Here's a topic starter for anyone who wants to talk about Volume 11. :)
My favorite scenes from this volume were Takaya in the graveyard and the Naoe-Motoharu conversations. Mirage has some amazing imagery, and I can just picture Takaya in the rain among the stone lanterns and gravestones. I believe this is also the first time it's revealed to the readers that Kagetora also thinks of himself as the aggressor in his relationship with Naoe, which was fascinating.
I generally don't read author's comments (never meet your heroes, etc.), but I'm starting to skim Kuwabara-sensei's afterwords. Something funny that caught my eye for this volume was along the lines of:
"So what happened to Takaya's classmates' field trip to Hagi? (I forgot about them). Anyway, they couldn't get into anything because Mouri shut down everything."
She also mentioned people writing to her about their Mirage tours, and she was happy that she was able to inspire people to take these trips. She spent quite a while urging people to be properly respectful at the sites.
I appreciate the little taste of Kuwabara-sensei's afterwords. I did a mini-Mirage tour when I was in Japan. The only Mirage place I went to was Samegao-jou, but it was very moving to me. It will be with me all my life, not primarily due to fannish Mirage thoughts either but being confronted by the historical reality of the place.
I'm still amazed sometimes when I stop to think that these were all people that existed, and we're talking about actual places and actual battles. So I think I understand what you mean (even though as usual I have some complicated emotions that aren't pure awe, heh).
Sensei also expressed frustration that apparently some sight-seers weren't treating sites with proper respect, which makes me wonder if that's where Takaya's confrontation with the high school girls at the Atomic Bomb museum came from...