30 Years After Shiba Ryotaro's Passing: 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' Audiobook Available May 1
Bungeishunju and Audible are releasing the audiobook version of Shiba Ryotaro's masterpiece 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' starting May 1. Narrated by voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa.
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- 📰 Published: April 24, 2026 at 17:00
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Bungeishunju Ltd. (President: Nariyuki Iikubo, Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) is collaborating with Amazon Audible (hereafter Audible), one of the world's largest audiobook and voice content production and distribution services, to create an audiobook of Ryotaro Shiba's masterpiece 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' (8 volumes in total), with volume 1 available from May 1.
'Saka no Ue no Kumo' is a youth ensemble drama centered around three individuals: the Akiyama brothers, Yoshifuru and Saneyuki, who rushed through the turbulent Meiji era, and Shiki Masaoka. It depicts people moving forward to create a modern nation and the battle risking the survival of the newly born 'nation.'
This work, depicting the three facing their respective missions, was chosen as the No. 1 'Favorite Shiba Work' in a survey by the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Foundation and has been supported by many readers across eras. This year, 30 years after Shiba Ryotaro's passing, the long-awaited audiobook for fans will finally be distributed as a new experience following paper books, e-books, and dramatization.
Breathing life into this work is Toshiyuki Morikawa, who appears in a wide range of works including anime, movies, dubbing, and narration. He carefully and completely expresses the grand and multi-layered story through his voice.
Please enjoy this story, which begins with the impressive opening, 'A truly small country is about to welcome the dawn of civilization,' in audiobook form as well.
■ Comments from 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' Narrator Toshiyuki Morikawa
I am humbled and at the same time feel a great sense of determination to be narrating Ryotaro Shiba's 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' on Audible. This work, which can be said to be a monumental achievement in Japanese literature and historical novels, is a work that depicts the 'era' and 'people' too grandly and sincerely. The weight of responsibility to deliver every single word as a voice will be special even among the many readings I have experienced so far. The enormous number of characters, the reproduction of the era and language including the Iyo dialect, and the breathing of many characters. It is not a work that can be easily overcome by one person's power. But that is exactly why, having walked a long way as a voice actor, I am honored to be entrusted with this challenge. Together with everyone who listens, I hope to climb up 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' drawn by Shiba-sensei step by step. I hope that listening to 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' will lead to new excitement and discoveries for everyone, and I will put my heart and soul into it with maximum respect for the work. And the passionate desire to have everyone who walks together in this era listen to it is also my motivation for recording. Please stay with me until the end.
■ Work Information
Title: Saka no Ue no Kumo (One)
Author: Ryotaro Shiba
Narrator: Toshiyuki Morikawa
URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0GLPY36KH
■ Overview
With a cumulative total of 20 million copies in the series, the first volume of the immortal youth literature 'Saka no Ue no Kumo,' which shone at No. 1 in the questionnaire 'Favorite Shiba Work' by the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Foundation. Japan, having achieved the Meiji Restoration and joined the ranks of modern nations, was breathlessly trying to catch up with developed countries. Centered around three men from Matsuyama, Shikoku, who lived in this period - the Akiyama brothers, Yoshifuru, who defeated the Cossack cavalry in the Russo-Japanese War, and Saneyuki, a staff officer in the Battle of Tsushima, and Shiki Masaoka, who left a massive footprint in the literary world - a feature-length novel depicting the group of the uplifting era, Meiji!
* 'Saka no Ue no Kumo (Two)' is scheduled for release on September 25, 2026. Volumes 3 and onwards will be released sequentially.
■ Original Author Profile
Ryotaro Shiba
Born in Osaka City in Taisho 12 (1923). Graduated from the Mongolian Department of Osaka Foreign Languages School (now Osaka University). In Showa 35, won the 42nd Naoki Prize for 'Fukuro no Shiro'. In '41, won the Kikuchi Kan Prize for 'Ryoma ga Yuku' and 'Kunitori Monogatari'. In '47, won the Yoshikawa Eiji Literature Prize for his writer's activities centered on 'Yo ni Sumu Hibi'. In '51, received the Japan Art Academy Imperial Prize. In '56, became a member of the Japan Art Academy. In '57, won the Yomiuri Literature Prize for 'Hitobito no Ashioto'. In '58, won the Asahi Prize for his achievements in 'innovation of historical novels'. In '59, won the Japan Literature Grand Prize for 'Kaido wo Yuku "Nanban no Michi I"'. In '62, won the Yomiuri Literature Prize for 'About Russia'. In '63, won the Osaragi Jiro Prize for 'Dattan Shippuroku'. In Heisei 3, Person of Cultural Merit. In '5, received the Order of Culture. Author of 'Complete Works of Ryotaro Shiba', 'Complete Short Stories of Ryotaro Shiba' (Bungeishunju) and many others. Passed away in Heisei 8 (1996).
