Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (; ) is a Japanese epic novel (yomihon) written and published over twenty-eight years (1814–42) in the Edo period, by Kyokutei Bakin. Set in the Muromachi period, the story follows eight fictional warriors, connected spiritually but born into different families throughout the Kantō region, coming together and fighting as vassals of the Satomi clan; as well as numerous side plots. Bakin researched about the Satomi clan by referring to war tales about the Satomi clan and the Hōjō clan such as Satomiki (里見記), Satomi Kyudaiki (里見九代記) and Hojo Godaiki (:ja:北条五代記), and completed the story line of Nansō Satomi Hakkenden by referring to them. The novel, consisting of 98 chapters printed in a total of 106 booklets, is considered the largest novel in the history of Japanese Literature. Bakin, in his 70s by the time the work was completed, had gone blind before finishing the tale, and dictated the final parts to his daughter-in-law Michi Tokimura. Along with Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari, it is considered a masterpiece of gesaku literature, and one of the classics of Japanese historical fiction. The title has been translated as The Eight Dog Chronicles, Tale of Eight Dogs, or Biographies of Eight Dogs. Plot Nansō Satomi Hakkenden is a novel about the tale of eight youngsters (The Eight Dog Warriors) bound by a fateful connection in another world between Princess Fuse, a princess of the Satomi clan in Awa, and the dog of kami Yatsufusa, set in the late Muromachi period (350 years before Bakin lived). The eight Dog Warriors, who commonly have family names including the character for '犬' (Inu, dog) each have a peony-shaped bruise somewhere on their body and a bead of Japamala with the characters for humanity, justice, courtesy, wisdom, loyalty, sincerity, filial piety and obedience. Born in various parts of the eight provinces of Kanto region, they get to know each other guided by their fate while experiencing hardships, and gather together under the Satomi clan. They served the Satomi clan and fought against the allied forces of powerful feudal lords, and the story came to an end. The themes of their adventures are loyalty, clan honor, Bushido, Confucianism, and Buddhist philosophy. Inception Bakin was heavily inspired by Chinese vernacular fiction, especially Water Margin, which had been translated and published in Japan at the beginning of the 18th century. Bakin most frequently referred to Nansō Satomi Hakkenden's genre