Ancient Japanese ninjas. Ninjas are warriors of the night. History, facts and shinobi weapons. Ninjutsu is a specialized form of hand-to-hand combat.

Our knowledge of the ancient Japanese ninja warriors is based mainly on literary works, films and comics, in which there is a lot of conflicting information. With the real facts about the ninja that will make you wonder, we will be introduced to this post.

shinobi no mono

According to surviving documents, the correct name is "shinobi no mono". The word "ninja" is a Chinese reading of a Japanese ideogram that became popular in the 20th century.

First mention of ninja

For the first time, the ninja became known from the Taiheiki military chronicle, written in 1375. It was told that the ninja penetrated the enemy city at night and set fire to the buildings.

golden age of the ninja

The ninja flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries as Japan was torn apart by internecine wars. After 1600, peace reigned in Japan, after which the decline of the ninja began.

"Bansenshukai"

There are very few records of ninja during the era of war, but after the coming of peace, they began to keep records of their skills. The most famous ninjutsu manual is the so-called Ninja Bible or Bansenshukai, which was written in 1676. There are about 400 - 500 ninjutsu manuals, many of which are still kept secret.

Special forces of the samurai army

Today, popular media often portray samurai and ninja as sworn enemies. In fact, the ninja were something of a modern-day special forces in the samurai army. Many samurai trained in ninjutsu.

Ninja "quinine"

Popular remedies mass media ninjas are also depicted as coming from a peasant class. In truth, ninja could come from any class, samurai or otherwise. Moreover, they were "quinine", that is, they were outside the structure of society. Over time (after the onset of peace), the ninja began to be considered lower in status, but they still occupied a higher social status than most peasants.

Ninjutsu is a specialized form of hand-to-hand combat.

It is generally accepted that ninjutsu is a form of hand-to-hand combat, a system of martial arts that is still taught throughout the world. However, the idea of ​​a specialized form of hand-to-hand combat practiced by today's ninja was invented by a certain Japanese in the 1950s and 1960s. This new fighting system was brought to America during the ninja boom in the 1980s and became one of the most popular misconceptions about the ninja.

Shurikens or Shakens

Throwing stars (shurikens or shakens) do not have the slightest historical connection with the ninja. Throwing stars were secret weapon, which was used in many samurai schools. They began to be associated with ninja only in the 20th century thanks to comics and animated films.

Delusion illustration

Ninjas are never depicted without masks, however, there is not the slightest mention of ninjas wearing masks. In fact, they had to cover their faces with long sleeves when the enemy was close by. When working in groups, they wore white armbands so they could see each other in the moonlight.

Ninjas blend in with the crowd

The popular ninja look necessarily includes a black skin-tight suit. In fact, in such a suit they would look just as appropriate as, for example, on the streets of modern Moscow. They wore traditional Japanese clothing.

Camouflage clothing

Today, people believe that ninjas wore black clothes to make it easier for them to hide in the dark. The Shoninki (The True Way of the Ninja), written in 1681, stated that ninjas should wear blue to blend in with the crowd, as that color was popular at the time. During night operations, they wore black clothes (on a moonless night) or white clothes (on a full moon).

Ninjas didn't use straight swords

The "ninja-to" or square-hilted ninja swords famous today did exist in medieval Japan, as square handguards were then made, but they began to be attributed to ninja only in the 20th century. "Medieval special forces" used ordinary swords.

"Kuji"

Ninjas are known for their spells, which they supposedly cast with hand gestures. This art was called "kuji" and it has nothing to do with ninja. Kuji originated in India and was later adopted in China and Japan. It is a series of gestures designed to ward off evil in certain situations or to ward off the evil eye.

Land mines, hand grenades, explosives, poison gas...

The image of a ninja using a smoke bomb is quite universal and common in modern world. Although medieval warriors did not have smoke bombs, they had hundreds of recipes related to fire: land mines, hand grenades, waterproof torches, varieties of Greek fire, fire arrows, explosives and poisonous gas.

Yin ninja and yang ninja

This is half true. There were two groups of ninja: those who could be seen (yang ninja) and those whose identity was always a mystery (yin ninja).

