Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Volume 7 ~ Paperback ~ Fumi Yoshinaga

In this seventeenth century Japan the Shogun is a woman...and the harem is full of men. In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country's 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 shogun's Inner Chamber... Ienobu's heir is still just a child, and with few official functions to perform, the men of the Inner Chamber find themselves with much time on their hands. Some find ways to make the most of their rare trips outside the palace, while others turn their minds to bloody intrigue... Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for audiences rated mature.Author BiographyFumi 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 "Ooku," the 2002 Kodansha Manga Award for her series "Antique Bakery," the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival Excellence Award for "Ooku." She was also nominated for the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist."