Hakuganshi

Also known as: 白眼子

by Ryouko Yamagishi

It was 1946, shortly after the end of the war. A young girl orphaned by the war nearly freezes to death in a market in Otaru, Hokkaido. She is picked up by a blind man called Hakuganshi, who names her Mitsuko. Hakuganshi was a psychic, and for a small fee, she prayed for her clients to see their destiny and to be healed of their illnesses. Thoughtful and quiet, Hakuganshi lives with her older sister, Kayo. She raised Mitsuko, who was not very good with her hands and not very smart, with great care and affection. However, when Mitsuko was in high school, she was reunited with a relative, and Mitsuko was cut off from Hakuganshi by her grandmother, who thought psychics were disreputable. Later, as an adult, Mitsuko gets married, becomes pregnant, and struggles with her daily life. One day, when her husband got into an accident at sea and presumed lost, Hakuganshi came to Mitsuko's bedside and leaves her a prophecy that her husband will return safely. Note: Includes the one-shots "Chougouraku (鳥向楽)" and "Amenonubuko (天沼矛)".