■ Narrator Profile
Toshiyuki Morikawa
Voice actor/narrator. Representative Director of Axl One, Representative of training school Axl Zero. Entering his 40th anniversary of debut in December 2025. Main appearances include anime 'Crayon Shin-chan' (as Hiroshi Nohara), 'Zootopia' (as Nick Wilde), 'Demon Slayer' (as Kagaya Ubuyashiki), etc. In dubbing foreign films, he voices Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, and others.
'Saka no Ue no Kumo' is a youth ensemble drama centered around three individuals: the Akiyama brothers, Yoshifuru and Saneyuki, who rushed through the turbulent Meiji era, and Shiki Masaoka. It depicts people moving forward to create a modern nation and the battle risking the survival of the newly born 'nation.'
This work, depicting the three facing their respective missions, was chosen as the No. 1 'Favorite Shiba Work' in a survey by the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Foundation and has been supported by many readers across eras. This year, 30 years after Shiba Ryotaro's passing, the long-awaited audiobook for fans will finally be distributed as a new experience following paper books, e-books, and dramatization.
Breathing life into this work is Toshiyuki Morikawa, who appears in a wide range of works including anime, movies, dubbing, and narration. He carefully and completely expresses the grand and multi-layered story through his voice.
Please enjoy this story, which begins with the impressive opening, 'A truly small country is about to welcome the dawn of civilization,' in audiobook form as well.
■ Comments from 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' Narrator Toshiyuki Morikawa
I am humbled and at the same time feel a great sense of determination to be narrating Ryotaro Shiba's 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' on Audible. This work, which can be said to be a monumental achievement in Japanese literature and historical novels, is a work that depicts the 'era' and 'people' too grandly and sincerely. The weight of responsibility to deliver every single word as a voice will be special even among the many readings I have experienced so far. The enormous number of characters, the reproduction of the era and language including the Iyo dialect, and the breathing of many characters. It is not a work that can be easily overcome by one person's power. But that is exactly why, having walked a long way as a voice actor, I am honored to be entrusted with this challenge. Together with everyone who listens, I hope to climb up 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' drawn by Shiba-sensei step by step. I hope that listening to 'Saka no Ue no Kumo' will lead to new excitement and discoveries for everyone, and I will put my heart and soul into it with maximum respect for the work. And the passionate desire to have everyone who walks together in this era listen to it is also my motivation for recording. Please stay with me until the end.
■ Work Information
Title: Saka no Ue no Kumo (One)
Author: Ryotaro Shiba
Narrator: Toshiyuki Morikawa
URL: https://www.audible.co.jp/pd/B0GLPY36KH
■ Overview
With a cumulative total of 20 million copies in the series, the first volume of the immortal youth literature 'Saka no Ue no Kumo,' which shone at No. 1 in the questionnaire 'Favorite Shiba Work' by the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Foundation. Japan, having achieved the Meiji Restoration and joined the ranks of modern nations, was breathlessly trying to catch up with developed countries. Centered around three men from Matsuyama, Shikoku, who lived in this period - the Akiyama brothers, Yoshifuru, who defeated the Cossack cavalry in the Russo-Japanese War, and Saneyuki, a staff officer in the Battle of Tsushima, and Shiki Masaoka, who left a massive footprint in the literary world - a feature-length novel depicting the group of the uplifting era, Meiji!
* 'Saka no Ue no Kumo (Two)' is scheduled for release on September 25, 2026. Volumes 3 and onwards will be released sequentially.
■ Original Author Profile
Ryotaro Shiba
Born in Osaka City in Taisho 12 (1923). Graduated from the Mongolian Department of Osaka Foreign Languages School (now Osaka University). In Showa 35, won the 42nd Naoki Prize for 'Fukuro no Shiro'. In '41, won the Kikuchi Kan Prize for 'Ryoma ga Yuku' and 'Kunitori Monogatari'. In '47, won the Yoshikawa Eiji Literature Prize for his writer's activities centered on 'Yo ni Sumu Hibi'. In '51, received the Japan Art Academy Imperial Prize. In '56, became a member of the Japan Art Academy. In '57, won the Yomiuri Literature Prize for 'Hitobito no Ashioto'. In '58, won the Asahi Prize for his achievements in 'innovation of historical novels'. In '59, won the Japan Literature Grand Prize for 'Kaido wo Yuku "Nanban no Michi I"'. In '62, won the Yomiuri Literature Prize for 'About Russia'. In '63, won the Osaragi Jiro Prize for 'Dattan Shippuroku'. In Heisei 3, Person of Cultural Merit. In '5, received the Order of Culture. Author of 'Complete Works of Ryotaro Shiba', 'Complete Short Stories of Ryotaro Shiba' (Bungeishunju) and many others. Passed away in Heisei 8 (1996).
■ Narrator Profile
Toshiyuki Morikawa
Voice actor/narrator. Representative Director of Axl One, Representative of training school Axl Zero. Entering his 40th anniversary of debut in December 2025. Main appearances include anime 'Crayon Shin-chan' (as Hiroshi Nohara), 'Zootopia' (as Nick Wilde), 'Demon Slayer' (as Kagaya Ubuyashiki), etc. In dubbing foreign films, he voices Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, and others.