Samurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth That Shatters the Bushido Mystique

by Antony Cummins

  Iga-ryu Koka-ryu Shinobi Hidensho

  Concerning Having Shinobi Infiltrate—on their Advantages and Disadvantages

  Do not fail to have [shinobi] infiltrate before [a night attack] and after they have infiltrated, know that you cannot communicate with them without fire—that is while they are inside and you are outside. Strictly avoid telling the troops of the upcoming night attack about these shinobi; this is because if they know this fact, they will count on this and if they rely on them too much, they will be less inclined towards the task at hand.

  While you are waiting for the fire from inside but if no fire ignites, it is most likely because the shinobi no mono has been killed or for other reasons, therefore you should still attack directly when the appropriate time comes.

  When you get to the bamboo fences and you try to attack the inside of the camp and as you know there are allies on the inside, then know that this gives you momentum and that you should attack as the fire rises on the inside, making the external and internal assault correspond to each other. However, take note: it is not advisable to over rely on shinobi.

  Extracts by Hattori Naoyoshi &

  Hattori Naofusa of Owari, c. seventeenth century

  On Shinobi Horsemanship

  It goes without saying that shinobi should detect gaps in the enemy camp. To add to this, sometimes you should send one or two horses with their tongues tied and drive them into the enemy camp to cause confusion within. Also, you should send shinobi to release any horses, no matter what number of horses there are. This is called “close taking.”

  Extracts by Hattori Naoyoshi &

  Hattori Naofusa of Owari, c. seventeenth century

  城の内による鉄砲をうたするな鳥のたつまに忍びこそいれ

  Do not fire guns from your castle at night. While the birds are

  flying off, a shinobi will infiltrate.

  Samurai war poem c. seventeenth century

  The Oniwaban

  The Guards of the Inner Castle Gardens

  On the periphery of the identity of the shinobi is the word “Oniwaban,” half in the shadow of the shinobi and half in normal Japanese life. The origins of the Oniwaban began when the bloodline of the Tokugawa shogun failed and an heir was needed to replace the main family branch. Luckily the Tokugawa family had planned for this possibility. The Tokugawa clan had set up three major houses to support them. In the case where an heir was not given by the main line they could take a male from one of these other branches. The seventh shogun presented just such a case and, to find the eighth shogun, the clan had to look to one of the three great houses of the Tokugawa family. The eighth shogun was found in the Kishu branch and was put into position as shogun in 1716. When he moved from Kishu he took his own men and among these were the “gunpowder handlers.” When the new shogun set up in Edo castle he gave these gunpowder handlers the status of Iga-mono (a form of ninja). This entitlement gave them permission to move around the inner sections of Edo castle where others could not. This new group were renamed as Oniwaban—“guards of the inner castle gardens.” They wore black jackets, traditional samurai trousers and a sword. Their main task was to secure the gates at night, to patrol the area around the main castle and gardens, and to oversee the gardeners and craftsman that were needed to upkeep the inner areas.

  The groups were eventually divided into the main-Oniwaban and the west-Oniwaban. The Oniwaban originally consisted of families from Kishu, some of which collapsed and were replaced by second sons who established their own lines. On top of overseeing the manual work that was undertaken when the lord was absent from the gardens and inner palace, a selection of the best of the Oniwaban was given further tasks. Firstly, they would investigate and vet anyone who was to work in the inner castle, martial arts instructors and teachers, etc., making sure that all were of the correct caliber, reputation and background. In addition to this, the lord or an intermediary gave secret missions to some, but not all, members of the Oniwaban. If rumors abounded about a Japanese warlord somewhere, signs of deception or treachery surfacing, then the Oniwaban would be sent. They would go disguised to discover the truth of the matter. Upon their return they would submit a report that was crosschecked before it reached the lord himself. Furthermore, if an official delegation was sent by the shogun to oversee certain matters in another province, two members of the Oniwaban would take on disguises. They would follow behind the delegation to investigate and observe matters. This system included having agents—who were not Oniwaban—living in Kyoto and Osaka, as well as having a contract with an express messenger firm. These express messengers often moved between Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo delivering post and messages. Therefore, if the Oniwaban needed to move out in a pair they would hire an express messenger to guide them to and around one of the cities, where they could take up lodgings with their secured agents in either Kyoto or Osaka. With this system in place they could investigate and report on the major daimyos and report either directly to the lord or to the intermediary.

