History Literature / SanoIchiro

* TimeSkip: Utilized to varying degrees. The largest one happens between ''The Shogun's Daughter'' and ''The Iris Fan'': five years have passed between the events of the former and the beginning of the latter. Circumstances have changed greatly for Sano and those around him, and not for the better.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Reiko is a samurai lady who prefers adventure and Midori is a women who prefers being a housewife.

* TouchOfDeath: Dim-mak is a martial art techinque that involves touching someone at a specific point of the body. At least two days later, the victim will die of a burst blood vessel in their brain. This is the main murder method of the Ghost, the antagonist of ''The Assassin's Touch''.
* TraumaCongaLine: After he's severely injured in ''The Perfumed Sleeve'', Hirata starts down a dark path that sorely tests his previously honorable, good-natured character. It begins when he decides to embark on mystical martial arts training to compensate for his new disability. He's forced to leave his wife and children for months at a time, which causes major resentment from Midori. He eventually falls in with a group of mystical conspirators that want use their skills to altar the course of Japan. When Hirata threatens to leave after realizing they intend to destroy the Tokugawa shogunate, they threaten to kill Sano. Their superior skills force him to protect said master by keeping quiet about what is going on and remain under their control, infuriating Sano and making it impossible for him to stick up for his retainer. Hirata tries to take down the conspirators, but they beat Hirata nearly to death and force him to become a host to a vengeful ghost general. After killing off the conspirators, the general forces Hirata to murder and steal for Ienobu over the course of five years, never letting him go home. This eventually forces Sano to label Hirata a traitor, which turns both him and his family into outcasts, leading Midori to develop a deep hatred for Hirata. When Hirata finally appears in the final battle at the palace, the general tries to make him kill his long time friend and master to prevent his plans from being stopped. [[spoiler: Hirata fights back so hard against the ghost's control that he snaps his bones, tendons, nerves, and even his own ''spine'' in order to stop the ghost from hurting Sano. Although Hirata manages one last mental attack on Ienobu to thwart the general's plans for good, the strain and injury to his body is too much for him to ever recover from. He dies in Midori's arms a few hours later.]]

* TurnInYourBadge: After Sano refuses to stop investigating Ienobu, Tsunayoshi takes away his rank and bans him from court.
* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Reiko looks almost exactly like her grandmother and even shares a couple characteristics with her: they are both similiarly stubborn and sharp-tongued.
* VillainousBreakdown: After all of his careful scheming and planning, Yanagisawa loses it when it's revealed that [[spoiler: Sano's voice is the only one that Ienobu will obey]]. This proves to be one too many times that Sano has interfered and won, for Yanagisawa snaps and attacks Sano.
* WhosLaughingNow: The reason Ienobu wants to be shogun so badly is so he can force all those who made fun of him for being weak and disabled to bow before him as ruler of Japan. [[spoiler: Taken to its extremes when Sano finds out he's made plans to conquer ''the world''.]]
* WomanScorned: Just one type of motive in the series. In ''The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria'', [[spoiler: Lady Wisteria]] frames several former clients she has come to loathe.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: General Otani needed the other members of the fellowship because they were the only ones who could help provid him a host. Once he's possessed Hirata's body, Otani uses his newfound physicallity to murder the rest of the fellowship within seconds.
* YouKilledMyFather: The murder of a family member- usually a child- is the motive behind more than one murder.
** Yanagisawa vows revenge against Sano for Yoritomo's death, even though Sano had nothing to do with it. Ditto with Yanagisawa's other son, Yoshisato. [[spoiler: Although, in his case, he was later found to be alive and in hiding.]]
** Lady Nobuko never forgave the one who caused the death of her daughter, Tsuruhime. She pulls a knife on Ienobu in the final battle, but is only stops herself from killing him when Yanagisawa enters, and she can't decide who she hates more.

