A ​nindzsák

by John Man, Bálint Péter Tóth (Translator)

Manapság ​szinte nincs olyan ember, aki ne hallott volna a nindzsákról. Ismereteinket elsősorban filmekből, regényekből, képregényekből vagy videojátékokból szerezzük, így felmerülhet a kérdés: vajon a nyugati világ közvetítette nindzsakép mennyiben felel meg a valóságnak? Valóban tudtak repülni? Tényleg rendelkeztek a láthatatlanná válás csodás képességével?
Ezeknek a kérdéseknek is utánajár John Man legújabb kötetében. A valóság feltárása azonban sokszor nem egyszerű feladat. A nindzsák Japán történelmének egyik legfordulatosabb, polgárháborúk sújtotta korszakában élték fénykorukat; ekkor volt a legnagyobb szükség titkos szabotázsakcióikra, kémtevékenységükre vagy akár bérgyilkosként való szolgálatukra. Mindezen feladatok végrehajtásához a szamurájok szemléletével merőben ellentétes erényeket kellett elsajátítaniuk: a kitartás, a titoktartás, a rejtőzködés, valamint az életben maradás tudományát.
John Man (A kínai nagy fal, A terrakotta hadsereg, Az utolsó szamuráj igaz története) legújabb kötetében a tőle megszokott szakmai igényességgel, ugyanakkor személyes élményekből is táplálkozó könnyed hangvétellel ragadja magával az olvasót, miközben lerántja a leplet számos, a nindzsákról alkotott tévhitről.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Japan, Martial Arts, Japanese Literature, Japanese History, Research

325 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2012

About the author

John Anthony Garnet Man is a British historian and travel writer. His special interests are China, Mongolia and the history of written communication. He takes particular pleasure in combining historical narrative with personal experience.

He studied German and French at Keble College, Oxford, before doing two postgraduate courses, a diploma in the History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies, completing the latter in 1968. After working in journalism with Reuters and in publishing with Time-Life Books, he turned to writing, with occasional forays into film, TV and radio.

In the 1990s, he began a trilogy on the three major revolutions in writing: writing itself, the alphabet and printing with movable type. This has so far resulted in two books, Alpha Beta and The Gutenberg Revolution, both republished in 2009. The third, on the origin of writing, is on hold, because it depends on access to Iraq.

He returned to the subject of Mongolia with Gobi: Tracking the Desert, the first book on the region since the 1920s. Work in Mongolia led to Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection, which has so far appeared in 18 languages. Attila the Hun and Kublai Khan: The Mongol King Who Remade China completed a trilogy on Asian leaders. A revised edition of his book on Genghis Khan, with the results of an expedition up the mountain on which he is supposed to be buried, was upcoming in autumn 2010.

The Terracotta Army coincided with the British Museum exhibition (September 2007- April 2008). This was followed by The Great Wall. The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan combines history and leadership theory. Xanadu: Marco Polo and the Discovery of the East was published in autumn 2009, and Samurai: The Last Warrior, the story of Saigō Takamori's doomed 1877 rebellion against the Japanese emperor, was published in February 2011.

In 2007 John Man was awarded Mongolia's Friendship Medal for his contributions to UK-Mongolian relations.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ninja reads less like a "1000 Year" history and more like an extended Esquire article. Not necessarily a bad thing - it's a moderately interesting, breezy book. But if you're looking for a comprehensive history of the concept of ninjas dating from feudal Japan to the present, look elsewhere. As a good case in point, one sentence begins as follows: "To cram four centuries into a sentence..."

So what is covered by the rest of the 300 pages? Some anecdotes about famous Japanese warriors, rulers, aspiring unifiers, samurai, shogun, and assassins; some "ninja wisdom" akin to the seven secrets of highly successful ninjas; and some extended discussions in the last few chapters about how James Bond brought ninja into the pop culture in the 1960's and how one Japanese "ninja" continued to fight WWII in the jungles of Manila until 1972.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Originally posted on my blog, Misprinted Pages.)

[Note: I want your questions about real-life ninjas! Please include them in the comments here or on my blog, and I'll try to pass them on to author John Man to answer.]

