"This curse, of times long gone, of now, must be set down with indelible ink and read out loud… If there is any hope, it is in the record; for evil prefers silence and withers in the telling."

I've so enjoyed the journey finding this story… characters from ancient Nara, the 16th century 100-year wars, down to the 1750’s publishing district of Shinbashi. I've studied woodblock printing, fashion, colour and the circular economy of the golden era of Edo. On visits to the Ukiyo–the floating world–I’ve met customers and their imprisoned courtesans. On slow and fast trains, on foot and online, I've seen the sights of the nakasendo, the inland highway, and stayed at its checkpoint inns. In the second part of Book One, I introduce the world of the yakuza, organised crime, which thankfully I met just in the literature. Ghosts past possess these crime-bosses… narcissists in pursuit of the oldest prizes–lust, money, power. In Book Two, we meet a few good cops… I can't wait to share my personal experience of Tokyo tent theatre–the tragedy of a curse that takes hold; in Book Three we’ll climb to the pilgrim hut atop Mt. Ontake, on to Matsumoto Castle and return to Melbourne to a dénouement that startled even me. I hope you enjoy reading this slow-burn saga told in the light of incendiary lamps.