Author of the Hiro Hattori (Shinobi) mysteries
(To read this series from the beginning, click here!) Hakone Shrine sits on the shore of Lake Ashi, in a grove of massive, sacred trees. The scents of pine and cedar follow visitors up the shaded paths. In winter months you may also catch a whiff of wood smoke in the air. After visiting the purification fountain, most visitors either head down to the water gate on the shore of Lake Ashi or up the steps to the shrine’s main worship hall.
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Hakone Jinja (Hakone Shrine) sits on the shore of Lake Ashi (Ashinoko) in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture – about an hour’s journey south of Tokyo. Its giant lakeside torii makes it among the most picturesque Shintō shrines, as well as an important historical, tourist, and religious site.
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With the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday rapidly approaching (it’s Thursday, for those of you living abroad or domestic but lacking a calendar…) I have much to be thankful for this year: I’m thrilled to announce that I just signed a two-book contract for the seventh and eighth Hiro Hattori mystery novels, which will publish in 2019 and 2020. The sixth Hiro Hattori novel, Trial on Mount Kōya, is now finished–and scheduled for release by Seventh Street Books in July 2018. I completed the final edits this morning, and will be delivering the manuscript to my publisher before Thanksgiving Day! (Cause for celebration, indeed!) I’m traveling
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Welcome to the all-new SusanSpann.com! I’m thrilled and delighted to introduce the new website – which will continue to grow with extra content in the months to come!
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Autumn, 1565: After fleeing Kyoto, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo take refuge with Hiro’s ninja clan in the mountains of Iga province. But when an ambassador from the rival Koga clan is murdered during peace negotiations, Hiro and Father Mateo must find the killer in time to prevent a war between the ninja clans. With every suspect a trained assassin, and the evidence incriminating not only Hiro’s commander, the infamous ninja Hattori Hanzo, but also Hiro’s mother and his former lover, the detectives must struggle to find the truth in a village where deceit is a
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Among the most popular Buddhas in Japan is Jizō Bosatsu – a bodhisattva sometimes called “the excuse Buddha.”
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Okunoin – “the temple at the end” is Japan’s largest cemetery. Sacred to the Shingon Buddhist sect (though non-Buddhists can be buried there, as long as they believe in the teachings of Kōbō Daishi), the cemetery has over 250,000 graves and monuments, the oldest of which date to at least the ninth century (if not before). The grave monument above dates to 1375, and marks the resting place of a Buddhist nun. According to legend, if you lay your ear to the stone, you can hear the screams of people suffering in hell. I admit, I did not try. While I’m not superstitious, there
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