In Search of the Niinja (47 page)

Stories From a Tea Room Window,
the unlikely book written by a real Koka-trained samurai, which is often passed over by the modern ninjutsu community.

Lastly, Chikamatsu wrote a collection of stories translated into English under the title of
Stories From a Tea Room Window
and whilst not based on ninjutsu, it is interesting to note that a popular Tea Ceremony book is actually the work of a real life Koka-trained shinobi.

On the whole, this document is of vital importance, showing us how ninja were close to their lords, how the ninja fell from power, and how, as Natori says in the
Shoninki
, the ninja of Koka were one band. The manual states that the Battle of Sekigahara had some hidden secrets that were forbidden to be spread, and those secrets were the actions of the ninja.

The following writing is the oral transmission of Sensei Kimura Okunosuke Yasutaka and is given to and written down by his student Chikamatsu Hikonoshin Shigenori.

Those who are given the traditions of the Koka shinobi arts should all understand the concept of ‘Sansei’ or the three stages of ‘past, present and future’, before they enter into study in this school.

In ancient times those originally from Koka used to consider themselves as one people and that they were all of the same origin, this was their standpoint for generation after generation and they treated each other like brothers from the same family. This even continued after they became scattered across the provinces and lived in various places, or in far-away territories, even then, they continued to know each other’s names, and kept in constan contact. Also, if needs arose they communicated without hiding their intent and displayed everything [about the situation] and arranged to help each other to perfectly to fulfil any shinobi mission at hand, and they did this without fail. They also made it a rule not to pass down any of their traditions to anyone who was not from Koka, which formed the core and guiding principle of their ways [of inheriting their arts]. Even today [in 1719] the above two
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major principles are still observed and those Daimyo lords who want to hire
shinobi no mono
prefer to hire those of Koka.

It is unlikely that any warrior from Koka cannot find employment and that even if he is retained for only a small fee, he can easily gain service. In fact, there are many people [of Koka] who are given fees even whilst they themselves remain stationed in their homeland. Also, people think that simply being from Koka makes a person an expert in the shinobi ways, and this thought has arisen because Koka is run on the two old traditions [mentioned above and has its foundation in these] strong principles. Until now, this principle [of a strong union] has been fulfilled and those [of Koka] have let each other know who is in which province and also, those who are in important or larger provinces keep in contact more often than others and if an emergency arises, they will resolve any issue very quickly, so the reputation of the shinobi of Koka has been maintained and is renowned; therefore for this reason they are hired by any and all clans.

As I am old, I am now considering the status of those who now do this same task [as I once did] and are spread out across various provinces and thus I am deliberating on the future prospects of our ways. Therefore, I will now make clear the present status and situation in detail, concerning our future
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and I surmise that these following predictions will turn out to be correct in nine out of ten cases. Also, I hope that my student writes down exactly what I say and shows it to all future students.

[The following points will be the cause of the demise of the arts of Koka]

I

Those people who instantly understand the importance and way of these two ancient principles and our traditions are those who lived within a short period after the turbulent times
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and they have seen much, which has allowed them to fully understand their family arts
without conscious study. And if you do not follow the way of these ancient traditions, then you cannot fully serve in an emergency and cannot fulfil the requirements of the appointed shinobi tasks of your family.

Those people around the age of 70 think of keeping these traditions alive as an important rule and still write to each other and do not break their promises which were made to their ancestors, sparing no effort in preparation, so that in an emergency situation and if needs arise they can be immediately be ready the next day and therefore, those around 70 years of age will serve the clan
well. Those who are younger than 70 years cannot serve [their clans] very well and this should be a point for future discussion. The reason for their uselessness is that it is a time of peace in this land and there have been no crises in which those people from Koka can achieve greatness and show the arts of their family. Thus, because of this they have no opportunities and receive no rewards or recognition.

II

As there are no emergencies then there is no chance for our men to get close to their own lords and receive his orders directly or even converse with him. In olden days there was the saying ‘from the mouth to the ear’ and
Koka no mono
used to talk to their lords directly and receive his orders and they built a good relationship, however, as this is not the case now, we have become lower in position and are of the level of
Geshoku
.

III

Because of this lack of emergencies,
Koka no mono
cannot achieve greatness nor accomplish feats, and there will be scarcely any lords who will want to use Koka people or appreciate them in the future and they will have no chance to prove their worth.

