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...
The tale told in the Chronicle of the Dying Day continues as the young
female shogun Iemitsu tries desperately to conceive a male heir. But her
lover Arikoto seems unable to give her a child, and they must betray
their hearts to save their country. Meanwhile, the Redface Pox continues
its ruthless progress through Japan, leaving famine, despair, and the
threat of anarchy in its wake.