YAMADA MONOGATARI: TO BREAK THE DEMON GATE by Richard Parks has a page now… and it shows the proper cover (you may see another one elsewhere for a while). Click herefor a larger image of the cover.

And here’s a sneak peek at the beginning of the novel:

In the early evening a tiny moth-demon was trying to batter its way into my room through a tear in the paper screen, no doubt attracted by the scent of poverty. I was debating whether to frighten the silly thing away or simply crush it, when the Widow Tamahara’s delightful voice sent the poor creature fluttering away as fast as its little wings could carry it.

“Yamada-san, you have a visitor!”

Tamahara kneeled by the shoji screen that was the only door to my rooms. Besides the volume, there was an edge of excitement in the formidable old woman’s voice that worried me just a little. The fact that aristocracy impressed her had worked to my advantage more than once when the rent was late, but her deference meant that just about anyone could get closer to me than might be healthy; that is, if they were of the right station in life. Anyone else giving a hint of trouble in her establishment she would throw out on their ear, if they were lucky.

“Who is it, Tamahara-san?”

“A messenger and that is all I know. She’s waiting in the courtyard with her escort.”

She?

Well, that explained why Widow Tamahara had not simply brought the person to my rooms. That would not have been proper, and the Widow Tamahara always did the right thing, to the degree that she understood what “the right thing” was…