In Search of the Niinja (45 page)

The
Iga Military Schools’ Essential Way of Fire
(1728) has been included to display two major points; one, the ‘down to earth’ and pragmatic style of authentic information in connection with the shinobi; and two, the problematic nature of working with scrolls that have suffered the ravages of time. The importance of fire and explosives to the shinobi must never be underestimated.

[The Table of Contents
135
]

•
  The Fire Calling Paper [a fire starter]

•
  An alternative of the above but in board or cylinder form

•
  Tinder [illegible text] paper

•
  The Flying Ball of Fire

The author with director John Wate during research for the documentary
Ninja Shadow Warriors
.

•
  An alternative for the above

•
  A further alternative for the above

•
  The Donohi Body Warmer

•
  Fire from the Inside of Your Kimono

•
  The Water Winding Light [waterproof or underwater torch]

•
  The Rainproof Hinawa Fuse

•
  The Wind Winning Fire [windproof torch]

•
  The Dry Torch

•
  The method of Short Burning
136

[End of the Jo section]
137

•
  The Grinding Tool

•
  The Attack Lantern

•
  The Wheel Candle

•
  [damaged text] Hook Candle – As this tool is not used for military purposes, I have put it in the Table of Contents but have not recorded the recipe as it was in the original.
138

•
  The Deep Secret of the Short [distance] Fire

•
  The Cutting Torch

[End of the Table of Contents]

The Fire Calling Paper

Finely powder the above and then thinly apply glue to paper, sprinkling the above powder on to the paper. Next take a second layer of paper with glue and place them together. Then cut out the shape [in the diagram].
139

An alternative of the above but in board or cylinder form.

Make a powder as in the above tool, however, this time apply glue to both sides of the paper and powder it on both sides and add an extra layer of paper on to each side [making three layers].
140

Tinder [illegible text] Paper

Put this in a pot and cover with water so that it reaches just above the materials and bring to the boil and dry it over the fire and make as you would thick paper.
141

The Flying Ball of Fire
142

Mix the above with a decoction made from pine wood/bark, which is saturated with pine resin. Then harden the mix and make it into small balls of one centimetre in width.
143
If needed you may also boil sulphur [to make a paste] and apply it to the outside [and let it dry].
144

An Alternative Recipe for the Above Tool
145

Roast the saltpetre and place 50 Momme of [illegible text]/pine resin [on top of the saltpetre] and when it melts knead in into the rest of the powder above and then harden it into any shape you need, which will be dependent upon the purpose of its usage, but this can be made into a long [throwing fire weapon].

A Further Alternative for the Above Tool

This way is especially secret!

Need the above with ‘Juice of Pine’
146
and then wrap with paper. It is good to [damaged text] with this method.
147

The Donohi Body Warmer

Use white bleached
148
cloth that has been soaked in water for 100 days and then roast it like you would to make tinder. Next wrap it in paper and twist into three strands.
149

Fire from the Inside of Your Kimono or Pocket Fire

You should carry this tool and the above Donohi body warmer wherever you venture on a shinobi activity.

Use two sections of thin bamboo of one [Shaku]
150
long and put the two together side by side [as in the drawing]. On one piece make a [long] vent and put your torch [material] in the second one. For this second cylinder it is best to fill it with the ‘Dry Torch’ described later on. However, make sure the [rod of ‘Dry Torch’] is thin enough to fit in the cylinder.

•
  The cylinder on the left is the housing for the torch

•
  The cylinder on the right is the housing for the Donohi body warmer material.

•
  There is a secret way to put lead in this cylinder
151

•
  It is good to use lead [at the top where the two lines point too].

The tool is a combination double-tube which appears to be fully lead lined in one cylinder and only lead lined at one end in the other. One is filled with a hardened mixture which when ignited acts as a torch and the other as a body warmer/ignition tool that can be kept inside a kimono ‘when infiltrating an enemy house’.

The text here displays all of the inherent problems when dealing with this type of scroll. First, the context, that is we are not ninja and thus have never used these tools and what may be obvious to a shinobi is lacking in our understanding. Secondly, there is
Kuden
or oral tradition, which tends to be the details that are too hard to explain in the written form but which are desperately needed to make sense of all. Thirdly, illegibility, often the style of writing used is archaic and illegible. Finally, damage, the scroll has been eaten away and bookworm trails criss-cross the texts. This is the charm of working with manuals and adds to the excitement but always with the possibility of disappointment. The scroll is still a fine example of
Iga-ryu
.

The Water Winning Light [waterproof or underwater torch]

Cut bamboo that is two and a half centimetres wide and is eight Sun long and remove the internal joint walls but leave the bottom one in place.

Put the above approximate mixture in to the bamboo and ram it down firmly, then wrap the bamboo in paper, there are some oral secrets here. If you wish for the torch to not be extinguished in a windy storm or in water then you should…
152

The Rainproof Hinawa Fuse

Soak a bamboo fuse in Kanemizu
153
solution until the [bamboo] is fully stained, take it out and dry it in the sun and use it as you wish. No matter how long this fuse is left unused, it will always work.

The Wind Winning Fire [windproof torch]

The first four are of the same amount

Melt the bitumen over a fire and melt wax into it and then put in the above mixture and blend well and knead. Soak cloth in water [which has been dried] and is the same as the cloth used for the Donohi but which has not been dry roasted and cut this cloth finely and put this also, into the mixture. Wrap this covered cloth tightly [around the torch] and fasten the edges with hemp thread and apply wax on to it so that it will not go out in strong winds. For daily use, there is an alternative recipe but this one here is for military use.

The Dry Torch