Nija - black magicians

In addition to the image of the ninja assassin in old Japanese films, one could often find the image of a ninja master, a warrior-mage who defeated enemies with cunning. Interestingly, ninja skills did contain a certain amount of ritual magic, from magical hairpins that supposedly provide invisibility to sacrificing dogs to get the help of the gods. However, the standard skills of the samurai also contained an element of magic. It was common for that time.

The art of covert operations

To be more precise, they were indeed often hired to kill the victim, but most ninja were trained in the art of covert operations, propaganda, espionage, the manufacture and use of explosives, etc.

"Kill Bill"

Hattori Hanzo became famous thanks to the movie Kill Bill. In fact, it was a famous historical figure - Hattori Hanzo was a real samurai and trained ninja. He became a famous general who earned the nickname "Devil Hanzo". It was he who, at the head of a group of ninjas, contributed to the fact that Tokugawa became the shogun of Japan.

Hobbyists and enthusiasts

The first major boom in the modern popularity of the ninja came in Japan in the early 1900s, when very little was known about these medieval assassin spies. In the 1910s - 1970s, many books were written by amateurs and enthusiasts, which were simply replete with errors and falsifications. These errors were then translated into English during the ninja's boom in popularity in the 1980s.

Ninjas are laughable

The study of the ninja has been a source of laughter in Japanese scientific circles, and for many decades the study of their history was considered a bizarre fantasy. Serious research in Japan began only during the last 2–3 years.

Encrypted Ninja Scrolls

It is claimed that the ninja manuscripts were encrypted so that no outsider could read them. This misunderstanding arose from the Japanese way of writing scrolls. Many Japanese scrolls simply list the names of the skills without proper spelling. Although their true meanings have been lost, the texts have never been deciphered.

Hollywood myths

This is a Hollywood myth. There is no evidence that abandoning a mission led to suicide. In fact, some manuals teach that it's better to abandon a mission than to rush things and cause problems.

Sleeper agents

It is believed that ninja were much more powerful than ordinary warriors, but only certain ninja who were trained in a special style of warfare were so. Many ninjas just lived their lives in secret. ordinary people in enemy provinces, carried on normal daily activities, or traveled to spread rumors. The recommended abilities for a ninja were: disease resistance, high intelligence, quick speech, and stupid appearance(because people usually ignore those who look stupid).

There is no clan, no clan...

There are a number of people in Japan who claim to be masters of ninja schools that trace their lineage back to the time of the samurai. This issue is very controversial, since there is not a single proven fact that ninja clans or clans have survived so far.

Spies-saboteurs

While fictional ninjas have haunted people for the past 100 years, the historical truth is often much more impressive and interesting. Ninjas were engaged in real espionage activities, carried out covert operations, worked behind enemy lines, were covert surveillance agents, etc.

Ninja. Many people know about them, and many people like them. Brought up and trained from childhood in the complex art of ninjutsu, they fought with their main rivals - the samurai. Moving like a shadow in the night, these brave warriors were hired at the highest price to do their dirty work, which samurai are not capable of.

But what if it's all completely false? What if the modern image of the ancient ninja was entirely based on comics and 20th century fantasy literature?

Today we will reveal to you 25 fascinating facts about real ninjas that existed in the past, and you will learn the whole truth about them. Read on and enjoy a more accurate and engaging portrayal of these Japanese warriors.

25. Ninjas weren't called "ninjas"

According to the documents, the ideograms for this word in the medieval period were correctly read as "shinobi no mono". The very word "ninja", which means the same ideograms pronounced in Chinese reading, became popular already in the 20th century.

24. The first mention of a ninja


The first historical record of the ninja appeared in the Taiheiki military chronicle, written around 1375. It says that one night, ninjas were sent behind enemy lines to set fire to enemy structures.

23. The golden age of the ninja


The heyday of the ninja came in the 15th-16th centuries, when Japan was engulfed in internecine wars. After 1600, when peace came to the country, the decline of the ninja began.

22. Historical records


There is a negligible record of ninja made during the wars, and it wasn't until after the coming of peace in the 1600s that some ninja began to write manuals about their skills and abilities.

The most famous of them is the manual on the martial art of ninjutsu, which was a kind of ninja bible and was called the Bansenshukai. It was written in 1676.

There are between 400 and 500 ninja manuals throughout Japan, many of which are still kept secret.

