The Great Bodhisattva Pass, Volume 4: The Sacred Cedars of Miwa

In the shrine town of Miwa, Tsukue Ryūnosuke finds a brief and unfamiliar peace. The kindness of a learned shrine official and the presence of Otoyo seem to draw him toward ordinary human feeling. But a rejected suitor’s obsession turns a journey into an ambush, while an old enemy’s younger brother continues his search for revenge.

Beyond the mountain roads, another current is gathering force. Masterless warriors debate assassination and plot their passage toward Yoshino. A quarrel in an inn brings Ryūnosuke into their company, although their political convictions can scarcely explain his restless movements. Beneath the moon beside the Hase River, a conversation overheard too late threatens to make rescue and betrayal indistinguishable.

Nakazato Kaizan’s vast historical epic brings swordsmanship, spiritual speculation, and intimate suffering into the unsettled world of the late Tokugawa period. This complete fourth installment preserves its twenty sections, its sudden narrative turns, and the troubling distance between what the characters know and what the reader sees. A new English translation with concise textual notes.