In Search of the Niinja (34 page)

The
Koka-ryu Ninjutsu No Ikkan Goshinho
manual displays magic found in many non-Ninja scrolls, and is considered dubious.

There is a sad tale to be told in the world of ninja research. The epic manual, the
Bansenshukai
lists a chapter heading in its table of contents, in book five of the collection, ‘Secret Writings with Occult Powers’. The tragedy is that the text is missing and what could have been the greatest find in the world of the ninja and magic has been lost to us, unless it is retained in a private collection in Japan.

The protection spell found within the undated ninja scroll
Iga-ryu Kanpo Mizukagami No Maki
104
closely resembles the protection spell found within the
Shoninki
manual. Whilst the origin of the
Iga-ryu
scroll is dubious, it does contain elements consistent with ninjutsu from a ‘magic’ perspective.

The spell can be considered as a full spell of protection as in the Natori school or it can be broken up in the following manner to protect sections of the body.

The Right Hand Line

Joryakuho
: or Upper Strategy

This spell should be written on paper and inserted into a helmet or head-ware to protect your upper parts.

The Centre Line

Churyakuho
: or Middle Strategy

This spell should be written on paper and placed on the inside of your belt or around your waist, this protects the lower sections of your body.

The Left Hand Line

Karyaku
: or Lower Strategy

This spell should be written on paper and swallowed; this will protect the trunk of your body.

The ninja curriculum includes a minute amount of magic to enhance the ability to hide. The shinobi pride themselves on practicality, therefore it has been postulated that these spells were developed to help calm the nerves of ninja under threat, giving them a psychological edge, however, it is impossible to tell how far contemporary superstition found its way into the world of the shinobi, or how much they believed compared to how much they understood that the skill was psychological.

The
Bansenshukai
holds a fascinating magic spell which gives us a view of the world of the ninja and the daring behind his infiltration tactics.

When you happen to meet an enemy patrol, you should not be upset but hide yourself by staying by the side of a wall, fence, shrubbery, some lumber, a pile of firewood or anything like this and without making any noise. You should cover your face with your sleeve and only expose your eyes, make no breathing sound and be careful not to make the enemy feel your breath, stay standing and be completely still and then chant the mantra of Ongyo hiding magic [in your mind]
105
– ‘
On A Ni Chi Marishi Ei Sowaka
’ and shape your hands in the mudra of Hokyo.
106

Or you can turn your back to the enemy whilst standing if needs be. If you perform this you will not be detected in most cases. There have been many examples of this spell’s success.

Those who do not know this method tend to lose their head and rush to seek a place to hide when they realise that the enemy is coming, so that they will often make the sound of footsteps or audibly breathe, hit something, tread in dust and end up being found out because of this.

Further to this, the
Koka Ryu Ninjutsu Densho,
combined with clarification from the
Koyogunkan Tekito
manual, display another form of ninja hiding magic called
Shinden Yaguruma
no Ho,
which translates as ‘The Arts of the Divine Arrow Windmill’. The shinobi uses a popular Japanese charm called a
Yaguruma
, which is a collection of eight arrows pointing inwards making a circle, with their heads at the centre. Whilst the
Koka Ryu Densho
gives the spell for this, the second manual, the
Koyogunkan Tekito
explains that when trying to hide, a person uses this arrow windmill and places a mirror over the top of it and then buries the arrows and mirror in leaves and soil. The mirror is thought to contain the reflection of the person in it and supposedly hides the form of the infiltrator from his enemy.

The
Gunpo Jiyoshu
manual discusses the art of invisibility when attempting night raids or shinobi missions.

[To become invisible to the enemy] take the fangs from a live [venomous] Mamushi pit viper, and put them into your topknot, in the case of an emergency. If the captain of a shinobi night attack or scout carries this [in his hair], then they will not be seen by the eyes of the enemy. However, if they have doubts or use this skill for their own evil desires, they will meet their nemesis and will be discovered by the enemy and be seen more than they usually would.

An extremely interesting confirmation of this magic is given in the
Koka Ryu
Densho
. The version found is similar yet dissimilar enough to show development of or variation in the spell. In this version of
Ongyo jutsu
(hiding), a ninja would wait for a lunar eclipse and then make a hairpin talisman for hiding. On the lunar eclipse the ninja would carve a wooden
Kanzashi
hair pin and chant the spell of concealment as he waited for the eclipse to finish. It is possible that the shinobi was trying to ‘capture the darkness’ of the eclipse and contain it within the pin. The manual teaches that a ninja should chant a similar spell to the one found in the
Bansenshukai
as quoted above, however this time the words were ‘
Rai de seishin kou ten kou setsu
’. Also, finally, the manual says that a ninja should envisage black clouds around him, concentrating on making him blend in with the darkness.

The
Gunpo Jiyoshu
then goes on to describe ‘a secret method to stop a person’, magic that helps protect against a ninja:

To stop someone [infiltrating], make a brush of Muku wood (Aphananthe aspera) on the day of Kanoe when it also corresponds with the day of the Monkey and write the spell below, on all four sides on the inside face of a gate (lintel, sides and threshold).

Also when you search for shinobi or a suspicious person, first write the spell as above and put it on each exit, so that the person will not be able to go out. It is said this talisman was passed down by Nichirin Shonin Hakone Gongen.

The
Gunpo Jiyoshu
manual does not stop there with its instructions on defending against an enemy shinobi through magic. Both Chinese and Japanese armies relied on the skill of seeing
Chi
to understand the nature and status of the enemy army. This skill of understanding and reading
Chi
was extended to buildings and their occupants. This skill could enable a commander to prevent an enemy ninja from performing an incendiary attack. The skill is under the title ‘
Chi
of a
Yato
’ which is an alternative name for ninja.

The
Chi
you see as trailing smoke as in the picture is a sign of an enemy coming to conduct a night attack or of a shinobi coming to set a fire. Therefore, this is called the
Chi
of the
Yato
. The attack will take place within three days if it can be seen from the direction of the Chicken and is heading towards the Rat. If it is from the Ox to the Monkey, then watch out for the attack that night. The same holds true all through the seasons. The colour of the
Chi
should be a yellowish black. If it is blue, red or white, be careful for the next fifteen days of the month.