#atozchallenge: Z is for Zaibatsu

by Lillian Csernica on April 30, 2018

bhoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu

Zaibatsu means “financial clique.” When the Tokugawa Shogunate was in its last days, a few far-sighted samurai families positioned themselves to take the best advantage of the changing political and financial landscape.

erenow.com

With the help of key Western advisors such as Thomas Blake Glover, “the Scotsman who built Japan,” these families were the leaders in Japan’s Industrial Revolution. That some of these family names are familiar right now in the 21st Century is a testament to the success of their business strategies.

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The zaibatsu form the backdrop against which my Kyoto Steampunk series take place. Just as fairies don’t like cold iron, the yokai of Japan resent the presence of steel and concrete. So much of the natural splendor of Japan has been destroyed thanks to the greed of industrialists.

tunza.eco-generation.org

Thank you for joining me during the A to Z Blog Challenge for 2018. I hope you’ve found every letter both informative and entertaining. There is so much to know about Japan, yokai, and all the historical factors at work during the Meiji Restoration. I can’t wait to write the next story!

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My Steampunk Debut!

by Lillian Csernica on May 6, 2015

 

 

I am delighted to announce the release of Twelve Hours Later.  Two of my stories appear here, “In the Midnight Hour” and “A Demon in the Noonday Sun.”  They are my first venture into the wonderful world of steampunk.  Instead of Victorian England, my stories are set in Kyoto, Japan.  The book blurb summarizes the plots nicely:

A devoted nursemaid braves mythical Japanese spirits to save a little girl’s life, only to bring down the wrath of a demon on the child’s father.

 

http://www.oldphotosjapan.com

Kiyomizudera, the Pure Water Temple, which encompasses Otowa Falls.  This is the primary setting for both of my stories.