The Hell of Masters

A snowy night at a villa in Koume, a game of go, a lantern that goes out — and a woman's scream. From that opening Kunieda Shirō's serial of 1925 runs across Edo and out along the Nakasendō: the Drum Thief who robs the great houses for the sake of one perfect hand-drum; the gentleman-burglar Nezumi Kozō Jirokichi; the swordsman Hirate Miki and the drum master Kanze Ginnojō; a post-station singer at Oiwake whose folk song has changed for the worse; and a pirate ship off Chōshi.

Two plots, one city, and the question that gives the book its title: what does mastery cost the master? Unlike Kunieda's unfinished Castle, this one closes — every thread tied, the author bowing out in his own voice. First English translation, complete, with the Oiwake road songs set as verse and the author's slips kept and noted.

English-language digital edition. Translated by Valentin Sarić.

You receive: a 250-page PDF and an EPUB edition.

Digital download only. No physical book is shipped.