Shindo Dojo Tapestry

Heiji Shindo is a black market middleman, trading prostitutes, opium, and rare goods from the West including illegal guns. One of his brothers (it is unclear if he is older or younger) runs the Shindo Dojo in Kyoto, and acts as an informant to him; the Shindo House, a brothel in Kyoto, is also owned by their clan. Heiji claims he saw enough 'truly great swordsmen' in his youth, to know his talents were elsewhere, so in spite of his samurai background he pursued a career as a merchant- a position that allowed him to amass great wealth, but that was considered the lowest in prestige of the four social castes.