The Great Bodhisattva Pass, Book 19: Konaji

Yonetomo wakes from a rare and frightening dream to find Tsukue Ryūnosuke missing once more. A hooded visitor presses him for the swordsman’s whereabouts, and Lady Ogin’s attachment emerges in unsettling words. Outside, the streets of Edo hold dangers that no dream can contain.

Komai Jinzaburō consults a master shipwright about building a Western-style vessel, while the sound of fighting interrupts their plans. Doctor Dōan’s drunken wandering brings both comic resistance and a futile attempt to save a wounded man. Other travelers and performers carry the story through martial legend, memory, conversation, and music.

This complete English translation preserves all sixteen sections of the nineteenth book of Nakazato Kaizan’s historical epic. Buddhist imagery, songs, shipbuilding designs, violent encounters, and Benshin’s extended musical reflections remain intact. The closing journey toward Konaji and Kobotoke Pass moves through uncertain layers of experience before returning to the difficult bond between Ryūnosuke and Ogin.