* IJustWantToBeLoved: After a hideously abusive childhood, all that matters to Yanagisawa is power, but that drive wars with his deep-rooted need to be loved. A handful of times during the series, he's presented with a choice between true love and maintaining his position. Since his power is all that protects him from the legions of enemies he's made during his rise to the top, Yanagisawa he can't ever contemplate giving up even a slice of it. As such, he'll always sends his love interest away to banishment or death.
* InterdisciplinarySleuth: Sano and most of his circle of investigators are also {{Samurai}} who have trained in some form of fighting art. Sano himself was a tutor and historian before becoming the Shogun's investigator. This background helps him hunt down evidence and witnesses during the various cases he's given.

* KickedUpstairs: Sano starts out the series as a teacher turned yoriki. After saving the Shogun's life, he becomes Shogun Tsunayoshi's top detective. Following Yanagisawa's exile, Sano gets his biggest promotion when he's made Chamberlain. He gets kicked back downstairs after Yanagisawa arranges for Lady Nobuko to be raped and the Shogun demotes Sano for failing to save his wife. Then he gets kicked back up again after Yanagisawa refuses to leave his home while mourning the death of one of his sons. After he [[spoiler:refuses to give up on finding evidence that will show that Ienobu had a hand in the death of the Shogun's only daughter]], Sano is kicked ''way'' down the bakufu ladder. Then up yet again after Tsunayoshi reinstates Sano to find out who attacked him. Finally, [[spoiler:Sano becomes shogun-by-proxy when his voice is the only one that Ienobu will obey]].

** ''The Concubine's Tattoo'''s has Lord and Lady Miyagi, a couple who are blood-cousins in a marriage of convenience because no one would marry into the family.

* KnightInSourArmor: While Sano always knew life at court was dangerous, years of the Shogun failing to show any appreciation whatsoever for his loyalty gradually wears away at his idealism.
* LawOfInverseFertility: The Shogun is desperate for a son and heir. Naturally, his wife never conceives and his concubines don't do much better.

** Sano and and his son, Masahiro, are very similar in attitude with Masahiro adopting his father's philosophy towards honor. He even takes over Sano's post at the end of the series.

** Yanagisawa and Yoshisato are both clever, handsome, and crave power, and even have similar postures and expressions. There is one key difference, though: Yoshisato desires power because he sees he can do good with it, unlike his father who simply wants to control everything and crush those who get in his way.

* LockedAwayInAMonastery: [[spoiler:Lady Nobuko is shuffled off to a monastery thanks to her actions leading to the Shogun's death.]]
* LongGame: The 47 ronin enact their plan to get their revenge against Kira over a year after the dissolution of Asano's house.

** The plot of ''The Shogun's Daughter'' is kicked off when the Shogun's only direct decedent, his daughter Tsuruhime, dies presumably from smallpox. Lady Nobuko, however, suspects foulplay, and Sano's investigation ends up revealing that [[spoiler:the infection was deliberate: Ienobu had Tsuruhime's bed rubbed down with a smallpox-infected blanket by Ukyo, a maid who'd already survived the disease. Tsuruhime's death ensured that Ienobu's precarious postion as the designated heir wouldn't be taken by any sons she might've had]].
* MakeMeWannaShout: The murder method used in ''The Samurai's Wife'' is known as ''kiai'', a type of deadly cry that causes massive hemorrhaging to anyone in its path. It's achieved through controlled breathing techniques and tightly managed concentration.

** In ''The Concubine's Tattoo'', Ito's autopsy reveals that the concubine Harume died while carrying a child. [[spoiler:Lady Mori thought it was her husband's, leading her to poison Harume out of jealousy. The baby was actually Jimbei's, the ''eta'''s chief.]]

** In ''Shinjū'', the bodies of a peasant man and a young samurai woman are written off as yet another story of two star-crossed lovers committing a double love suicide so they could at least be together in death. It isn't until Sano probes further into their deaths that he finds out [[spoiler: that they were murdered by Lady Niu in an effort to protect her son. Said son is plotting to murder the shogun]].

* MySecretPregnancy: Shortly after Hirata and Midori become a couple, Midori becomes pregnant. She tells no one about it expect Hirata, and even then it's only so she can explain exactly why they ''need'' to be married and fast. Much later on, her daughter follows in her footsteps when Taeko becomes pregnant with Masahiro's child and says nothing until after she and Masahiro become engaged.

