1. ‘Know yourself, know your enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.’ By Sun Tsu (Chinese military commander).
2. ‘Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.’ Excerpt from ‘No Peaceful Warriors!’, Gnosis: A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions, © 1991 by Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon (pseudonym of James Neil Hollingworth, 1933–96).
3. ‘People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes.’ By Abigail Van Buren (pen-name of American journalist Pauline Phillips, b.1918).
4. ‘In order to be walked on, you have to be lying down.’ From Brian Weir (original source unknown; no evidence of publication).
5. ‘A child is not a vase to be filled but a fire to be lit.’ By François Rabelais (French writer and doctor, 1494–1553).

Character Names

CHARACTER NAMES

A Young Samurai website competition was held to suggest the name for the fearsome bandit leader who would be Jack’s enemy in this book.

The winner was:

Rozina Bashir

For her suggestion of Akuma, which means ‘devil’ or ‘demon’ in Japanese, and perfectly complemented the evil nature of my villain.

With so many excellent names entered by Young Samurai fans, the following were also chosen for the book:

Black Moon (Kuro Tsuki) submitted by Miranda Chong – I loved the concept of the black or new moon as a nickname for the bandit leader and the time for him to strike.

Hayato submitted by Rachel Andrews and by Sharuk Rahman – meaning ‘falcon person’, which reflected this character’s skill with the bow.

Yuudai submitted by Andrew Dent – meaning ‘great or large hero’. For obvious reasons, this name was ideal for this towering character.

Neko submitted by Maria Hoffman – meaning ‘cat’. Although the actual suggestion was Bakeneko, meaning ‘black cat’, I was enchanted by the idea of comparing this character to a cat.

Toge submitted by Shray Bhandary – meaning ‘thorn’. As Shray wrote in his entry, he’s got to be a thorn in people’s side.

Nakamura submitted by Carl Petzer – this is the name of a real bandit peasant from the sixteenth century who is rumoured to have killed the famous general Akechi Mitsuhide.

Sayomi submitted by Sharuk Rahman – meaning ‘born in the night’ – was a fantastic suggestion for an evil female bandit and created a character I hadn’t thought of.

Arigatō gozaimasu for your suggestions!

Japanese Glossary

JAPANESE GLOSSARY

Bushido

Bushido, meaning the ‘Way of the Warrior’, is a Japanese code of conduct similar to the concept of chivalry. Samurai warriors were meant to adhere to the seven moral principles in their martial arts training and in their day-to-day lives.