At Asuka Village, Ryu is waiting. The person he's supposed to meet is late...
Nearby, Ken arrives at the same place via train. He gets off and thinks about how Edmond Honda sent him an invitation for a challenge, something about a never before seen special move he'd created.
Chun-Li has also been sent the same invitation, but she thinks that it's only natural that Ryu and Ken would yield the first fight to her. After all, ladies first!
Honda is practicing a few moves, saying to behold the miracle and marvel at the genius of his new special move. He then stops when he sees a turtle rock, and backs away from it.
But he then laughs and says that Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li will be surprised when they realize they've all had an invitation... it'll blow their minds! He's been so absorbed in creating this move, he hasn't eaten or slept in 10 days. He then turns around and sees that the turtle rock is glowing, and is also pointing to the west.
He's heard of the legend: "when the turtle rock points to the west, a great flood will come". Suddenly a beam of light descends out of the sky, hitting Honda and carrying him away!
The light also hits Chun-Li, Ken and Ryu, also taking them away.
Ryu gets up and wonders what just happened and where he is. He then sees Mt. Amanokagu and Mt. Miminashi...
...along with Mt. Unebi, which he thinks means he must be standing on Amakashi Hill. But he then sees a city lying at the base of three mountains of Yamato... and that would mean...
Street Fighter II - Return to the Fujiwara Capital
~the fighters who leapt through time~
Ryu walks into the city, and wonders if he is wandering in some kind of dream. He continues to walk on, until he gets to a large building.
He then hears some noise nearby, and watches a lots of people arrive and head towards him. But they don't pay him any attention and don't seem to see him. The guards then open up the gates to the Suzakumon.
The people head through them, and Ryu watches them pass. But someone they says hey and places a hand on his shoulder.
Ryu immediately turns around and tries to kick the guy, but the person leaps back and tells him to wait. He tells him again to wait...
...as he suddenly changes his appearance, revealing that it's Ken. Ken sees that Ryu has now arrived here too, and it feels nostalgic to be re-united again after 3 long years. Ryu questions that -they only just received Edmond Honda's invitation.
Ken says that that's 1,300 years into the future! He asks him when he got here, and Ryu says it was just now, he'd walked down from Amakashi Hill. Ken says that explains it, they've all been dropped off in difference places. He reveals that they've been caught up in some kind of time vortex, and transported 1,300 years into the past, to the Fujiwara capital .Whilst that light swallowed them up at the same time, it set them all down at different times. In other words, there's been a three year gap between his arrival, and Ryu's arrival. Ken asks him if he's following so far, and Ryu shakes his head.
Ken tells him to come over and says this is no dream. They really have slipped 1,300 years into the past. Ryu is about to question that but Ken tells him not to bother, he can't answer any complicated questions as he doesn't understand the logic of time travel. He tells him to look where they are standing now: the Suzakumon gate. Beyond this building lies the Choudouin, which is the pavilion where nobles and officials gather. And rising behind it is the Daigokuden, the great hall where the Emperor performs rites and conducts the business of government. Lined up along the north-south axis, there is the inner palace where the Emperor resides...
..., and surrounding that are the government and administrative offices. Ryu says that it seems to be arranged much like the Imperial Palace, National Diet Building, and individual agency buildings of their time. Ken says that's right, and that in this city, with the roads neatly laid out in a grid like a Go board, these nobles and officials go about their daily lives.
Ryu says that it's a political municipality wielding centralized power, and Ken says it's the very first of its kind in Japan. Before Fujiwara, the location of the capital would be moved with every new Emperor -but that doesn't make for a efficient government, does it? In fact, it's downright inconvenient! And so Empress Jitou, following the example of the Chinese system and the wishes of her husband Emperor Tenmu, established a permanent capital city in this basin enclosed by the three mountains of Yamato.
Ken says that the transfer of the capital to Fujiwara was completed in 694. They then hear something nearby and go back out, where they see an official bowing before some guards.
Ken says the guy is a straggler. The government official and administrators' workday begins at dawn. Ryu is surprised it's that early, but Ken says Suzukamon Gate opens at the Second Hour of the Tiger--5:00 A.M., that is. And from here, they must journey further to their respective places of business within the capital, so many begin their commute before dawn. But there's always some stragglers, like this poor guy. The guards refuse to let him in, and he walks off.
Ken tells Ryu that with the working hours being strictly observed, it doesn't look like this guy will be up for promotion anytime soon! The guy walks off, and kicks a dog on the way. Ryu and Ken start walking again, and Ken says that as an official, the lower your standing, the further you lived away from the capital, so the commute could be terrible.
They stand in front of another building, but Ken asks Ryu if he understands the importance of time. Ryu asks him if he's kidding -he arrived at E Honda's meeting place way before him! And then, there was that light... Ken says he has no doubts that light was the thing responsible for screwing up their time. They then jump over to the building and have a look inside.
Ken explains that the object inside is a water clock. A siphon draws the water from the top container, where it falls into and fills up the next container.
They would use a measuring stick to let people know the beginning and end of each day. Inside, one person is given the go ahead to ring a bell.
Ken says that in this world it is the officials and members of the imperial court, and only they, who control time and regulate the actions of all. He starts to walk off and says that the officials have also put together a calendar, but he then notices Ryu isn't moving and asks what's wrong. Ryu says these people are bound by time, while they are adrift in it. He asks if there is a way for them to return to the 20th century. Ken doesn't answer, and the two walk off to a large building.
DAIGOKUDEN
(Great Hall)
Ken explains that, despite being constructed entirely of wood, the Daigokuden is as tall as an 8-story building! The Daigokuden, along with the Choudoin, were the first buildings in Japan besides Buddhist structures to feature roofs with ceramic "kawara" tiles. They then see some kind of ceremony going on at the front of the building.
Ryu says that looks like fun and goes to check it out, but gets blasted back by an unseen force. He gets back up and goes up again, but the same thing happens.
Ken says it must be a time wall. It seems that the train of time that brought them here has been speeding up. They're now moving through this era at such a high-speed, that if you try to step off and interact with this world, you'll be bounced back. Ryu says it's like looking outside the window of a shinkansen, but Ken wonders why this happened when they were re-united. They walk off and Ken says the thing about the Daigokuden is, only the Emperor and the very highest ranking nobles are allowed in. So it was probably for the best Ryu couldn't approach it. Ryu questions what he means by that...
...and Ken tells him that the workplaces of these lowly civil servants is more fitting for the likes of them! They are here to learn, after all. They enter another building, and see a guy drawing on a small piece of wood. He makes a mistake and starts to shave it down. Ken explains that paper was an extremely valuable commodity then, so wooden tablets were often used instead. If you made a mistake, the only way to erase it was to shave the wood down.
Ryu takes a look at what the guy is drawing, and after seeing it, tells Ken he guesses this guy won't be getting promoted either. Ken thinks maybe he's an ancestor of Ryu's! They then see the guy start counting the few coins he has. Ken says these are the first circulated coins that Japan officially minted. Not every transaction was paid for with money...
...but a lower-class official might have a yearly salary of 310 mon. Their equivalent would be about 2.5 million yen (approx 25,000 USD). But the highest-ranking "chancellor"-level nobility might receive up to 309,070 mon a year, or 2.4 billion yen (around 24 million USD). Ryu thinks that's an incredible difference, but then sees the guy has started to write something on his wooden tablet. Ken says he's probably requesting a loan -it was common to borrow money from officials above you, and end up to your eyeballs in debt.
They then go to the kitchen of the Daizenshiki. Ken says that since they come to the capital so early for work, many officials arrive without having eaten breakfast yet. This is where the food is prepared, and it's free -no charge. But Ryu sees that there is a big difference...
...in how much food the officials get. They head back out and Ken says that in many ways, the era of the Fujiwara Capital was one of intense social stratification. From top to bottom, there were approximately 30 different official ranks, and it was a way of showing distance between the people and the Emperor. He tells Ryu to look at the official with the deep scarlet clothes -he's an official of the fourth rank.
The ones in light green ones are of the seventh rank. The ones in deeper blue are much lower, the 8th rank. And then the most numerous, but also the lowest ranking noble, were the light blue clothed officials. Ryu says that even from afar, you can tell who's who by the color of their clothes.
They then notice how many people there suddenly are. Ken says their work is done for the day, which surprises Ryu -it's not even noon yet! Ken says that they only work four hours a day, the rest is free time! Ken explains that these government officials all have private residences outside of the Imperial Palace, and their livelihoods are supported entirely by the state.
He says that officials of the fifth rank and above are given land close to the Imperial Palace. The highest "chancellor"-level class might be given four blocks worth of land. Ryu says that's amazing, as it's 57,600 square meters. Ken says that the imperial family and high ranking government officials would receive half or one fourth of that.
Even the lowest ranking officials would still be guaranteed 1/16 of a block, or 270 tsubo (892 square meters), but it would be outside the capital, though. Ryu says that for modern people who work themselves to the bone for a mere 50 tsubo of land today, it seems like an awfully sweet deal.
They then see a parade of people marching through the town, and go and have a look. Among the people are a group of dancers, and one of the dancers is Chun-Li!
