Re: Life In The Original World From Zero [A Re:Zero Fiction]

Chapter 69: Modern Day Life Graduation Trip Part Three

"Alright, then we'll include the Japanese history background that you need to know to appreciate the Shuri Castle better!" Hinata said, taking out a notebook from his backpack. "Hai, Natsuno-san. We will do our best to learn." Rem said, smiling. "Sou nanoyo. In fact, Betty notices something that she wants to ask about, so this would be a good chance to learn all at once, Betty supposes." Beatrice said, nodding. They had just walked through a stone arch flanked by two stone lion statues and a flight of stone stairs.

"Oh, what is it that you noticed? Ah ah wait don't answer yet. We're gonna make the whole thing interactive. What do you think Beatrice-san might have noticed?" Hinata said, turning to the rest of them. Beatrice apparently thought this was a good idea too and turned to Subaru. "Subaru, what do you think?" She asked, and he held his chin with an eyebrow raised, gazing at their surroundings. "Ha~ I think I know, something about the, uh, elements of the architectures so far?" Subaru guessed. "Same here, those are pretty eye-catching to us, but not sure about that for you foreigners." Haruka followed, and Beatrice nodded.

"That is what Betty was thinking about, in fact. Betty can confidently say that she has read a lot about Japanese history as well as those of the countries surrounding Japan, Betty supposes. Noticing those elements is quite easy for Betty, in fact." Beatrice said, putting her hands on her hips and looking proud of herself. "Haha, as expected from Bea-ko! You didn't read every book in our apartment for nothing! Erai erai!" Subaru said, ruffling her hair and laughing. While Beatrice flung her arms back at Subaru for messing up her silky hair, Rem and Ram spotted what they were talking about.

"Ah, now that Subaru-kun mentions it, Rem remembers the illustrations of ancient Japanese architectures from books about the Three Unifiers. The castles built in the Tokugawa Period consisted of mostly stones, similar to the walls and arches we walked by so far, as well as woods but in a slightly different style but still recognizable as Japanese. However, there are other parts on the architectures here that differ from those." Rem said, tilting her head slightly. "There are more reddish tiles used here. The sign on the arch we just walked past was red carved with golden characters too. Ram assumes you're hinting about the Chinese culture resemblances, Kouyou-san, Tsuyumi-san, Natsuno-san?" Ram said, finishing the rest of Rem's thoughts.

"Impressive, you three." Aki said as he, Haruka, and Hinata gave them a small round of applause. "You're correct! The Chinese culture influence is very evident, right? It's because when Okinawa was still called the Ryukyu Kingdom, it was a subordinate state to both Japan and China and paid tribute to the two larger nations. And due to its geographic location, sandwiched between China and Japan, it was very important for trading back then." Subaru explained as they walked on, passing patches of grass and flowers and more stone steps.

Hinata, giving the pages of the notebook he was burying his face in a few flips, looked up and continued the explanation. "The Ryukyu Island, that's where we are now, were unified by the Ryukyuan monarchy in 1429, starting an almost five hundred years of ruling by them, until 1879. There were originally three forces fighting over the rightful throne, but in the early 1400s the emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China recognized the Chuzan principality as the rightful ruler of the Ryukyu Island, so the other two lost their standings." He said, and Emilia put her hand up. "Hai Emilia-san!" Hinata nodded at her.

"How come the, um, the Chuzan principality became the ruler because the emperor from China said so? That's a bit confusing." Emilia asked. "Glad you asked. It's because at the time, China was the superpower of Asia, with the most power militarily, economically, and politically. Many other smaller Asian nations were subordinate to them, ruled over as tribute states, and the Ryukyu Kingdom was among them. So, they had to do as China said." Haruka explained. "Hai!! Easy-to-understand scenario!!" Subaru shouted, spreading his arms and smirking. "Imagine this is a park in our neighborhood, and I'm elementary schooler number 1!!" Hinata shouted and pointed at Subaru. The four girls looked bewilderedly from him to Subaru.