samurai

How come Yamabuki encounters so much cold?

Painting the life of the common people in a world where the major daily chore was finding enough food, can lead readers to think they are indeed being presented with a bleak world. And yet, the Japanese culture has always been one of songs and dance and laughter. Some genre readers are excited by the swordplay, but wonder why the farmers (they are never called “peasants” in Yamabuki books) are included....

Yamabuki travels from the Taka compound to the capital of Heian-kyo.

Hazard Sensei used to say that archery was the prefered method of fighting in old Japan. Swords were too personal. Too in close. Too involved with the opponent. Archery was “better.” In fact, the old Japanese root word for “war” is said to come from something approximate to “archery exchange.” As I draw to a close in my work on Cold Heart, I draw inspiration from a very nice video that resonates....

Few swords survive from the period in and around the Gempei War and Yamabuki’s era.