DH Publishing, 2003, $30, ISBN 0-9723124-1-2, 96 pages, oversize softcover

Most coffee table books combine big formats with lots of photos and very little text. This book is no different. It's colorful and attractive, with over 300 photos documenting everything Ninja, including clothes, weapons, food, codes, and a few dozen ways to kill someone.

I admit, I have no idea how much of what’s contained within is theory or practice. But the director of the Iga sect Ninja Association wrote the introduction, so it seems accurate. Any many of the photos seem to have been shot on the grounds of the Iga sect Ninja museum in Veno City, Japan, so the book carries that authority as well.

Within its pages reside ingenious martial arts moves of Ninjutsu, usually four or five photographs to depict one form of attack or defense. More pages explain hiding. Other pages show how to silently and stealthily penetrate castles or lay ambushes. Personally, I’m not quite sure how the Deep Grassy Rabbit Walk is more silent than the Fox walk, but that’s why I’m reading about Ninjas, not being one. However, for those so inclined, various exercises and diets will whip you into Ninja shape.

Of particular interest to me was the short section on Ninja code making techniques, which shows the variety of methods used to communicated, and the several pages of hiding places and secret passages in Ninja abodes. Clever fellas, these Ninjas--and inspiration if you ever wanted to model a Ninja setting.

If you ever needed a quick lesson on Ninjas, this book is for you.

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