The Sanada Ten: Ninja and Samurai Legends of Japan, Retold, and the Real History Behind Them [eBook]

Ten legendary heroes. One real general. 102 claims on trial.

A little over a hundred years ago, the shop boys of Osaka spent their own pocket money on cheap paper-covered books about Sarutobi Sasuke, a boy raised among monkeys who became a ninja, and the nine comrades who rode with the young lord Sanada Yukimura. The Sanada Ten have never left Japan's stage since: puppet shows, films, video games, and a new TV drama watched around the world.

But how much of it really happened?

This book tells each adventure the way the old storytellers did: fast, loud, funny and full of impossible stunts. Then it asks Japan's most skeptical little question, 本当に？ Hontō ni? Really? Every claim from the story gets one of six stamps: TRUE, FALSE, PROBABLY NOT, TRUE BUT LATER, NOBODY KNOWS, or the rare TRUE, AND WORSE. Then comes what really happened, told from the letters, diaries and records of the time.

Most of the heroes turn out to be inventions. Their lord does not. Sanada Nobushige, the man Japan calls Yukimura, held a small fort against a huge Tokugawa army, led a last charge at the headquarters of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and was called "the finest soldier in Japan" by the other side. His real story is stranger, more human and better than his legend.

Inside you will find:

• 13 chapters, each a swashbuckling adventure followed by a true-or-false trial
• 102 claims stamped, with a running scoreboard: does the legend come out more true than false?
• A printable trading card for every hero, with a Real-o-meter you fill in at the end of the chapter
• Maps, old Japanese art, and photographs of places you can still visit today
• Real voices from 1600 to 1615: letters, reports and songs of the time, in translation
• One kanji per chapter, taken apart like a puzzle, plus a gadget, weapon or trick of the age
• A final exam, and a certificate of mastery signed by Sasuke's own ninja teacher

For readers 13 and up who love ninja, samurai, history or a good mystery. No knowledge of Japan or Japanese is needed: every Japanese word comes with its reading and its meaning.

What you get: an instant digital download with no DRM. Read it on your computer, tablet, phone or e-reader.

• The book as a PDF (438 pages)
• The book as an ePub
• The hero trading cards as a printable PDF

Published by Makoto Press. Book 1 of the series "Uso ka Makoto ka? Japan's Legends on Trial." This book is written in English.