3 ‘It’s good to have an end to journey toward but it’s the journey that matters, in the end.’ [Page 156] Excerpt from The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, copyright © 1969, 1997 by Ursula K. Le Guin, published by Ace Books. (By permission of the author’s agent)

4 ‘Given enough time, anyone may master the physical. Given enough knowledge, anyone may become wise. It is the true warrior who can master both and surpass the result.’ [Pages 158–159] T’ien T’ai, Buddhist sect. (Material in the public domain)

5 ‘In order to be walked on, you have to be lying down.’ [Page 168] Brian Weir. (Original source unknown; no evidence of publication)

6 ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.’ [Page 172] Excerpt from ‘No Peaceful Warriors!’, Gnosis: A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions, copyright © 1991 by Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon (born James Neil Hollingworth).

7 ‘The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.’ [Page 237] Molière, French playwright and actor. (Material in the public domain)

8 ‘In real budo, there are no enemies. Real budo is a function of love. The way of a Warrior is not to destroy and kill but to foster life, to continually create.’ [Page 315] Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. (From Budo Secrets, by John Stevens, copyright © 2001 by John Stevens. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., shambhala.com)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A special thanks must go to the following people who have been instrumental in the formation of The Way of the Warrior: Charlie Viney, my agent, for his early encouragement of the Young Samurai concept and his continued commitment to making my first novel a reality; Sarah Hughes, my editor at Puffin, for her ruthless eye and samurai-like abilities to hone my manuscript into a battle-hardened book; Pippa Le Quesne for her expert guidance and incisive suggestions while editing the initial drafts; Tessa Girvan at ILA for taking on the world; the Sasakawa Foundation and the Society of Authors for awarding me the Great Britain Sasakawa Award 2007 and enabling me to travel to Japan to carry out essential research for the book; Akemi Solloway Sensei for organizing such a wonderful and supremely informative cultural trip to Japan, arigatō gozaimashita; the fantastic Puffin team for their hard work and enthusiasm; Steve Cowley and all the sensei at his Martial Arts Academy for helping me achieve my black belt in taijutsu; Hiroko Takagi for her Japanese translation; Katherine Hemingway for her Japanese insights; Matt Bould for his attention to detail; my mum and dad for their unwavering support and belief in me; and my wife, Sarah, for being my first reader!

NOTES ON THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE

NOTES ON THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE

A short guide to pronouncing Japanese words

Vowels are pronounced in the following way:

‘a’ as the ‘a’ in ‘at’

‘e’ as the ‘e’ in ‘bet’

‘i’ as the ‘i’ in ‘police

‘o’ as the ‘o’ in ‘dot’

‘u’ as the ‘u’ in ‘put’