Masahiko Shimada is an extravagant inventor and virtuoso stylist, one of the leaders of the “new wave” of Japanese literature, who loves and knows how to boldly break literary taboos. He graduated from the Russian department of the University of Tokyo, now he is a professor at the largest Hosei University, chairman of the Japanese Union of Literary Men. The author of almost fifty novels, stories, essays, plays, winner of the prestigious Noma and Izumi Kyoka awards, he increasingly travels around the world in search of new experiences, acts in films and stages plays. "Master of the Comet" is the first part of a trilogy, which also includes the novels "Beautiful Souls" and "Love on Iturup". Young Fumio sets out in search of her long-vanished father and unexpectedly learns the history of her ancestors: it turns out that she belongs to the descendants of a family dating back to the infamous geisha Cio-Cio-san. The fate of the Japanese clan reflected the entire twentieth century - with its wars, revolutions and ashes. The amazing gift of love was revived again and again in every generation of the descendants of Cio-Cio-san, but did not bring happiness to anyone. Now Fumio wants to break this vicious circle.