The Sign of the Chrysanthemum

by Katherine Paterson

First published 1973

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3.9(37)

After his mother’s death, thirteen-year-old Muna travels to the imperial capital in search of the samurai father he has never met, known to him only by a chrysanthemum tattoo. He finds work with the exacting swordsmith Fukuji but remains vulnerable to Takanobu, an outlawed warrior who exploits Muna’s longing for status and family.

Set amid the conflict between the Taira and Minamoto clans in late twelfth-century Japan, the novel presents war through artisans, servants, displaced warriors and an uncertain boy rather than through commanders. Muna’s search becomes a coming-of-age story about loyalty, craft, class and the difference between inherited reputation and an identity earned through conduct.