<b>Antony Cummins</b> heads the Historical Ninjutsu Research Team, a project that documents, translates and publishes medieval documents pertaining to the shinobi of Japan. As a world renowned ninja historian, his background as an archaeologist and historian gives him a unique insight into their mysterious world. Antony has revived an old samurai school of war, Natori-Ryu, with the aim of educating people on historical Japanese warfare. His aim is to establish a correct understanding of Japanese military arts and to bring about a deeper knowledge of, and respect for Japanese arts. A trained martial artist, he is the author of nearly a dozen books on ninja and martial arts. <b>Risuke Otake</b> Otake Sensei is the teaching master at the world famous Katori Shinto Ryu, the oldest samurai sword school in the world. He is a member of the Order of the Rising Sun, an honored conferred on him in 2005 by the Emperor Akihito of Japan. <b>Dr. Nakashima Atsumi</b> has worked with the Iga Museum on translating the Shoninki from 17th century Japanese into modern Japanese. He is also the chairman of the Federation of Japanese Koryu Bujutsu, an organization for the traditional schools of the martial arts in Japan. <b>Yoshie Minami</b> was born in Tokyo and currently lives in Saitama, Japan. She has a B.A. in Linguistics from the International Christian University. As a translator, she published <i>True English</i> in 2009.
Read it for the entertainment and interest in history but be open to expanding upon some simple life concepts that the ninja applied to their work. It's well worth the read if you're a fan of ninjas and Japanese culture. --Martial Arts + Action Movies blog .. .the first definitive English-language translation of the Shoninki. --Metropolis .. .the most excellent masterpiece of all the manuscripts on ninjutsu that have ever been written. --Otake Risuke, Katori Shinto Ryu, Head Teaching Master, from his foreword .. .every time you reread this book you will obtain a new perspective. --Dr. Nakashima Atsumi, Translator of the Shoninki into modern Japanese