oyashiman exceptionalism in recent centuries. In a display of great atonement, those of Gushiken have remodeled their society to embody the cultural and spiritual expectations of Oyashima to their fullest extent. As a result, the Island and its capital of Kō Shihon is often considered the harshest to live, yet also the most prestigious to succeed in.

 

Historically, the ruling clan of Shimazu had been known both amongst the mainland Descendants and those of Oyashima as being one which embodied the Samurai way. Textbook through and through, Shimazu enforced Budō culture across the island and treated the Samurai class with reverence. Shimazu had always done right by Oyashima, shedding blood amidst the first occupation and suffering greatly at the defeat in the Shinzo Plains. However, great dishonor befel the clan when the Daimyō Shimazu Satomi offered his services to the Li Dynasty amidst the second occupation in a bout of selfish ambition and a pursuit for the sacred knowledge of silk production. Though the silk provided great wealth for the Island, those of the Shimazu Clan became collaborators. 

 

When Ishikawa Kais led his rebellion, the Shimazu host joined with the Li Ren regime at the city of Lu Zhou. Together, they sailed and marched on the rebels at the Yamamoto woods. As the battle turned to chaos, the Daimyō issued an order of dishonor as they turned upon their Li Ren allies and began to slaughter them from behind. The battle was a decisive Ishikawa victory and served as the turning point in the war for Oyashiman liberation; ultimately, Daimyō Satomi was rewarded. However, those of Shimazu who maintained their belief in the way of Budō were overwhelmed with shame for subsequent collaboration and betrayal, and bided their time for the passing of their patriarch. Eventually Satomi met his end upon consuming a surfeit of squid, becoming deathly ill. None are quite sure as to whether Ishikawa, Shimazu or the Squid itself was responsible.

 

 

In the subsequent power vacuum, a Yōsei who had been adopted into the Shimazu Clan managed to secure power on the promise of a new future for Gushiken and the clan itself. Adopting the title of Onna-musha, Shimazu Eumura sought to wipe away the shame of the clan and impose the will of the Kami Izakuno who embodied Punishment, Law and Order. The focal point of their ambitions lay in rigid education and indoctrination. As a result, a darwinist mentality was fostered about the island and where the “lessers” would be weeded out in favor of the ideal Oyashiman. 

 

The island of Gushiken was subsequently reorganized to host the primary capital of Kō Shihon and its four orbiting districts of Ichimura, Nimura, Santoshimura and Gomura. These districts are distinct from one another in that they represent the class of those who reside within it. For example, Ichimura became home to the wealthiest and brightest Shi whereas the district of Gomura hosts the Kegare, or the undesirables. 

 

Naturally, there were those of Gushiken who resisted the new Shimazu way. Due to a belief in the freedom of Budō and a rejection of newfound tyranny, a great many of Gushiken’s population opted to live beyond the walls of Kō Shihon in squalor, and have since formed pockets of resistance and rebellion. The Ronin agitators of these vagrant gangs have since earned the ire of Gushiken’s Samurai class, thus resulting in numerous expeditionary campaigns of “justice” whereby Shimazu retainers would hunt down and detain perceived rebels. Shanty towns are occupied or razed, and those who are captured are forced into penal labor until assimilated.

 

Despite the rigid class system and strict tyranny of the Gushiken, Clan Shimazu offers a path of upwards mobility via the Shimazu Exams. In order to even be considered for the test, one must first display adept etiquette and verbal competence. Applicants must present themselves in a clean and uniform fashion, most often adopting bob and bowl cuts. Further, an acceptable level of knowledge pertaining to the propagandized history of Oyashima must be showcased. The test is imperative to the family, for failure or success dictates their future. Those who fail will be placed on a ten year probation from subsequent testing due to their less-than-satisfactory way of living and those who succeed may take their family to the superior districts so that they might attend the Gushiken Academy.

 

 

Kō Shihon itself is home to the Gushiken Academy, an educational facility that prides itself on its one-in-ten graduation rate and is the primary rival to Hoke-ida’s scholars. At the academy, aspiring students are educated less in the ways of tomes and more as how to act as patriots and true warriors. Students are corralled with busy schedules, severe discipline and a stream of nationalistic lessons. Students aspire graduation from the Gushiken Academy, for it guarantees access into the inner districts of Gushiken whereby they would be afforded a high standard of living and, hopefully, a position within the Onna-musha’s court. Too are alumni Samurai and administrators sought throughout the isles as graduates have built for themselves a reputation of work ethic, discipline and traditionalism.

 

In the modern day, Gushiken is an island of great national reverence and order. Shimazu Clan and its subservient Samurai continue their endeavor to erase the shame of their flippant Daimyō and the guilt they still harbor. Silk production has only increased in the years following the Oyashiman incursions into Cathant as trade between the two empires has come to a halt. This has resulted in a boom of wealth for the people of Gushiken as they are the only island capable of producing the raw material. Too are aspiring Samurai sent from across the isles to receive sermon at Gushiken academy, for the prestige of its graduation practically equates to title and land.