The Nicholas Linnear Novels (163 page)

omae
—the form of “you” used only by men.

omoya
—literally, “mother house,” the central section of a Japanese house, reserved for family members only.

oseibo
—in business, a year-end gift. Westerners may see this as a bonus but, in fact, it is used to repay the obligations that have accrued during the course of the twelve-month period.

oshi
—in
sumo
wrestling, pushing with the entire body.

oyabun
—the head of a
yakuza
family; the boss.

ozeki
—
sumo
champion.

pachinko
—a pinball-like game played on a vertical field.

quai loh
—Cantonese for foreign devil.

riakon
—a Japanese country inn.

ritsurei
—in
aikido,
the ritual bow before the
sensei
of the
dojo.

rokugu
—the
ninja
’s six tools for traveling.

ronin
—literally, “wave man.” In feudal times, a masterless samurai; today it is employed to describe ministers who have retired from bureaucratic life and have not yet formed a new business affiliation.

rotenburo
—an outdoor hot bath.

ryochi
—a feudal lord’s region of power. See
daimyō.

ryu
—a school or discipline of martial arts.

saika tanden
—in martial arts preparedness, a state of “nothingness,” where one is ready for all eventualities.

saiminjutsu
—an arcane form of martial arts practiced by some
ninja,
involving a particularly potent form of hypnotism.

sake
—rice wine, the traditional Japanese drink, served hot or cold.

sakura
—a cherry blossom, a national symbol.

samisen
—traditional stringed instrument.

samurai
—in feudal Japan, the warrior. The
samurai
class was the only one allowed to wear swords in public.

-san
—suffix to a name used for respect and politeness.

San Ho Hiu
—Three Harmonies Association. The traditional name for the Triads.

sanchome
—area designation within a city district.

sankinkotaiseido
—in feudal times, the annual pilgrimage of
daimyo
to the capital, seat of the
Shogun
’s power.

sashimi—
raw sliced fish.

sashimono
—an ancient battle standard.

seikotsu
—an adjunct to the art of
katsu
, a form of deep resuscitation.

seisan fukko setsu
—the theory of economic reconstruction through industrial production.

sempai
—in business, an elder champion.

sennin
—a
ninja
adept, a
sensei.

sensei
—a master. Generally refers to the martial arts but may be used more broadly.

seppuku
—ritual suicide. Traditionally, only samurai were allowed this most honorable form of death.

shaken jigoku
—examination hell, rigorous cramming for batteries of school tests and college entrance exams.

shimpu
—the divine winds of 1274 and 1281 which drowned the Mongol army intent of invading Japan; in World War II slang, daredevil taxi drivers.

shinki kiitsu
—the unity of soul, mind, and body that is the essence of all martial arts.

shinzo
—level of apprentice
geisha.
See
geisha, oiran, tayu, kamuro.

shitahara
—in martial arts exercises, the awareness of power located in the lower belly; the force of
hara.

shitamachi
—Tokyo’s downtown area.

shogun
—the supreme warlord of feudal Japan.

shoji
—translucent sliding screen defining rooms in a traditional Japanese house.

shomen uchi
—in
aikido,
a punishing blow to the head.

shunga
—prints with an erotic content. See
ukiyo-e.

shuriken
—any one of a number of small steel blades employed by
ninja.

so desu
—thank you.

soba
—buckwheat noodles.

sobi
—sublime beauty.

someiyoshino
—an early-blooming variety of cherry blossom. See
hanami
and
sakura.

sotomawari
—literally, “going around the track”; in bureaucratic life, an accelerating series of postings and promotions that puts one on the elite track.

sumai
—combat
sumo.

sumo
—the martial art of wrestling; traditional wrestlers of large size and girth because of their extraordinary
hara.

sushi
—raw fish wrapped around sticky rice and green horseradish.

Tai Chi Chuan
—a form of martial art that emphasizes balance, muscular control, and contemplation.

tai-pan
—head of a number of important trading houses in Hong Kong.

tambo
—a hard percussive blow in sword combat and practice. See
kenjutsu
and
bokken.

tanden
—the brain’s reflex control center.

tatami
—reed mat of a specific size comprising the floor of a traditional Japanese house. Room sizes are measured by
tatami
number.

tayu
—the highest level of
oiran geisha.

Tenchi
—literally, Heaven and Earth.

tenno no kanri
—literally, “officials of the Emperor.” Term used to describe the modern Japanese bureaucrat.

tokonoma
—raised praying niche.

tonkatsu
—breaded pork cutlet.

torii
—traditional gate to a Shinto shrine made of wood lacquered crimson.

tsuchigumo
—literally, “bat in the rafters,” a
ninja
technique for hanging undetected from the ceiling of a room.

tsuka kaikaku setsu
—the control of inflation through a commitment to light rather than heavy industry.

tsuki
—in
sumo
wrestling, pushing with the hands.

tsukimi
—the moon-viewing ritual.

