Oni: 鬼

by Eiji Yoshikawa, Brian Sato (Translator)

In a land battered by floods, famine, and poverty, one samurai chooses a path that will make him both hated and revered.

Oni by Eiji Yoshikawa tells the story of Munakata Yoemon, a determined retainer of the Tsugaru domain who devotes himself to reclaiming devastated land and bringing order to a wild, flood-ridden plain. To complete the work, he drives peasants and laborers with relentless discipline, earning a reputation as an “oni”—a demon.

Yet behind his severity lies a fierce sense of duty. Yoemon believes that a samurai’s true purpose is not merely to wield a sword, but to serve through action, endurance, and sacrifice. As resistance grows and nature itself seems determined to defeat him, his struggle becomes both an engineering battle and a moral one.

A powerful historical tale of leadership, sacrifice, redemption, and the cost of achieving a great public work, Oni explores what it means to devote one’s life completely to a cause—and how a man condemned as a demon may ultimately become a savior.

39 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2026

About the author

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.