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

  SAMURAI

  and NINJA

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to thank the following people for them continuing support. Firstly, to Yoshie Minami and Mieko Koizumi for their constant help and translation, without them the world of the samurai and shinobi would still be dark. Next is Daniel Tennent, I would like to thank him for his ever encouraging words and his insight into warfare. Also, to Paul Martin, who has a great understanding of the Japanese sword, a researcher, who has dedicated his life to samurai history. Appreciation must go to Richard Gillies who has helped fund the acquisition of rare books and scrolls and also to Rob Simmons, Kevin Aspinall and Robert Lee, who have created the wonderful images found within these pages. To Gian Piero Costabile for his image of the Fukushima-Ryu boat and to Rien de Rooij who generously supplied me with the Fukushima-Ryu documents from his own collection. Ben Morgan for his continued and very ‘English’ style of support. Lastly to Jacob Sipes, for editing early drafts.

  SAMURAI

  and NINJA

  The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior

  Myth that Shatters the Bushido Mystique

  by

  ANTONY CUMMINS

  TUTTLE Publishing

  Tokyo | Rutland, Vermont | Singapore

  Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

  www.tuttlepublishing.com

  Copyright © 2015 Antony Cummins

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

  Library of Congress cataloging in process

  ISBN: 978-4-8053-1334-3

  ISBN: 978-1-4629-1506-4 (ebook)

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  Contents

  The Search for the Samurai and the Shinobi

  Part I

  TEARING THE WORLD OF THE SAMURAI AND NINJA APART

  Part II

  THE SAMURAI

  Part III

  THE SHINOBI

  Part IV

  THE RESURRECTION

  The Boring Stuff

  Question: There are some clans which adore those people who know much about archery, horse riding, swordsmanship, spearsmanship, etc., and who encourage their men to practice and practice; on the other hand there are those clans who do not. What can be said about this?

  Answer: While practicing with sword and spear is not so useful, it can be an appropriate pastime for samurai, and therefore it is called Heiho—“the Way of the Soldier.” Contests with bamboo swords can be of some use—however, you should not think that you can escape death by practicing such things. That being said, with those skills, you may be seen as blessed and formidable when fighting the enemy. Also, even if things result in you being killed, you will not have died in vain if you injure the enemy, be it even a small amount. This is the real goal to be achieved at the cost of your life. As you are from a samurai clan, it is important to know the ways of archery, horse riding, the sword and spear, etc.

  Generally in Budo, you should hope to be regarded as honorable after your death through the preparations you have made while living. Know that even if you are killed during a spectacular combat but [died] due to ill fate, if you were deeply determined and were fully prepared for everything at all times, and if you have realized that lady luck has left you but you still fight a spectacular fight—your death will be mourned.

  The Gunpo Jiyoshu Military War Manual, Volume I, c. 1612–19

  The Search for the Samurai

  and the Shinobi

  As the twentieth century came to a close, something quite special happened. The study of Western knights and medieval combat shifted. Movies began to change, imagery began to adapt, and ingrained ideas began to fall away. The medieval knights of Europe were transformed from a clunking shiny Victorian hero figure into a dynamic, powerful and robust specialist practiced in war craft. He no longer swung a heavy sword with bent back, nor was he lifted onto a horse with a mechanical pulley system. Now the knight flashed with deadly skill as the intricate art of Western swordsmanship was rediscovered. In addition, we discovered that the knight was a very complex character. They were war masters, trained from youth to serve a lord, be experienced in the arts of the siege and defense, and master the various machines of his time; all with an aim bent on killing the enemy. The knight was no longer a two dimensional figure who sang beneath ladies’ bedrooms in the evening and fought the unholy dragon in the red light of dawn. His identity changed to the noble killer with a chivalric code that was an ideal and not a reality; a trained warrior wrapped in the fervent dedication of Christianity. This was all polished with education in various forms, the strings of ritual and an appreciation for beauty, all of which brought about a much more complex figure than previously believed.

  In full contrast to this, the samurai and the shinobi of Japan remain in the looming shadow of modern fantasy and romance. The samurai is now widely believed to be a knight who charges headlong into death for the love of a lord. They also have a mysterious and magical blade, which can cut through any material. In the day he meditates on loyalty and is gifted with blessed enlightenment, but in the night, he fearfully protects against his famously dreaded enemy—the ninja. This outline is as redundant as the knight fighting a dragon next to a maiden locked in a tower, and it belongs in one place; story books. Of all the associations that exist for the samurai, one of them has fallen from grace, which by rights should not have. The samurai were classically termed as the “knights of the East,” the Japanese equivalent to the European warrior class. This connection has fallen by the wayside in recent years, yet it is one founded in reality. The samurai share so many common traits with the European knight that the differences are found in the details, not in the principles. Therefore a revolution of the samurai should be moving in tandem with the revolution of the knight.

