January 20, 2025
Peaks Island Press and Other Works
With Eugene's passing, Peaks Island Press is no longer in operation. Books within the catalog will be republished in 2026.
His 12 Kingdoms translations, of which he was quite proud and dearly loved, will remain available. At some point, the books may be transferred to another link/URL. If so, that link will be posted here.
See the post below about remembrances. In keeping with Eugene's private personality as well as his eclectic interests, which included technology, a tribute to Eugene will likely take the form of memorial posts on this blog.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, memories, peaks island press
November 27, 2024
Twelve Kingdoms novels licensed
Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the Twelve Kingdoms novels by Fuyumi Ono. (Just for the record, I am not involved in any way.)
Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea (part 1) will be released in July 2025 in paperback format. The ebooks will also be made available on digital platforms. (Fuyumi Ono has resisted releasing the novels in electronic format. The Japanese editions are still not available from BookWalker or the Kindle store.)
TokyoPop published the English translations back in 2007. The license was not renewed and the books have gone out of print. When it comes to localizing manga and light novels, Seven Seas has a much bigger presence in the market. It makes sense that they would be handed the baton this time around.
Let's hope they make the most of the opportunity. Though it's not encouraging that only part 1 of Shadow of the Moon is being released first, rather than an omnibus edition. At that pace, publishing the entire series could take a long time.
TokyoPop published the English translations back in 2007. The license was not renewed and the books have gone out of print. When it comes to localizing manga and light novels, Seven Seas has a much bigger presence in the market. It makes sense that they would be handed the baton this time around.
Let's hope they make the most of the opportunity. Though it's not encouraging that only part 1 of Shadow of the Moon is being released first, rather than an omnibus edition. At that pace, publishing the entire series could take a long time.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, business, publishing, shadow, translations
June 24, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (downloads)
I've posted the ebook files for book 4 of Hills of Silver Ruins. The Notes link on the Index page lists the relevant blog posts along with the illustrations.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations
June 14, 2023
The cruel compassion of the kirin
 |
| Japan's most famous kirin watch over Nihonbashi. |
A kirin has two mandates, choosing the emperor and ensuring the general welfare of the kingdom. The first is a one and done. In order to carry out the second, the kirin serves as chief advisor to the emperor, governor of the capital province, and commander of one half of the Imperial Army.
That last portfolio might seem odd, given the kirin's aversion to blood and violence. This aversion, coupled with the second mandate, the general welfare of the kingdom, is why kirin are known as "creatures of compassion."
Except a kirin is less a pacifist and more a military general directing the action from behind the lines. Adopting a "moral equivalent of war" approach, whereby the ends often justify the means, they can become so focused on their objectives that the fates of ordinary humans escape their attention.
Yari observes that for Taiki, "the fate of Tai always took precedence." This explains why Taiki returned to Kouki. Tai needed saving now. Everything else fell by the wayside, including the search for Gyousou.
When Taiki, Yari, and Kouryou break into the palace prison to rescue Seirai, Taiki can't yet persuade himself to kill the guard. But he has no problem with Yari and Kouryou dispatching a whole platoon basically for having the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Keiki commits half a dozen felonies when he first meets Youko. Kourin can barely bring herself to stab Youko in the hand, yet when ordered by the Imperial Kou, repeatedly dispatches her shirei to kill Youko.
Taiki's willingness to go to any lengths to get the job done is just getting started. Drawing on deep reserves of self-discipline, he forces himself to bow to Asen, even though doing so feels like "a spike driven through his forehead" and makes him literally bleed out of his eyes.
In the climactic scene, Taiki kills a guard and wounds several others. Hence Rousan calling Taiki a "monster" unlike any kirin before him. But as the example of Rokuta makes clear, a kirin has enormous latitude to expand its job description.
The existence of the kirin itself so defied the normal constraints of the world that it was reasonable to conclude that only Heaven could have made them that way. And so it followed that the Divine Will was whatever the kirin said it was.
But even kirin must yield to the supernatural laws that govern a kirin's nature. Like Kourin, Taiki pays a price for warring against that nature. Fortunately for him, unlike the Imperial Kou, who takes Kourin with him to the grave, Gyousou steps forward to tell Taiki that enough is enough.
