Kōkun: Book 1: The Girl from the West

by Nahoko Uehashi, Cathy Hirano (Translator)

The first volume of a sweeping fantasy by one of Japan's most beloved storytellers, and the bestselling author of the Moribito series.

The vast Umal Empire has flourished for centuries thanks to the miraculous ohaleh rice, a sacred grain brought from a distant land by the first empress Kokun. Resistant to all parasites, the rice has sustained the empire, ensuring peace and prosperity for centuries—until now. When a mysterious infestation strikes, famine spreads and the empire begins to crumble.

Fifteen-year-old Aisha, granddaughter of the deposed lord of West Kantal, flees to the imperial capital with her younger brother after a violent coup. There she meets the reigning Kokun, Olie—an enigmatic girl worshipped for her supposed gift of scent, yet secretly powerless. As Aisha uncovers her own latent ability to perceive the natural world through smell, she and Olie form an unlikely alliance.

Together, Aisha and Olie must uncover a hidden history and the truth behind the ohaleh rice, all the while battling forces that threaten not just the empire's survival, but the very balance of nature.

 

Genres: Fantasy

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 12, 2026

About the author

Nahoko Uehashi is the author of ten books in the Moribito series, which have sold more than a million copies and won many major literary awards in her native Japan. An associate professor at a Japanese university, she has a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and studies indigenous peoples in Australia. She lives near Tokyo, Japan.