Ôoku: the inner chambers, vol. 18, 18, paperback/fumi yoshinaga

In Eisner-nominated Fumi Yoshinaga s alternative history of Edo-era Japan, the men of Japan are dying out, and the women have taken up the reigns of power--including the shoguns seat! In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the countrys men.

Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent.

Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun.

The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected.

And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shoguns Inner Chamber.

Although Prince Kazu expected to hate her life in Edo, her marriage to the shogun Iemochi unexpectedly became a source of true comfort to her.

But now tragedy has destroyed her fragile happiness, and Prince Kazu must struggle alone to find some solace in the shattered remnants of that brief joy.

About author(s): Fumi Yoshinaga is a Tokyo-born manga creator who debuted in 1994 with Tsuki to Sandaru ( The Moon and the Sandals ).

Yoshinaga has won numerous awards, including the 2009 Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize for Ôoku , the 2002 Kodansha Manga Award for her series Antique Bakery and the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival Excellence Award for Ôoku .

She was also nominated for the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist.