Samurai on the Internet
A look at Heian estates, from Sengoku Daimyo. Good for floor plans.
The Samurai Archives.
On Self-Censorship in RPG design by Lee Gold:
http://www.rpg.net/oracle/essays/censor.html
It actually contains information on homossexuality in Japan since it is something normaly censored out of RPGs...
A Guide to Japanese Culture
-- for Role Playing Games
Now, one of my pet peeves has always been when people complain that samurai and pirates don't mix. So, I submit an interesting essay I found on the Murakami family which occupied a piratical role in Japan's Inland Sea very reminiscent of the Mantis clan. If you want a relatively in depth look at piracy, "tolling", and the power of pirate lords, you can check it out here:
http://www.historycooperative.org/proceedings/seascapes/shapinsky.html
Websites:
http://www.samurai.com/5rings/ The Book of Five Rings
http://www.earthcare.com.au/bamboo.htm A page on Bamboo
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e641.html A History of Japan
http://www.jcastle.info/castle/ A Guide to Japanese Castles
http://www.asgy.co.jp/anglais/ A Page Filled with Japanese Mons
http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/katchu/katchu.html Japanese Armor
The Castles of Japan
The Cobweb Castle
Information on Fox Spirits:
Kitsune, Jumiho, Huli Jin, Fox - Fox Spirits in Asia, and Asian Fox Spirits in the West
Japanese Names:
Japanese Boys' Names
Japanese Girls' Names
Geishas' Professional names
http://destinysend.riskbreakers.net/indexold.html
http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/L5R:Main_Page (3rd edition stuff, including some of my own)
http://www.tasteslikephoenix.com/ (Not an L5R site, but it does have some goodies and Mirror, Mirror is worth it alone)
http://www.voixrokugan.org/home.php (French site, it has a Gozoku sourcebook and a few other goodies)
http://www3.sympatico.ca/jcmarshall/HOME.HTM
http://agatepalace.org/index.phtml (Scott Gearin's site)
http://www.pathofthedragon.com/ (More of a fanfiction site, it has some homebrewed stuff. The fictions are great btw)
http://www.penombre.com/L5A/Okuma.htm (Okuma's fantastic game aids)
http://home.iprimus.com.au/dianepop/index.htm
http://jadelantern.com/lantern/
http://members.tripod.com/~limsk/l5r.htm
http://home.comcast.net/~blayne81/rpgs1.htm
http://www.l5r-rpg.com/game.htm
http://aramis.angeltowns.com/l5r/
http://webpages.charter.net/houseoffun/l5r/index.htm
http://www.sden.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=523
http://l5r.trc.dk/index.htm
http://rokugan.deviantart.com/
http://brennor.dyndns.org/rpg/Forums/viewforum/f=11.html
http://www.heroes-of-rokugan.com/
http://chrysanthemumroad.tripod.com/
The Obakemono project.
On Sincerity.
To help one realize just how different Rokugan really is from historical Japan:
"Bushidó or Bull? A Medieval Historian’s Perspective on the Imperial Army and the Japanese Warrior Tradition" By Karl F. Friday
"The Forgotten Samurai" by Stephen Turnbull
My personal favorites:
The Top Eleven Western, Modern Day Common Misconceptions About The Samurai
And
Common Misconceptions Concerning those Kewl Ninja
A helpful bit on samurai armor:
"Nihon Katchû Seisakuben, an Online Japanese Armour Manual"