** After being kidnapped by Ienobu's men, Yoshisato escapes them and pretends to be a gangster, even becoming leader of a gang.

* OfficialCouple: Sano and Reiko are the series' main couple. Once they come to an understanding, they quickly fall for and become devoted to each other. Reiko also becomes one of Sano's main consultants and confidants when it comes to brainstorming ideas and discussing evidence. %%stopped here

* OutWithABang: [[spoiler: Makino had a heart attack while participating in a threesome.]]
* ParentalIncest: Many characters have this as part of their background.
* ParentalNeglect: A lot of characters have parents that ignored them or are parents that don't pay attention to their child(ren). Yanagisawa ignores all of his children except for Yoritomo and Yoshisato. This includes his only legitimate offspring, Kikuko, in part because she is a girl and in part because she is mentally challenged.
* PlayingHardToGet: When Midori asks Reiko for advice on how to get Hirata to pay attention to her again, Reiko basically tells to her to invoke this trope. It backfires pretty quickly; Midori tries too hard to act aloof and cold which just confuses Hirata at first. He also quickly figures out what she's trying to do and is only amused by it.
* PregnantBadass: Pregnant or not, Reiko will do whatever to be part of Sano's investigations. This comes back to bite her when she miscarries her third child.
* PromiscuityAfterRape: Several characters who were raped in their past are very promiscious in the present: Yanagasiwa, Haru, and Yugao, just to name a few.
* PublicExecution: Constantly, and often unfairly given. This becomes a plot point towards the end of ''The Fire Kimono''; Sano stages Yoritomo's execution, using Yanagisawa's love for his son as a means to draw Yanagisawa out from hiding.

* RapeAsBackstory: Both male and female characters have this, though there seem to be more male characters who have suffered through this. Since "manly love" among samurai was a common practice in this period of Japan, masters taking advantage of their students was sadly not uncommon. The trauma experienced from the assault often results in a motive for more power over others (as is the case for Yanagisawa) or, in extreme cases, murder (such as when [[spoiler:Kira was murdered by his retainer for pimping out said retainer's son]]).
* RashomonPlot: Each of the suspects tells their own version of how Reiko ended up in Lord Mori's chamber. Unsurprisingly, their stories don't exactly mesh with each other: Reiko's tale explains how she came to be in the Mori estate, but not how she got into the state she was in when Sano found her; Lady Mori paints Reiko as some two-timing seductress who killed Lord Mori in cold blood; Lady Mori's son describes Reiko as a blackmailer who was doing Sano's bidding, etc.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: As this is the standard of beauty during the series, many women have this appearance and will go to desperate lengths to maintain and/or achieve it. Older women, such as Lady Keisho-in, will apply layer after layer of white makeup to their faces and/or dye their hair black to try to maintain a youthful look.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Extremely rare within the Shogun's court and Edo as a whole, as corruption is rampant in both. Outside of the main protagonists, Magistrate Ueda is one of Edo's few honest and powerful men.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Sano not only calls the Shogun ''by name'', he calls him out for his childishness, irresponsible ways, and passive-aggressive behavior, additionally calling him a coward unworthy of bearing the Tokugawa name. Much to his, and everyone else's absolute shock, Tsunayoshi ''agrees'' with him.
* ReassignmentBackfire: Sano's trip to Deshima, which is supposed to get him out of Yanagisawa's way and destroy his ''miai''. Instead, he comes back after forcing back some powerful enemies and improves his standing in the Shogun's eyes.
* RedLightDistrict: The Yoshiwara pleasure quarter, which can be summed up as "prostitutes, courtesans, and more prostitutes."
* RefugeInAudacity: It takes quite a bit of samurai bravado and no small amount of iron balls to not only call the most powerful person in Japan a coward, but to declare him unworthy of his name and title ''and'' get away with it.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: [[spoiler: Both Sano and Reiko turn out to be right, though the actual facts were either obfuscated or hidden. While Haru ''did'' kill the Commander, she did it in self-defense and hadn't even intended to kill him outright. She also didn't murder her husband via arson: it was an accident that she took took advantage of so she could escape his abuse. The Black Lotus are indeed just as devious and dangerous as the public think them to be, even more so than anybody could have imagined.]]

