The ninja or shinobi were warriors trained to spy and carry out covert actions in ancient Japan; these actions included assassination, sabotage, and guerrilla warfare. Their goal was to destabilize the enemy army, obtain vital information, or gain a decisive advantage in a battle. The word ninja derives from the original Japanese term shinobi no mono , which referred to those who practiced ninjutsu as a war tactic. In turn, ninjutsu is made up of nin , which means to slip away, and jutsu , art or skill; ninjutsu is the art of sneaking.
The ninjas came from low social classes and their actions were contrary to the moral precepts of the samurai, for which they were assigned tasks that were forbidden to the warriors of the military elite of ancient Japan. Some researchers place the origin of ninjutsu between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, from the precepts of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in China; However, it was only in the sixth century that these war techniques were recorded in Japan, when Prince Shotoku used them to internalize the reasons for civil disputes. The incorporation of ninjutsuIt occurs in the period between 794 and 1185, when a religious doctrine that supports its development is introduced in Japan. In the middle of that period, ninjutsu was consolidated when the Hattori clan took control of the province of Iga, in present-day Mie Prefecture, and the Iga ninjutsu school was established.
Due to the secretive nature of the ninja ‘s actions , few direct references to its activities are found, although it is one of the best-known military organizations in history. Even so, the name of some ninjas has been perpetuated over time.
Fujibayashi Nagato was a ninja leader from the Iga province during the 16th century, who fought in the service of the daimyo of the Oomi domain in his battles against Oda Nobunaga. The support of the ninjas to the enemies of Oda Nobunaga, one of the unifiers of Japan, caused this daimyo to attack Iga and Ueno, killing around 4,000 ninjas. The survivors had to flee and hide in other provinces. Fujibayashi Nagato’s family tried to preserve ninja tradition and techniques and his descendant, Fujibayashi Yastake, compiled the Bansenshūkai., a collection of records of the Iga and Koga ninjas written in 1676 that condenses their thinking on philosophy, military strategy, astrology, and knowledge of weapons.
Momochi Sandayu was the leader of the Iga ninjas in the second half of the 16th century and is believed to have died during Oda Nobunaga’s invasion of Iga. However, legend holds that he escaped and lived out his last days as a farmer in Kii province. Momochi Sandayu is renowned for teaching that ninjutsu should only be used as a last resort; he also insisted that it could only legitimately be used to save a ninja ‘s life , to aid his domain, or to serve the ninja ‘s lord .
Ishikawa Goemon was born on August 24, 1558 and died on October 8, 1594. This legendary hero stole from the rich to distribute the loot among the poor. He served the Miyoshi clan of Iga and reportedly trained as a ninja under Momochi Sandayu. Ishikawa Goemon probably fled from Iga after Oda Nobunaga’s invasion. The fugitive ninja spent about 15 years robbing daimyo, as well as wealthy merchants and temples.
Ishikawa Goemon and his son were boiled alive in public at the gate of Kyoto’s Nanzenji Temple; this occurred after the failed assassination attempt on Sengoku period warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi, supposedly to avenge his wife. In some versions of the story, Ishikawa held his five-year-old son on his head, as shown in the illustration by Toyokuni Ichiyōsai, until Hideyoshi took pity and rescued the child. The legend of him lives on in contemporary Japanese popular culture.
Hattori Hanzō was born in 1541 and died in 1596. Hattori Hanzō came from a samurai family from the Iga domain but lived in the Mikawa domain and was a ninja during the Sengoku period of Japan. Like Momochi Sandayu and Fujibayashi Nagato, he was a leader of the Iga ninja . Hattori Hanzō helped the daimyō Tokugawa Ieyasu, who would later become the most powerful figure in the country, to return to his domain of Mikawa via Iga after being isolated in Sakai by the death of Oda Nobunaga in 1582.
Later Tokugawa Ieyasu established his main castle in Edo and assigned its custody to the ninjas who had accompanied him; Hattori Hanzō became the commander of the guard. Edo’s name was changed to Tokyo, making it the capital of Japan, and the castle was transformed into the Imperial Palace. One of the castle gates was named Hanzō Mon, Hanzō’s Gate, after Hattori Hanzō.
Mochizuki Chiyome was the wife of the samurai Mochizuki Nobumasa of the Shinano domain, who was killed in the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. Mochizuki Chiyome was from the Koga clan, thus having ninja roots . After the death of her husband, Mochizuki Chiyome settled with her uncle, the daimyo Shinano Takeda Shingen. Takeda Shingen asked Mochizuki Chiyome to create a band of female ninja agents who could act as spies, messengers, and assassins; I call them kunoichi .
Mochizuki Chiyome recruited girls who were orphans, refugees, or who had been sold into prostitution, and trained them in the secrets of the ninja arts . The kunoichi disguised themselves as wandering Shinto shamans to move from town to town. They could disguise themselves as actresses, prostitutes, or geishas to infiltrate a castle or temple and find their targets.
At its peak, Mochizuki Chiyome’s kunoichi numbered between 200 and 300 women, giving the Takeda clan a decisive advantage in clashes with neighboring domains.
Fūma Kotarō lived between the years 1511 and 1603. Fūma Kotarō was a ninja leader of the Hojo clan of Odawara, in the province of Sagami. Although he was not from Iga or Koga, Fūma Kotarō used ninja tactics in battle. He commanded special forces that used guerrilla warfare and espionage to fight the Takeda clan.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeated the Hojo clan in the year 1590 after the siege of Odawara Castle, leaving Fūma Kotarō and his ninjas freed to a life of bandits. Legend has it that Fūma Kotarō caused the death of Hattori Hanzō, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu. Fūma Kotarō lured Hattori Hanzō into a narrow seaway, waited for the rising tide, poured oil into the water, and burned Hattori Hanzō’s ships and troops. Fūma Kotarō was executed by beheading on the orders of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Jinichi Kawakami of Iga, born in 1949, is called the last ninja , although he admits that in reality true ninjas no longer exist. Jinichi Kawakami began studying ninjutsu when he was six years old and learned not only combat and espionage techniques but also chemistry and medical knowledge inherited from the Sengoku period.
However, Jinichi Kawakami has decided not to transfer his knowledge to any ninja trainees , wistfully remarking that even if modern-day people learned ninjutsu they would not be able to put the knowledge they acquire into practice. Perhaps then this ancient art will die with him.
Sources
Carol Gaskin. Brief history of the samurai . Nowtilus, Madrid, 2004.
Stephen K. Hayes. The mystic arts of the ninja . Contemporary books, Chicago, 1985.