Our idea of the quintessential ninja is a little short of historical reality. In fact, what does the average person really know besides that they dress in all black and are masters of stealth and assassination techniques? They didn’t use magic, they couldn’t walk on water, and their primary goal was not to kill or be killed.

John Man’s new book Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior traces this order through history — from the first proto-ninjas to the true ninjas’ rising prevalence in Iga and Kōga in Japan and their fall and final years. Much of the foundation of ninjutsu (the way of life) came from Chinese origins, and the ninja were more concerned with survival than their flashier counterparts, the samurai, who chose self-sacrifice and would commit seppuku, or suicide by disembowelment, rather than face defeat. A ninja’s objective involved gathering information and relaying it back to his employer, where it could be of use — and that couldn’t happen if ninjas charged in on enemy territory, prepared to die.

Black wasn’t even the necessary go-to color for a ninja. Brown worked just fine, too, and dark blue was preferable under moonlight.

They weren’t sell-outs who took any job as long as the price suited them. Ninjas believed in a cause. Many doubled as samurai (and vice versa), but they did more than sneak into castles night after night. They were farmers who built up other expertise, such as medicine. When peace took hold and their occupation was in danger of vanishing completely, that’s when they opened their teachings to the world and started writing them down.

Some of the most fascinating aspects of Man’s book regard the myths and legends — the stories and rumored ninja tricks and equipment — which he analyzes and debunks. For example, he examines the falsity of how ninjas could tell time by looking at the eyes of a cat, dispels the belief that ninjas could walk on water with special shoes called “water spiders,” and picks apart the tale of the resourceful ninja dwarf Ukifune Jinnai.

The best part is saved for last: the story of the “last of the ninjas,” Onoda Hiroo, who survived in the jungle for 30 years, believing World War II hadn’t ended.

Ninja is quite the meandering history book, however. Sometimes the writing is utterly engrossing, and you can’t pull away from the page. Other times, you’ll find yourself needing a timeline or a sidenote that reminds you how certain sections are relevant to ninja history. That’s usually when the book strays from Man’s unique and compelling interview reporting — a first-hand investigation complete with observations and honest reflections as the author learns from his visits and conversations with sources — and turns into a textbook. Ninja switches back and forth between being an amazing reference, perfect for pop-culture enthusiasts who want an accessible dose of history, to a dry academic read.

Bottom line: I greatly enjoyed my time with Ninja, but it’s not as much of a direct feed on ninjas as I expected. It can be fun, but it digresses too much into battle stories and other historical developments that the author only loosely connects back to the subject at hand. Readers will likely feel lost at times.

What I liked: The emphasis on first-hand reporting, discrediting (or recounting) myths and legends, and the in-depth profile of Onoda Hiroo.

What I wasn’t expecting: A lot of talk of “ninjas” who weren’t really ninjas.

Grade: C+

This book was provided by the publisher for honest review.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hovered between a 2 and a 3 on this. I found him glib and sometimes condescending towards his subject. He also meandered into personal anecdotes related to his travels and research. As in the book I read on the Samurai recently, I felt the subject got short shrift.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

Ninja is another travelogue-ish, easy to read history of a broad and fascinating topic, in this case the history and afterlife of ninjas in Japanese culture. It felt more scatterbrained than Man’s other books, and was more of a chore to read; I wasn’t really impressed, and although there were some very informative chapters about actual ninjas and what they did, there’s a lot of fluff about traditions and stories about ninjas that didn’t really add up to much.

Of Man’s books, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this; if there’s a better book out there about ninjas and their history, I think I’d actually like to read it, please.

[Popzara Press · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Man’s Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior will likely disappoint those looking for a proper history of one of Japan’s most famous cultural exports, as there’s simply too much conjecture with the subject matter to consider it reliable. Despite the premise of demystifying what the term ‘ninja’ has become in western culture, Man freely uses it as an adjective, applying it to subjects that might not qualify - James Bond gets an inordinate amount of attention here. While there’ plenty of interesting bits here for those interested in Japanese history, even this too often comes across like a superficial documentary on cable television; one can almost hear the voice-over narration and sound effects added to still pictures already. Those expecting an exhaustive and meticulously researched account on the subject may want to look elsewhere.

Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior Review on Popzara

[A.J. Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent history of the Ninja, but I think the author may have bitten off more than he could chew with this book. Trying to tie the growth of the ninja clans into the other threads of feudal Japanese history with little to no background info on the history of the shogun and the samurai makes for a VERY confusing read for anyone not already familiar with Japan. If you have read anything else regarding the period, then Ninja is an excellent companion piece. If not, the sheer number of names and places can be very overwhelming...an appendix of famous names and clans would have been very helpful.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good "beginner book" on ninjas. It hits certain key points throughout the history of ninjas and helps you better understand myth vs. fact. I guess what sticks out to me though is when the author talks about his travels in Japan to try and understand the history behind ninjas the subject of the book becomes more about him and less about the topic he is writing about. Don't get me wrong, it's not that it totally destroys the book, but I could have done without some of the ramblings and commentary he has about the people he is talking to for information in Japan.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy to read brief history of Ninjas. The author switches between history text and researcher's travelogue occasionally which makes certain parts of the ninja story more real (ie the old guy in Japan with an attic full of old armor) and relieves the Japanese history newbie from to many names from Japanese history. Some of the more interesting parts are the modern legacy of the ninja (there is even a chapter on James Bond).

[Joe]

Pretty good book. The author has a tendency to conflate any military action involving the Japanese and deception into being "ninja-like" but it definitely covered the history of the Koga/Iga region well. He does capture the chaos and shifting allegiances of feudal Japan, although he tries to push the idea that ninja regions were Athenian democracies pretty hard.

So, long and short, I'm skeptical about a lot of it, but it's a ripping read.

[Cameron Meiswinkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The multitude of names and places was a tad confusing. It took me a year to read "Ninja" so I will admit that my opinion may have differed if I had read it all in one sitting. Having said that, the book really shines when it details the beginnings of ninja culture. The "How to be a ninja" sections were great, as well as the chapters about the civil war.

[Aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a slow read but based on factual evidence. Removes all the drivel and the fantastical mythos that follows these very real warriors. I don't mind a good action flick but when people credit those films for following reality it gets ridiculous. This is according to the author the unvarnished unsexy truth. And that is good.

[Lionkhan-sama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book.
It opened my eyes dramatically to what Japan has witnessed over the past few centuries.
Japanese history is absolutely CRAZY! (not in a good way unfortunately)

This book provided incredible insight, into an extremely controversial topic.
I am eager to now read more on the subject and subjects similar to this one.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the real history of ninjas. The whys and the hows they got got started. Interesting history.

[Letya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A könyv a címe ellenére mindenről szól, csak éppen a nindzsákról nem…
Felsorol japán „hősöket”, akik úgy viselkedtek, mint a nindzsák…de aztán mégsem úgy viselkedtek…Voltak emberek, akik nindzsaszerűek voltak, de ők sem voltak nindzsák, és még csak olyanok sem voltak. És akkor végre találunk egy nindzsát, aki sajnos nem nindzsa, de majdnem, mert hát fekete ruhában van, de emígy semmi nindzsaszerű nincs benne.
Végre találunk egy titkos nindzsa könyvet, ami betekintést enged a nindzsák világába, de kiderül, hogy 100 évvel a nindzsák letűnése után íródott és nem hiteles. De aztán jönnek a nindzsaszerű katonák, akik nem úgy viselkednek és nem is úgy öltöznek, mint a nindzsák…tehát ők sem nindzsák.
A múltban azért volt egy nindzsa, aki később szamuráj lett, de ő sem a nindzsák életét élte.
No, végre vannak nindzsa fegyverek…na, de ilyen fegyverei biztos nem voltak a nindzsáknak, mert ezekkel nem is lehetett harcolni…
És a lényeg: kapunk egy teljes tartalmi leírást a „Csak kétszer élsz” James Bond történet regényéről, majd a filmről is, ahol kiemeli az író a könyv és a film közötti eltéréseket…és láss csodát…ebben szerepeltek nindzsák…de valójában nem is azok voltak ,csak fekete ruhába öltöztetett kommandósok…
Miért kapott mégis csillagot a könyv? (mert 2,5 felet nem lehet adni) Mert vázlatszerűen ismerteti a japán történelmet a 11. századtól napjainkig.
Megtudhatjuk, hogy a nindzsák Iga és Koga tartományból/területről származnak. (amihez elég a Wikipédia szócikket elolvasni)
Kapunk egy kis eszmefuttatást John Man gondolataiból, a Japánban tett kirándulását is megismerhetjük…és egy csatát ahol tényleg nindzsák harcoltak (amikor Igát megtámadták a hadurak)
Szóval, aki a nindzsákról szeretne megtudni bármit is, annak ajánlom a Wikipédia szócikket, mert abból sokkal többet megtudhat róluk mint ebből a könyvből.
Az elején gyanakodnom kellett volna, amikor az író azzal kezdte, hogy ő azt hitte, hogy a nindzsák tudnak repülni…

