Shinanogawa

Also known as: しなの川, Shinano Gawa, Le Fleuve Shinano, Shina no Kawa, Shinano River, Il fiume Shinano

by Kazuo Kamimura, Hideo Okazaki

Japan, Showa era… times are tough, especially in the region which has been surrounded by the river Shinano for hundreds of years. Ice-cold winter, failed harvest and hungry wolves give its residents a hard time. Young girls are amongst the first victims of this crisis-ridden time - their fate is often already decided: it’s either the brothel or the factory. Under these hard circumstances, the young and beautiful Takano Yukie tries to find her own way in life; and while doing so, she will challenge the moral conventions of the time. Shinanogawa, written by the novelist Okazaki Hideo, tells the wild and enthralling tale of a young woman searching for herself through dramatic and beguilingly sensual images illustrated by Kamimura Kazuo (of Lady Snowblood fame). (source: German publisher, translated) Note: The original tankoubon volume released in 1973 by Shonengahosha only included the first 13 chapters. The full series was collected into three volumes by K&B Publishers in 2005.