Raku

Raku is the first horse owned by Otori Takeo, originally given to him by his mentor and adoptive father Otori Shigeru. A well-built and fast-moving horse, Raku is grey with a black mane and tail, supposedly the most desirable coloring among Otori horses.

Takeo receives Raku shortly after arriving in Hagi in Across the Nightingale Floor and quickly forms a close bond with him. He rides Raku on the Otori's journey to Inuyama, but is ultimately forced to part with him at the end of the book as he has made a pact to disappear and join the Tribe, and Raku's distinctive appearance would give him away. Takeo leaves Raku with his love interest, Shirakawa Kaede, as a farewell gift. Kaede also forms a bond with the horse over the course of Grass For His Pillow, riding him regularly on her journeys around the Shirakawa domain and her visits to Lord Fujiwara. One of her retainers, Amano Tenzo, speaks favorably of the horses bred by the Otori clan and suggests they breed him with the Shirakawa mares. After she miscarries Takeo's unborn child (which she had passed off as Shigeru's for their protection) Kaede comes to feel as if Raku is her child. Towards the end of the story, she and Raku make a journey to the temple of Terayama, where they are both reunited with Takeo.

Kaede continues to use Raku as a means of transport throughout Brilliance of the Moon until she makes her ill-fated journey to Shirakawa and subsequently to Lord Fujiwara's estate to demand the release of her sisters. Lord Fujiwara's men attack her guards and attempt to seize her; as she rides away, one of the guards hanging onto Raku's bridle stabs his sword into the horse's chest, mortally wounding him. Kaede, captured, is grief-stricken at the death of the beloved horse that Takeo gave her. Raku's legacy continues, however: at the conclusion of the book, Raku is revealed to have sired two colts with the Shirakawa mares, which are gifted by Takeo to Muto Taku and Sugita Hiroshi for their loyalty. The colts, when fully grown, both display Raku's grey coat and black mane and tail.