Before life as we know it, there existed entities that don't obey the laws of our reality―primordial beings known as mushi. In Japan, a man named Ginko wanders the land, investigating incursions by mushi into the human world―and by us into theirs. He is a mushi master…a mushi-shi.

Includes Japanese volumes 1-2.

Though invisible to most, tiny creatures known as mushi lurk beneath the surface of everyday reality. They exert a strange and occasionally terrifying influence on people's lives, and only experts known as mushishi carry the knowledge of how to deal with them. A mushishi named Ginko wanders the Japanese countryside, following rumors of various unusual occurences: a young man who dreams the future; a child with horns growing from his forehead; a boy with the power to write creatures into being; and more...

Upon its release in the 2000s, Mushishi earned global acclaim for its poetic episodic storytelling and delicate, beautiful artwork, winning the Japan Media Arts Prize, selection as a Best Manga by the Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs, and recommendation as a top read for teens by the American Library Association. The series inspired two TV anime adaptations in 2005 and 2014 and a live-action film directed by the legendary Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of AKIRA. Unfortunately, after being out of print for 15 years, English copies of Mushishi became as elusive as the strange creatures that populate its pages―until now.

Kodansha's new edition of Mushishi features an all-new translation and lettering, and beautiful color pages and cover illustrations never seen in the U.S. before.