Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL England
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First published 2008
1
Text copyright © Chris Bradford, 2008
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,
by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s
prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a
similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
Disclaimer: Young Samurai is a work of fiction, and while based on real historical figures, events and locations, the book does not profess to be accurate in this regard.
Young Samurai is more an echo of the times than a re-enaction of history.
Warning: Do not attempt any of the techniques described within this book without the
supervision of a qualified martial arts instructor. These can be highly dangerous moves and
result in fatal injuries. The author and publisher take no responsibility for any
injuries resulting from attempting these techniques.
978-0-14-191802-0
For my father
CONTENTS
Map: The Japans – 17th Century
Prologue – Masamoto Tenno
1 Fireball
2 Rigging Monkey
3 Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
4 Land of the Rising Sun
5 Shadows 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
27 A Reason to Train
28 The Daruma Doll
29 Sensei Kyuzo
30 Target Practice
31 Kazuki’s War
32 Hanami Party
33 The Taryu-Jiai
34 Yamada’s Secret
35 The Switch
36 The Demon and the Butterfly
37 The Jade Sword
38 The Sound of Feathers Waterfall
39 The Apology
40 Staying the Path
41 Gion Matsuri
42 Dokugan Ryu
43 Kendo – The Way of the Sword
Notes on the Sources
Acknowledgements
Notes on the Japanese Language
PROLOGUE
MASAMOTO TENNO
Kyoto, Japan, August 1609
The boy snapped awake. He seized his sword.
Tenno hardly dared to breathe. He sensed someone else was in the room. As his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, he searched for signs of movement. But he could see nothing, only shadows within shadows, the moonlight seeping ghostlike through the lucent paper walls. Perhaps he had been wrong… His samurai training, though, warned him otherwise.
Tenno listened intently for the slightest sound, any indication there might be an intruder. But he heard nothing unusual. The cherry blossom trees in the garden made a faint rustle like the sound of silk as a light breeze passed through. There was the familiar trickle of water as it flowed from the small fountain into the fishpond, and nearby a cricket made its persistent nightly chirp. The rest of the house lay silent.