[Amanda]

DNF @ 100 pgs

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all history books that pull out one aspect of history to talk about, I think you could get more out of it if you are familiar with the general history of the time and place. But it isn’t really necessary. It is interesting to see how and why the ninja came about. Everyone has heard of ninjas and knows the myths but to me the real history is actually more interesting even if it doesn’t make for as action packed a movie as the stories. I liked learning about how they were farmers and how they had their own code to live by. There is some general information and some very interesting stories about specific ninja actions. It starts at the very beginning, before the word ninja was used, right up to the present where you can see how people are trying to keep the ninja traditions alive. There were parts that I was less interested in because he starts talking about his own personal journey or the James Bond ninja connection. And sometimes it does go a little vague because the history just isn’t known. There were also times when I wasn’t sure we were talking about ninjas anymore because I was having trouble following the line that connected the story being related back to the subject at hand. I found the book interesting in general but there were times when I felt a little lost trying to put the stories in some sort of historical context because there were just so many names and so much time involved.

[Charles Ames · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ninjas were originally a community of farmer-warriors in Medieval Central Japan who banded together in order to maintain their independence from neighboring warlords. Over time they became so effective at infiltration, information gathering, survival, and guerrilla warfare the they became the most sought-after mercenaries in later efforts to unify Japan.

The author takes care to contrast the doggedly practical, survive-at-all-cost ethos of these Ninja with the comparatively symbolic, die-with-honor way of their Samurai contemporaries. Faced with certain defeat, a Samurai would commit suicide in order to avoid dishonorable capture or death at the hands of his enemy, whereas the Ninja would escape, evade, or even endure capture in order to complete his mission.

Most surprising, the author credits Ian Fleming with resurrecting the Ninja as a popular image, both directly by including masked, sword-wielding (i.e. mythical) Ninjas in early James Bond books and movies, and indirectly by casting Bond himself as a Western version of the historical Ninja.

Indeed, reading the descriptions of what is known about actual Ninja training and conduct, I couldn't help but picture Jason Bourne -- professional, pragmatic, supremely skilled, chameleon-like, silent, deadly. Apparently, the Ninja were the original secret agents.

[Ernest Spoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a friend, he´s dead now, who immersed himself in several of the martial arts. He loved dressing up as what moderns, both Western and Japanese, imagine as a ninja, swathed in black from head-to-toe. My friend could do a front flip with his ninjato, the ninja sword, unsheathed. Quite impressive. But not impressive enough to win a Halloween contest at a local gin-joint one year. But, as I told him myself, had I been a judge I too would have voted for the winner. She had nicer boobs. He had to content himself with second-place.

Be that as it may, this was an enjoy able little book. Not exactly a history for author John Man weaves a bit of travelogue in and out of the story of the independent, democratically-inclined farmers who became masters of espionage in the waning years of feudal Japan.

As Man emphasizes throughout, the ninjas were the ultimate survivors. Though in the shadows the ninja spirit remained alive and survived the Meiji Restoration and reemerged as the Japanese intelligence service in the lead-up to World War II. The final chapter is devoted to Onoda Hiroo, an intelligence officer who survived in the Philippine jungle for 29 years. Onoda died after the publication of this book in 2014 age 91.