IV

As there is no demand to serve a lord or conduct official business, [new shinobi] will not maximise their own creativity.

V

As I mentioned previously, it is now a time of peace and so [the
Koka no mono
] will become accustomed to an easier life and will become negligent and have zero inspiration or will to push their arts.

VI

[
Koka no mono
] are spread across all provinces but are now generations apart. In older days they used to be fathers and sons or even brothers who were spread about the land, but now they are almost unconnected by blood and are strangers to each other, like those other people around them, and because of this they seldom write or communicate with each other.

VII

In times of peace, people do not remember times of war and what it is like and become comfortable, so they feel that there is no need for the shinobi and they no longer carry detailed information about each province nor do they give gifts to each other. On top of this, they do not know who is in which area or who good people are.

VIII

Today, in every clan [shinobi] are not needed so they are left stagnant and ‘left to hang’
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and many are given small fees and at a relatively low level [to how it used to be]. Therefore, they are occupied with feeding their wives and children and can simply not afford to hone their family arts, which makes them underachievers within their own profession.

IX

Generally speaking, in days gone by, when we used to receive orders direct from our lords, [the men of Koka] were given large amounts of money in payment for their missions, as much as they required and even if they spent hundreds of Ryo gold coins and if they [the ninja] are asked ‘on what was the money spent’ they did not need to divulge the answer. This was the normal way for
shinobi no mono
both in Japan and China and they did not have to balance any accounts. Thus the better
shinobi no mono
were for missions as spies, then the more money they were supplied. This made everyone do their best to perform great shinobi arts but in modern days, there is simply no demand and they have no opportunity to earn extra money outside of their regular allowances. Therefore, both skilled and lesser skilled [shinobi], are financially poor, thus there are no
shinobi no mono
that now make constant efforts to become great.

X

As [the arts of the ninja] are a matter of extreme secrets, then even when teaching those people who are in the same school, the traditions [of the school] are taught so discreetly that they are found in a setting of three or even five stages or levels. In principle, at the first or second stage, you should teach unimportant or useless things until you determine whether the person is trustworthy or not or what abilities he has; if you find him to be serious and resourceful, then you may give him all the traditions. Such a person is only 1 in 1000 people and the other 999 are just taught the first to second stage, which are made to look important and which makes them think they have learned all the traditions of shinobi. However, because of this, the school is now managed by those who know only the first or second stages of the arts, yet think they have the complete skills, which hinders the progress of our arts; therefore you must understand that this system is now pointless.

XI

As most students in a school are only at the level as described above, they tend to think that
shinobi no jutsu
is almost the same as skills of illusion, but there is only one in a multitude who can master the arts to such a deep level that they truly understand that the teachings of the Gokan
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five types of spy are of the utmost importance and of vital use. All this happens because the teacher does not teach the traditions openly and the students only have limited capabilities.

Though such techniques as hiding yourselves, disguise, crossing over a pond or marsh, crossing a river, climbing a wall or infiltrating a gate are included in the skills of shinobi, they are only trivial and rarely of service to you, making it hard to achieve a great accomplishment with these skills alone. Though the Gokan five types of spy comprise all that is essential, no one teaches it in detail [any more] and as a result even ambitious people in the school think that such minor skills [as mentioned above] are all secret skills and ways that are important for a shinobi. Because of this, eventually, the skills of shinobi will be become lesser and find limits, this is a certainty.

XII

The difference today is that people are culturally enlightened and tend to learn academically and be more reasonable. Many people do not use or learn hidden secret skills which have been passed down from ancient times, for example:
Mitsume
and
Kikitsume
‘listening and hearing with intensity’,
Yojigakure
‘Toothpick Hiding’ and
Karametsume
‘Catching
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Fingernail’ are regarded as unreasonable and magical and even heretical skills and people often follow up by quoting the following saying: ‘There should be nothing mystical about any righteous path.’ This retort of theirs is truly an example of the saying, ‘Shallow cleverness prevents you from travelling on the righteous path.’ In those secret ways or skills invented by ancient people there are a numerous things that look unreasonable or unrighteous to the eyes of modern people but in fact have actual benefits and miraculously do work. These miraculous skills seem unreasonable, but this is because others do not reach down deep inside of the way of these things, but you must note, there is reason found within these ancient ways [if you understand the truth of them]. Not having realised such deep reasoning, a lot of people do not believe and abandon those skills thinking they are evil and magical.