The Illuminated Lantern: Ninja. Essays and Commentary. Ninja. A brief attempt to sort out a sort of history of the Ninja. Beware the beat of the cloth- wrapped feet!'Ninja?' What is this 'Ninja?' The short version of the origin of the Ninja, retold many times in books and on film, goes something like this: The Ninja arts originated in ancient China, then traveled to Japan during the Tang Dynasty.
The Japanese developed the Ninja arts to the utmost, creating deadly assassins, who can enter any place undetected and strike when least expected. So we have to go back, and look into the history books, to see just what they're talking about in the passage above, and not only that to see what a more fact- based history of the Ninja might look like.
Enter the Ninja is a 1981 ninja action film directed by Menahem Golan and starring Franco Nero, Susan George, Christopher George, and Sho Kosugi. It is often credited. Take this Pirate vs Ninja Quiz to find out if you are a Pirate or a Ninja. Ninja is an on'yomi (Early Middle Chinese-influenced) reading of the two kanji '. In the native kun'yomi kanji reading, it is pronounced shinobi, a shortened.
And before we do that, we need to define some terms. Just what is a ninja, anyway? The word itself derives from the Japanese Shinobi- no- mono, which is written with two kanji characters that can also be pronounced as nin- sha, if the Chinese pronunciation is used instead. The first character, nin, suggests concealment, while the second, sha, means person. Ninja: a person who hides his presence. In Japanese, the word is applied to a person who does covert, military operations.
We cannot leave the term with such a broad definition, though, else the CIA, the FBI, and the marines could all be considered ninjas. And though I'm sure there are many marines who would like to believe that they are, I'm afraid it just isn't so. When speaking of the Ninja, then, we also imply that they are a secret organization, fraternity, or clan, whose skills and knowledge have been passed down in secrecy from generation to generation. And finally, they have to occasionally wear that cool black outfit. In sum, to be considered a ninja, as we understand it through popular entertainment and modern ninjutsu masters, a ninja must: practice the art of concealment engage in covert military operations belong to a secret fraternity of ninja wear black, and lots of it. Nevertheless, a careful study of the history does indeed reveal ninjas of a sort operating in Japan, at the very least during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But before we arrive there, we must first take a look at claims of an ancient heritage of ninja arts, beginning as far back as ancient China.
The original ultra-campy theatrical trailer for Menahem Golan's ENTER THE NINJA (1981), starring Franco Nero, Sho Kosugi and Christopher George. 1981 Ninja Hattori kun Opening Ninja Hattori kun Hori Junko, Columbia Yurikago Kai
The Ninja History that Wasn't When the claim is made that Ninja arts originated in China, what is really being said is that Sun Tzu's The Art of War was written there around the fifth century BC, and contains a chapter about the importance of espionage. Some of the tactics described in this book, specifically the espionage chapter, were eventually put into use by the ninja. For this reason, ninja skills are often described as Chinese in origin. On the other hand, there was nothing particularly secret about this book, and the strategems were widely known, once the book finally made it over to Japan sometime in the seventh or eighth century AD. The Chinese often referred to it, and many other books which followed it, when planning for warfare and studying tactics.
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The Japanese, too, came to use the book and many of its teachings, not just the espionage chapter. Samurai battles used tactics laid out in The Art of War. Yet no one claims that the Way of the Samurai originated in China. It's sort of like claiming that Mormonism began in Israel thousands of years ago.
While it's true Christianity did, Mormonism did not. A school of thought may have begun in China with Sun Tzu's The Art of War, but the system created in Japan which included some of this information and was known as the Ninja arts must be said to be a unique creation of Japan. So for those who prefer an ancient Japanese origin for the ninja, there is another myth.
This story involves the legendary hero Prince Yamato and is recorded in two of the oldest written texts in Japan, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. Both tell origin myths and early history of the Japanese people, and are a mix of folklore, fact, and legend. Both were written in the early eighth century AD for the imperial household. The story of Prince Yamato is usually pointed to as an illustration of how old the arts of the ninja are, the events allegedly taking place in the first century AD.
