Chapters (53)

‘ai’ as in ‘eye’

‘ii’ as in ‘week’

‘o’ as in ‘go’

‘ū’ as in ‘blue’

Consonants are pronounced in the same way as English:

‘g’ is hard as in ‘get’

‘j’ is soft as in ‘jelly’

‘ch’ as in ‘church’

‘z’ as in ‘zoo’

‘ts’ as in ‘itself’

Each syllable is pronounced separately:

A-ki-ko

Ya-ma-to

Mas-a-mo-to

Ka-zu-ki

Glossary

abunai	danger
arigatō (gozaimasu)	thank you
bokken	wooden sword
bushido	the Way of the Warrior
Butokuden	Hall of the Virtues of War
Butsuden	the Buddha Hall
Chō-no-ma	Hall of Butterflies
daimyo	feudal lord
futon	Japanese bed: flat mattress placed directly on tatami flooring, and folded away during the day
gaijin	foreigner, barbarian (derogatory term)
gomennasai	sorry
hai	yes
hajime	begin
hashi	chopsticks
Hō-oh-no-ma	Hall of the Phoenix
ikinasai	let’s go
iye	no
kami	spirit
kata	a prescribed series of moves in martial arts
katana	long sword
kenjutsu	the Art of the Sword
ki	life force
kiai	literally ‘concentrated spirit’ – used in martial arts as a shout for focusing energy when executing a technique
kihon waza	basic techniques
kissaki	tip of sword
konnichiwa	good day
kyujutsu	the Art of the Bow
matsuri	festival
ninjatō	ninja sword
niwa	garden
ofuro	bath
ohayō gozaimasu	good morning
randori	free-sparring
rei	call to bow
saké	rice wine
satori	enlightenment
saya	scabbard
seiza	sit/kneel
sencha	green tea
sensei	teacher
shinobi shozoko	the clothing of a ninja
Shishi-no-ma	Hall of Lions
shoji	Japanese sliding door
shuriken	metal throwing stars
sohei	warrior monks
sumimasen	excuse me; my apologies
tabi	Japanese split-toe socks
taijutsu	the Art of the Body (hand-to-hand combat)
Taka-no-ma	Hall of the Hawk
tantō	knife
tatami	floor matting
torii	gateway
tsuba	hand guard
uchi	strike
wakarimasen	I don’t understand
wakizashi	side-arm short sword
wako	Japanese pirates
yame	stop!
zabuton	cushion
zazen	meditation

Japanese names usually consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, unlike in the Western world where the given name comes before the surname. In feudal Japan, names reflected a person’s social status and spiritual beliefs. Also, when addressing someone, san is added to that person’s surname (or given names in less formal situations) as a sign of courtesy, similar to Mr or Mrs in English, and for higher status people sama is used. In Japan, sensei is usually added after a person’s name if they are a teacher, although in the Young Samurai books a traditional English order has been retained. Boys and girls are usually addressed using kun and chan respectively.

Cover

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Contents

Map

PRLOGUE ASAMOTO TENNO

YOUNG SAMURAI THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR

1: FIREBALL

2: RIGGING MONKEY

3: DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

4: LAND OF THE RISING SUN

5: SHADOS IN THE NIGHT

6: FEVER

7: SAMURAI

8: OFURO

9: KIMONOS AND CHOPSTICKS

10: ABUNAI!

11: SENCHA

12: THE DUEL

13: FATHER LUCIUS

14: THE SUMMONS

15: YAMATO

16: THE BOKKEN

17: GAIJIN

18: BEST OUT OF THREE

19: MASAMATO’S RETURN

20: AKIKO

21: NITEN ICHI RYŪ

22: THE TOKAIDO ROAD

23: BUTOKUDEN

24: SENSEI

25: THE SHINING ONE

26: DEFEATING THE SWORD