  Often the Oniwaban are confused with actual gardeners, but this is fictitious. The Oniwaban were half-samurai who oversaw all work, including the gardeners themselves. They were in fact one of the ban divisions, ban meaning “guard.” The reason that they were given the rank of Iga-mono is because of an imaginary line drawn in society around the lord. Everyone fell into one of the following brackets:

  1. Omemie-ijo—those who are allowed an audience with the lord.

  2. Omemie-ika—those who are not allowed an audience with the lord.

  Being of the rank of Iga-mono meant that the Oniwaban could be in the presence of the lord. In fact some of the Oniwaban’s ancestors worked as grooms for the shogun’s horse—i.e., in close proximity, and all were from established, well-trusted families whose sons inherited the role. This factor is the reason that they are given this status of Iga-mono. It ensures that men of Kishu protected the shogun and his family. This was so that the guards of the garden did not have to leave every time the lord entered. In this way, if the lord so wished, he could give them orders directly, from mouth to ear. The Oniwaban continued to work in that role until the fall of the samurai in 1868.

  The Oniwaban being of the status of Iga-mono must not be confused with the actual Iga-mono at the castle. A distinction must be remembered. This should be between the one hundred Iga-mono who worked at the “one hundred man guard house” (at the entrance to Edo castle)—which was nowhere near the inner palace—and the Oniwaban (also Iga-mono) who worked at the center of the castle. The one hundred Iga-mono were the descendants of those samurai who had helped Tokugawa Ieyasu cross Iga when his life was in danger. The Oniwaban were families from Kishu chosen from the “gunpowder handlers” within Kishu—who were classed as Iga-mono serving Kishu Province.

  It is interesting to know that the word shinobi—to date—never appears next to Oniwaban. While their ancestry may have been connected to the shinobi in some way, and even though they do undertake secret missions, records never directly connect them to shinobi. They are a form of inspecting officer, or secret service, that have a distant connection to the ways of the shinobi. Oniwaban may have started from the Koka-mono of Kishu castle in modern-day Wakayama.

  The Picture of the Shinobi

  The above selection of shinobi translations, quotes and statements will have now made apparent the arts of the shinobi, and how they fit into samurai life. The image of the samurai or foot soldier trained in special military ways, and very much a part of Japanese military culture, is self-evident. The shinobi were those warriors who had that extra skill, their actions were dreaded by some, hated by others—but were known to all as a fearsome art form.

  As an army moved out, some shinobi would have already been positioned within the enemy for months or years in advance. Other shinobi would be marching out with the allied forces, scouting ahead. When camps had been formed and fortresses built, the shinobi would sleep in the day but venture out in the dead of night, playing “cat and mou
se” with enemy shinobi and guards. Moving through the moonlit or moonless night, stalking in the grass, listening and “feeling” for others, they would intercept and construct plans, deceive and fool the opposition and venture deep into hostile territory. They would raid camps, burn stores and perform “black arts.” The shinobi devised vicious strategies. They constructed deep plans. They conspired and formed spy networks. They ran between the enemy and their own army, then sat down to an evening meal within the company of their own—but awoke eating breakfast with the enemy, having infiltrated during the night. The shinobi were the warriors between, they were the men who looked for and moved through gaps—just as the sun moves through the gap of an open gateway.

  Footnotes

  * i.e., skilled and experienced generals.

  * These have been published in The Secret Traditions of the Shinobi.