21. The enemies of the samurai were not ninjas.


In popular media, ninjas and samurai are often portrayed as enemies. In fact, the term "ninja" often refers to warriors of any class in the samurai army, and the ninja themselves were something of a special forces when compared with modern army. Many samurai were trained in ninjutsu, the complex art that ninja mastered, and were kept close by their masters.

20. Ninjas weren't peasants


In popular media, ninjas are also portrayed as peasants. In fact, ninja could become representatives of any class - both lower and upper class.

Only after 1600, when peace reigned in Japan, the official position of the ninja within the clan was reduced from samurai to a new social class called "doshin" (doshin) - a low-ranking samurai, "half-samurai". As time passed, the ninja became lower in status, but they still held a higher social position than most peasants.

19. Ninjutsu is not a type of hand-to-hand combat


It is widely believed that ninjutsu is a type of hand-to-hand combat, a set of martial arts that is still taught around the world.

However, the idea of ​​a specialized form of hand-to-hand combat practiced by the ninja was conceived by a Japanese during the 1950s-60s. This new combat system became popular in America during the 1980s ninja boom, becoming one of the most popular ninja misconceptions.

To date, not a single mention of such a form of martial art has been found in ancient manuscripts.

18. Ninja Stars


Throwing "ninja stars" have almost no historical connection with the ninja. Shuriken (that's what it's called throwing weapon concealed carry, made in the form of various objects: stars, coins, etc.) were the secret weapon in many samurai schools, and only in the 20th century they began to be associated with ninja thanks to comics, films and anime.

17. Ninja mask


"You will never see a ninja without a mask." In fact, there is not a single mention of ninja wearing masks. Surprisingly, according to ancient ninja manuals, they didn't wear masks. When the enemy was close, they had to cover their faces with their long sleeves, and when the ninja worked in groups, they put white headbands on their heads so that they could see each other in the moonlight.

16. Ninja suit

The popular image of the ninja is impossible to imagine without the iconic costume. This is an erroneous name, since the "suit" of a ninja seems to be a uniform only for residents. Western countries. It's actually just traditional Japanese clothing along with a mask.

Black Japanese clothes can be compared to a black suit in modern London. Residents of medieval Japan could wear masks on the street in order to remain unrecognized. So such an image looks inappropriate and eye-catching only in the modern world.

15. Black or blue?


A popular argument today is that ninjas didn't wear black because then they wouldn't be able to see each other at all in the dark, so they actually wore blue clothes. it misconception, originating from a ninja manual called Shoninki (True Path of the Ninja), written in 1861.

It states that ninjas can wear blue to blend in with the crowd, as the color was popular, implying that ninjas would not stand out among the people in the city. They were also ordered to wear black on a moonless night and white on a full moon.

14. Ninja-to, or ninja sword


The famous "ninja-to" or traditional ninja sword is a straight-bladed sword with a square tsuba (guard). Modern ninja-to most often have a straight blade, but the original swords were slightly curved.

Swords that were almost straight (they were only a few millimeters curved) existed in medieval Japan and had a square tsuba, but they began to be associated with ninja only in the 20th century. Ninja manuals prescribed the use of conventional swords.

13. Secret ninja gestures

Ninjas are known for their secret hand gestures. This particular hand positioning technique called "kuji-kiri" has no real connection to the ninja.

The kuji-kiri technique, as it was called in Japan, has its roots in Taoism and Hinduism. From India, it was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks, so many mistakenly perceive it as a method of inducing damage.

In fact, this is a series of gestures used in meditation, during rituals and in Japanese martial arts. Associating kuji-kiri with ninja, again, began only in the 20th century.

12 Ninjas Didn't Use Smoke Bombs


The image of a ninja using a smoke bomb is very common. However, being completely erroneous, it is misleading.

Ninja manuals don't actually mention smoke bombs, but they do have hundreds of instructions for building "fiery" weapons: land mines, hand grenades, waterproof torches, Greek fire, fire arrows, explosive projectiles, and poison gas.

11 Nobody Knew Who The Ninja Really Were


This is half true. Ninja were divided into yang ninja, who could be seen, and yin ninja, invisible ninja, whose identity was always kept secret.

Since no one had ever seen the Yin-ninja, they could take part in missions without fear of being recognized by anyone. On the other hand, a group of ninjas could be hired in the open: they moved with the army, they had their own barracks, they were relieved of duties during a halt, and they were well known among their peers.

