The first volume in a bestselling Japanese fantasy series

The vast Umar Empire has prospered since ancient times thanks to the miraculous power of Oare rice, brought by the first Empress Kōkun from a foreign land. Oare rice resists all parasites, but one day it becomes infested, ushering in a terrible famine.

Fifteen-year-old Aisha, granddaughter of the king of the West Kantar domain, flees to the capital with her younger brother following a coup that has overthrown her grandfather. There she meets the current Kōkun, Orie, and discovers that Orie is not, contrary to what her people believe, endowed with the extraordinary olfactory abilities that should be her prerogative, and that Aisha herself possesses.

United, Aisha and Orie will have to face the mystery that lies behind the miraculous ears of Oare to avert an irreversible crisis of the ecosystem, and of humanity.

Nahoko Uehashi
Born in Tokyo in 1962, Nahoko Uehashi earned a PhD in cultural anthropology at Rikkyo University, focusing on Indigenous Australian cultures. She taught at Kawamura Gakuen Women's University, later becoming a senior fellow, and has been Professor Emeritus since 2025. Her debut novel, Seirei no Ki, was published during graduate school. She is best known for the Moribito series, The Beast Player, The Deer King, and Kōkun. Her books have sold over 11.5 million copies, inspired multiple adaptations, and been widely translated. She received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award in 2014.