Keshogunan Tokugawa banyak mempekerjakan mata-mata untuk mengetahui gerakan para daimyo guna mengindari kemungkinan pemberontakan. Kouga Yaomi, ketua klan Kouga, pun diutus untuk menyelidiki daimyo dari Negeri Awa.
Sepuluh tahun berlalu, namun sang ketua klan tidak kembali sehingga shogun mengancam akan menghapus klan Kouga.
Kini anak tunggal Kouga Yaomi, Putri Ochie, mengutus orang untuk mencari ayahnya, namun upaya itu tidaklah mudah karena Negeri Awa dijaga ketat oleh para samurai tangguh.
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Nama Eiji Yoshikawa menjadi populer sejak buku Naruto Hicho ini diterbitkan secara bersambung di koran Osaka Mainichi Shimbun. Inilah gabungan dari kisah cinta, heroisme, dan juga misteri yang akan membuat kita tidak ingin menutup buku hingga halaman terakhir.
Pen-name of Yoshikawa Hidetsugu. Yoshikawa is well-known for his work as a Japanese historical fiction novelist, and a number of re-makes have been spawned off his work.
In 1960, he received the Order of Cultural Merit. Eiji Yoshikawa (吉川 英治, August 11, 1892 – September 7, 1962) was a Japanese historical novelist. Among his best-known novels, most are revisions of older classics. He was mainly influenced by classics such as The Tale of the Heike, Tale of Genji, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, many of which he retold in his own style. As an example, the original manuscript of Taiko is 15 volumes; Yoshikawa took up to retell it in a more accessible tone, and reduced it to only two volumes. His other books also serve similar purposes and, although most of his novels are not original works, he created a huge amount of work and a renewed interest in the past. He was awarded the Cultural Order of Merit in 1960 (the highest award for a man of letters in Japan), the Order of the Sacred Treasure and the Mainichi Art Award just before his death from cancer in 1962. He is cited as one of the best historical novelists in Japan.
Sebagai seseorang yang pertama kali membaca karya-karya penulis Jepang—terutama dengan genre fiksi sejarah—kuakui novel ini ditulis dengan apik dan jelas. Terjemahannya pun juga bagus dan sepertinya tidak mengurangi sedikitpun plot dari novel aslinya.
Hanya saja karena buku ini dibagi menjadi 3 bagian, konflik di buku pertama ini justru baru terasa di bagian akhir novel. Eksposisinya panjang banget dan jujur aku merasa agak bosan di awal-awal cerita.
Nggak sabar buat baca buku kedua dari serial ini^^
Rather uncharacteristically for a Yoshikawa novel, this one has a prominent female character whose role isn't limited to some dude's love interest, daughter, sister, or mother. The villains are somehow comical but no less dangerous for that. Looking forward to the second part.