Ninjutsu. Donn F. Draeger

assassins were called—who were operating in the hire of your lord's most hated enemy.

      All sentries had been cautioned to be especially watchful so that these infiltrators could not bring their unseen and unheard methods of death down upon anyone in the castle.

      To the very best of your memory you cannot recall ever having seen a ninja—very few people ever had—but you know that they exist. Just last winter you participated in special training exercises designed to cope with these insidious killers, who had made their martial art of shinobi or ninjutsu, as it was more popularly called, the most dreaded skill a man could possess.

      Ninjutsu encompassed a variety of specialized fighting and espionage skills that made the ninja one of the world's deadliest agents of death and destruction. Indeed, you recall hearing of the clever and terrifying exploits of famous ninja ever since you were a young boy.

      How well you remember the look of terror on the faces of those persons relating the stories. They told of having seen ninja walk across the surface of water, of them remaining under water for a full day without surfacing, and of how they could walk and run with such stealth that they could approach people without being detected.

      Ninja were also reported to have scaled walls that defied ordinary human endeavor. And they could run faster and farther, as well as leap higher, than any normal human being could. It was said that a ninja could even disappear before the very eyes of a pursuer, should he choose to do so. All of these things and many more, even more sensational, were said to be within the capabilities of a ninja.

      The townsfolk always made the ninja out as supernatural beings. To a warrior, however, they were flesh and blood, and you never really believed all that you had heard about them— or if you did, you felt sure that your sword would show the ninja to be less supernatural than told.

      Fear? What was fear but a foolish state of ignorance about something, and the blind acceptance of ignorance was a replacement for reason. But why had this feeling of fear suddenly enveloped you this night? Was it really your ignorance about the ninja that fed the fear?

      Here in the darkness of the night, your tour of duty only beginning, you would have ample time to go over what you knew about the ninja and find some explanation to prove to yourself that they were no more than human beings.

      Yes! That was the way to rid yourself of this shameful fear that now embarrassed you. Already your confidence is returning...

      CHAPTER 1

      History and Organization

      Some of the basic ideas behind the development of ninjutsu came to Japan from China, but like much else in Japanese culture which stems from foreign sources of influence, ninjutsu quickly became Japanized. In Chinese military classics such as the Sonshi (Sun-Tzu in Chinese) can be found descriptions of methods of espionage. The Sun-Tzu was known in Japan as early as the sixth century A.D.

      In the seventh century a considerable number of persons wanted for various reasons by the Imperial Court had taken refuge in the mountainous wilds near Kyoto. They were greatly outnumbered by the government warriors sent out to disperse them, and therefore it became necessary for them to develop clever tactics and strategy to guarantee their survival.

      The yamabushi (mountain ascetics) were one such group that had invoked the wrath of the aristocratic court by founding a religion the court believed to be contrary to its best interests.

      Prince Regent Shotoku, serving his country in the early years of the seventh century, proved to be a wise and benevolent ruler. But he is generally regarded as the first Japanese ruler to use spies. He used them to determine the facts in civil cases and to improve his means for judgment in deciding these cases. He also used them to investigate and gather intelligence about a particular enemy or potential enemies, to harass them, and to dilute their military prowess.

      Ninja masters were believed to be able to fly on eagles, as depicted here. Ninja did use giant kites to fly over enemy positions.

      By the time of the rise to power of the professional Samurai warrior class and the Shogunate form of government in the 12th century, all successful military commanders employed specialists in ninjutsu. They had also made the Sonshi (the Chinese military classic) their standard text.

      THE NINJA FAMILIES

      Ninja were born and trained in families devoted to the study and practice of ninjutsu as their profession. Each ninja family was dedicated to a specific tradition (ryu) that characterized its particular brand of espionage and assassination methods. Some seventy different ninjutsu traditions were developed, the most famous of which were those of Iga and Koga provinces on the main island of Honshu.

      The ninja clans were found scattered throughout the country, however, their distribution in part due to the fractionization of the older and more organized traditions.

      Because individual ninja became attached to and supported different political causes it was possible for father to operate against son, and brother against brother, each in the hire of some very influential land baron who required the services of military spies. But no one ninjutsu organization ever became powerful enough to withstand the onslaught of the combined forces of the Shogun's government.

      Secrecy was the foundation upon which all successful ninja depended. Rigid security measures began at the very root of all ninja organizations, that is, within the head family in charge of each particular tradition of ninjutsu. Ninja, when not actually dispatched on missions, resided at base training camps, the locations of which were secret to all but those who belonged to the tradition. A ninja base training camp was always located in a remote mountainous area, in some of the most inaccessible places imaginable.

      In order that secrecy surrounding their tradition could be maintained, each tradition established three classes of ninja. At the top level stood the jonin, a high-ranked administrator or boss. He was assisted by the chunin, a small group of middle-ranking ninja whose duties included that of being go-betweens or connecting links between the jonin and the lowest level of ninja, the genin.

      It was the genin and his exploits that made the ninja most famous, for they were the men who operated in the field. Though under the strict control of a jonin, it is doubtful whether any genin ever discovered who his boss was. Orders were passed to him through the chunin.

      The system was made further complicated by some very clever jonin acting as head of more than one tradition of ninjutsu. In the Koga area alone, over fifty chunin families, each comprised of from 30 to 40 genin, directed all activities of the Koga genin. In Iga, three jonin families controlled all ninja operating under that tradition.

      THE NINJA AND THE LORDS

      A daimyo warlord wishing to hire ninja in the furtherance of his military or political cause usually chose and trained his own men, but on occasion he would make contact with ninja leaders through the chunin simply by sending an envoy into the areas where chunin were known to operate. The chunin would find the envoy. The uncertainty of this process of communication was lessened by the constant activities of chunin who were always alert to the possibilities of engaging in espionage.

      But the process was fraught with danger to the lord hiring the ninja, for such a contract might result in employing such men who were unfriendly. For this important reason all lords had means of their own by which ninja were to be tested and proven loyal. A newly hired ninja might be given some false data or a meaningless task, the treacherous discloser of which would produce a certain calculated result, sure evidence that the ninja had betrayed his employer.

      Then too, ninja who had served a lord faithfully for a period of time could be expected to be approached by enemy ninja who would urge severance of that loyalty.

      Lords thus became highly suspicious of ninja in their own hire. Jonin, too, wishing to please their lord clients would dispatch a ninja whom they specially trusted to watch the one operating for a lord; even a third ninja, to watch both might be assigned to a mission.

      Because of all the complicated