Ken and Ryu rush over and call out to her, and she runs over to them. She says she's glad they're hear, as she thought that, having been thrown back to this crazy time, she was going to lose it! Ryu asks how she ended up with those guys.
She says that she doesn't really know how she got caught up with it, but she's been traveling back and forth with them between Japan, China, and Korea. The following year after the Taiho Code was established, she got on an envoy ship headed to Tang China. She's just now returned from an envoy to Silla (Ancient Korea). Ken thinks that's just like her, but then asks Chun Li if she arrived here the same year the Taiho Code was written. She says she did, and Ken says that would be the first year Japan begin using the Imperial Era system... the first year of the Taiho Era. Ken says he arrived the year after that. Chun-Li says he must have arrived right when she got on that boat to China. Ken says that for Ryu, today is his first time seeing him in three years. He'd been giving him a tour of the Fujiwara Capital, but the people there are already using coins with the Wadō emblem...
Chun-Li says history tells them that Japan first began minting coins in the first year of Wadō Era. That's six years after the envoy ships were sent to Tang China. Ken says this means that the flow of time is continuing to accelerate faster and faster, every time they street fighters encounter one another. Ryu says if they can find Edmond Honda, they can speed up the flow of time even faster, and it might be enough to return them to their own time!
Ken asks him if he thinks that Sumo idiot is still here, and Ryu says it'd make sense. Honda was the one who originally summoned the three of them to Asuka Village. Ryu thinks perhaps something happened to him that caused this time vortex, and Ken says if that's true, then he's going to pound Honda into dried squid! They start to search for him, and look through the town. They happen to witness someone reject the coins a woman tries to use to buy something from him. The woman says the government has said he has to start accepting these coins in exchange for goods now, as it's the law. But he tells her if she wants some rice, she should bring him some leather, and throws the coin aside.
Chun-Li says that a standardized currency and the convenience it represents wouldn't become known to the people until much later. The group heads to the outskirts of town, where they see a healer working on a guy with an upset stomach. She uses a "spell", which an official says always works.
The sick guy claims he's cured, as the official states the healer will now take the bad little bug-spirit who had possessed his stomach, and cast it into the river! But the guy suddenly reels in pain, and says it still hurts. The healer quickly starts using another one of her "spells".
Chun-Li says that these people are so deadly serious about all that stuff, it'd be rude to laugh at them. Ryu says there is a lot of traffic on this road now. Ken says it's Japan's capital after all, so everyday rice from all over the country, as well as a variety of goods, are transported here. The group then see that people from the road and river start to disappear.
Ken says this is bad, as time keeps speeding up! He tells them to look, as the people have started disassembling the capital. Ryu asks why are they doing that, as he thought the Fujiwara Capital was built to be the permanent capital of Japan. Chun-Li says that was the intention, but as the political system expanded, it became too cramped, and ultimately the Fujiwara Capital only lasted for the reigns of Emperors Jitou, Monmu, and Genmei, ending in a mere 16 years. Ken says that they have to hurry -if the capital moves to Heian, they're going to have a hell of a time finding Edmond Honda there!
The group start to run, as Ken says that a larger capital would mean vastly more people they'll have to search through. They come across some buildings been taken apart, and Ken says that pillars, tiles, and anything re-usable is being transported to the new capital.
They start to leap over a guy in a hole, without realizing who it is: Honda! But Honda notices them jumping over him, and calls out to them.
They stop when they hear someone calling out, and turn around to see Honda climbing out of the hole.Ryu wonders what Honda was doing down there, and Ken says he was mixed in with all the koeki (forcibly drafted laborers) -no wonder they couldn't find him!
Honda runs over to them and explains that he's been living in a village near here for 16 years! He cries and tells them that he can't take it anymore -putting up buildings, paving their roads... they've had him doing nothing but hard labor! And now they say they're moving the capital, so they've forced him to come here and help! Ryu tells him he's had it hard, and Honda thanks him -he knew he was a friend!
Ken then alerts them to the fact a strong wind has picked up... it's the time vortex! Up in the sky, a strange kind of energy appears.
The group are hit by a bright blue beam of light, which transports them back to the present day. As night turns to day, Chun-Li says that it may have only existed for 16 years, but once upon a time, 1,300 years ago, an amazing capital existed at the base of this hill.
Ryu says he felt he was there for a long time, even though really it was only 5 or 6 hours. Ken then remembers something -didn't Honda have an "amazing", "unprecedented" special move he was going to show them? Honda thanks about it... but then asks them what are they talking about?
Ken can't believe this guy -it looks like he's left his precious special move back in the Fujiwara Capital! Chun-Li starts to laugh, as Ryu and Ken do the same.