  The increasing interest in the European knight has not been replicated for the samurai or the shinobi. In fact, quite the reverse has taken place. With the craze of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) taking the world by storm, things Japanese have been pushed back into the realm of cliché and comedy. The samurai are fast becoming a vague, diluted shadow of a reality that once existed. They were real warriors, but with little or no respect in a modern fighter’s wo
rld. It is now time for the revolution of the samurai, and like his Western counterpart, he too will undergo a change of image. Here you will see the samurai change from the obedient, enlightened, Victorian-style super warrior to the very real, very deadly, medieval Japanese knight. These warriors were trained in military arts, siege warfare, and castle defense. They were trained as mounted riders who tore through enemy territory in scouting war bands. The Samurai were educated scholar-warriors who attempted to understand the mysteries of the world through a deep and religious philosophy. Contrarily, there were also those whom threw philosophy away for personal advance, treachery, wealth, and above all, bloodlust. Observe the military headhunter, the head-taker who, like the tribes of old, took the heads of their enemies as gruesome trophies to be displayed as a measure of his prowess. You will also find the tactician, a mastermind of war alongside the chi masters; those select few who scan the enemy for omens of doom in the chi riding above them in the sky. There will even be fire-masters, the owners of flame and explosives. Therein will be standard-bearers giving forth their war cries to a backdrop of flame and smoke. Yet above all of these, we will investigate one special samurai military entity—the infamous ninja.

  The ninja were a specialist branch of samurai warfare and were an integral part of the Japanese war machine. They were not outside of the samurai system and nor was their task the duty of lower people, under the iron fist of samurai rule. The ninja were a selection of specially trained people—often from specialist families—who concentrated on systems of espionage and infiltration. They maintained spy networks across the different principalities of Japan and gathered information from the highways of the world. Meeting in secret and in dark corners of enemy territory they plotted against each other and against enemy lords. They built complex pictures of a clan’s resources, the feel of the people, the standards and banners used by its officers. The ninja also drew detailed plans of enemy castles, towns, highways and byways. They could be hidden in the ranks of an army, waiting for secret orders to be given for them to move on a mission of stealth, or alternatively, they could be hired to defend a lord and his castle. However, what is fixed in our minds is what ninja are famous for above all things: stealth. They skulk in the black of night, climbing a castle wall in windy rains, or creep through bamboo groves hiding from the moon, moving in the silhouette of a target’s house, to murder everyone in their beds. All of these things are part of the samurai way of life. Now is the time for these truths to catch up with the rest of history. That is to say, restore the samurai to his rightful place as one of the most professional and deadly warriors of all time.

  The history of the samurai and the ninja has previously followed two paths; the academic and the fantastical. Both have been rolled together to form a complex mess of half-truths. An extreme and impressive level of historical detail has been studied, yet forged with hearsay and romanticism. Therefore, this book has two simple aims: make that which is complex easy, and in doing so, eradicate that which is false. This means that this volume will purposely avoid an overuse of Japanese, it will not ask you to remember lists of names and dates. It will not bog you down in technical trivia. This book will destroy the half-history and deliver a solid, yet simplified, realistic foundation. From this you can return to other more complex books on medieval Japan and appreciate them with a new depth of understanding. Overall it will be a series of steps that act as a map, allowing you to journey through samurai life without the confusion of having to understand the intricacies of Japanese history.

  It is my ardent wish that you now wipe your mind clean of all the movies, the comics and the stories you have read. Right now, imagine your mind as a blank sheet of paper. In beautiful, dark calligraphy the word “samurai” appears at the top of this parchment. Then as you move forward, chapter by chapter, allow a new historical image of the Japanese knight to draw itself on the page. In the end you will be left with a clearer understanding of this warrior class. From this fresh image, a new respect will grow for these historical warriors and, ultimately, a thirst for more historically accurate knowledge on the long-dead knights of the East.

  Antony Cummins

  Shiki, Japan

  2013

  Part I

  TEARING THE WORLD

  OF THE SAMURAI AND

  NINJA APART

  Introductory Observations

  The following elements are considered true in the world of the samurai, yet are actually not wholly accurate. I have raised these questions at the start, in order to examine where the image of the samurai has come from. More specifically, I would like to explore how a truer picture can be created.

