A series of picaresque adventures set against the backdrop of a Japan still closed off from the rest of the world Musui s Story recounts the escapades of samurai Katsu Kokichi. As it depicts Katsu stealing brawling indulging in the pleasure quarters and getting the better of authorities it also provides a refreshing perspective on Japanese society customs economy and human relationships. From childhood Katsu was given to mischief. He ran away from home once at thirteen making his way as a beggar on the great trunk road between Edo and Kyoto and again at twenty posing as the emissary of a feudal lord. He eventually married and had children but never obtained official preferment and was forced to supplement a meager stipend by dealing in swords selling protection to shopkeepers and generally using his muscle and wits. Katsu s descriptions of loyalty and kindness greed and deception vanity and superstition offer an intimate view of daily life in nineteenth-century Japan unavailable in standard history books. Musui s Story will delight not only students of Japan s past but also general readers who will be entranced by Katsu s candor and boundless zest for life.