[Daniel Macgregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Man at it again with another popular culture history book. Don't take that the wrong way, its a good book all things considered. It may not be an extensive deep dive into the world of ninja's as a lot of other reviewers desired. But the thing is that was never what this book was going to be because that is (usually) not what John Man writes. If he promised to write an in-depth text but failed, that would be one thing. But what he writes is short and easy to shallow books on a subject anyone can pick up and get at least something from. Which is a good thing, because someone versed in the field of history has to rig the town bell to let the general public know what amazing things the rest of the historical community is digging up in the virtual coal pit which is the past. Otherwise, it is just a bunch of people mumbling to themselves in a hole.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have little to add to reviews already written by Stephanie, Charles Ames and Michael.

I found it particularly interesting to learn about the Sugendo religious sect and the extremes of their training, members of which trained along side some aspiring ninjas. Also intriguing was the historical information about the Medieval Japanese proto-democracies of Iga and Koga, the ninja homelands. I felt a little disappointed to read that the lineage of Master Masaaki Hatsumi may not be 100% genuine. Finally, I would agree with many other reviewers that the outstanding chapter in this book is the story of survival of Onoda Hiroo, the man perhaps the most deserving of the title "the last ninja".

[Mike Stolfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

O.K., so it's an academic approach to learning some of the truths to a secretive society. I liked the debunking, but if you're a fan of the group you're ego won't get much stroking for being a fan. If you're familiar with the topic there's not that much to get lost on, there's some conjecture but the thing to keep in mind is that he's mostly doing historical research & groups evolve/mutate/change over time & having studied Taejitsu I'll say what is now may not have been then & vice versa. It wasn't a bad book.

[Bill Chamis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It made me laugh just saying the title in that English-dubbed ninja voice. The author, however, is not interested in the "myth" of the ninja except as a cultural artifact. Although the author relies on secondary research and interviews with descendants of some of the ninja families, he seems to know his stuff (hard to say, of course, as I am no expert), and he writes well. The best section was a chapter at the end about the Japanese soldier who hid out in the Philippines after WWII over and didn't come out until the 1970s.

[Jenni Callard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked what I read of this book but had to stop reading it because fall semester began & it was way too much thinking for me on top if my studies. I'd like to pick it up again when I have more brain cells to devote to it.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

It helped explain a lot about the manga and anime I consume. Neat insights and history. Everybody should read (a.k.a. Google) Hiroo Onada.

[Devan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting study of Ninja culture.

[Kevin Burke · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ninjas in Ninja fleet ninja-like in and out of John Nun's telling of their history. The gist is that they were - in the main - secret agents in 16th century in the Iga and Koga regions of central Japan, but being secret agents, definitive info on them is hard to come by, so Man tells a broader tale of regional warfare, in which ninjas occasionally pop up to lend a hand. Or even, in the case of the ninja Ukifune who hung on underneath a latrine in order to spear its occupant, Kenshin, up the hole when he arrived before escaping through the shit at the bottom, not lend a hand, as this story is almost certainly apocryphal. But the balance of war and ninja part in the war is skewed too much towards the former, and it can become a list of names and battles more than anything.

One third of the way through the book, we enter the end of the ninjas, which feels doubly soon given we've found out so little about them. This section mostly tells of the wars to unify of Japan, which rendered the ninja obsolete. Ninjas came about when they did because of the volume of wars passing through their areas, so locals who could stealthily gather war information and come back alive (a novel concept when everyone else seemed to be in a rush to commit seppuku) were quite useful in keeping the peace, and obsolete once someone else was keeping the wider peace. But ironically, their demise means there's more info on them, as rather than let the tradition die out, the remaining ninja started to write things down. The contents of the Bansenshukai probably give the book's best insight - "Dealing with dogs", "On listening to snoring", "Feeling for hooked latches", "How to undo hooked latches", "On the art of taking advantage of the enemy's negligence", "On passwords and secret signs to identify allies" - this is the good stuff. It would have been nice to have had more of it.