** ''The Rōnin's Mistress'' deals with the legend of UsefulNotes/The47Ronin.

* ScreamingBirth: Midori screams through most of the birth.
* {{Seppuku}}: Depending on their status, some samurai are given this option instead of execution, seeing it as a means for them to regain the honor they lost. Some characters take this route when their situation seems too bleak to get out of. After going against one of Sano's orders, Hirata offers this as a way to atone for his disobiedence. Sano forbids him, instead urging him to use this as a lesson. "Jigai" is the woman's version, used by [[spoiler: Lady Yanisagawa]] after her husband's death leaves her and her daughter's future uncertain. %%Stopped here.
* {{Sequel}}: While the murder and murderer of ''The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria'' weren't part of the previous book, the affect the Black Lotus case had on the main cast clearly shows: Sano's temper is quick to kindle due to the mental and emotional turmoil that formed after the raid on the sect's temple; Reiko doubts her deductive abilities and intuition due to backing a suspect that ultimately proved to be a manipulator and murderer; their marriage rests in a state of fragile equilibrium because they were on opposing sides, which fomented bad blood between them, etc. Additionally, some loose ends are tied up regarding just how the Black Lotus was able to exist for so long without reprisal: several influential members of the bakufu were Black Lotus followers, meaning they were able to cover up the sect's doings from people who might have done something about it.

* SexEqualsLove: Lady Yanagisawa desperately holds to this belief when her husband beds her as a reward in ''The Perfumed Sleeve''. When Lady Yanagisawa tries to explain to Reiko that Yanagisawa loves her, Reiko mocks her for thinking that lust and love are the same thing.

* SleepingTheirWayToTheTop: While most government positions are obtained through birth, some ambitious samurai will circumvent this system by sleeping with their superiors. Yanagisawa is a promenent example, as he got the job of Chamberlain by becoming the Shogun's lover and confidante. He encourages his son, Yoritomo, to employ this method in an attempt to have him declared as next-in-line to the Shogun's position.
* StalkerWithACrush: Lieutenant Kushida developed an obsession with Harume shortly after she entered Edo Castle.

** In ''Shinjū'', the titular case is about an upper-class lady and a ''shunga'' artist who committed double suicide in the hopes they would be able to live together in the afterlife. [[spoiler: It's an enforced example: the two victims had never met in life, and their deaths were made to ''look'' like a shinjū by the murderer.]]
** In ''The Concubine's Tattoo'', Harume and [[spoiler:Danzaemon, the eta's headchief,]] were deeply in love, but could never be together because of their vast differences in class.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Downplayed. Once Sano becomes sosakan, a status quo is established that includes Sano having to solve a politically charged mystery with Yanagisawa using the investigation to either take down Sano or further his own power. That doesn't mean things stay stagnant, though: Sano gets married to Reiko, who becomes an important asset to his investigations. Together they have two children, both of whom eventually help solve cases in some way. Sano's position within the court changes multiple times over the course of the series, as does Hirata's. Hirata himself has his own personal struggles regarding his duty to Sano and his family. His situation also changes considerably throughout the series: originally a doshin, he becomes Sano's chief retainer after assisting him in the Bundori case. He then gets married to Midori and becomes sosakan after Sano's own promotion to Chamberlain. Then Hirata gets gravely injured which gives him a limp, leading him to turn to mystic martial arts in order to compensate, etc.
* StupidityInducingAttack: Hirata uses his last ounce of energy to throw a mental attack at Ienobu. Although Ienobu can take care of his basic needs, the attack causes him to only be able to do something if Sano orders him to.

