In Eisner-nominated Fumi Yoshinaga's alternative history of Edo-era
Japan, the men of Japan are dying out, and the women have taken up the
reigns of power--including the shogun's seat!
In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has
begun to prey on the country's men. Within eighty years of the first
outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women
have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of
the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully
protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the
shogun's Inner Chamber...
After the discovery of the Redface Pox vaccine, the male population of
Japan has nearly recovered, and men have become used to being in public
life and government again. So as the first female shogun in over 60
years, Iesada has many challenges to overcome, such as an Inner Chamber
unused to a woman's needs. But the greatest threat she faces is her own
father's unhealthy interest in her...