10. Ninjas are black sorcerers

Before the image of the ninja assassin, the image of the ninja sorcerer, the spellcasting warrior, was popular. In old Japanese movies, ninjas use magic to trick their enemies.

Interestingly, among the skills and abilities of the ninja, there really was a certain amount of ritual magic: from magic hairpins that make them invisible, to sacrificing a dog to receive God's help. However, ordinary samurai skills also contained elements of magic. At the time, this was commonplace.

9 Ninjas Were Not Assassins


It's more of a semantic argument. Simply put, ninjas weren't taught the art of killing from a very early age so they could be hired by other clans.

Most ninja were trained in covert operations, espionage skills, the ability to obtain information, penetrate behind enemy lines, handle explosives, and much more. Ninjas were hired as assassins only in last turn. Ninja manuals rarely talk about this topic. Murder was not their main profile.

8. Hattori Hanzo (Hattori Hanzo) - a real person

Hattori Hanzo became famous thanks to the films "Kill Bill" (a master gunsmith who created the best japanese swords in the world), but in reality he was a samurai and the head of the ninja clan. He became a famous general, earning the nickname "Devil Hanzo" for his ferocity in battle.

He is believed to have written or inherited one of the oldest ninja manuscripts in existence.

7 Most Ninja False Claims Came In The 20th Century


The era of the ninja ended at the end of the 19th century, when Japan embarked on the path of modernization. Although speculation and fantasy about the ninja existed even during the time of the ninja, the first big boom in the popularity of the ninja in Japan began in the very early 1900s, when not much was known about historical spies and intelligence officers.

Ninja books were also popular between 1910 and 1970, and since many of them were written by amateurs and enthusiasts, they were full of erroneous statements and falsifications, which were later, in the 1980s, during the ninja boom, were translated into English language.

6. Scientific study of ninja

The topic of the ninja has been a laughing matter in Japanese academic circles, and for decades, the study of their techniques and teachings has been frowned upon as a bizarre fantasy.

Dr. Stephen Turnbull of the University of Leeds (England) published several books about ninja in the 1990s, however, in a recent article, he admitted that the research was erroneous, and now he studies this topic thoroughly with the sole purpose of publishing the truth about ninja.

Only in the last 2-3 years have serious research begun in Japan. Associate Professor Yuji Yamada leads a research team at Mie Universit dedicated to the ninja.

5. Ninja manuscripts are coded


As has been said, the ninja manuscripts were coded in order to remain secret. Actually, this is a misconception about the Japanese way of listing skills. Many scrolls in Japan different topics are just lists of skills.

For example, "Fox skill" or "invisible cloak skill" were passed down from generation to generation without proper training, so over time their true meanings were lost, but they were never encrypted.

4. If a ninja fails a mission, he will commit suicide.


In fact, it's just a Hollywood myth. There is no evidence that mission error leads to suicide.

In fact, some manuals teach that it's better to fail a mission than to rush through it and create problems. It is better to wait for another, more suitable opportunity.

There is historical evidence that ninjas could kill themselves and burn themselves alive if they were captured by the enemy - to hide their identity.

3. Superhuman strength


It is believed that ninjas have much more physical strength than ordinary warriors, but in reality there were only a certain number of ninja who were trained and trained in special forces.
Many ninja led a double life, pretending to be ordinary residents in the provinces of the enemy: they were engaged in daily routine activities, trading or traveling, which contributed to the spread of "necessary" rumors about them.

The ninja had to be disease resistant, have high intelligence, be able to talk quickly, and look stupid (because people ignore those who look stupid).

Fun fact: one ninja retired due to back pain.

2. Ninja no longer exists


In Japan, there are people who call themselves masters of the schools, whose origins date back to the days of the samurai. This issue is very controversial and delicate. To date, all those who call themselves real ninjas have not provided any evidence to convince them that they are right.

This means that there is not a single real ninja left. While the world is still waiting for proof...

1. Real ninjas are much cooler than fictional ones.


While fictional ninjas have been roiling people's hearts for nearly 100 years, the emerging historical truth is far more impressive and interesting.

With the advent of historical ninja manuals now being published on English language, their more realistic and unexpected image emerges. Ninja can now be seen as part of the samurai war machine, each with a specific set of skills and abilities, trained in areas such as espionage, undercover operations, solo activity behind enemy lines, surveillance, explosives and demolition specialists, and psychologists.