It will still take Taiki months or even years to recover. When he does, unlike his younger self, this battle-hardened kirin will provide a strong check and balance on Gyousou's actions going forward. And I'm sure that Gyousou can be counted on to return the favor.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, geography, japan, japanese culture, politics
June 10, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (downloads)
I've posted the ebook files for book 2 of Hills of Silver Ruins. The Notes link on the Index page lists the relevant blog posts along with the illustrations.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations
June 07, 2023
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A reader wondered why chapter 7 of book 4 in Hills of Silver Ruins [19-7] ends on page 59 but chapter 8 [20-1] begins on page 62. The reason is that the titles for section breaks are placed on the recto, rather than the next page, in this case leaving page 60 blank.
In publishing terms, recto is the front of a leaf (or page) and verso is the back. By tradition, page 1 starts on the recto, the right-hand page in left-to-right languages (such as English). Recto and verso are reversed in right-to-left (vertically typeset) Japanese books, so odd-numbered pages are on the left.
Because the typesetter started each section in Hills of Silver Ruins on the recto, these numbering gaps are scattered throughout the books. Here is the spread for part 20. As you can see, the recto is on the left. The page on the right (the verso of page 59) is blank (click image to magnify).
Typical print book layout also begins front and end material on the recto. But not necessarily chapter headings. A chapter usually gets a new page that is either the next page (recto or verso) or always recto (if saving paper isn't an issue).
In Hills of Silver Ruins, though, chapter headings do not get a new page, only white space. Another clever design decision was to use kanji numbers for the section headings but not the chapter headings. Japanese typography offers these options to book designers and greatly simplifies several other variables.
Characters in a given font and size occupy a box the same width and height, including punctuation. There is no spacing between characters (except in children's books). Imagine typing in a non-proportional font and having the line wrap at the right-hand margin regardless of where the cursor is in a word.
As a result, Japanese typesetters don't have to worry about justification, hyphenation, or widows and orphans (unless the result is quite ungainly, such as a single character on an otherwise blank page).
The one exception is punctuation. An end punctuation mark should not be separated from the preceeding text if it falls at the beginning of a line or the top of a column of text. To prevent this from happening, it is acceptable to kern a punctuation mark or push it into space reserved for the bottom or right margin.
In the example below, you can see the chapter number demarcated only with white space, and a comma and period pushed into the bottom margin. Even rudimentary Japanese word processing software has this capability (click image to magnify).
In vertical text, the comma, period, and close quotation mark (、。」) are located at the top (or left) of the aforementioned box while an open quotation mark (「) is at the bottom (or right). Thus the trailing space is built into the punctuation. Quotation marks rotate 90 degrees when printed vertically.
A paragraph indent is one box wide, the same width (or height) as hitting the spacebar once.
In publishing terms, recto is the front of a leaf (or page) and verso is the back. By tradition, page 1 starts on the recto, the right-hand page in left-to-right languages (such as English). Recto and verso are reversed in right-to-left (vertically typeset) Japanese books, so odd-numbered pages are on the left.
Because the typesetter started each section in Hills of Silver Ruins on the recto, these numbering gaps are scattered throughout the books. Here is the spread for part 20. As you can see, the recto is on the left. The page on the right (the verso of page 59) is blank (click image to magnify).
Typical print book layout also begins front and end material on the recto. But not necessarily chapter headings. A chapter usually gets a new page that is either the next page (recto or verso) or always recto (if saving paper isn't an issue).
In Hills of Silver Ruins, though, chapter headings do not get a new page, only white space. Another clever design decision was to use kanji numbers for the section headings but not the chapter headings. Japanese typography offers these options to book designers and greatly simplifies several other variables.
Characters in a given font and size occupy a box the same width and height, including punctuation. There is no spacing between characters (except in children's books). Imagine typing in a non-proportional font and having the line wrap at the right-hand margin regardless of where the cursor is in a word.
As a result, Japanese typesetters don't have to worry about justification, hyphenation, or widows and orphans (unless the result is quite ungainly, such as a single character on an otherwise blank page).
The one exception is punctuation. An end punctuation mark should not be separated from the preceeding text if it falls at the beginning of a line or the top of a column of text. To prevent this from happening, it is acceptable to kern a punctuation mark or push it into space reserved for the bottom or right margin.
In the example below, you can see the chapter number demarcated only with white space, and a comma and period pushed into the bottom margin. Even rudimentary Japanese word processing software has this capability (click image to magnify).
