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Zenta and Matsuzo Back in Business: Samurai Books Will be re

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 16:58 -0700
by Steve Hubbell
If you have not read any of Lensey Namioka's series of books about Zenta and Matsuzo, you are in luck because they are being reprinted with four of them available now in paperback editions...
Zenta and Matsuzo Back in Business: Samurai Books Will be reprinted!If you like adventure stories, check out the Zenta and Matsuzo Samurai Series. These are samurai stories from 16th century Japan. Two samurai, Zenta and Matsuzo, are unemployed and looking for work. In those days, being an unemployed samurai meant you got into lots of fights and had to defend your honor. Lots of swashbuckling adventure!
The series has been out of print. But happily, Tuttle Publishing will be reprinting six Zenta and Matsuzo books! The first four books can be ordered now, with the rest of the series to follow.


Zenta and Matsuzo Samurai Series

The Samurai and the Long Nose Devils
The first book in the Zenta and Matsuzo adventure series, this book introduces the two young unemployed samurais (ronin). They encounter one adventure after another in 16th century feudal Japan. Zenta and Matsuzo find work with Nobunaga, a brilliant and unscrupulous warlord. They are appointed as bodyguards to some Portuguese missionaries. These foreigners -- with their firearms, their pale faces, and their religion called Christianity are hated and feared. For Zenta and Matsuzo, they represent more action than they had bargained for.
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Paperback: 207 pages
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (August 15, 2004)
ISBN: 0804836086

White Serpent Castle
Zenta and Matsuzo arrive at a castle shaped like a writhing serpent and said to be haunted. According to legend, the daughter of a former lord had thrown herself into the castle moat and had been changed into a white serpent. From that time on, the serpent's ghost was said to emerge from its resting place whenever a crisis threatened. And now a crisis has come.
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Paperback: 179 pages
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (September 15, 2004)
ISBN: 0804836094

Valley of the Broken Cherry Trees
Zenta and Matsuzo rest at a rural inn, expecting to enjoy the spectacular cherry blossoms nearby. They soon are involved in puzzling mysteries: court intrigue, an invitation to join an assassination and the unexplained mutilations of the ancient cherry trees.
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Paperback: 252 pages
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (April 15, 2005)
ISBN: 0804836108

Village of the Vampire Cat
Zenta and Matsuzo travel to visit the honored teacher of Zenta's youth, only to find the old warrior and the village terrorized by a force or forces unknown. They must help overcome a large gang of bandits and a madman who has brutally murdered four young women.
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Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (April 15, 2005)
ISBN: 0804836116

Island of Ogres
The Villagers and fishermen on the Japanese island talked in whispers about the unexplained disappearances of chickens and dogs -- a sure sign that the ogres were demanding a sacrifice. When Kajiro , a young unemployed samurai lands on the island the villagers mistake him for a famous warrior who would save them. But the ogres soon become the least of Kajiro's problems.

The Coming of the Bear
When a sudden squall dashes their boat onto a shore, Zenta and Matsuzo find themselves on an island inhabited by Ainus, a strange round-eyed people. However, it becomes clear that the two friends are really captives, and they plot their escape to the Japanese settlement on another part of the island.

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:42 -0700
by Stan Sakai
I read the Vampire Cat and Cherry Trees, but did not know about the others. Thanks for letting us know about them. I'll order them through Carolyn at Heritage Source.

Speaking of Heritage Source, I'll be doing a signing with them at the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA. If you order any UY books from her by April 20, I can sign them at the event.

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 13:02 -0700
by Steve Hubbell
will you have any of the new one there?

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 13:40 -0700
by Stan Sakai
Steve Hubbell wrote:will you have any of the new one there?

The earliest UY Book 19 will be out is in May. Sin City had really put a roadblock on all other DH projects. Diana is out with the flu right now, but once she's back in the office, I expect an updated schedule for UY.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 19:06 -0700
by Hugegoat
um where exactly is it located :( ?

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 22:21 -0700
by Stan Sakai
Hugegoat wrote:um where exactly is it located :( ?
The Festival of Books? It will be held April 23-24 at the University of California Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. However, as I said, Heritage Source specializes in mail order books and they ship everywhere. There is a link to their website on the "Buy UY" page of the Dojo.

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 18:00 -0700
by Hugegoat
awww im in Calgary Albereta :(