However, Stan Sakai still writes Usagi Yojimbo the same way; although Usagi Yojimbo: Ten Thousand Plums is a five-issue mini-series, it is not a five-issue story! It's actually a three-issue story ("Ten Thousand Plums") followed by a two-issue story ("Tabo"). As before, Stan Sakai wrote, drew and lettered the series; Emi Fujii is the current colourist.
In "Ten Thousand Plums," Usagi, his cousin Yukichi and their friend Gen visited the Valley of Ten Thousand Plum Trees, where a massive grove of plum trees belonging to the shogun is kept. However, a supernatural fox who was wronged by the locals in the past plots vengeance by destroying the grove.
In "Tabo," Usagi and Yukichi travel with a number of pilgrims headed to a Buddhist shrine - but these pilgrims aren't Buddhists, they're Christians who believe the shrine is actually celebrating the Biblical Mary and that the shrine's statue can perform miracles. This brings up matters concerning Christians in feudal Japan that the Usagi Yojimbo series has visited before, as in Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden. And since this is a world where many supernatural things exist, the characters have good reason to believe in the miracles!
The most touching part of "Tabo," however, is the afterword, where Stan describes his brother, who had recently passed away and inspired the titular Tabo of his story.
Usagi Yojimbo remains one my greatest delights in today's comic books and I'm so happy Sakai has managed to keep the series running these 40 years!
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