In Search of the Niinja (31 page)

•
    The art of the ‘Tono’ Fire

•
    The art of the Attack Torch

•
    The art of the ‘Pulling’ Rope

•
    The art of ‘Osei’ Gunnery

•
    The art of the [Grapple
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] and Rope

•
    The art of the Extending Key

•
    The art of Drills [for infiltration]

•
    The art of Saws [for infiltration]

•
    The art of the Kunai [digging tool]

•
    The art of Crossing Moats

•
    The art of Illusion Fire

•
    The art of Yoshitune’s Torch

•
    The art of the Palm Torch

•
    The art of the Shinobi Torch

•
    The art of the Night Attack Rocket

•
    The art of the Greater Rainproof Battle Camp Torch

The
Murasami Diahi No Maki
manual shows how even smaller manuals truly reflect real
shinobi no jutsu
and deal with similar themes. The short table of contents is as follows:

•
    Concerning Gunpowder

•
    The Fire [Cylinder]

•
    The Water [Torch]

•
    [illegible text – probably a recipe for an explosive]

•
    Murasami Powder

•
    Concerning Medicines [or Powders]

•
    The Art of the Hinawa Fuse [for guns and explosives]

•
    Concerning the Cord Attached to Swords

The similarities to the
Bansenshukai
help to confirm it as a treasure trove of ninjutsu knowledge, written by an educated warrior of Iga who was an adept.

The
Shoninki
is also well established as an authentic ninja manual, as it was written by the head of a secret
Gunpo
war school under one of the most powerful families in Japan and has possible origins in the Takeda clan. It was of course kept secret until well after the author’s death, which, along with his social station, gives it an almost unshakable position when the question of legitimacy arises. Therefore, the litmus test for the legitimacy of any manual are the
Shoninki
and the
Bansenshukai
. It was impossible for Fujibayashi to copy Natori’s
Shoninki
as the
Bansenshukai
was written five years prior to the
Shoninki
, which would mean that only Natori could have plagiarised Fujibayashi. However, the dissimilarities are far too apparent. Natori writes with a note book approach, that is, the
Shoninki
is a working manual, it lists skills and ideas yet does not expand on them, whilst the
Bansenshukai
is heavy with detail. Thus, if it was the case that Natori got hold of a copy of Fujibayashi’
s
work, why did he not steal the factual sections to support his writings? Furthermore, the
Natori-ryu
document is full of original terminology and ideas, showing it is not plagiarised. At the same time, there are enough similarities, such as ideogram origins and terminology, to show a shared body of knowledge: examples such as ‘ninjas need a silver tongue,’ or identical recommended times for infiltration.

Often manuals are simply copied from older ones and information is repeated. Yet, at times you find manuals that use a similar vocabulary, syntax, root word connections, linguistics and shared skill sets but are not direct copies. This points to a shared origin and yet displays evolution in the dissimilarities. This is where fake ninja schools can be discovered, as they directly quote from historical ninjutsu manuals and their dissimilarity is not in linguistics or subtle points, but in wholly new skills that seem contradictory to ninjutsu when compared to the authentic examples: ninja as a martial art system for example, or the description of ‘secret weapons’ that are actually common knowledge. Comparing in this way highlights where historical manuals have simply been arranged from earlier sources. It also helps identify if a manual has any new and valid information. The excitement of such a discovery is muted by the enormous task of attempting to trace the history and ‘journey’ of such a document, yet amidst the dross, diamonds do appear.

We will now explore some of the major similarities and dissimilarities between certain manuals; it is by no means a complete picture but it helps us to identify historically authentic information, that which is suspicious, and that which is copied.
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As Japanese is based on ideograms it is relatively easy to identify connections as both phonetic and pictorial representations are displayed. As discussed it is impossible for the author of the
Bansenshukai
to have taken anything from the
Shoninki
, as it postdates the writing. The
Shoninki
talks of the ‘Ten Ancient Ways of Ninjutsu’ that flow through all of the ninja skills. Remembering that the
Shoninki
has
Koshu
and
Kusonoki
origins and that the
Bansenshukai
is from Iga/Koka, we see multiple links. One stands out above all.

Number five of the ten basic ninja skills is ‘
Joei
–
’ or ‘shadow-like ninjutsu’. The
Shoninki
says very little and says it meant staying near people, or using the shadows. The
Bansenshukai
talks of ‘
Jokei
–
’ or the art of the shadow – as he uses the suffix of
no jutsu
. Whilst the two second halves of the ideogram look dissimilar –
and
– they are created with the same meaning.
Kei,
has the same meaning as
Ei,
which is ‘shadow’ and
which is ‘like’. The two ideograms were interchangeable in the early Edo period. The
Bansenshukai
then goes on to talk of this ‘shadow-like art’ as the ability to get people into position before a war starts and observe them at a close distance. So both manuals use an ideogram which has a shared origin and use that ideogram to mean the same skill set, yet they are not identical. This continues to help establish that ninjutsu had some point of origin.

Both the
Bansenshukai
and the
Shoninki
ninja manuals promote the concept of appearing stupid to go unnoticed as a ninja agent. Remembering that these two manuals were kept secret within the ninja community for a long time, it would be almost impossible for two samurai
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simultaneously to write of this same skill by coincidence. Here is what they say:

Bansenshukai

Similarly, the wisdom of a competent ninja
is as vast as heaven, so that no human being can know it exactly. A ninja should look as stupid, whilst their strategies are as profound and deep as the earth or an abyss and beyond mere human knowledge.