In this remarkable account of the life of Japan's last Shogun, the arrival of U.S. Commodore Perry's squadron is shown to be the spark that ignited the cataclysm that reached its climax with the fall of the Shogunate in 1868. This brought a 17 year-old boy emperor from the seclusion of the Imperial [...]

Clouds above the Hill is the best-selling novel ever in Japan, and is now translated into English for the first time. An epic portrait of Japan in crisis, it combines graphic military history and highly readable fiction to depict an aspiring nation modernizing at breakneck speed. Best-selling author[...]