Customer Reviews

Ninja Justice: Six Tales of Murder and Revenge

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The original title for this book was "Master Assassins," but I suppose they changed the title to something they thought would sell better. As a student of ninpo taijutsu, I was a little disappointed to find that the protagonists were merely assassins, not the mythical ninja. But, that disappoinment aside, I have to admit that I was drawn in to the story by the author's wit, simplistic writing style, and interwoven plots.

Master Assassins (as I choose to call this book, out of protest more than anything) is a compilation of six short stories about Baian, a doctor and an assassin, and his counterpart, Hikojiro, whom Baian trained as an assassin. The two of them travel around Edo, Kyoto, and other villages, fulfilling contracts taken out on people the world would be better without -- rapist ronins, cruel bureaucrats, evil samurai, etc. Surprising twists in the plot keep the reader enticed and enthralled, and I often found myself reading until very late, just to get to the end of the story.

Warning: if you're looking for a thick, literary masterpiece, I'd recommend that you keep reading Eiji Yoshikawa books. But if you're interested in an entertaining book with easily read text (minus a couple of translation errors here and there), pick this book up. You'll be through with this 184-page page-turner in no time at all.

The original work by Ikenami Shotaro, "Koroshi no Yonin, Shikakenin Fujieda Baian" (Four Killers), was very popular in Japan. "Ninja Justice" is not a good name for the book. The 1973 adaptation of this book into the movie "Hissatsu Shikakenin" was also quite successful. In fact, I first came across these tales from watching the movie. Many subtleties in the original writing were lost in this English translation, but the storylines have been well captured.

All the stories are interesting, and from one chapter to another they slowly bring alive the character of Fujieda Baian. At the end of the book you begin to like Baian, and you wish that there were more. Another seven volumes were published in the series, only the direct sequel, "Baian AriJigoku", was translated into "Master Assassin, Bridge of Darkness", but it has been long out of print. I believe that many readers would welcome a softcover reprint of this.

Baian is a healer by day and a professional killer by night - but only if the killing the "mark" fits Baian's sense of justice. None of his victims are innocent, or he wouldn't accept the job.
There is only one negative: There are 20+ books in Japanese from Shotaro Ikenami, but I could find only 2 in English. Actually, I bought three, but only to find out that "Ninja Justice" and "Tales of Murder from the Shogun's City" are one and the same.
PLEASE publish more of Shotaro Ikenami's books!
It's a very quick read, very entertaining, perfect fun!

I loved it! I am not a person who likes to read a whole lot, but this kept my attention. IT reads like a movie or tv show and I can't wait to move on to his next mission.

This book isn't the longest book you can find, but it is very entertaining. Baian is an assasin who is a doctor at the same time, and he trained Hikojiro. This story starts in Edo and goes to Koyoto and ends in Edo. Its a very entertaining fast action story, about life as assasin in ancient times in Japan. It's a fast paced book and it doesn't take long to finish the book. If you would like an amusing book I would recommend it.