* SweetPollyOliver: [[spoiler: Minister Ogyu]] was born female but raised as male by a family that had desperately hoped for a son. It's the threat of being exposed as a fraud that leds her to murder.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: In ''The Concubine's Tattoo'', Hirata administers a sanity-inducing slap to Sano after Sano starts acting mildly hysterical out of relief that the pair of slaughtered concubines he stumbled across aren't in fact his wife.
* GirlInTheTower: In ''The Dragon King's Palace'', Reiko, Midori, Keisho-in, and Lady Yanagisawa are imprisoned in an abandoned tower as hostages. Reiko manages to manipulate their kidnapper into giving them a higher quality room in a less decrepit building.
* GoodCopBadCop: Sano and Hirata invoke the dynamic of a pleasent and affable dective and his aggressive partner if both of them are present during an interrogation. Who takes which role depends on the suspect.
* GoodParents: Sano and Reiko are concerned more about raising their children with morality and honor than using them as political pawns. Reiko's father, Magistrate Ueda, had a more active hand in raising Reiko than the average samurai, and even giving her the education usually reserved for sons after seeing how intelligent she was.

* HeirClubForMen: One minor subplot is the question of who the next Shogun will be. Since Shogun Tsunayoshi prefers boys and his daughter is tokophobic, it's highly unlikely that a direct heir will ever come about. The Shogun's weak consituation and growing age causes concerns that, should he die suddenly, a power struggle will errupt. To this end, almost everyone close to the Shogun tries to offer up their own sons or favored male family members as potential candidates.

** Sano has a minor meltdown in ''The Pillow Book Of Lady Wisteria'' after one too many death threats in reward for loyalty and competence; Reiko finds him muttering angrily to himself in their garden, his rage growing to the point where he chops down some bushes in a fit of fury.

** In ''The Iris Fan'', [[spoiler:Hirata fights against the ghost possessing him in order to keep the ghost from using his body to kill Sano. The fight strains Hirata's body so much, he literally snaps his spine. Needless to say, Hirata doesn't live for very long afterward]].
* HiddenBackupPrince: Invoked: after Yoritomo's death, Yanagisawa presents one of his other sons, Yoshisato, to the Shogun. He claims that Yoshisato is actually Tsunayoshi's, that he was raised by the Chamberlain to keep the Tokugawa line safe from its enemies. Sano, among many others, don't buy it for a second, but the Shogun is so happy that he has a "son" that it blinds him to any holes in Yanagisawa's story.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Several characters that appear in the series are from Japanese history. Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi; his mother, Lady Keisho-in; Chamberlain Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and two of his sons, Tokugawa Ienobu, amongst several others have a major or minor role in the novels. Still more are mentioned such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Chamberlain Yanagisawa is a major antagonist throughout the series; he comes up with many schemes that might or do result in the ruination of his rivals, he's incrediably manipulative, and he holds no true loyalty to the Shogun. In actuallity, fact indicates that the real Yanagisawa was likely little more than a yes man.

** One of Sano's defining character traits is his relentless pursuit of the truth regardless of the consenquences. There are times where he'll put his own life or the lives of his family member's in danger if it means catching a killer. ''The Iris Fan'' brings this aspect of his personality to the forefront; his search for evidence as to Ienobu's guilt winds up affecting his family's lives as well as the lives of his closest assocciates drastically. It's a major point of contention between him and Reiko, leading them to be at odds for a majority of the novel.
** Various samurai avert or subvert the trope: instead of doing the right thing, they instead follow selfish pursuits or ignore injustices, or they're more concerned about protecting their master's honor, and will lie for them when telling the truth would be more beneficial in the long run. Sano has to deal with both types of people during each of his investigations.

* ArrangedMarriage: Arranged marriages are standard practice, particularly within the nobility. One aspect of this tradition is the "miai", a meeting between two families so each member can better access the prospective spouse's character. Sano's search for a wife was a minor plot point in ''Bundori'', and his miai was where Reiko was first introduced.

** Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and his family were never exiled, nor did he [[spoiler:die in 1709 from being stabbed by a court rival; in reality, his death occured in 1714 of unknown causes]]. Rowland acknowledges the second fact in ''The Iris Fan'''s author's notes.

