Kodansha International to Publish Hagakure Manga Adaptation

Having read and owned the Hagakure, which is a collection of prose and writings by samurai warrior Yamamoto Tsunetomo that were collected near the end of his life that detail the Bushido honor code while telling the story of a young samurai eager to learn from an old former warrior turned Zen monk; I always wondered why the book had not been adapted into a manga anthology, as much of the descriptive prose lends itself to lush visuals.

It seems the newly formed Kodansha International has done just that, with the forthcoming release of the manga adaptation based off of William Scott Wilson’s English translation. Sean Michael Wilson (no relation to the aforementioned translator) adapted the prose for the manga layout while illustrator Chie Kutsuwada provided the illustrations and translator Wilson also provided the afterword for the adaptation.The 145 page manga is slated to be released in January of 2011 for $14.95.