A lot of my stories are inspired by Japanese folklore or literature or movies: I’ve done stories based on Kabuki and Noh plays, and on Kurosawa’s ‘Yojimbo’ movies.

There’s a long history of anthropomorphic animals in Japanese literature. The so-called ‘funny animal scrolls’ were the first narratives in Japanese history, and the heroes of many folk tales have animals as their companions.

Kids just don’t read any more. They spend much more time with video games. It’s just hard to get kids to read anything. Book sales have dropped dramatically, too. I think 90% of the books are bought only by 5% of the US population.

A samurai should always be prepared for death – whether his own or someone else’s.

All my knowledge comes from research.

I do everything myself except coloring for the covers.

He's matured as a warrior and a person, I've matured, too.

It's translated into about a dozen languages, ... but there has never been an American comic book that has made a dent in the Japanese market.

There's a long history of anthropomorphic animals in Japanese literature. The so-called 'funny animal scrolls' were the first narratives in Japanese history, and the heroes of many folk tales have animals as their companions.

Most of my female characters tend to be very strong characters.