Nyosei Island

Nyosei Island
Manga
Direction	North East
Type	Island Territory
Capital	Palace of Nyosei
Government	Matriarchy Unnamed Matriarch Unnamed Princess/General
Religion	Beast Gods (Genbu)
Inhabitants	Nyosei Tribe

Nyosei (Nucheng-Kuo or ”Women Fort Country”) is an island territory futured in the Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play manga. It lies off the coast of Hokkan and is inhabited by women who are part of the Nyosei Tribe. A completely independent territory, it is relatively unknown outside of scholars because most who visit the island never return.

For a detailed world map, see The Universe of the Four Gods Map.

Background

Culture

Nyosei Matriarch

Under the rule of a single matriarch, Nyosei women are trained in martial arts, swordsmanship, and other styles of combat to protect their home and way of life. They dress in traditional Hokkan-fashion, but adorn themselves with plates of armor, spears, and swords. As a highly militarized territory, the eldest daughter of the matriarch is expected to take up the role of a "general" to the warrior women.

Female travelers are welcomed onto the island, but once they enter the palace, they are not allowed to leave and are expected to assimilate into the tribe. Men, however, meet a much different fate.

The collective population has a disdain for men, as they are seen as weak, unintelligent, and only good for one thing: Nyosei's reproduction ritual. If a man finds himself on the island at a specific time, instead of being killed, he could be captured and imprisoned. After the guards remove both of his eyes, he is then chained to a wall and enslaved to reproduce with the inhabitants. Once he dies or is close to death, the Nyosei Tribe await his replacement to wash ashore.

Climate

Nyosei Palace

Protected from the raging sea by tall cliffs and high stone walls, the main palace is situated within the island's inner mountains. There is an area of shallows that are patrolled regularly by its inhabitants and its shores are marked with the corpses of men who have attempted to come ashore/infiltrate the island.

Although it is situated close to Hokkan, the island seems to have been spared the country's typical frigid temperatures, as dense forests and greenery surround the area. Agriculture on the island also appears to be more than enough to sustain the small population, and, as a result, the tribe is able to treat themselves to frequent feasts.

Story

Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play

Genbu's Shinzaho arc

As Miaka and the Suzaku Seven (without Hotohori) sail towards Hokkan, their ship is attacked by Soi of the Seiryuu Seven. Miaka, Tamahome, and Nuriko are swept away and, after locating the trio, the rest of the warriors steer their burning ship towards the closest island to dock. They land on Nyosei and come ashore. There, they find the eyeless corpse of one of the crewmen, who has been impaled with swords and hanged from a tree.

Chiriko's celestial mark suddenly appears and he explains that they need to put on women's clothing or they will be in great danger. But before the others can ask any questions, his mark disappears and he forgets what he is saying. Still, the warriors take his word and, after dressing up, they are confronted by members of the Nyosei Tribe. The warrior women are convinced by all of their disguises except Mitsukake's, and they drag him away to their prison.

The group is brought inside Nyosei Palace for an audience with the island's ruler and Miaka introduces herself as the Priestess of Suzaku. The matriarch invites them all to stay and prepares a feast for the company. They learn from the princess/general of Nyosei that there is a shallow canal that connects the island to Hokkan, but the tribe built the palace walls to seal it off and fend off invaders. Miaka makes note of this as they are shown to the guest quarters.

Nyosei's Princess/General

That night, in Tasuki and Chiriko's room, Chiriko's mark returns and he demands that they leave the island as soon as possible. Before the group gathers to leave, Chichiri sneaks out of his room to search for Mitsukake and overhears the tribe's plot to disfigure and enslave his friend.

Nyosei Canal

Chichiri acts fast and breaks Mitsukake out just in time to meet up with Miaka and the others, but he has been discovered and the guards are approaching quickly.

While running from the guards, Miaka finds herself alone near the walls outside the main palace. She is abruptly confronted by a beautiful traveler from the West who calls herself Hua-wan. She quickly hides Miaka from one of the guards. When they are alone, Hua-wan reveals herself to be Soi and attacks. Miaka unsheathes Hotohori's sacred sword and repels Soi's lightning strike. Defeated, the Seiryuu Warrior retreats, and the others discover that her deflected lightning has carved out a path in the shallow canal below.

With the Nyosei army at their backs, the group quickly dives off the high walls into the water and run along the path. But the sea soon closes behind them and they are forced to swim ashore. On Hokkan's shore, the Suzaku warriors continue their journey with Nyosei Island safely behind them.

Trivia

Nyosei at night

• In commentary for the manga, Yuu Watase revealed their disappointment when the Nyosei Island sequence was cut from the anime because the production company complained an island full of women was “too risqué.”
• Although omitted from the anime adaption, a similar story is told in Fushigi Yuugi: The Tale of the Forbidden Women's Hot Spring Resort. In the omake, the island is replaced with a female-only resort in the Kanto Region of Japan with both the Suzaku and Seiryuu warriors attempting to vacation there.
  • The princess/general of the island is also shown in this short as the hot spring’s greeter.
• While seen as filler by some, the events on the island provide manga readers with a better understanding of Chiriko’s powers that the anime did not.
• Despite its status as an independent territory, the island still worships the Beast God Genbu who guards all lands to the North.
• When Miaka and the warriors jump into the sea, Tasuki, with his famous fear of water and inability to swim, is implied to have swam from Nyosei to Hokkan’s shore.