[Dragaera] Baian the Assassin

[Steve Hubbell]

Just curious if anyone on the list here, including Steven Brust, has ever read any of the Baian the Assassin stories by the Japanese author Shotaro Ikenami and translated by Gavin Frew. There were two original books collecting a number of short stories published by Kodansha International. 
 
Master Assassin: Tales of Murder from the Shogun's City (hardcover - 1992)
Bridge of Darkness: The Return of the Master Assassin (hardcover - 1993)
 
A paperback edition of the first book was also released under the stupid title of Ninja Justice (Kodansha - 2000)
 
These stories and the many which have never been translated into English, were also the inspiration for several Japanese television series over the last 40 years, one of which is available in the US with subtitles under the name of Baian the Assassin (Starring Ken Watanabe).
 
If you like stories featuring a likable assassin set in feudal Japan, You might enjoy these two books. There are even some nice descriptions of meals provided, but I'm not sure how much of the original descriptions actually survived the translations (they still made me hungry).