  † Unknown material, possibly a skull.

  ‡ Called the koganemushi in modern day Japan, the name kuso-mushi was used in the text, translates as “excrement insect” and is a relation to the dung-beetle.

  * “Dog” in medieval Japan was a term used to describe an infiltration agent.

  * The ideograms for this are not recorded; the ideogram is made of both 女 “woman” and 粧 “make up,” therefore it appears to be white “make up” which was based on white lead.

  * A second transcription states 10 momme.

  * To read the English translation of the scroll Shinobi Hiden and the shinobi scrolls of the Gunpo Jiyoshu manual, see Cummins & Minami, The Secret Traditions of the Shinobi.

  * Ikeda Toshitaka (1584–1616), also known as Harutaka. The first son of Ikeda Terumasa, who had a fief of 500,000 koku and was the lord of Himeji castle. In 1614, Toshitaka took part in the winter Siege of Osaka Castle on the Tokugawa side—the importance of this document should not be underestimated, giving us a great view of the winter Siege of Osaka.

  * A man of means who has no need of employment.

  † Unknown skill or tool.

  * 木綿核.

  † Possibly Oriental bezoar or its literal translation.

  * 実石 Unknown substance, presumably a sort of mineral (stone).

  * 実石 Unknown substance, presumably a sort of mineral (stone).

  † 実石 Unknown substance, presumably a sort of mineral (stone).

  ‡ As these quotes are taken from different sections of the original manual, the last six before the sentence in question were grouped together.

  * The episode is not recorded here.

  * 窃盗得る.

  † I.e., an internal conspiracy will become evident and the enemy will see his castle fall around him—of course the agent is lying, there is no such conspiracy.

  * In legend Kiichi Hogen was believed to have owned the Six Secret Teachings from China, and was transmitted to Minamoto no Yoshitsune—Kiichi’s traditions are also mentioned in the Shoninki—True Path of the Ninja.

  * A pentagram. Presumably, the name “Seimei” comes from a famous Japanese yin-yang diviner in the tenth century, Abe no Seimei. This sign is well known and also known as “Seman.”

  † A grid of five horizontal lines and four vertical lines. The name “doman” comes from a famous yin-yan diviner, Ashiya Doman, who lived in Heian Period.

  ‡ This could be taken as “bottom.”

  § A famous monk (668-749) who aided the construction of the Great Buddha in Nara.

  * The author of the annotated script is questioning the recipe.

  * The ideogram for bridge is used here but often “bridge” and “ladder” are interchangeable.

  * It is possible that this is a transcription error and should be “Mudra of Mist” 霧之印.

  † Literally, “a loss of the ten directions,” i.e., without awareness of all that is around.

  ‡ Meiha literally means “bright breaking.” In the annotations below, it is called Monyaburi 門破 “gate breaking”.

  * In the annotations, it says 入墨, which means tattoo.

  † Possibly for digging out clay walls or as a battering ram.

  ‡ “Frost plum” is a direct translation of the Chinese. This is a traditional medicine for sore throats, which is made of unripe plum, salt, Gleditsia sinensis, dried Chinese bellflower, Arisaema, pinellia (tuber) and liquorice.

  § Unknown, possibly a kind of mochi rice.

  * Literally, “liquid silver.”

  † 忍人 Shinobi hito.

  * Most likely an ancient Shinto prayer representing the process of the creation of the Universe. Literally meaning 1, 2, …. 10,000.

  † To make a “diamond” shape with your hands together and held out to the front.

  ‡ “Dairyo-gumo” is an alternative name of the Kogane-gumo spider (gumo meaning “spider”), Argiope amoena.

  * Throughout this manual it refers to “oil of x” such as “oil of toad” which is a common item; however, “oil of rat” and “oil of human” are used in this writing. These are considered to be extracts from the creature mixed with oils or fats or the oil and fat of the specific animal listed, or are the names for remedies from Chinese medicine that may not be connected to the animal in question. Therefore they have simply been translated here as they appear in the original scroll.

