A daimyo, or feudal lord, is driven to distraction by the advent of a rapacious rat who takes over his castle in this traditional Japanese tale. Traveling to a distant shrine, he implored the dōchō, or senior monk, to send one of his famous samurai cats to drive out the intruder. When the first two feline warriors fail in their task, the dōchō sends the famous Neko Roshi, the greatest cat master of the martial arts. The daimyo is incensed when this legendary figure turns out to be an old and decrepit cat, one who seems to have no interest in battling the rat. Does Neko Roshi have a hidden plan, or is he just not up to the job...?

The answer to that is revealed at the end of Three Samurai Cats: A Story from Japan, and is explored more fully in author Eric Kimmel's brief afterword, in which the Zen Buddhist beliefs embedded in the story are discussed. Kimmel also mentions his source - George and Loretta Hausman's The Mythology of Cats: Feline Legend and Lore Through the Ages - which greatly pleased me, given the absence of such information in some other titles from the author that I have read recently. The story here is engaging, the conclusion somewhat unexpected, and the artwork from Mordicai Gerstein, done in pen and ink and oil paint, accentuated the humor of the text. Recommended to young folklore lovers, and to anyone seeking Zen Buddhist stories. ( )

This book is considered a traditional fiction because it tells the story of a Japanese fable.There was a daimyo (a cat) who had a rat in his castle. He went to the shrine that was famous for its fighting cats. The senior monk sent him 3 different cats that would fight off the cat. The first cat was beaten by the rat using a fighting staff. The second cat was beaten by the rat using a lightning kick. The third cat was old and frail-looking and used a stick to help him walk. Instead of trying to beat the rat in fighting, he waited for a moment of weakness for the rat and beat him that way. ( )

I loved this book and its message. This is a story from Japan, where a pesky rat terrorized everyone around him, which left the lord of the castle no choice but to seek out help from three samurai cats. The first two young cats failed because they came in with too much power and force. To the lord’s surprise, the last cat, the oldest and the weakest, was the only cat successful in getting rid of this nuisance rat.

What did the eldest cat have that the younger cats didn’t? Wisdom and patience! He knew it was only a matter of time before the rat defeated himself and that’s exactly what happened. This story is a great reminder that we should learn to act without acting. Sometimes it is better to sit back and watch things unfold the way they are meant to unfold. ( )

Folk of 3 cats trying to out wit a rat.....moral is to take things slow and gather information before attempting attack.

A rat breaks into a dog's castle, and it takes three samurai cats to fight the rat and defeat him. One of the three cats believes that violence is not always the answer.