In vertical text, the comma, period, and close quotation mark (、。」) are located at the top (or left) of the aforementioned box while an open quotation mark (「) is at the bottom (or right). Thus the trailing space is built into the punctuation. Quotation marks rotate 90 degrees when printed vertically.
A paragraph indent is one box wide, the same width (or height) as hitting the spacebar once.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, japanese, publishing, translations
June 03, 2023
Twelve Kingdoms (downloads)
The ebook files are available at the links below. The doc files can be viewed and downloaded at Google Docs in a variety of formats. All publication rights remain with the copyright holders.
When downloading a file, Google Drive will default to preview mode. To skip this step, click the download icon at the top right on the Google Drive page.
Chapters are numbered sequentially for file management purposes. The [part + chapter] style used in the books is displayed at the beginning of each chapter.
Translations of Masho no Ko ("The Demon Child") and Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth") are available at the Worlds in Translation website.
When downloading a file, Google Drive will default to preview mode. To skip this step, click the download icon at the top right on the Google Drive page.
| Poseidon of the East | index epub mobi doc 10/23 | |
| The Wings of Dreams | index epub mobi doc | |
| Shadow of the Moon | index epub mobi doc 04/23 | |
| A Thousand Leagues of Wind | index epub mobi doc | |
| The Shore in Twilight | index epub mobi doc | |
| Hills of Silver Ruins | I–IV | index epub mobi doc 06/23 |
| I | index epub mobi doc 05/23 | |
| II | index epub mobi doc 06/23 | |
| III | index epub mobi doc 06/23 | |
| IV | index epub mobi doc 06/23 | |
| Dreaming of Paradise | index epub mobi doc 07/23 | |
| Hisho's Birds | index epub mobi doc 07/23 |
Chapters are numbered sequentially for file management purposes. The [part + chapter] style used in the books is displayed at the beginning of each chapter.
Translations of Masho no Ko ("The Demon Child") and Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth") are available at the Worlds in Translation website.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations
May 29, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins IV
Maps
Notes
Glossary
Downloads
More about the title
More about the covers
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations
May 28, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins IV (notes)
|
Chapter 01 Chapter 02 Chapter 03 • Chapter 04 Chapter 05 Chapter 06 Chapter 07 Chapter 08 Chapter 09 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 • Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 • |
Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 • Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 • |
Maps
Notes
Glossary
Downloads
More about the title
More about the covers
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, ebooks, fantasy, japanese, translations
May 27, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/41)
Since the founding of the Meiji era in 1868, a single era name (nengou) has been assigned to the reign of each emperor. This was not always the case. As Donald Keene explains in Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World,
The kanji for the era name of Gyousou's new and improved dynasty are bright (明) and banner (幟).
I comment a bit more about the conclusion of the series as part of my latest discussion with Kate (click on the INTERVIEW WITH A TRANSLATOR label for more installments).
Until the adoption of Meiji as the name for Mutsuhito's entire reign, the nengou was traditionally changed several times during the reign of a single emperor—at two fixed points in the cycle of sixty years, or when a series of natural disasters were attributed to an inauspicious nengou, or when some prodigy of nature required recognition in the calendar.
The kanji for the era name of Gyousou's new and improved dynasty are bright (明) and banner (幟).
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
May 20, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/40)
"Fields of Gold" by Sting popped into my head while I was translating this chapter (and got stuck there).
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold
So she took her love
For to gaze a while
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold
Will you stay with me?
Will you be my love?
Upon the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in fields of gold
See the west wind move like a lover so
Upon the fields of barley
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
Among the fields of gold
I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We'll walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold
Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
May 13, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/39)
I've posted chapter 39 (book 4) of Hills of Silver Ruins, a Pitch Black Moon.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
May 06, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/38)
I couldn't resist the Hamlet reference. From Act 1, Scene 4: "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
Kaei was the last person to see Risai before she departed for Kei in chapter 6 of The Shore in Twilight.
Kaei was the last person to see Risai before she departed for Kei in chapter 6 of The Shore in Twilight.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
May 01, 2023
Twelve Kingdoms
The ebook files for the titles discussed below are available at the downloads page. All publication rights remain with the copyright holders.
The Twelve Kingdoms novels have been licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment. Bookstore links will appear when they are published.
