Asayi: An Autistic Teen’s Journey to Topple a Shogun in Medieval Japan follows an autistic teen on a journey to challenge the oppressive regime and find her tribe and love. What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?

In Asayi – An    Autistic Teen’s Journey to Topple a Shogun in Medieval Japan, the main character, Asayi, presents as mute. She understands what is spoken to her and can copy text, i.e., ink Japanese characters, but in book one, she is illiterate.

So Asayi has a rare skill, but is hampered by her lack of literacy.  Not being able to speak is a severe disability in a culture that is with obsessed with perfection.  That is why Nabui constantly repeats that the Shogun “had given him a defective gift” when Yoshinori Ashikaga arranged for Nabui to marry Asayi after her father’s death.  The Shogun felt that the daughter of the late Chief Scribe needed to be placed in Nabui’s household since he was the next Chief Scribe.  Asayi’s “defectiveness” led to beatings, rape and other cruelities in Nabui’s household.  It was not until Yoshinori’s successor, Yoshimasa, came to power that the obsession with perfection came to be a bit dispelled.  Yoshimasa introduced the art of “kintsugi” in the 15^th century wherein broken porcelain was repaired with gold welding to restore its wholeness and utility. 

While life has many struggles, the disabled in Medieval Japan suffered through more struggles than the average person. Had Asayi not been connected through her Chief Scribe father to the power circles, she would have no doubt been killed as a child or used as a household slave. As it was her father kept her condition a secret from the court during his lifetime. Asayi’s humanity is affirmed as she learns to communicate with others by drawing. Thus Asayi adapts to her limitation and uses her prowess with the brush to have a voice.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Certainly, I wanted to touch upon the norm of perfection held by the aristocratic class and present its impact on an autistic young girl. I also wanted to touch upon the severe restrictions on the lives of women in this period as they were ruthlessly governed by fathers, brothers, and husbands.  When I asked a friend of mine who I worked with to teach me Japanese, he told me that I needed to learn the language from a woman. I then discovered the Japanese language spoken by women was like a different language, filled with many honorific words for males that the women were to use in conversation with men!

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

In my next book I will be covering the theft of the Imperial Regalia from the Northern Court. Controlled by the Ashikaga family for generations by the Southern Court, which was the province of the emperor.  The regalia consisted of a sovereign sword, a many-sided mirror, and some gems.  Whoever possessed these objects had the mandate to reign, and they were coveted by each Court. Asayi goes underground to recover these objects, so another adventure lies ahead.  

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/08/19/kintsugi/