But not even the firmest believers in the Prince Yamato story can call him a ninja for it, rather he is a 'proto- ninja.' The story which interests ninja historians concerns Prince Yamato's mission to subdue the Komaso. He arrives in the Land of Kumaso, and the story continues as follows (as translated by W. G. Aston): Now the Kumaso had a leader named Torishi- kaya, also called the Brave of Kahakami, who assembled all his relations in order to give them a banquet. Hereupon Prince Yamato let down his hair, and disguising himself as a young girl, secretly waited until the banquet should be given.
Then with a sword girded on him underneath his inner garment, he entered the banqueting muro of the Brave of Kahakami and remained among the women. The Brave of Kahakami, enchanted with the beauty of the young girl, forthwith took her by the hand, and made her sit by him. He also offered her the cup, and made her drink, and thus amused himself with her. By and by the night grew late, and the company fewer. Also the Brave of Kahakami became intoxicated. Hereupon Prince Yamato drew the sword which he had in his inner garments, and stabbed the Brave of Kahakami in the breast.
Beats me, unless of course ninjas are infamous cross- dressers. Unfortunately, in the historic literature, there are no references of any ninja disguising themselves as a woman, at least that I have been able to verify.
Sadly, no records indicate they ever were. Moving forward in history about four hundred years, a ninja- like night raid does show up in the Heike Monogatari, which documents the battles between the Taira and Minamoto clans for command of the nation in 1. A couple samurai warriors secretly sneak into the enemy's camp. But even though by this time Sun Tzu's The Art of War has been lying around for hundreds of years, apparently they didn't read it, since the first thing they do is shout a challenge to announce their arrival, and are promptly killed for their trouble. Clearly, no one had figured out that whole ninja thing yet. So, when exactly do ninjas show up in the historical record? And it seems the earliest reference to a band of ninja occurs in the Taiheiki, written around 1.
And unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster - - the ninjas are discovered before the raid is even carried out and they are slaughtered to a man. Not an auspicious beginning! From that point, references to ninja activity increase in the histories and romances written at the time, with ninja activity finally coming into its own during the age of Sengoku, when all of Japan was plunged into war, a state of affairs which lasted throughout the sixteenth century, with the most ninja activity seemingly occuring around the Iga and Koga provinces. Iga and Koga Ninja.
The Sengoku era marks a century of warfare in Japan, during the latter half of which the powerful daimyo Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu struggled for dominance, sometimes allied together, sometimes dramatically opposed, until at last Tokugawa Ieyasu was named Shogun in 1. Battle of Sekigahara, and Japan was united once again.
During this time, documented ninja activity was at its peak, a peak that would not be reached again until the 1. Ninja raids, attempted assassinations, reconnaisance missions, and other military operations were recorded in semi- historical documents such as the Hodo Godai- ki, a chronicle of the Hojo clan who once ruled Japan as regents to the shogun, the Shinchoko- ki, a biography of Oda Nobunaga, and the Iran- ki, the chronicle of Iga province. These references, when taken as a whole, reveal exactly what role the ninja played in warfare of the time. Siege Warfare: This is by far the most often referenced skill of the ninja. The ability to enter into a castle by means of stealth, and launch a suprise attack on the inhabitants, causing confusion within while the main army storms the castle from without. Typically the ninja party would scale the walls of a castle under the cover of night, then start lighting everything in sight on fire.
They would not wear black, but rather, wear the costume of the castle defenders, making it difficult to tell friend from foe, and so make it seem like there is a rebellion within the ranks. Once chaos reigns inside the castle, the army lays siege on its walls from without. If there was any special skill, then, that these ninjas were famous for, this was it. These ninjas were also able to perform valuable services if they were part of the force under siege in a castle.
The ninja could sneak out of the castle at night, and steal the banner of the opposing army, and hang it on the battlements in the morning to demoralize the attackers. One source tells of the ninja going out nearly every night from a castle to frighten and harass the attacking army, without doing any physical damage - - however, the troops had to always be on the alert, and being unable to ever get a good night's sleep, the soldiers constantly on edge waiting for an attack all night, they were ineffective when the time came to launch an assault on the castle. Scouts: Ninjas were often employed to assay the relative strength of the enemy.
By one account, a ninja would lay in the tall grass just outside an enemy encampment and remain there until dawn before returning to report. In most cases, however, the scout simply goes on horseback, and is indistinguishable from scouts used in warfare anywhere in the world. Assassins: This is what the Ninja is known for now. Even in the seventeenth century, the Daimyo feared assassination attempts by ninjas. All of the major generals seemed to have an assassin make an attempt on their life at some point or another.
Ninja - Wikipedia. A ninja(. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, assassination and guerrilla warfare. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate (1. Ninja figured prominently in legend and folklore, where they were associated with legendary abilities such as invisibility, walking on water and control over the natural elements. As a consequence, their perception in popular culture is often based on such legend and folklore than on the spies of the Sengoku period. Etymology. The word .
In the native kun'yomi kanji reading, it is pronounced shinobi, a shortened form of the transcription shinobi- no- mono (. Along with shinobi, some examples include monomi (. Historian Stephen Turnbull asserts that the ninja were mostly recruited from the lower class, and therefore little literary interest was taken in them. Woodblock print on paper. Yoshitoshi, 1. 88. The title ninja has sometimes been attributed retrospectively to the semi- legendary 4th- century prince Yamato Takeru. The first recorded use of espionage was under the employment of Prince Sh.
Evidence for this can be seen in historical documents, which began to refer to stealthy soldiers as shinobi during the Sengoku period. Amongst the samurai, a sense of ritual and decorum was observed, where one was expected to fight or duel openly.
Combined with the unrest of the Sengoku era, these factors created a demand for men willing to commit deeds considered disreputable for conventional warriors. This is followed by the ch. At the bottom was the genin (. From these regions, villages devoted to the training of ninja first appeared. Another tradition grew in K.
When Yoshihisa attacked Rokkaku Takayori, the family of Kawai Aki- no- kami of Iga, who served him at Magari, earned considerable merit as shinobi in front of the great army of the Shogun. Since then successive generations of Iga men have been admired. This is the origin of the fame of the men of Iga. Unlike their counterparts, the Iga and K.
They were tasked to raid an outpost of the Imagawa clan. The account of this assault is given in the Mikawa Go Fudoki, where it was written that K. Miura Yoemon, a ninja in Tokugawa's service, recruited shinobi from the Iga region, and sent 1. Osaka Castle in an effort to foster antagonism between enemy commanders.
A diary kept by a member of the Matsudaira clan, the Amakusa Gunki, relates: . Under the cloak of darkness, ninja disguised as defenders infiltrated the castle, capturing a banner of the Christian cross. Members of this office, the oniwaban (.
However, there is no written link between the earlier shinobi and the later oniwabansh. In battle, the ninja could also be used to cause confusion amongst the enemy. He took the flag from Naoe Kanetsugu's guard ..
With the aid of disguises, the ninja gathered information on enemy terrain and building specifications, as well as obtaining passwords and communiques. The aforementioned supplement to the Nochi Kagami briefly describes the ninja's role in espionage: Concerning ninja, they were said to be from Iga and K. They observed hidden things, and were taken as being friends. They also set fire to outbuildings in various places inside the San- no- maru. They captured the Ichi- no- maru (inner bailey) and the Ni- no- maru. A chunin captain led a force of 4. In a technique dubbed bakemono- jutsu (.
By wielding these lanterns, they were allowed to enter the castle without a fight. Once inside, the ninja set fire to the castle, and Yoshitaka's army would later emerge victorious. In 1. 56. 1, commanders acting under Kizawa Nagamasa hired three Iga ninja of genin rank to assist the conquest of a fortress in Maibara. Rokakku Yoshitaka, the same man who had hired Iga ninja just years earlier, was the fortress holder . The Asai Sandaiki writes of their plans: . When the fire attack did not begin as scheduled, the Iga men told the commanders, who were not from the region, that they could not possibly understand the tactics of the shinobi. They then threatened to abandon the operation if they were not allowed to act on their own strategy.
The fire was eventually set, allowing Nagamasa's army to capture the fortress in a chaotic rush. Deaths of famous persons have sometimes been attributed to assassination by ninja, but the secretive natures of these scenarios have been difficult to prove. Using two arquebuses, he fired two consecutive shots at Nobunaga, but was unable to inflict mortal injury through Nobunaga's armor. However, this also ended in failure, and Manabe was forced to commit suicide, after which his body was openly displayed in public. The shots flew wide of Nobunaga, however, and instead killed seven of his surrounding companions. Hiding in the shadow of a tree, he avoided being seen under the moonlight, and later concealed himself in a hole he had prepared beforehand, thus escaping capture.
A ninja named Kirigakure Saiz. The legend credits his death to an assassin who is said to have hidden in Kenshin's lavatory, and fatally injured Kenshin by thrusting a blade or spear into his anus. Precautions were often taken against assassinations, such as weapons concealed in the lavatory, or under a removable floorboard. Blind spots and holes in walls provided constant surveillance of these labyrinthine paths, as exemplified in Himeji Castle. Outside the expected martial art disciplines, a youth studied survival and scouting techniques, as well as information regarding poisons and explosives. Here the ninja reportedly gave Naomasa a .
The shinobi was considered a real profession, as demonstrated in the bakufu's 1. Major examples include the Ninpiden (1.
Bansenshukai (1. 67. Sh. Hayes (To- Shin Do), and Jinichi Kawakami (Banke Shinobinoden). The lineage and authenticity of these schools are a matter of controversy. Tactics. The ninja did not always work alone. Teamwork techniques exist: for example, in order to scale a wall, a group of ninja may carry each other on their backs, or provide a human platform to assist an individual in reaching greater heights. The account also gives a case of deception, where the attackers dressed in the same clothes as the defenders, causing much confusion. This tactic was used again later on as a method of crowd dispersal.
Some examples are: Hitsuke . Ninja in espionage tried to avoid open battlefield with a numerically superior enemy forces, therefore their technique was adapted to stun the enemy and escape in case of failure. Disguises came in the form of priests, entertainers, fortune tellers, merchants, r. The loose robes of Buddhist priests also allowed concealed weapons, such as the tant. Most were tools used in the infiltration of castles. A wide range of specialized equipment is described and illustrated in the 1.
Bansenshukai. The popular notion of black clothing is likely rooted in artistic convention; early drawings of ninja showed them dressed in black in order to portray a sense of invisibility. The tenugui, a piece of cloth also used in martial arts, had many functions. It could be used to cover the face, form a belt, or assist in climbing. The historicity of armor specifically made for ninja cannot be ascertained.
While pieces of light armor purportedly worn by ninja exist and date to the right time, there is no hard evidence of their use in ninja operations. Depictions of famous persons later deemed ninja often show them in samurai armor. There were lightweight concealable types of armour made with kusari (chain armour) and small armor plates such as karuta that could have been worn by ninja including katabira (jackets) made with armour hidden between layers of cloth.
Shin and arm guards, along with metal- reinforced hoods are also speculated to make up the ninja's armor. Ropes and grappling hooks were common, and were tied to the belt. Although it is often portrayed in popular culture as a weapon, the kunai was primarily used for gouging holes in walls. The word mizugumo is derived from the native name for the Japanese water spider (Argyroneta aquatica japonica). The mizugumo was featured on the show Myth.
Busters, where it was demonstrated unfit for walking on water. The ukidari, a similar footwear for walking on water, also existed in the form of a round bucket, but was probably quite unstable. In dark places, the scabbard could be extended out of the sword, and used as a long probing device. While straight swords were used before the invention of the katana.
While not exclusive to the ninja. The weight was swung to injure or disable an opponent, and the sickle used to kill at close range. Simple gardening tools such as kunai and sickles were used as weaponry so that, if discovered, a ninja could claim they are his tools and not weapons, despite their ability to be used in battle. Explosives introduced from China were known in Japan by the time of the Mongol Invasions in the 1. Some examples include poison. Some legends include flight, invisibility, shapeshifting, the ability to .
These fabulous notions have stemmed from popular imagination regarding the ninja's mysterious status, as well as romantic ideas found in later Japanese art of the Edo period. Magical powers were sometimes rooted in the ninja's own efforts to disseminate fanciful information. For example, Nakagawa Shoshujin, the 1. Nakagawa- ry. For example, the practice of starting fires in order to cover a ninja's trail falls under katon- no- jutsu (. Shown with hands in a kuji- in seal, which allows him to transform into a giant rat. Woodblock print on paper. Kunisada, 1. 85. 7.
The ninja's adaption of kites in espionage and warfare is another subject of legends. Accounts exist of ninja being lifted into the air by kites, where they flew over hostile terrain and descended into, or dropped bombs on enemy territory. The kuji may have arrived in Japan via Buddhism. Intended effects range from physical and mental concentration, to more incredible claims about rendering an opponent immobile, or even the casting of magical spells.