Sumiko Hidaka

When a former artisan is tricked into putting his sister up as collateral for a loan by a gangster boss in a crooked gambling casino it sets in motion the story of Ooka Echizen, the famed magistrate of Edo during the reign of Shogun Tsuneyoshi. In a world where humans bow down to dogs and are beheaded for harming them, it's a wonder people can survive at all. Nakamura Kinnosuke is a former samurai who has left the fold to live freely and must put his life on the line to save the girl he loves, and rescue her from the yakuza who duped her brother. When the truth comes out about his background, he is forced to take on the role of Edo Magistrate, a decision that brings him unimaginable heartache and danger!

Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.

A murder case tied to a missing love letter… Heiji heads west along the Tōkaidō in pursuit of thirteen suspicious individuals.

A court fortune-teller loses his mind after a conspiracy leads to the death of his lover. Hope appears to be on the horizon after he becomes romantically involved with his dead lover's twin sister, but more complications arise thanks to a chance encounter with a clan of shape-shifters.

Based on the novel by proletarian writer Sunao Tokunaga. The story is about a long strike by workers at a large printing house and the strikers' steadfastness, which neither hunger nor violence could break. The heroine of this story actively participates in her colleagues' struggle against layoffs, oppression, and police brutality.