A fictionalized biography to be sure, but I highly recommend Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa: https://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156... about the famous samurai. It reads like a fantasy novel.

Also Taiko by the same author is a fictionalized version of the 3 kingdoms period, told from an interesting perspective.

It's an issue, but hopefully a fairly minor one.

The classic Japanese serial novel Musashi ( http://www.amazon.com/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era-ebook/d... ) includes a fairly disturbing subplot about the protagonist's reputation being trashed by a little old lady of no significance who follows him around insulting him to anyone who will listen. Despite the fact that no one knows her, and many significant and influential people know (and like) him, this prevents him from landing a respectable job.