This new and improved take on the Japanese ninja is more respected for the depth and complexity of samurai warfare.

Ninja. Many people know about them, and many people like them. Brought up and trained from childhood in the complex art of ninjutsu, they fought with their main rivals - the samurai. Moving like a shadow in the night, these brave warriors were hired at the highest price to do their dirty work, which samurai are not capable of.

But what if it's all completely false? What if the modern image of the ancient ninja was entirely based on comics and 20th century fantasy literature?

Today we will reveal to you 25 fascinating facts about real ninjas that existed in the past, and you will learn the whole truth about them. Read on and enjoy a more accurate and engaging portrayal of these Japanese warriors.

25. Ninjas weren't called "ninjas"

According to the documents, the ideograms for this word in the medieval period were correctly read as “shinobi no mono”. The very word “ninja”, which means the same ideograms pronounced in Chinese reading, became popular already in the 20th century.

24. The first mention of a ninja


The first historical record of the ninja appeared in the Taiheiki military chronicle, written around 1375. It says that one night, ninjas were sent behind enemy lines to set fire to enemy structures.

23. The golden age of the ninja


The heyday of the ninja came in the 15th-16th centuries, when Japan was engulfed in internecine wars. After 1600, when peace came to the country, the decline of the ninja began.

22. Historical records


There is a negligible record of ninja made during the wars, and it wasn't until after the coming of peace in the 1600s that some ninja began to write manuals about their skills and abilities.

The most famous of them is the manual on the martial art of ninjutsu, which was a kind of ninja bible and was called the Bansenshukai. It was written in 1676.

There are between 400 and 500 ninja manuals throughout Japan, many of which are still kept secret.

21. The enemies of the samurai were not ninjas.


In popular media, ninjas and samurai are often portrayed as enemies. In fact, the term "ninja" often refers to warriors of any class in the samurai army, and the ninja themselves were something of a special forces when compared to the modern army. Many samurai were trained in ninjutsu, the complex art that ninja mastered, and were kept close by their masters.

20. Ninjas weren't peasants


In popular media, ninjas are also portrayed as peasants. In fact, ninja could become representatives of any class - both lower and upper class.

Only after 1600, when peace reigned in Japan, the official position of the ninja within the clan was reduced from samurai to a new social class called “doshin” (doshin) - a low-ranking samurai, “half-samurai”. As time passed, the ninja became lower in status, but they still held a higher social position than most peasants.

19. Ninjutsu is not a type of hand-to-hand combat


It is widely believed that ninjutsu is a type of hand-to-hand combat, a set of martial arts that is still taught around the world.

However, the idea of ​​a specialized form of hand-to-hand combat practiced by the ninja was conceived by a Japanese during the 1950s-60s. This new combat system became popular in America during the 1980s ninja boom, becoming one of the most popular ninja misconceptions.

To date, not a single mention of such a form of martial art has been found in ancient manuscripts.

18. Ninja Stars


Throwing "ninja stars" have little to no historical connection to the ninja. Shurikens (this is the name of this concealed throwing weapon, made in the form of various objects: stars, coins, etc.) were secret weapons in many samurai schools, and only in the 20th century they became associated with ninja thanks to comics, films and anime.

17. Ninja mask


"You will never see a ninja without a mask." In fact, there is not a single mention of ninja wearing masks. Surprisingly, according to ancient ninja manuals, they didn't wear masks. When the enemy was close, they had to cover their faces with their long sleeves, and when the ninja worked in groups, they put white headbands on their heads so that they could see each other in the moonlight.

16. Ninja suit

The popular image of the ninja is impossible to imagine without the iconic costume. This is an erroneous name, since the ninja "suit" seems to be uniform only to residents of Western countries. It's actually just traditional Japanese clothing along with a mask.

Black Japanese clothes can be compared to a black suit in modern London. Residents of medieval Japan could wear masks on the street in order to remain unrecognized. So such an image looks inappropriate and eye-catching only in the modern world.

15. Black or blue?


A popular argument today is that ninjas didn't wear black because then they wouldn't be able to see each other at all in the dark, so they actually wore blue clothes. This is a misconception that comes from a ninja manual called Shoninki (True Path of the Ninja) written in 1861.