The final part looks at ninja resurgence in popular culture in recent decades, including James Bond and the Teenage Mutant Turtles, but also a retelling of the story of Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese soldier who kept fighting World War II until 1974. While interesting, were Onoda's actions real ninjutsu, or a modern interpretation of it? Maybe it doesn't matter; maybe it's only the detail here compared with the sparsity earlier that makes it feel it does.

[Ralphz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book - a little all over the place, but fun all over.

Besides being a really good history of ninjas - and then a very close examination of the difference between ninjas and samurais (whom he also wrote about) - it covers a broader history of Japan and then ninjas in popular culture.

Forget the black-clad, hooded figure throwing stars at people. Ninjas were mainly everyday men – mostly farmers – who worked to defend their land and area from encroaching emperors and enemies. Ninjas operated at night, but unlike samurai, they weren’t seeking a glorious death. A ninja was more a spy than anything else, and the idea was to survive no matter what - a dead ninja who doesn’t bring back information about the enemy doesn’t do anybody any good.

The author also talks about the idea of ninjas, how they became unnecessary as Japan slowly unified, multiple “last ninjas” who set up schools and shared their secrets (which is actually not very ninja), and how James Bond really popularized the current modern idea of ninjas.

Finally, he tells the tale of the Japanese soldier from World War II who hid in the Philippines believing the war was still on - and finally surrendered in 1974. The author makes a pretty good case for the soldier's long-term survival making him the true “last ninja.”

Pretty good all around, and I can’t wait to read his “Samurai” book.

[James Tester · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to be careful scrolling through other reviews, no matter how brief, but I have a compulsion to respond (basically deny) two of the common complaints aimed at Man and his work on Ninja's.
The first and most obvious is, he gives as concise and detailed history of the shadow warriors as one can expect for generations of people for whom for hundreds of years secrecy was not just the top priority, but the point of success and survival.
The second complaint is the authors apparent "mocking" if the subject and those he speaks to, which is simply complete rubbish. Man is witty yet pleasant and respectful, writing as a jovial guide through this most fascinating of topics.
Many are probably disappointed that the "myth" of the Ninja they grew up learning about from film, television comics or games are of course gross, heavily westernised versions. Versions which some aspects of Japan herself has rightly or wrongly also promoted in cinema, books, Manga and Anime.
Ninja: 1,000 years of the shadow warrior is an enjoyable, sometimes jaw dropping, at its worst intriguing exploration on one of the most iconic groups of people to come from any country over the past few centuries.

[Magpie6493 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book a chance as I really like Japanese history. This book has been sitting around my shelves for a while, and I finally decided to pick it up. Only to be bombarded instantly with the authors uncomfortably condecding and self centering attitude. He also immediately tries to make the Ninja out to be "internationalistic" and anti facist anti loads of things that, as far as I know, don't make a lot of sense to be reading into them. Especially when, according to the authors own admittance, he's talking about people decended from the ninja that were not called ninja centuries later but then turning around and declaring that that's true of all ninja..... like I just do not get a feeling of respect from this author at all, and I get a distinct feeling that he's manipulating historical truths to fit into some kind of personal political point. As that sort of thing makes me really uncomfortable in a book that's supposed to be representing history and historical fact I could not bring myself to finish the book.

[Ben Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to read

That is not the book’s fault necessarily, it’s just a lot of names and places and dates and all about a country that is very foreign to me that I struggled to remember

I don’t want to blame the book because it was all very important to tell the history of ninjas — it goes back hundreds, even thousands of years and is in ancient Japan. It was just hard to pick up and read sometimes knowing I’d be so confused

When I was dialled in and reading this, it was really, really good. The author is an excellent writer and very detailed with his research

Some sections of the book were incredible too, the last chapter about Onada surviving for 30 years in the jungle after his shadow warrior training was fucking insane

Ninjas are very cool, very misremembered and very old. I’m glad I read the book and learned more, it just took me very long which is why the rating is lower

Thank you for the book, Courtney, you’re amazing