Cloistered Emperor
Set during the Genpei War, the two rival Japanese clans, the Genji and Heike, are constantly battling for the support of the Senior Cloistered Emperor and the power to rule Japan. Takiko is a beautiful girl who can talentedly play the koto, a thirteen-stringed instrument. She is only eleven years old when her samurai father nobly dies in a battle for the Heike cause. Soon after, her mother remarries a disfigured country potter named Goro. Goro is neither Genji nor Heike, and although he is physically contorted, he has a kind spirit.