The Daishikou (大司寇) is the Justice Minister and runs the Ministry of Fall. The Shuushikou (州司寇) is the Provincial Justice Minister. This terminology dates to the Zhou Dynasty. "Prison of Dusk" in Hisho's Birds focuses on the work done by the appellate courts in the Ministry of Fall.

A blue bird (青鳥) is a bird-based voice mail system. The sender dictates a message. The bird flies to the recipient and repeats it verbatim. A blue bird can also perform the same tasks as a carrier pigeon. "Pen-pals" in Dreaming of Paradise has Youko and Rakushun corresponding using a blue bird.

Labels: 12 kingdoms, black moon, fantasy, japanese, translations