American Mishima: The Real Soldier and the Samurai

It's not everyday an author gets to honor a person who has inspired your work but this last Sunday at the Aoba Matsuri (Birthday for Koyasan Buddhism founder Kobo Daishi) at the Los Angeles Koyasan Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo, we had such an opportunity. In our newly released historical epic The Soldier and the Samurai we based our Soji Nishida character on the template of the real life Shoji Kanogawa (seen here overcome with pure emotion) who actually lived in pre-war Seattle of the 1930's to the forced relocation in 1942. Like our fictional Soji Nishida, Mr. Kanogawa or "Stogie" as he was known not only spent his teens in the "Relocation Camps" of WWII but later served in the US Army in Korea. Mr. Kanogawa later served as our Temple president for many years. So this last sunday we were pleased to present him and the real Nishida Family aka the Kanogawa's their own copy of our epic with sections based on the many conversations with Mr. Kanogawa before he had his debilitating stroke in 2013. Like in our fictional tale, we hope our book becomes for the Kanogawa family much like the Tanto knife of Harada Sanosuke and becomes a family heirloom thus life imitating art.

The real "Nishida" family Mr. Shoji Kanogwa with his longtime wife and one of his grown up daughters.

Order your copy of The Soldier and the Samurai here!

Enjoy!