The Samurai of the Red Carnation

Matsuo is expected to become a samurai, like his father before him. But as he is training in the art of war, he realises he was destined for a different art altogether. Turning his back on his future as a warrior of the sword, he decides to do battle with words instead, as a poet.

Matsuo's quest to find his true self, and his true love, takes him through bloody battlefields and burning cities. But his ultimate test will be the uta awase - a tournament where Japan's greatest poets engage in fierce verbal combat for the honour of victory, and where Matsuo will find himself fighting for his life.