  † Literally, “burning”; however the ideogram was also historically used to mean “glowing” and with the addition of water this is most likely a way to have the sword appear “ghostly” in reflected light.

  * There is an old poem on which this version is based. To complete this English translation, the alternative version has been used.

  † A chain of cut white cotton or paper suspended from the straw rope marking off a sacred area of a Shinto shrine.

  * This section contains words that act as memory hooks at the end of each title; in this translation the Kuden (oral tradition) has been recorded and the reason for the use of these memory hooks can be seen in each of the annotations.

  † 2 am

  ‡ 2 pm

  * Presumably hozo, the belly button, a recurring practice in shinobi literature.

  * This one is written as 通達 meaning “notification.” However, every other equivalent one is 通道, so it is presumed as a transcription error of 通道 torimichi.

  † This can be seen as either milking snake venom onto a stone, or opening the snake’s mouth around an inkstone and having it bite down upon the stone.

  ‡ The manual has no instruction on training and only discusses tools. The tool probably allows for a very limited number of extra breaths, which will allow a skilled diver to stay underwater longer.

  * Oestrus ovis.

  † Imported cinnabar from China.

  * Presumably baleen or other whale products.

  * The wrong ideogram is used but is presumably a transcription error and means “night.”

  † For waterproofing.

  * A form of sleeping gas.

  † Non-existent ideogram, possibly whale or shark.

  ‡ Presumably Orobanche coerulescens Steph. This plant grows on the roots of Artemisia capillaris as a parasite.

  § Albino snake; there is also a form of Chinese medicine called “white snake” but the grammar here makes it a “snake that is white in color.”

  * That is, fold it three times.

  † This is also known as “Yoshitune’s Everlasting Torch,” sometimes translated as “Yoshitune’s Immortal Torch.”

  * The ideogram used in the text is not extant. Presumably a transcription error of 汞, meaning mercury.

  † This tool is ambiguous and is lacking further explanation.

  * The five constant factors are the concepts from the Art of War: (1) Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and Discipline.

  † 上勇.

  ‡ 血気之勇.

  § The Japanese word in the text for this is Kayoimichi, which literally means “the road that people walk.”

  ¶ 空之理.

  * This was added by Fujita Sei
ko—his claims to a ninjutsu lineage have, to date, not been substantiated.

  * The same brothers and torch are mentioned in the Giyoshu manual presented earlier.

  † Charred and powdered mole is called Doryuso, was well-known and was used for multiple reasons.

  * I.e., take the weather and environment into account.

  Part IV

  THE RESURRECTION

  The Return of the Samurai

  Having now torn apart the myths of the samurai and shinobi into basic building blocks, we have illuminated the core elements of both the identity and function of the medieval warrior. Having reconnected and rebuilt a truer image of both the Japanese knight and the commando-spy the question remains, what to do next? The central goal of my work is to allow the truth of Japanese medieval warfare to break through into the twenty-first century. This is to put to rest all the mistruths and fantasy, so as to give it the educated and serious respect that it deserves, as a comprehensive art of war. This goal is achieved through the various translations of both samurai and shinobi scrolls, specifically through historical analysis of those translations. The main aim is for all people who have any interest in warfare, history or martial arts, to move past the clichéd idea of the samurai (which was propagated in the 1980s and 1990s), to truly understand just how dangerous and sophisticated—and even cruel—samurai life was. The best way to achieve this goal is to translate, publish, and reestablish a historical samurai war school. It is a method that will fully display the internal workings of the social and military structure of the warriors themselves. In short—let them tell their own story. Therefore, to truly set this movement in motion and to develop the understanding of a full samurai school of war, I have sought out permission from a samurai family to reconstruct such a school. I, with this permission, have resurrected the samurai and shinobi school known as Natori-Ryu.