The Great Bodhisattva Pass, Volume 7: The Tōkaidō

The travelers leave Ise for the eastern road. Tsukue Ryūnosuke adopts a flute monk’s disguise, loses the dog that has accompanied him, and finds an unexpected traveling companion in Okinu. Meanwhile, the swift-footed Shichibei meets Ganriki, a thief whose ambitions turn a contest of walking into a more dangerous rivalry.

On the Tōkaidō, inns conceal uneasy sleepers and roads lead to unlikely rescues. Yonetomo, recovering from his unjust punishment, finds protection with the Traveling Holy Man, while Okimi struggles to reach the friends she left aboard ship. The dog Muku joins these journeys in ways that the travelers cannot foresee.

Nakazato Kaizan’s seventh installment follows the shifting relationships of people moving through the post towns, river crossings, and pine groves of late Tokugawa Japan. A confrontation at Miho gives way to an abandoned temple and a disturbing account of a swordsman’s death. This complete new English translation preserves all nine sections, the songs, and the narrator’s changing perspectives.