%%* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In ''Black Lotus'', Sano's arguments about Haru's guilt and Reiko's belief in her innocence- as well as her suspicions about the Black Lotus' true nature- are both valid and backed up with various evidence: Haru is a compulsive liar and manipulator, and she was the last person to see her deceased husband alive. Said husband died of arson as did the victims in the cottage. On the other hand, there are numerous accounts of shady and treacherous behavior among the sect members, including the abduction of children as well as the poisoning water wells. There are just as many people that hate and distrust the sect as their are people who support it. [might not fit anymore per TRS desicion]

* CombatHandFan: The titular weapon of ''The Iris Fan'' is an iron ribbed fan that was used in an attept to stab the Shogun while he slept.

* TheCoroner: Dr. Ito Genboku serves as Sano's right hand man when it comes to disceting corpses. Many of the autopsies Ito preforms help give Sano a starting point for investigations with no obvious murder method or to confirm that the victim(s) died in the manner they initially seemed to.
* CowboyCop: Sano begins ignores soctial conventions after he befriends Dr. Ito and uses the former physician's forbidden Western knowledge to find clues. As the series goes on and those behind the Shogun start making things more difficult for Sano to investigate directly, he has to flout his orders to find the truth, usually finding a loophole to remain in his master's good graces while he carefully stirs up trouble to find answers.

* CryingWolf: In ''Black Lotus'', Haru tries to convince Reiko to get Sano to call off the siege on the Black Lotus's temple, saying that they are the third sign Anraku has foretold. By this point, Reiko is completely done with Haru, thinking this is just another means of manipulation. [[spoiler:It is anything but; soon after Sano and the Tokugawa soldiers arrive, a swarm of novices, priests, and nuns exit the temple to attack the soldiers or speed past them to wreak havoc on the nearby town.]]

** In ''Shinju'', the maid O-hana gets a chapter explaning her background and detailing her attempt to leave the Mori estate in order to keep her appointment with Sano. The chapter ends with O-hana getting murdered.

%%* DeathByWomanScorned: [[spoiler:Lady Mori, revenging her son against his stepfather for [[RapeAsBackstory raping him as a child]]]].

* DecadentCourt: The Shogun's court in Edo and the Emperor's court in Kyoto are both dangerous places for those who aren't politically savvy, and even for those who are half the time. Rivalry abounds, assassinations aren't unheard of, and debauchary is par for the course for most of the staff. The only difference between the two courts is that the latter doesn't have any real power over how the country is ruled.
* DecapitationPresentation: Executed criminals will sometimes have their heads placed on a spike and put on display, to serve as a reminder to any potential criminials. The practice of "bundori" (featured in the novel of the same) is when a decapitated head is cleaned, made up, and mounted on a spike. These "trophies" were then given to the samurai's lord as way of showing their loyalty and honor. This practice was permitted only during times of war, so you can imagine Sano's confusion when someone suddenly takes up this practice during peacetime.
%%* DeliveryGuy: Subverted in more than one way by the normally flighty Keisho-in; in a rare turn of events, she is the only one who is collected and confident when Midori goes into labor and coaches the younger woman through the birth of her first child.

* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: It can be easy to spot which witnesses/murder suspects are going to be bumped off soon if they get a chapter that shows their background and motivations. They're usually murdered by the end of their chapter or- if they're lucky- the book in which they're introduced.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: In ''The Iris Fan'', [[spoiler:Hirata lives long enough for his family to be at his side when he dies. After Midori forgives him for leaving them, he dies in her arms, remembering the love he always had for her]].

* DirtyOldMan: The middle-aged Shogun prefers young boys to any of his concubines, and the first of the 30-odd lovers of Yanagisawa's that the audience gets introduced to is the preteen actor Shichisaburō.

** In ''The Concubine's Tattoo'', [[spoiler:Shichisaburō disguises himself as one of Tsunayoshi's concubines so as not to raise suspicion while enacting one of Yanagisawa's plans]].