  The Honorable Duel

  The image of the samurai meeting his nemesis in a fair fight to the death is a hang over from the romance of American western films. Also it stems from samurai cinema in the twentieth century. Gang fights and riots were perfectly acceptable behavior for duelling samurai. A group of friends could attack and kill their enemy, who may be walking alone; they would not feel it shameful. Samurai duelling can be identified in three basic formats:*

  1. Kenka—When angers have arisen and tempers have flared, this is spur of the moment combat through insults given, drunkenness or through simple bloodlust.

  2. Uchihatashi—When there is a deep hatred between people, a family feud, or a situation has made two samurai become enemies, or that they have a simple dislike of each other. Pledges are made in writing or spoken to kill the opposition. War between families, groups or individuals is initiated.

  3. Adauchi—Revenge killings. If a member of a samurai’s family has been slain or a friend has been killed, a samurai must venture on a mission of adauchi—“a journey of revenge”—even if it means his own death. Lafcardio Hearn in his early writings on Japan states that a person on a mission of wrath may walk fifty miles in a day, carry nothing but a small package, kill ten men in under a minute, and then turn the sword upon himself to die. Acts of vengeance are truly in the blood of the samurai.

  In samurai society it was perfectly acceptable to come across a duel in a field or forest, and then lend aid to the man attempting revenge. The level of help given can differ. It can be simply a distraction in the background, such as shouting and giving false commands while the revenge-seeker kills their enemy; or it could be a group of friends making their way out together to take down a formidable foe.

  The Sword is the Soul of a Samurai

  Without doubt one of the greatest symbols of the samurai is the katana—the mythical sword of the Japanese. It has taken on such proportions that it is compared to Excalibur and other magical swords. However, the katana rarely featured as a principle weapon in the Sengoku, or Warring States period (1467–1573). That specialty goes to the bow, the spear, and other pole-arms. For a samurai who was alive in the period of the country at war, the main weapon would be a spear, or another form of pole-arm. Alongside his horse, his servants and squires would carry his spear, bow, and helmet. The sword was important and was a key feature of the samurai class—to accidently brush or knock a samurai’s sword was a serious faux pas. However, it was not essential to the identity of the samurai, like we have been led to believe. In fact, when charging into battle, the first samurai to clash with the enemy is called ichibanyari (“the first spear”), while the second samurai is called nibanyari (“the second spear”). The sword became a symbol of the samurai at a later date.

  The Katana is the Greatest Sword on the Planet

  The katana has led the image of the sword in modern times and it is said that it can outperform any sword in the world. It is believed to be the sharpest and most perfect blade, beyond the affordability of most people. The best way to explain this is through metaphor; a sword is like a car today. Most people have one. Some cars are technological marvels of the road, while others are made for the common man to enjoy, to simply function as a car. All cars are relatively expensive when new and not many people buy a brand new vehicle. Most cars on the road have been sold second
hand, some have been looked after—some have not—and others are closer to the scrap yard—more than most care to admit. Some newer cars are at the top end of the market and would cost a whole year’s wages for some people. Other cars go beyond this and would take a whole lifetime of wages to be spent on acquiring one. Still there are cars beyond that—Formula One racing cars are even beyond the individual. Companies normally buy these racing cars because they are so far beyond an individual’s spending power. Yet even with all of this in mind, almost everyone owns a car. This is exactly how Japanese swords should be understood. In old Japan there would be master-class swords on the “road;” there would be beat up “old bangers;” yet at the side of almost every man, there would be a blade, be it short or long. To travel without one would be risky.

  A common occurrence in samurai manuals, and war chronicles, is the bending—and snapping—of swords. Some samurai sword schools teach to block an opponent’s katana using the back and side of the blade. Plenty of chipped swords can be seen in museums. A primary aspect to understand about the Japanese sword is that it is not sharper than other swords; sharpness is not its special quality. The reason the Japanese sword is so well respected is because it is a blend of softer metal—which is found in the core of the blade—and harder metal used along the cutting edge. The katana is an optimum mix of the two. The result is a blade that is flexible and durable. However, this love of the katana was established before a proper interest in Western and Middle-Eastern weapons was developed, and promoted in the public image. The now infamous Damascus steel of the Middle East and “Viking” swords, such as the Ulfberht swords, easily compare to their Japanese counterpart. These other weapons, in fact, predate the katana—meaning that great swords have existed all over the world and are comparable to the Japanese sword. It was just that no one was told. That being said, a well-made katana was a superb weapon. Respect for its complex metallurgy should not diminish, whereas the fantasy of the Japanese “super sword” should be left behind.