The Blade of the Courtesans

By Keiichirô Ryû

This Naoki Prize-nominated historical thriller marked the auspicious debut of late-blooming author Keichiro Ryu, who in five years made a name for himself as a master of period novels. In The Blade of the Courtesans, a young samurai by the name of Seichiro Matsunaga, trained in swordfighting by non other than the legendary samurai Musashi Miyamoto, finds himself in Yoshiwara (the pleasure quarters of old Tokyo), per Miyamoto's dying wishes. In Yoshiwara, Seichiro finds himself defending its denizens against what may be spies from the Yagyu Clan, including one young woman named Oshabu, whose story runs deeper than still water suggests. The Blade of the Courtesans is at once a quiet ode to human liberties in the face of political warfare and edge-fo-your-seat swordfighitng, a Japanese counterpart to the romantic adventures of the medieval knights whose chivalry is rivaled only by their prowess at battle.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934287016
• ISBN13: 9781934287019
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Vertical
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

An entirely different experience

I bought this book because I have enjoyed many books about the era of the Shoguns in Japan that were written by non-Japanese writers, and I thought reading one written by a Japanese author would be very nice. I was surprised at how different this book is from the others. It is much more didactic, containing detailed explanations of things such as the life path of geisha. At the same time, it is very exciting, with an excellent story line. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in this period. It is in the best tradition of the serious historical mystery that uses the fiction as an envelope for conveying authentic historical information.

Romantic samurai thriller

It would help to know Japanese history for full enjoyment of this book, but I managed to love every minute of it, even with my scanty knowledge of the period. Keiichiro Ryu takes the reader behind recorded history to a secret history of Tokugawa Ieyasu's shogonate and that of his successors. He provides us with a noble young hero, Masunaga Seiichiro, whose purity of heart contrasts with the brutality of rival political factions. Seiichiro is the hidden son of a retired emperor whose family is slaughtered by his enemies. Only the infant Seiichiro is rescued from the carnage, and by no less a person than the legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto. For his own protection, Seiichiro is told nothing of his lineage. With a foster parent like Musashi, Seiichiro naturally grows up to be an amazing swordsman himself. He continues to train on his own in the mountains after Musashi's death, and at age 26, goes to Edo, following Musashi's instructions, to meet the head of the new Yoshiwara pleasure quarter. The plot reveals itself in layer upon layer of intrigue and romance, with lots of fantastic sword fights thrown in. The great charm of the novel, for me, lies in its explanations of various erotic, esoteric and martial traditions; for example, the elaborate courting ritual of a high-ranking courtesan by a patron, the secret practices of hearing sounds from a distance and moving over mountains at great speed, the techniques used by the Yagyu ninja for assassinations, and the power of an itinerant shaman to induce dreams of other centuries. The reader can look forward to scenes of heartrending brutality, scenes that elevate sensuality to an art form, heroines who read minds and die for love - and a hero who can parry poison arrows and cut down twenty attackers without losing for a second his "imperturbable mind."