It took several years and a lot of you-know-what. Paper & Ink, travel to Japan, proofreading, cover design, and professional book formatting added up. But it was all worth it. The image above does not include the ISBN number, but each book has one.

The book may be purchased on Amazon in scores of countries. It is also available as an e-book.

One of the more difficult projects was to write a “teaser”— a blurb on the Amazon site. Here it is:

        The novel is based on several actual historical events.

In 1868, a massive cache of government gold disappeared from Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu’s castle. The shogun’s finance minister reportedly removed the treasure and buried it in northern Japan to keep it out of the hands of the advancing rebels.

Historians claim the cache never existed. But concurrent with the disappearance of the gold, Tomita Yuki, a loyalist samurai, and Avery Butler, a retired American Union Army officer, embark on a secret mission with almost a ton of gold.  But their mission ends in a disaster. Tomita is forced to return to Japan without the gold, and his story is lost in the fog of Japan’s civil war. Betrayal and bloodshed threaten to bury Tomita’s legacy along with the treasure, but love and devotion will not have it.

Over 150 years later, Parker West, a private investigator, discovers a Japanese diary in his parents’ attic. Jason Tanaka, a historian, translates it. Doing so almost costs them their lives. Their search takes them to many places, and genealogy helps them unravel the mystery, as does kanji, or written Japanese.

     The novel shares fascinating information about the little-known tragedy involving nineteen teenage samurai, Bushido, the way of the warrior, and John Manjiro, the fourteen-year-old ship-wrecked boy who was the first Japanese to visit and live in America. 

Go to AMAZON and type in “The Shogun’s Gold: Curtis Piper.”

New Year’s Day is the biggest holiday of the year in Japan.  It used to coincide with the Chinese New Year, but that is another story.  It is a time for gift giving, celebrations, feasting, and visiting one’s ancestral grave sites.  On New Year’s Eve, millions of Japanese visit their local Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples.  Temple bells toll 108 times.  It is believed that humans have that many “passions” or sins.  Each strike of the bell supposedly drives away one such passion.

About a week before January first, people start their “Big Cleaning”.  Students scrub the floors of their schools and dust every nook and cranny.  Employees do the same at their work sites. Public parks, the road in front of one’s home, and one’s garden get the clean treatment too.  It is very important to start the new year out in clean surroundings.  In Japan, cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness!

       

From left to right, photos courtesy of:

https://japonismo.com/blog/el-osoji-o-la-limpieza-de-fin-de-ano

http://cantinho-coreia.blogspot.com/2013/12/o-costume-do-osoji-grande-limpeza-de.html

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2015/12/26/lifestyle/osoji-ways-keep-home-spick-span/#.WF0qOLG-K8U

One of the traditional foods served on the eve of the hibernal, or winter solstice 冬至  is the Japanese squash called kabocha.  This squash is harvested in the fall and allowed to “rest” outside in the cool air where its flesh sweetens with age.  My wife served a really tasty kabocha dish on the 20th of December.  It goes with just about any meal from steaks to mac ‘n cheese! They are found in most supermarkets.  Here is  how to prepare it—-Enjoy!

1.Wash the skin, cut in half and scrape out the seeds.

2. Make slices about a quarter inch thick, leaving the skin on.

3. Heat a frying pan under slow heat and add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Fry on both sides until the orange meat is tender.  Add salt and pepper.

Another recipe that is strictly Japanese style is as follows:

1. Slice the squash into one and a half inch cubes. Again, leave the skin on.  It’s good!
2. Add to a deep pan: 1 cup of water (or dashi, if you have it), 2 tablespoons of sugar,   2 tablespoons of mirin (sweetened sake), 2 tablespoons of sake and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. You probably have soy sauce. But, if you don’t have the other ingredients, just replace with water. (Some people have suggested chicken broth, but we’ve never tried it.)
3. Bring to a boil and add squash. Gently cover with pre-cut tin foil, the size of the inside of the pan with a nickle sized hole in the middle
4. Turn to low heat and cook until the meat is soft. Use a tooth pick to test whether its done.

 

 

 

 

Japanese companies often rely on unqualified employees to translate ads, menus, instructions, etc. into English.  The results are often mystifying.  I found this example in The Economist:  

SUPER FUN WARNING!

Many big grinding comes with being fun too close on grid of power! For ease of honor, find early the grand gateway much closer to away. Much regards please.

We can only wonder!