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...
Prince Kazu is not the consort shogun Iemochi was expecting, but the
young ruler is determined to make their relationship a good one. And
despite her initial distaste for Edo and everything about it, Prince
Kazu finds herself warming to her spouse. But the world beyond the
safety of the Inner Chambers is a cruel one, and the risk of discovery
is not the only danger that threatens them.