furo — soaking tub, in Japan you always shower before soaking to keep the water clean
engawa — porch
senpai — senior, elder, superior
kohai — junior, younger, inferior
yare, yare — yeah, yeah
koishii — beloved
koi — love (term of affection)
yosh — yes
shishou — master (denotes master/apprentice relationship)
kunoichi — female ninja
kunai — knife with a triangular blade, originally derived from a trowel
senbon- throwing needle, often tipped with poison
miso soup — a mixture of broth and miso. Miso is a paste made of fermented soybeans, it is characterized as red or white based on the variety of fungus used in the fermentation.
okonomiyaki - a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients.
San-san-kudo sake — a traditional wedding toast consisting of three (san) sips of three (san) glasses of sake. It is supposed to bring luck to the union.
sukiyaki — a dish in the hot pot style consisting of thinly sliced beef, slowly cooked at the table with vegetables and other ingredients, in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin (a low alcohol content rice wine)
onigiri — white rice in a triangular shape wrapped in nori (seaweed). They are often stuffed with umeboshi (salty pickled plums), salted salmon, or other salty ingredients
Sasaki Makoto (sincere, honest) The Sasaki clan is also from Chiba and has long been allied with the Takahashi clan
Sato Daisuke (great help) former armory weapons instructor, now Shuhan of Kobayashi shuudan.
Fukazawa Souta (smoothly well built) elite assassin
Watanabe Jun (swift steed) specialist in hand to hand combat
Kobayashi Tatsuya (to be accomplished) current head of the Kobayashi clan and son of the former Shuhan
Kobayashi Mayu (true reason) maiden name Fujiwara — Tatsuya's wife and mother of their twins — Kiyoshi and Ko
Nakamura Kazuki (one shining) — shinobi who defected from Kobayashi shuudan to start his own rival group of clans
Kenta (good health) — Kazuki's apprentice
Hayashi Hoshu (conservative) — head of the influential Hayashi clan, currently the most powerful in Kobayashi shuudan
Koga Aya (colorful) — matriarch of the Koga clan, known for their trained tracking dogs
Kikuchi Naoki (honest + tree) — head of the Kikuchi clan of poison experts
Kikuchi Naoto (honest person) — Naoki's son and heir
Kai no Yuu (superior/gentle) - Shuhan of Kai shuudan, he replaced his father. The Kai clan is from Hokkaido
Kai Takumi (craftsman) - Yuu's older brother
Abe Shouhei (soaring calm) - personal guard to Kobayashi shuudan's Shuhan
Narita Daichi (great land) - head of the Narita clan of shape shifters
Oonishi Hideaki (wisdom, cleverness) — last surviving member of the Oonishi clan, powerful weavers of illusion. His uncle was Yoshi's teacher.
Katsutoshi (to win cleverly) — companion of Oonishi Hideaki, he is a swordsman originally from Mochizuki shuudan
Takahashi Genki (source of reverence) - he is the sage of Wolf Mountain and a Shinto priest. Usually just referred to by his given name Genki as he has disassociated himself with the clan.
Masa (righteous) - ninja
Isamu (rock) — ninja
Akako (red) — ninja
Yoshido Sanosuke — Yoshi's psychiatrist
Rin (cold) — kunoichi who rose to lead Kobayashi shuudan.
Takahashi Ren (correct) — Yoshi's father. Famous for his demon wolves, he committed suicide when Yoshi was a child.
Junko — Rin's assistant
Endo Akihiko (bright) — head of a small clan specializing in tactical assessment and planning
Shuhan applies to the leaders of all the shuudan. The major shuudan include Kobayashi, Iwagashi, Mochizuki, Kai and Nakamura.
Yoshi's wolf pack:
Oushi - ox
Pi-natsu - peanut
Onchou - grace
Kesshin- determination
Shinzui- spirit
Hishou- flight
Chuugi- devotion
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sessha turned to writing full time after a twenty year stint in video production editing, scripting and creating motion graphics. Her first novel Strength of Will is currently being edited for re-release. Her short story Wintersong is included in In Dreams. Her Celtic fairy tale Amadan na Briona is part of eightcuts gallery's Once Upon a Time in a Gallery exhibit and is also included in In Dreams. Her short story The Poetry Game is included in New Sun Rising:Stories for Japan, an anthology for tsumani relief. Originally from Belfast, she lives in the States with her husband, son, a very old cat and too many swords.
Also from the Author
GEISHA
IN DREAMS
PERFECT MATCH
STRENGTH OF WILL