Shank's Mare

This classic Japanese story of humor and adventure is available here for the first time in digital format.

A pair of irrepressible scoundrels are the heroes of this madcap chronicle of adventure, full of earthy humor, along the great highway from Tokyo to Kyoto. The lusty tale of their disreputable doings is Japan's most celebrated comic novel.

Shank's Mare was originally issued serially beginning in 1802, and was so successful that the author wrote numerous sequels, appearing year by year, until 1822. This novel portrays all the varied colors in Japan's Tokugawa era and its humor typifies the brash and devil-may-care attitude of the residents of Tokyo, both then and now.