For additional commentary about the Twelve Kingdoms and the translation process, see Kate's Interview with a Translator series.
Youko/Keiki
1. Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi. My translation: Shadow of the Moon, a Sea of Shadows.
Gyousou/Taiki
Shouryuu/Enki
Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Sokai. My translation: Poseidon of the East, Vast Blue Seas of the West.
Shushou/Kyouki
Short Story Collections
Kasho no Yume. My translation: Dreaming of Paradise.
Non-Woodbury Translations
Translations of Masho no Ko ("The Demon Child") and Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth") are available at the Worlds in Translation website. The TokyoPop translation of Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi is available here: The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Shadow.
The TokyoPop translation of Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora is available here: The Twelve Kingdoms: The Skies of Dawn. The TokyoPop translation of Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth") is available here: The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Wind. The TokyoPop translation of Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Sokai is available here: The Vast Spread of the Seas.
Resources & Other Notes
I've created my own abridged glossary. An overview of the Twelve Kingdoms universe can be found at Wikipedia (English Japanese). The Twelve Kingdoms Wiki has scans of the illustrations and additional artwork.
My go-to resource while translating the novels has been Yoshie Omura's Twelve Kingdoms Room (Japanese). Also see the Twelve Kingdoms Database (Japanese).
Fuyumi Ono borrows much of the political terminology from medieval China. Harvard University's "Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China" (PDF) provides useful clues about the English equivalents.
However, we are talking about a fantasy series, so historical translations are not always exact. The organizational charts at Twelve Kingdoms Memo (Japanese) have proved quite helpful.
The NHK anime can be streamed at Tubi and Crunchyroll (regional restrictions may apply). The Blu-ray edition is available from Discotek Media.
The Twelve Kingdoms novels have been licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment. Bookstore links will appear when they are published.
For additional commentary about the Twelve Kingdoms and the translation process, see Kate's Interview with a Translator series.
1. Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi. My translation: Shadow of the Moon, a Sea of Shadows.
Keiki chooses Youko as Empress of Kei. (Or as Shashinboku puts it, "Me and my annoying monkey conscience.")
2. Kaze no Banri, Reimei no Sora. My translation: A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.
Youko, Suzu, and Shoukei join forces to defeat corrupt government leaders in Wa Province.
3. Tasogare no Kishi, Akatsuki no Sora. My translation: The Shore in Twilight, the Sky at Daybreak.
Risai escapes to Kei and asks Youko for help rescuing Taiki. Taiki and Youko are contemporaries.
Fuyumi Ono wrote The Demon Child before she started the Twelve Kingdoms series. See link below. She covers some of this material in The Shore in Twilight, The Sky at Daybreak. In Kaze no Umi, Meikyu no Kishi ("A Sea of Wind, Shores of the Labyrinth"), Taiki choose Gyousou as Emperor of Tai. See links below.
1. Tasogare no Kishi, Akatsuki no Sora. My translation: The Shore in Twilight, the Sky at Daybreak.
Risai escapes to Kei and asks Youko for help rescuing Taiki. Taiki and Youko are contemporaries.
2. Shirogane no Oka, Kuro no Tsuki. My translation: Hills of Silver Ruins, a Pitch Black Moon (book I II III IV).
Risai and Taiki return to Tai. They recruit a small band of allies to search for Gyousou and take back the kingdom.
Higashi no Watatsumi, Nishi no Sokai. My translation: Poseidon of the East, Vast Blue Seas of the West.
Enki chooses Shouryuu as Emperor of En. This occurs at the beginning of Japan's Warring States era, several centuries before they meet Youko.
Tonan no Tsubasa. My translation: The Wings of Dreams.
Kyouki chooses Shushou as Empress of Kyou. (Shoukei encounters Shushou in A Thousand Leagues of Wind.)
Kasho no Yume. My translation: Dreaming of Paradise.
- (冬栄) "Winter Splendor" (Touei): takes place in Tai and Ren during The Shore in Twilight, the Sky at Daybreak.
- (乗月) "Jougetsu": takes place in Hou after A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.
- (書簡) "Pen-Pals" (Shokan): takes place in Kei and En after Shadow of the Moon, a Sea of Shadows.
- (華胥) "Dreaming of Paradise" (Kasho): takes place in Sai sometime before A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.
- (帰山) "Kizan": takes place in Ryuu and Sou after A Thousand Leagues of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.
Hisho no Tori. My translation: Hisho's Birds.
- (丕緒の鳥) "Hisho's Birds" (Hisho no Tori): takes place before and shortly after the coronation of Youko as Empress of Kei.
- (落照の獄) "Prison of Dusk" Rakushou no Goku: references to Ryuu and Emperor Chuutatsu suggest the beginning of Youko's reign.
- (青条の蘭) "Blue Orchid" (Seijou no Ran): takes place in En before Rokuta chooses Shouryuu as the next Emperor.
- (風信) "Weather Vane" (Fuushin): takes place during the last days of Empress Yo of Kei, and then following her death.
I've created my own abridged glossary. An overview of the Twelve Kingdoms universe can be found at Wikipedia (English Japanese). The Twelve Kingdoms Wiki has scans of the illustrations and additional artwork.
My go-to resource while translating the novels has been Yoshie Omura's Twelve Kingdoms Room (Japanese). Also see the Twelve Kingdoms Database (Japanese).
Fuyumi Ono borrows much of the political terminology from medieval China. Harvard University's "Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China" (PDF) provides useful clues about the English equivalents.
However, we are talking about a fantasy series, so historical translations are not always exact. The organizational charts at Twelve Kingdoms Memo (Japanese) have proved quite helpful.
The NHK anime can be streamed at Tubi and Crunchyroll (regional restrictions may apply). The Blu-ray edition is available from Discotek Media.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, books, crunchyroll, fantasy, japanese, kate, publishing, translations, tubi
April 29, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/37)
The description of Sokou at the beginning of the chapter conjures up the image of an other-worldly Venice of the North.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
April 22, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/36)
In this chapter we learn that the army encircling Kouka at the end of chapter 27 in Book 4 was commanded by Eishou.
The technical name for the color referred to here is orpiment (雌黄), a "deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral."
The technical name for the color referred to here is orpiment (雌黄), a "deep-colored, orange-yellow arsenic sulfide mineral."
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
April 15, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/35)
I borrowed a line from "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, his 1854 poem about the disastrous British cavalry charge against a heavily defended Russian artillery battery during the Battle of Balaklava.
Kirin are susceptible to two potentially lethal diseases. The shitsudou (失道) is caused by imperial wrongdoing, especially involving violations of the Divine Decrees. The esui (穢瘁) results from the kirin's own actions, often from being exposed to blood in the environment or his diet.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Kirin are susceptible to two potentially lethal diseases. The shitsudou (失道) is caused by imperial wrongdoing, especially involving violations of the Divine Decrees. The esui (穢瘁) results from the kirin's own actions, often from being exposed to blood in the environment or his diet.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
April 08, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/34)
The Hall of Supreme Harmony was once called Fengtian Hall (奉天殿). To avoid confusion, I'm only using the former name.
During the Han Dynasty, the Huben (虎賁) was an elite imperial guard unit. The name means "Rapid as Tigers."
During the Han Dynasty, the Huben (虎賁) was an elite imperial guard unit. The name means "Rapid as Tigers."
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
April 01, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/33)
In Greek architecture, the multilevel platform that forms a building's foundation is called a crepidoma. The uppermost level is the stylobate (基壇).
The Sumeru Throne (須弥座) is an architectural feature of Chinese pagodas. The elevated base or first story is designed so that the pagoda appears to be rising out of a lotus flower, with petals circling its circumference. The Sumeru Throne itself is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, the center of all of the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual universes.
The Sumeru Throne (須弥座) is an architectural feature of Chinese pagodas. The elevated base or first story is designed so that the pagoda appears to be rising out of a lotus flower, with petals circling its circumference. The Sumeru Throne itself is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, the center of all of the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual universes.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations
March 25, 2023
Hills of Silver Ruins (4/32)
The Enchou (燕朝) encompasses the personal residences of the Inner Palace and the Imperial Court of the Outer Palace. It is above the Sea of Clouds and has direct access to the Forbidden Gate.
Although the furigana in this instance read simply as "clock," the kanji (漏刻) refer specifically to a water clock or clepsydra. Sophisticated water clocks were invented in China as early as 600 BC.
Although the furigana in this instance read simply as "clock," the kanji (漏刻) refer specifically to a water clock or clepsydra. Sophisticated water clocks were invented in China as early as 600 BC.
Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations