Samurai: Cherry Blossoms Fall

By Alex Ness and Josh Brown

‘To paraphrase the famous words of the Three Great Shoguns of Japan:

“Little Bird - if you do not read this book, you will miss something good in the wind.”

In these stories and excerpts Alex and Josh show their deep interest in samurai, and approach the subject with the respect and sophistication due to the twofold Way of the pen and the sword.’

—Sean Michael Wilson, author of manga versions of The Book of Five Rings and The 47 Ronin

"Stories as sharp as a samurai blade."
—Chris Bradford author of the Young Samurai and Bodyguard series

Samurai commonly describes a warrior in Japan who serves a lord, using combat skills and living by the code of Bushidō. But not everyone followed the code so directly, nor was every samurai so bold and courageous. So while the truth is somewhere between the idealized icon of fidelity and bravery, and bullies with swords, this work features the samurai who lived by their code.

Inspired by the great and legendary samurai themselves, this work of original short stories and poetry is meant to evoke, however briefly, life from the viewpoint of the samurai.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Uffda Press
• Release date: Jun 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463198728

Book preview

Samurai: Cherry Blossoms Fall

by Alex Ness &Josh Brown

Copyright 2015 Alex Ness & Josh Brown

Published by Uffda Press

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.  If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Contents

Introduction, Alex Ness

1. When the Barbarians Struck

2. Interlude ichi

3. Uneven Combat

4. Interlude ni

5. A Ronin’s Choice

6. Interlude san

7. Straight to the Point

8. Interlude shi

9. Scouting Party

10. Interlude go

11. Hunt and Chase

12. Interlude roku

Afterword, Alex Ness

Introduction, Josh Brown

13. Quenched in Blood

14. Nine Zero

15. Deshi

16. Interlude shichi

17. Death Poem

About the Authors

Introduction

A samurai is a total human being, whereas a man who is completely absorbed in his technical skill has degenerated into a ‘function,’ one cog in a machine.

—Yukio Mishima

Samurai. The word in Japanese means to serve. When applied to a person it refers to one who serves another. In specific, a samurai is a term used to describe a warrior in Japan who serves a lord, using combat skills and living by the code of bushidō. But not everyone followed the code so directly, nor was every samurai so bold and courageous. So while the truth is somewhere between the idealized icon of fidelity and bravery, and bullies with swords, this work features the samurai who lived by their code.

The era of the samurai came from around 700 to 1800 AD. There were peak events, and civil wars, and while the Japanese were insular in many ways, they did reach out and affect other countries, by war, such as Korea. There were also times when the world came to Japan, and the samurai tried to lead the defense against invasions, and visits. The Mongols tried to invade Japan twice but weather, luck and tenacity sent them back to China and Korea with extremely heavy losses.

Later in Japan’s formative time of nation building, there were periods of civil war, and outright chaos. The Three Great Shoguns of Japan rose to the moment to take Japan’s destiny to its height. To that point each had specific talents. Nobunaga was a strategist, and tactician. Hideyoshi had great ambitions for the role of Japan and while a cruel, forged alliances to his advantage and that of the shogun’s office. Tokugawa Ieyasu was different in many ways than Nobunaga and Hideyoshi. He was a great general, but, his greatest strength was alliance building, understanding of the intentions of his foes, and