A Thousand Steps into Night

Otori Miuko is the protagonist of A Thousand Steps into Night and the daughter of Otori Rohiro. Miuko works with her father at their family inn, the only remaining guesthouse in Nihaoi, and is a girl of the serving class. Her mother ran away when Miuko was a young girl, leaving her with a collection of superstitious knowledge about spirits and a nickname, Miu-miu, which means “literally, ‘wander-wander,’ a nickname like ‘daydreamer’ or ‘head-in-the-clouds’” (412). She is “average by every conceivable standard—beauty, intelligence, the circumference of her hips—except one. She was uncommonly loud” (7). Because of these traits, Miuko has often felt at odds with herself, incapable of reconciling who she is with what Awaran society expects her to be.

When Miuko is cursed and her body slowly transforms into that of a demon’s, her skin color changes to indigo, and whatever her indigo skin touches, its life force will be absorbed, and it will die. Though Miuko has low self-esteem, her adventures prove to her that she has good qualities, “like bravery and grit and resilience and loyalty” (165) that carry her through harrowing experiences. While her curse progresses, Miuko has a demon-voice inciting her to act like a demon.