It states that ninjas can wear blue to blend in with the crowd, as the color was popular, implying that ninjas would not stand out among the people in the city. They were also ordered to wear black on a moonless night and white on a full moon.

14. Ninja-to, or ninja sword


The famous "ninja-to" or traditional ninja sword is a straight-bladed sword with a square tsuba (guard). Modern ninja-to most often have a straight blade, but the original swords were slightly curved.

Swords that were almost straight (they were only a few millimeters curved) existed in medieval Japan and had a square tsuba, but they began to be associated with ninja only in the 20th century. Ninja manuals prescribed the use of conventional swords.

13. Secret ninja gestures

Ninjas are known for their secret hand gestures. This particular hand positioning technique called "kuji-kiri" has no real connection to the ninja.

The kuji-kiri technique, as it was called in Japan, has its roots in Taoism and Hinduism. From India, it was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks, so many mistakenly perceive it as a method of inducing damage.

In fact, this is a series of gestures used in meditation, during rituals and in Japanese martial arts. Associating kuji-kiri with ninja, again, began only in the 20th century.

12 Ninjas Didn't Use Smoke Bombs


The image of a ninja using a smoke bomb is very common. However, being completely erroneous, it is misleading.

Ninja manuals don't actually mention smoke bombs, but they do have hundreds of instructions for building "fire" weapons: land mines, hand grenades, waterproof torches, Greek fire, fire arrows, explosive projectiles, and poison gas.

11 Nobody Knew Who The Ninja Really Were


This is half true. Ninja were divided into yang ninja, who could be seen, and yin ninja, invisible ninja, whose identity was always kept secret.

Since no one had ever seen the Yin-ninja, they could take part in missions without fear of being recognized by anyone. On the other hand, a group of ninjas could be hired in the open: they moved with the army, they had their own barracks, they were relieved of duties during a halt, and they were well known among their peers.

10. Ninjas are black sorcerers

Before the image of the ninja assassin, the image of the ninja sorcerer, the spellcasting warrior, was popular. In old Japanese movies, ninjas use magic to trick their enemies.

Interestingly, among the skills and abilities of the ninja, there really was a certain amount of ritual magic: from magic hairpins that make them invisible, to sacrificing a dog to receive God's help. However, ordinary samurai skills also contained elements of magic. At the time, this was commonplace.

9 Ninjas Were Not Assassins


It's more of a semantic argument. Simply put, ninjas weren't taught the art of killing from a very early age so they could be hired by other clans.

Most ninja were trained in covert operations, espionage skills, the ability to obtain information, penetrate behind enemy lines, handle explosives, and much more. Ninjas were hired as assassins only as a last resort. Ninja manuals rarely talk about this topic. Murder was not their main profile.

8. Hattori Hanzo (Hattori Hanzo) - a real person

Hattori Hanzo became famous in the Kill Bill movies (a master gunsmith who created the best Japanese swords in the world), but in reality he was a samurai and the head of a ninja clan. He became a famous general, earning the nickname "Devil Hanzo" for his ferocity in battle.

He is believed to have written or inherited one of the oldest ninja manuscripts in existence.

7 Most Ninja False Claims Came In The 20th Century


The era of the ninja ended at the end of the 19th century, when Japan embarked on the path of modernization. Although speculation and fantasy about the ninja existed even during the time of the ninja, the first big boom in the popularity of the ninja in Japan began in the very early 1900s, when not much was known about historical spies and intelligence officers.

Ninja books were also popular between 1910 and 1970, and since many of them were written by amateurs and enthusiasts, they were full of erroneous statements and falsifications, which were later, in the 1980s, during the ninja boom, were translated into English language.

6. Scientific study of ninja

The topic of the ninja has been a laughing matter in Japanese academic circles, and for decades, the study of their techniques and teachings has been frowned upon as a bizarre fantasy.

Dr. Stephen Turnbull of the University of Leeds (England) published several books about ninja in the 1990s, however, in a recent article, he admitted that the research was erroneous, and now he studies this topic thoroughly with the sole purpose of publishing the truth about ninja.

Only in the last 2-3 years have serious research begun in Japan. Associate Professor Yuji Yamada leads a research team at Mie Universit dedicated to the ninja.

5. Ninja manuscripts are coded


As has been said, the ninja manuscripts were coded in order to remain secret. Actually, this is a misconception about the Japanese way of listing skills. