The Ninja and the Kunoichi
Ninja, Shinobi-no-mono or just Shinobi were the Japan’s secret warriors, who appeared during the Sengoku Jidai (Warring States Period -1467 to 1600 CE) of feudal Japan. The word ‘shinobi’ (忍) is the translation of the word stealth(y), which was the main attribute of a ninja and their tactics; that is, the ability to move swiftly and silently, to mesmerise the victim, to strike perfectly, and then to disappear without a trace. This was an era of internal civil wars between powerful daimyos (feudal/warlords), who skirmished against each other in order to expand their territory and obtain the control of the country. The power of the monarchy had dwindled, becoming only symbolic.
The honourable Code of Samurai, also known as Bushidō, prohibited the use of practices like sneak attacks, poisoning, espionage, sabotage and seduction. They were too disreputable to their class. However, for a ninja, who were mercenaries and valued the accomplishment of a mission by whatever means, these methods were fair play. Thus, the ninjas were in high demand by daimyōs who hired them secretly to complete missions that a samurai could not. The ninjutsu, or ninja technique or art was brought into Japan from China by the Buddhist monks, but was formalised by Togakure Daisuke and Kain Doshi. Daisuke was a disgraced samurai and Kain Doshi a Chinese warrior-monk. Togakure Ryū was the first school of ninjutsu, created by Daisuke’s descendants. Though, the most ordinary ninjas were not former aristocrats.
They were peasants or farmers, who learned to fight by any means necessary for their self–preservation. Hence, many ninja weapons were farming tools like sickles (kama), fire tongs (hibashi) saws (shikoro), grass cutter (tekagi), pruning shears (mantō); all modified to be used in a fight. They were well suited for not revealing the ninjas’ true identity, which in most cases had to be kept secret.
Because of the nature of their missions, they should be highly trained martial-artists, possess acrobatic skills and be extremely physically fit. Ninjas should be fully conversant with their huge arsenal of weapons and tools and their efficient usage. Literacy was also required from them, as they should be able to read maps and important documents when plotting an attack or spying. Masters of disguise (hensōjutsu), ninjas were trained to infiltrate the target’s strongholds without being detected. For these roles, they had an assortment of gears and gadgets to help them in their pretences and acquired all sorts of attributes which belonged to the model of their disguise. For instance, they learned local dialects to mix up with the natives or watched the nobles to learn their way of walking and speaking. They not only looked the part, but also played the part.
Ninjutsu can also be translated as the ‘Art of Enduring‘. Thus, walking or running long distances without stopping; withstanding extreme heat and cold and going for days without food or water were all part of ninjas’ sustained practices. Their training also comprised jumping over seven feet without breaking any bones; dislocating their joints to escape from small spaces; climbing walls with minimum assistance of equipment and curling themselves into a ball and remain motionless in order to appear like a stone (Uzura–gakurê). To improve their concentration, they spent hours staring into the flame of a candle until one felt burned inside it and listened repeated times to a needle dropping onto a wooden floor to sharpen their hearing. Their signature attack was to use the power of surprise and unexpected. It was about exploiting weaknesses of a more powerful opponent to outfox them. The use of brute force or physical strength was avoided, but rather they tried to confuse the attention of the enemy to get the upper hand.
The Kunoichi
The Kunoichi were the female equivalent of a male ninja. The word means ‘nine plus one’, that is, a woman biologically has ‘ten’ (nine plus one) holes in her body, as opposed to a man who has nine: eyes, ears, mouth, etc. It can also represent the Japanese kanji writing spelling/phonetics (strokes) used to write the word woman (onna) – 女 [ く (ku) + ノ (no) + ̶ (ichi)]. It is believed that an extensive network of 200 to 300 girls trained as kunoichi was set up by Mochizuki Chiyome, the Great Master Kunoichi of Kōga.
They were trained to gather all sort of information for Takeda Shingen, her uncle-in-law and put him always one step ahead of his enemies. After his death, the organisation was dissolved and the kunoichis disappeared from historical records. Ancient ninja manuals like ‘Shoninki’ and ‘Bansenshūkai’ survived the shifting of times, shedding some light to their techniques and life style and are used today to teach martial arts. Ninja techniques were divulged to the world and became very popular to foreign military institutions and secret services after the Second World War.
Ninja weapons and tools
The Iga and Koga Ninja Villages
Iga and Kōga (latter Kōka) Provinces where the home of the strongholds of two most famous ninjas – Iga Ryū and Kōga Ryū. These two provinces shared a common border and their geographical locations were chosen purposefully. The Iga Province, which comprised the north-western part of the modern-day Mie Prefecture was entirely landlocked and almost the whole length of its borders followed the tops of several ranges of mountains. They provided to the villages of flatlands a natural defence. At north, they were bordered by Kōga – the southern portion of the Ōmi Province (modern-day Shiga Prefecture). The Iga/Kōga area formed a bridge between the main trade routes from the then capital – Kyōtō and the remote and mountainous Kii Peninsula in the south, aka Tokaidō (eastern sea circuit).
The Iga Province was independent; that is, politically and socially self-governed and democratic. Known as Iga Sokoku Ikki – a kind of republic, they did not hold vassal allegiance to any powerful daimyō. They were able to save their independence and peace by themselves. The Kōga Province on the other hand, was swayed by the Rokkaku Family. Though, the Kōga Ryū and Rokkaku Family had a pact sealed by a contract that stipulated that the Rokkaku daimyō would not interfere with Kōga ninjas and in return, the shinobis will fight alongside the Rokkaku clan in the event of war. The existence of no fewer than one hundred statues of Enno Ozunu in Iga today, might shed some light to the origin of its shinobis. Ozunu was the founder of Shugendō, who allegedly mastered various miracle-working powers as a result of his rigid
ascetic practices. The roots of the Koga ninjas can be traced back to Mochizuki Izumo-no-Kami (or Ōmi-no-Kami) who founded the Kōga Gojusan Ke (the 53 families of Kōga Ryū). He is attributed for pioneering the smoke technique (Kemuri-no-jutsu), which was part of the ninja Kayakujutsu (the technique of gunpowder). One of his descendants, Mochizuki Shigeie, was the captain of Kōga Gojusan Ke during the Iga Ryū invasion by Oda Nobunaga. Shigeie is accredited as the author of the manual ‘Ninjutsu Hishō Ogiden no Kan’ (the secret essence of ninja technique), another extant ninjutsu guidebook, which was comprised in 1536. Many relics and folklores kept the shinobi legends of Iga and Kōga alive. These villages are today a tourist attraction. In the second half of 20th century, many of Iga and Kōga inhabitants emigrated to lands as far as Canada and America and propagated Ninjutsu to students who wished to learn their millenarian techniques.
After the assassination of Oda Nobunaga, chaos ensued and battles were fought in many parts of the country for his succession. Many of his allies were killed and the life of the shōgun-to-be Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Nobunaga’s associates was in danger. Aided by Hattori Hanzō (the leader of the Iga Ninjas at the time) and by the shinobis of Kōga, who enabled a safe passage to Ieyasu via their territories, the Daimyō (future Shogun) was harmlessly delivered from Sakai to his headquarters in Mikawa. When Ieyasu became Shōgun he repaid this favour by employing Hanzō and many ninjas of Iga and Kōga (approx. 300 people) to safeguard his new headquarter and administration of Edo (Tokyo). Under the guise of housekeepers, gardeners or any kind of servant, aka oniwaban, the ninjas gathered information and supplied intelligence to Ieyasu’s government. Some of them had been handpicked to serve as bodyguards of the Tokugawa family and nobility of the shogunate. And so, they served many more generations of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Until the first half of the 18th century when they were dismissed and eventually replaced by the operatives of the Kii Peninsula.
Hattori Hanzo
Hattori Hanzō, born Hattori Masashige was the son of a minor samurai – Hattori Yasunaga – who served the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan. He was born in 1541 and brought up in Mikawa province. Hanzō was in reality a military commander and was not educated as a ninja in Iga, but became its leader, as Iga was the home of Hattori family. The name Hanzō became a kind of title that passed down through the leaders of the Hattori family. Therefore, his father and successors also adopted this name and as far as history goes, there are five known Hattori Hanzōs. Nevertheless, a warlord himself, Hanzō also joined and distinguished himself in battles for Ieyasu, often using guerrilla tactics of ninjutsu to surrender castles and defeat enemies. When Hanzō died the Band of Iga disintegrated. His remains rest at Sainen-ji temple cemetery in Yotsuya, Tōkyō, surrounded by his favourite spears and his ceremonial battle helmet. The gate to the Imperial Palace – Hanzōmon and the subway line – Hanzōmon Station were named after him.
Shugendo
Shugendō (the path of training and testing) is a syncretic sect, that blends Esoteric Buddhism, Shintoism and Taoism. Their practitioners were known as Shugenja (one who practises Shugendō) or Yamabushi (a mendicant priest who lives in the mountains), because of their mountains worship. Shugendō focusses on the development of physical endurance as the path to enlightenment by performing seclusion, fasting, meditation, and sitting or standing under the cold mountain waterfalls or in snow for a long period of time. It was introduced into Japan from China by the lugai monks, who after the destruction of their monastery, in order to survive and defend themselves developed skills of combat, arm usage and disguise. Therefore, it is believed that they were the forebears of the ninjas.