Yamada Asaemon, The shogun's executioner, receives many strange requests from the condemned - a woman who bequeaths her severed locks to her beloved, a gardener who ask for the beheading' of a chrysanthemum. And while strangers to Asaemon, their final moments and the stories behind their appeals can sometimes reveal more of a person's character than a lifetime of association. From Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, the legendary creators of Lone Wolf and Cub (Dark Horse), comes Samurai Executioner, a dark, complex exploration of Edo-period feudal Japan.'