Real Samurai Photos

These are some photos of samurai from the end of the Edo period transitioning into the Meiji restoration.

Sonny Chiba

Sonny Chiba is well known in Japan as an action star actor, and also as a movie fight choreographer.  In Japan, two of his most memorable roles are as Yagyu Jubei and as Hattori Hanzo.  The Hattori Hanzo character got an American introduction in the movie, Kill Bill.  Chiba's name also got revived as he experienced popularity here as the star of the 1970 movies of  the Street Fighter movies.

Here is Sonny Chiba, along with regular co-stars Etsuko Shiomi and Hiroyuki Sanada in a scene from the film, Shogun's Samurai

Yagyu Jubei and the eye

In pop fiction, Yagyu Jubei is usually depicted as being blind in one eye.  And many people believe this is true for him in real life.  And maybe he did at some point lose the use of one eye.  Howver, there is one print of him that exists, and that print portrays him having two eyes, so the debate continues.

That said, the origin is usually attributed to his father accidentally blinding him during a sparring session using real swords.  In my novella, it happens resulting from a duel with Kageura.  In short, there are as many different variations of the origin as there are fictionalized accounts of Jubei.

Here is one from an anime. The end of the clip has a summary of other historical samurais who have become legends.

I'm Sorry

I'm sorry I haven't been postingnew posts.  I wil try to do so more regularly from this point forward.  It has been hectic with the book promotion. Last week I was in West Hollywood, California at a book fair.

Here is a photo of me with fellow author, Sara Beacham, author of Miranda and the Tiger's Eye.

A Brief History of the Samurai

A Brief History of the Samurai is a book by Joanathan Clements.  It is 319 pages, and covers a little more than a thousand years of the samurai class in Japan.  It is a good primer, but, it is hard to get a grip on Japanese history up to the Tokugawa reign because of all the players and all the rieign changes and civil wars.  I've never really studied the hhistories of European nations before those countries stabilized so I wonder if Japanese history is that much more complicated.  I feel pretty lucky that U.S. history is relatively simpler compared to older nations.

4 Star Review for Sword of the Undead

Got a 4 star reader review on Amazon today.  Sure, I would have liked 5 stars, but it's still a great review.
Click here for the book's Amazon page scroll down for the reviews

San Diego Comic-Con 2010

Boy, this should be re-named Movie-Con.  There were lines to get into lines.  No, I didn't get in.  I just hung around as much as I could outside.  And as far as next year, the 4-day passes are already sold out.  Oh, and I predict that Scott Pilgrim vs the World will be the go-to movie of the year.

some photos