"Japanese folklore is not especially interested in fitting itself into tidy categories. Gods resemble spirits. Spirits become monsters. Animals become people. People become considerably worse things. And an object that exists long enough may well develop awareness, resentment, and maybe a grievance about how often it has been used to boil socks. Some of these tales are terrifying. Some are ridiculous. Quite a few are both at once. There are umbrella monsters, lamp monsters, haunted tools. There are foxes with very, very complicated private lives. There are creatures whose principal supernatural power appears to just be scaring you and running away. Such is Japanese mythology."
And:
"Ninja are not being treated as a separate species of magical black-pajamaed elf -- or anything. There aren't really ninja. There are shinobi, but the legend of the ninja is always useful. Espionage, infiltration, sabotage, disguise, and assassination are things that characters can learn to do regardless. The black trousers are optional, and they don't cause a class transformation."
I love everything Jim Desborough is saying about Stray Crows and I'm backing it to the katana hilt. If a Japanese RPG designed with real love for the subject matter appeals, you'll probably want to jump over to Kickstarter and join me. The game was fully funded within a couple of hours of launch and Jim has written all the books already, so you can be sure that this is one of those Kickstarter campaigns that really will deliver.
