Shadow Warrior by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

Shadow Warrior, a book about a female ninja, is the latest offering by Canadian storyteller, Tanya Lloyd Kyi. Shadow Warrior began as a piece of nonfiction in a larger collection of stories about "behind-enemy-lines stories of spies and saboteurs". A chapter from that book was developed into this short work of historical fiction about Mochizuki Chiyome, most likely a fictional female ninja.

Lloyd Kyi mixes traditional Japanese ink drawings with the modern drawings of Canadian illustrator, Celia Krampien to tell Chiyome's story.

Chiyome lived in a small village in the rugged Koga region of Japan. In the 16th century, Japan was comprised of small states ruled over by  war lords called daimyos. The daimyos lived in castles and fought against one another with their armies of samurai warriors. The effect of this constant warfare on the villages and families was devastating. But the Koga region had a special kind of warrior - the ninja and Chiyome was determined to become one.

Chiyome begins studying under the direction of Sensei at a ninja school. Chiyome's family has a history in the ninja tradition; her great-grandfather helped establish Koga's ninja traditions. Her teacher Sensei teaches her in learning how to climb castle walls, disguising herself in the daylight, and how to make waterproof torches. After years of training and a final test of spending three days alone in the forest, Chiyome becomes a ninja. However, Chiyome's life is about to take a drastic turn.

When she arrives home she learns from her father that she will be traveling to Kofu, to be married to Mochizuki Moritoki, the nephew of daimyo Takeda Shingen. Shingen is one of the most powerful daimyos in all of Japan and his nephew is a samurai warrior. Although stunned by this sudden development, Chiyome knows she must accept this decision and do her duty. She wonders if perhaps she was not meant to be a ninja? Little does Chiyome know that fate will once again intervene!

Discussion

Shadow Warrior is an intriguing read set in feudal Japan about a young girl's desire to be a ninja. Ninjas were specially trained covert warriors. The cult of the ninja arose from two clans, in the regions of Iga and Koga. Families in these regions trained members to be come ninjas, the training often beginning in childhood. Ninjas specialized in espionage, often travelling in disguise to their enemy, to discover their weaknesses. They were trained in sabotage, assassination, survival techniques and how to move and observe in a stealthy manner.

Lloyd Kyi not only tells the story of how Chiyome came to set up a ninja school for young women but also includes locations and dates of the story and a map of Japan. The story is augmented by the many illustrations of Celia Krampien and the numerous reproductions of traditional Japanese paintings. There is no concrete evidence that Mochizuki Chiyome actually existed as her name does not appear before 1971. It is difficult to trace the actual history of a single ninja. In Shadow Warrior, Lloyd Kyi includes a Fact and Fiction section where she identifies those figures in her story who were historical figures, such as Takeda Shingen, Mochizuki Moritoki and Tokugawa Ieyasu. She does point out that Japanese literature contains many stories of a woman ninja trainer who may be Chiyome.

Shadow Warrior is an appealing short story for younger readers who may be looking for something a bit different.

Book Details:

Shadow Warrior by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Annick Press                           2017
62 pp.