Ronin Born
Page 17
One day, this idea hit me—a lot of the classic pulp characters debuted and were featured in a time period of intense economic anxiety, namely the Great Depression. And postwar Japan was also a time of great economic anxiety, plus had the added benefit of a country on the verge of massive change, an occupying military force, and the rise of criminal elements and the black market. Plus there were also things to pull from real life, such as secret societies (the Black Dragon Society) and mad scientists (Shiro Ishii and Unit 731).
My idea was a former Japanese soldier who felt betrayed by his country and gains possession of an ancient, mystic sword created by the famed swordsmith, Muramasa. But as with many ideas I’ve had over the years, it just never materialized and I ended up getting caught up in other projects.
Eventually though, those other projects had come to their conclusions. After my attempts at a Japanese detective series didn’t pan out, I had this urge to write some additional books in Japan.
As luck would have it, I was asked by my school if I wanted to teach a class in Japanese cinema. Since Japanese cinema is why I had a desire to come to Japan in the first place, I jumped at the chance. And one of the movies I chose to cover was Kinji Fukasaku’s 2000 classic, Battle Royale.
The last time I saw Battle Royale was actually before I moved to Japan over ten years ago. Obviously since that time, I’d learned a lot about Japanese history, society, and politics. And when I rewatched the movie to prepare for the class, I was absolutely amazed. This movie had so much going on in it that I’d never noticed before.
Watching and discussing that movie with my students started giving me ideas about a futuristic Japan extrapolated from what has been happening in the present. With Japan’s declining population, there are a lot of conversations about opening up immigration. At the same time, the ruling political party is very xenophobic and the prime minister has pushed for unnerving policies including undermining Japan’s pacifist constitution and expanding state secrecy laws in order to silence the press. With his connections to an ultra-nationalist cult and his admiration for his grandfather (a former prime minister as well as a fascist war criminal who despised democracy), I wondered about what that world would look like.
That’s what led to the creation of this world. I had also felt an itch to do a superhero book again after my Vanguard series was completed back in 2016. So this felt like the perfect storm of elements in order to bring this world to life. As I was trying to think of a name for Erika’s costumed identity, I realized that the name Ronin, which I would have used for my postwar pulp hero, would actually fit very well. Especially when I thought of the story of The 47 Ronin. And when you also factor in Masao’s presence (who ended up inserting himself into the action without my permission), the term Ronin actually applies to both these characters as opposed to just one.
This was a fun world to create and a fun book to write. I’m hoping there will be more books in this series. And if you share that hope, I’d like to ask that you do your part in supporting this book by leaving a review on Amazon and recommending it to other people who might enjoy it.
Thanks so much for reading, and I’ll see you in the next book!
Perry Constantine
May 2020
Kagoshima, Japan
About the Author
Born and raised in the Chicagoland area, Percival Constantine grew up on a fairly consistent diet of superhero comics, action movies, video games, and TV shows. At the age of ten, he first began writing and has never really stopped.
Percival has been working in publishing since 2005 in various capacities—author, editor, formatter, letterer—and has written books, short stories, comics, and more. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Mass Media from Northeastern Illinois University and a Master of Arts in English and Screenwriting from Southern New Hampshire University. He currently resides in southern Japan, where he teaches literature and film while continuing to write.
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The world has changed. A mysterious event altered the genetic structure of humanity, granting a small percentage of the population superhuman powers. A small team of these specials has been formed to deal with potential threats. Paragon—telekinetic powerhouse; Zenith—hyper-intelligent automaton; Shift—shape-changing teenager; Wraith—teleporting shadow warrior; Sharkskin—human/shark hybrid. Led by the armored Gunsmith, they are Vanguard!
Visit PercivalConstantine.com for an up-to-date list of titles!
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Percival Constantine
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Published by Pulp Corner Press
http://www.percivalconstantine.com