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: In ''The Concubine's Tattoo'', during Hirata's last meeting with Ichiteru, she slips a powerful aphrodisiac into his drink and has sex with him. Hirata tells her to stop at least twice, but she ignores him. Ichiteru doesn't get punished for this; while she does get sent back to Miyako in the end, that's only because the castle staff was making room for younger courtesans and Ichiteru was going to be on her way out soon anyway to due her age.

* EvilChancellor: Thanks to the Shogun largely letting his underlings run the country for him, those with evil or less-than-altrustic intentions often vie to be his right-hand man. Chamberlain Yanagisawa is the main one; his knowledge about his lord's temprament means he can easily manipulate the Shogun with mere words alone, and uses those words to contantly undermine Sano and other officials to maintain his power. After Yanagisawa gets sent into exile, Lord Matsudaira takes on this role and maintains the position for a few books until Yanagisawa returns, leading him to commit seppuku. Once Ienobu gets introduced, both he and Yanagisawa fight for this role.

* ExtremeDoormat: Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi is a weak-willed man who is easily swayed by other's opinions. Many officials- chief among them being Yanagisawa- often take advantage of Tsunayoshi's people-pleasing nature by using praise and flattery to manipulate the Shogun into doing whatever they want. Since he's intimidated by court politics, Tsunayoshi prefers to indulge in personal pleasures than actually run the government. The few times he does try to help out, he makes a bad situation worse. While there are moments where he acts more decisive and assertive, such moments are few and far between and whatever spine he had disappears shortly thereafter. It isn't until the end of ''The Shogun's Daughter'' wherein Sano calls him out for being cowardly and ineffectual that Tsunayoshi decides to change his behavior.

* EyeScream: The murder victim of ''The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria'' is killed with a hairpin through the eye.

* FinallyFoundTheBody: Tokugawa Tadatoshi, a cousin of Tsunayoshi's, went missing during the Great Fire and was assumed to have died during the chaos. It isn't until over 40 years later that his skeleton is found, with the cut marks on his bones pointing to him being murdered. Finding Tadatoshi's murderer is the plot of ''The Fire Kimono''.
* FlowerMotifs: The titular fan of ''The Iris Fan'' is a combat fan that was used to attack the Shogun. The fan bears an iris motif, and irises symbolize boldness, courage, and power. Sano notes that these qualities could be associated with someone who made an assassination attempt on the leader of the country.
* {{Foil}}: Yanagisawa and Sano are both intellegent samurai, but that's about where the similarities end. For each admirable trait Sano has, Yanagisawa possess its reverse: Sano is honorable and modest while Yanagisawa is self-serving and corrupt; Yangisawa wants to control the Shogun so he can have power over others which contrasts with Sano, who doesn't want that kind of power and uses his position to help others; Sano only wants what's best for his family and children, while Yanagisawa uses his sons to further his own goals and ignores his wife and daughter until he needs them, etc.

* DeadGuyOnDisplay: The bakugu tradtionally displays the dead bodies of executed criminals with a sign stating the crime they were punished for. This is in an attempt to remined would be lawbeakers what their fate will be should they get caught.

* DecadentCourt: The Shogun's court in Edo and the Emperor's court in Kyoto are both dangerous places for those who aren't politically savvy, and even for those who are half the time. Rivalry abounds, assassinations aren't unheard of, and debouchary is par for the course for most of the staff. The only difference between the two courts is that the latter doesn't have any real power over how the country is ruled.

* DirtyOldMan: The middle-aged Shogun prefers young boys to any of his concubines, and the first lover of the 30-odd Yanagisawa's that the audience gets introduced to is the preteen actor Shichisaburō.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: In ''The Concubine's Tattoo'', during Hirata's last meeting with Ichiteru, she slips a powerful aphrodisiac into his drink and has sex with him. Hirata tells her to stop at least twice, but she ignores him. Ichiteru doesn't get punished for this; while she does get sent back to Miyako in the end, that's only because the castle staff was making room for younger courteasens and Ichiteru was going to be on her way out soon anyway to due her age.

