Half philosophical tale, half poetic tale, this novel takes place in Japan in 1853, when the American fleet enters Edo Bay. While Japan is resolutely turning towards modernity, the heroine, Ibuki, has only one dream: to become a samurai.
To achieve this, she breaks with her past, disguises herself as a man and walks for a long time in search of a famous samurai, Akira Sohô. But the old man renounced war and the sword for the way of tea. Everything opposes them when they meet. She dreams of war and mastery of the sword. He prays, is enthusiastic about the wonders of nature and drinks tea, this drink which is not “just a cup of hot water…” but “above all a journey. A wonderful journey for him who knows how to ‘listening…to the possible in an impossible world’.
Ibuki will accept Akira Sohô’s teaching. At his side, she will transform, grow and enrich herself. But she will also transform the old man. Who will end up teaching her the way of the sword. This dive into a traditional Japan, this discovery of these ancestral arts and their meaning, is so strong that it transforms us, the readers, as much as Ibuki and Akira Sohô. To read urgently… but slowly.