Tsunokakushi
—literally, “the horn-hider,” a ceremonial white hat traditionally worn by a bride at her wedding ceremony. Its wide brim is said to hide whatever bad points she may possess.

t
susho daiichi-shugi
—bureaucratic slogan meaning trade number one-ism.

uchitake
—a three-meter length of hollow bamboo. See
rokugu.

ukiyo-e
—woodblock prints created for the pleasure of the rising merchant class in nineteenth-century Japan.

wa
—personal aura, magnetism. Strong
wa
indicates harmony of spirit.

wakizashi
—samurai’s short sword; one of its uses is to commit
seppuku.

watashi no musuko
—my son, informally and endearingly.

Wu-shing
—Mandarin term for a series of ritualistic punishments by mutilation.

yakitori
—chunks of meat or flesh marinated in a sweet soy-based sauce and grilled on a skewer with fresh vegetables.

yakuza
—the Japanese criminal underworld, divided into clans with its own code of honor as strict as
bushido.
See
giri.

yamabushi—
wandering, self-mortifying adherents of a religious sect known as Shugendo that inhabit the slopes of Mt. Omine in Nara Prefecture.

yamato-dama-shii
—the indominability of the Japanese spirit.

Yami Doko
—literally, “Kite in the Darkness,” the name of a castle.

yokozuna
—a grand champion
sumo.

yonkyo
—in
aikido,
an immobilization technique.

yori
—in
sumo
wrestling, clinching.

yoshitanrei
—a beautiful appearance.

Yoshiwara
—literally, “reed field” or “happy field.” That section of the old capital given over to sensory pleasure; traditionally, home of the
geisha.

zaibatsu
—name given to the great family-run industrial conglomerates pre-World War II.

zarei
—the sitting bow in
aikido.

This is for Henry Morrison,

my friend as well as my agent,

without whom…

Author’s Note

Tokyo: Autumn

Book One: Twilight (Usuakari)

Tokyo/East Bay Bridge: Summer, Present

Singapore/Peninsula Malaysia: Summer, 1889

Book Two: Midnight (Shin-Ya)

Asama Highlands/Washington/East Bay Bridge/Tokyo/The Hodaka: Summer, Present

Asama, Japan/Zhuji, China/Tokyo, Japan: Summer 1970–Winter 1980

Book Three: Before Dawn (Akegata)

Tokyo/Washington/West Bay Bridge/New York: Summer, Present

Marco Island/Tokyo/Washington: Summer-Autumn, Present

W
HITE NINJA
IS THE
third novel in a series—beginning with
The Ninja
and continuing with
The Miko—
about the life of Nicholas Linnear.

All the books are interrelated, but they are by no means interdependent. Still, the novels may be seen as being akin to concentric circles and are meant to complement one another.

The winds that blow—

ask them, which leaf of the tree

will be next to go!

—Soseki

He that fleeth from the fear

shall fall into the pit;

and he that getteth up out of the pit

shall be taken in the snare.

—Jeremiah 48:44

H
E AWOKE INTO DARKNESS.
Outside, it was noon. In the Kan, a businessmen’s hotel on the seedy outskirts of Tokyo, with the steel shutters closed like a raven’s claw over the window, it was as black as the grave.

The image was apt. The room was hardly larger than a coffin. The ceiling and the floor were both carpeted in the same deathly shade of gray. Because there were only four feet separating them, any light created an unwholesomely vertiginous effect upon the unwary guest when he awoke.

But this was not the reason why, when rising from the futon bed, Senjin did not light a lamp. He had a far more compelling reason to remain in the shadows.

Senjin thought of his mother as he always did when he was either drunk or homicidal. He’d had two mothers, really, the one who had borne him, and the one who had raised him. The second mother was his aunt, his mother’s sister, but he always referred to her as Haha-san, Mother. It was she who had suckled him at her breast when his blood mother had had the effrontery to die a week after he was born from an infection his long labor had caused. It was Haha-san who had cooled his childhood fevers and had warmed him with her arms when he was chilled. She had sacrificed everything for Senjin and, in the end, he had walked away from her without even saying goodbye, let alone thank you.

That did not mean that Senjin did not think about her. With his eyes open he remembered venting his anger against the white, marshmallowlike softness of her breast, of her giving while he took, of his overstepping his bounds time and time again, and of her loving smile in response. He hit out, wanting only to be hit back in return. Instead she drew him again into the softness of herself, believing that she could swallow his rage in the vastness of her serenity.

He was left with this dream, like scoria upon the blackened side of a long-exhausted volcano: Senjin watching while Haha-san is repeatedly raped. Senjin feeling a kind of despicable satisfaction that borders on rapture, and which, without any physical means, rapidly brings him to a powerful climax.

For a long time Senjin watched the milky beads of his semen slide down the wall. Perhaps he dreamed. Then he turned onto his back and got up. In a moment he was dressed, moving as silently as a wraith. He did not bother to lock the door behind him.