** Downplayed with Dr. Ito; his use of forbidden Western medical techniques would have gotten him kicked out of society for good, but the Shogun decieded to "lessen" his sentance to working at Edo Morgue instead.

* FlowerMotifs: The titular fan of ''The Iris Fan'' is a combat fan that was used to attack the Shogun. The fan bears an iris motif, and irises symbolize boldness, courage, and power. Sano notes that these quailties could be associated with someone who made an assassination attempt on the leader of the country.

* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: Staying within the bakufu is no easy feat, even for those who've been in it for a long time. The Shogun is fickle and easily changes his mind; you can be demoted, exiled, or executed for little to no reason, with your loved ones and close associates potentially sharing your punishment. How long you've worked for him or how well you've done your job has no affect in the Shogun's decisions.

* HeirClubForMen: One minor subplot is the question of who the next Shogun will be. Since Shogun Tsunayoshi prefers boys and his daughter is tokophobic, it's highly unlikely that a direct heir will ever come about. The Shogun's weak consituation and growing age causes concerns that, should he die suddenly, a power struggle will errupt. To this end, almost everyone close to the Shogun tries to offer up their own sons or favored male family members as potentiel candidates.

* TheExoticDetective: Sano Ichirō is a samurai who lives in Edo-era Japan, a time period in which dectives (as we know them) didn't really exist. As such he's given the the equally exotic title of the Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People when he starts working for the Shogun.

** The concept of Bushido is depict as a rigid code of honor among the samurai class. Evidence suggests that this concept was a semi-modern invention and [[https://www.tofugu.com/japan/bushido/ part fabrication in an effort to appeal to Western audiences]].

* MauveShirt: Detectives Marume and Fukida are two samurai who accompany Sano and his family for several novels. [[spoiler:In ''The Incense Game'', Fukida is one of the casualities of the 1703 earthquake.]] %%stopped here
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The story is set in real world Edo-era Japan, but there are several instances where vaguely supernatural things happen. The "maybe mundane" part gets blurrier and blurrier as the series goes along until the spirit of a murder victim possess her lover. [[spoiler: Hirata himself gets possessed by a vengeful ghost who forces him to do their bidding.]]

** In ''Shinjū'', the bodies of a peasant man and a young samurai women are written off as yet another story of two star-crossed lovers committing a double love suicide so they could be together. It isn't until Sano probes further into their deaths that he finds out [[spoiler: that they were murdered by Lady Niu in an effort to protect her son. Said son is plotting to murder the shogun.]]
** In ''The Samurai's Wife'', Sano's investigation of the imperial left minister's death eventually reveals [[spoiler:a plot to overthrow the Tokugawa government and reinstate the emperor as ruler of Japan]].
* MookLieutenant: Aisu, Yanagisawa's chief retainer, lives through half of the book before getting killed by the murderer.
* MySecretPregnancy: Shortly after Hirata and Midori get together, Midori becomes pregnant. She tells no one about it expect Hirata, and even then it's only so she can explain exactly why they ''need'' to be married and fast. Much later on, her daughter, Taeko, follows in her footsteps when she becomes pregnant with Masahiro's child and says nothing until after she and Masahiro become engaged.
* NatureHero: During his time in Ezogashima, Hirata learns how to sense the natural aura of everything around him.
* {{Ninja}}: Aoi is a ninja who works for Yanagisawa. She supplies him information as well as manipulating his enemies.

** After being kidnapped by Ienobu's men, Yoshisato escapes them and pretends to be a gangster, even becoming leader of the gang.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Haru makes several failed attempts to play dumb after becoming an arson suspect.
* OfficialCouple: Sano and Reiko. Once they come to an understanding, they quickly fall for and become devoted to each other. Reiko also becomes one of Sano's main consultants and confidants when it comes to brainstorming ideas and discussing evidence.

* MaritalRapeLicense: Haru was married off to a much older man who raped her. %%stopped here
* MauveShirt: Detectives Marume and Fukida, who accompany Sano and his family in several novels. [[spoiler:Fukida dies in the 1703 earthquake.]]