Yori had told Jack that the pilgrims would repeat this phrase three times before handing over an osame-fuda, a paper nameslip that would confer their blessings upon the brewery.

But they never got that far.

The woman was the first to pass out, her cup falling from her hands and clattering upon the wooden floor. Saburo immediately stepped forward and eased her to the ground. The two brothers were next, collapsing like puppets whose strings had been cut. The fourth, blinking in shock at the fate of his companions, swayed unsteadily. Then he bolted for the door, screaming for help.

Miyuki leapt on him in an instant and drove her thumb into a pressure point at the base of his neck. The cry died in the man’s throat as he fell limp, dropping lifeless at her feet.

‘You promised you wouldn’t hurt anyone!’ Yori exclaimed.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Miyuki, giving him a reassuring smile. ‘He’ll just have a nasty headache when he comes round.’

‘What about the others?’ asked Jack, emerging from his hiding place and inspecting the unconscious woman and two inert brothers.

‘I only put enough doku powder in the saké to knock them out for a few hours,’ explained Miyuki. ‘Any more than a few grains and it would have killed them.’

‘Good work, Miyuki,’ said Jack, satisfied their victims were still breathing.

The four of them quickly removed the pilgrims’ clothes and began to dress themselves. Being small of stature, Yori was swamped by his outfit and had to roll up the legs and sleeves. Jack anticipated the opposite problem – as a foreigner he was tall by comparison to the Japanese – but he was fortunate the younger pilgrim was so gangly.

Yori helped Jack adjust his blue stole. ‘This is a wagesa. It’s a cloth symbolizing a monk’s robe and is meant to show your devotion to the Buddha.’ Yori handed him the rosary beads. ‘These are nenju. The number of beads equal the one hundred and eight bonnō.’

‘What are bonnō?’ asked Jack, fingering the wooden beads as he absorbed Yori’s information. It was vital to know such facts if he was to pass himself off as a real pilgrim.

‘They’re the misleading Karmas that bind people in Samsara, the world of suffering. You must carry both the wagesa and nenju to be considered a true worshipper.’

Jack picked up the pilgrim’s staff. ‘What’s the bell on the end for?’

‘The bell acts as an omamori, like the amulet Sensei Yamada gave you,’ explained Yori, pointing to the small red silk bag attached to Jack’s pack. ‘It protects the traveller upon the road.’

‘Well, it didn’t work for them,’ Saburo chortled, glancing down at the comatose pilgrims as he wriggled his generous belly into a pair of the brothers’ breeches.