Ninja Attack!. Hiroko Yoda

      A ninja as seen by woodblock print master Katsushika Hokusai. This 1814 sketch is thought to be the first depiction of the classic black ninja suit.

      Another conflicting point with what appears in fiction: ninja didn’t harbor a blind allegiance to traditional weaponry. They were, in fact, at the forefront of the military technology of their day. Already innovators in explosives, firearms, and communication systems, a sixteenth-century ninja would undoubtedly have been overjoyed with a modern pair of night-vision goggles or a high-powered sniper rifle. They devised cunning new techniques through direct observation and experimentation, making them something akin to field scientists as well. As you will discover in the pages of this book, they certainly didn’t let tradition get in the way if they discovered a better tool for doing a job. The image of a traditional ninja stalking the streets of a modern city is undeniably seductive, but even if one did somehow find his or her way to the modern era, it’s hard to imagine them sticking with a vintage sword and chainmail instead of, say, an assault rifle and a bulletproof vest.

      Let us cut right to the next point. Ninja don’t exist anymore. Or more precisely, they don’t exist in the form in which they appear in the pages of this book. This isn’t to say that there aren’t intrepid martial arts students out there who study and even practice ninjutsu. But the era in which ninja represented the cutting edge of espionage, in which great rulers turned to them for assistance on and off the battlefield, in which clans kept their traditions secret in hidden villages far from the prying eyes of the authorities, is long over. The ninja are inseparable from the historical context in which they evolved.

      But this doesn’t mean that there is nothing for the ninja of old to teach us.

      “Ninja are inseparable from the historical context in which they evolved.”

      Ninja History in a Nutshell

      Legend has it that the first ninja in Japan, called the shinobi, were employed in the seventh century. This isn’t really saying much, as leaders have relied on spies since time immemorial. (There is something quintessentially ninja about Ulysses dressing as a beggar to sneak within the walls of Troy in the Odyssey. And there is even a ninja-like episode in the Bible, in which Joshua dispatches a pair of secret agents to infiltrate the city of Jericho.)

      But there is no question that the Japanese took the general idea and ran with it. The fifteenth century marked the rise of the ninja as we generally portray them today. As regional warlords jockeyed for power and position, the weakening of central authority prompted villages in certain areas to fortify themselves into independent entities. Perhaps nowhere was this trend more evident than in the isolated mountain provinces of Iga and Koga, where heavily forested terrain offered tremendous advantages to local fighters inclined toward guerilla tactics. In 1487, a tiny number of Koga ninja did the unthinkable by slicing an expeditionary force of the shogun’s heavily armed troops to ribbons. (You can read more about the battle on page 47.)

      Word of the Koga’s success in repelling the shogun’s forces—and according to some accounts, actually killing the shogun—spread like wildfire among the other warlords, and thrust the ninja into the spotlight of legend. The ninja “arms race” was officially on.

      Realizing that their homegrown skills were suddenly in high demand served to strengthen the various ninja clan organizations, and the Iga and Koga in particular. They abandoned their farming work on the infertile local soil for the more lucrative field of military consulting, and continued to hone their unique suite of abilities for various “clients.” Some clans, such as the Koga, or the Rappa of the Kanto region, went on to associate themselves with specific warlords. Others chose to remain fiercely independent, selling their skills to the highest bidder. Sometimes allies, sometimes rivals to the point of finding themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield, it was always business and never personal with these guys.

      “Ninja proved so good that they became a direct threat to the warlords.”

      Over the next century, the ninja proved so good at their work that they grew into a direct threat to the warlords themselves. In 1579, “ninja destroyer” Oda Nobunaga flooded the Iga region with troops in an ultimately successful campaign to rid himself of the threat that the ninja there posed to his authority. He countered their guerilla tactics with an indiscriminate swath of destruction through the countryside, killing many thousands of civilians in the process. And by co-opting or destroying rival warlords, he deprived many of the other ninja clans of their main benefactors. By the last decade of the 1500s, the era of unrestrained ninja warfare was rapidly drawing to a close.

      But it can be tough to keep masters of tactics and subterfuge down, especially when they are still a useful commodity. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord who became Japan’s most powerful Shogun, relied heavily on remnants of ninja forces to lead a personal army that vanquished his enemies on the battlefield and defended his capital city of Edo. And, in fact, a ninja can be said to run through the city even today. One of Tokyo’s major subway lines, the Hanzomon, is named after the most famous ninja of all: Tokugawa’s lead military advisor, Hattori Hanzo.

      So put aside your preconceptions. Put aside, for the moment, the ninja movies you’ve seen, the games you’ve played, the comic books you’ve read over the years. You’re about to spend some time with Japan’s—and the world’s—most fearsome shadow warriors, as well as other rogues, thieves, warlords, and samurai. When you run with company like this, you’ll need to keep your wits about you and keep an open mind. This book may not teach you how to sprint along a rooftop in your pajamas, pluck arrows out of air in midflight, or walk on water, but then again, true power comes in the form of knowledge. Use it wisely . . . because the ninja are about to attack!

      Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt

      Tokyo 2012

       ABOUT THIS BOOK

      We have arranged this new edition of the book chronologically, the better to see the ebb and flow of ninja history. Each profile is also tagged with a heading to help you understand just who you’re dealing with.

      “Ninja’s Ninja” are the shadow warriors other shadow warriors looked up to. They are among the very few names known from the hundreds and even thousands of ninja that operated over the last millennium.

      “Ninja Gone Bad” are exactly what the name implies: ninja who used their skills for personal gain rather than in the service of a client or master. As you will learn, however, quite often the distinction was a hazy one.

      “Ninja Magic” covers so-called mystical ninja, masters of magic and illusion who harnessed sleight of hand and other tricks to confuse or dazzle their opponents.

      “Ninja Rivals” weren’t ninja at all, but many operated in and around the same times as the ninja did, and very likely crossed paths with them. More than a few had a direct influence on the ninja themselves.

      “Ninja Masters” are military leaders who relied on the skills of the ninja, in one way or another, for you can’t understand the ninja unless you understand the individuals who employed them. Which brings us to . . .

      “The Ninja Destroyer.” A category of one, the savage Oda Nobunaga, who crushed the ninja clans in the late sixteenth century.

      Last but certainly not least, The Illustrated Ninja sections are a handy guide to the tools and tactics that made a ninja a ninja. Intended as a counterpoint to the portraits painted by the individual dossiers, these pages provide a “macro” view of the ninja life: maps; timelines; details about ninja dress, weapons, and techniques; a walk through a stereotypical ninja house; and even a ninja-related tour of modern-day Tokyo. Stay alert—you’ll encounter these entries lying in wait here and there as you proceed through the book.

       MILESTONES

      A