This anthology tells three separate stories, all about yakuza (Japan's gangsters) in the feudal period. In the first, Sentaro, a roaming yakuza, seeks sanctuary with a gang which then asks his help in a fight against its rivals. His attention is drawn primarily to a young woman who waits in vain for the man she loves. In the second tale, two gamblers barely escape from their pursuers after being caught cheating. They rest in a cabin where a young woman lives. The older gambler, it turns out, has a history with the young woman, a history that changes all three lives. The third tale concerns a young yakuza, a braggart and coward, who is asked by villagers to kill the hated official who torments them. Despite being a gangster, he finds himself sympathetic to the villagers' plight. Now if he can only find the courage to help them.—Jim Beaver <[email protected]>