Nemuri Kyoshiro

The time is year one of the reign of Emperor Tempo, or 1830 by Western reckoning. For over two centuries, central authority has lain with the Tokugawa Shogunate, which emerged as the victor of a destructive civil war. Relative peace has prevailed, but cracks have appeared in the foundation of the shogunate. Corruption is rife; nepotism, the byword. Spending is out of control. The fallacy of the shogunate-established hierarchy of noble house, farmers, manufacturers, traders and pariahs is becoming painfully apparent. The measures the early Tokugawa Shogunate decreed to emasculate the powerful regional warlords are no longer practical. Closing Japan off to foreigners (except the Chinese and the Dutch) and the forbiddance of Japanese travel abroad have restricted the flow of ideas that may help the government overcome rampant inflation, unchecked population growth and resultant nation-wide famines. For all the many social ills, the seat of the Tokugawa Shigunate in Edo (now Tokyo) is a grand place to be for the right- and wrong-type of people. Political intrigue. Illicit affairs. Drugs. Black market goods. Edo has it all in abundance. The city itself is rapidly changing. Country people are flocking in, attracted by the lure of jobs and by its rich cutural offerings. Prostitution, gambling and a profitable life of crime attract no small number. Christianity is banned, but practiced in private. Poverty is crushing for most of the city's denizens, but for the privileged or enterprising few, Edo offers experiences that bewilder the senses. Never has Edo been so vibrant, and it is here that we find our hero, Nemuri Kyoshiro, a blue-eyed samurai of mixed heritage for hire.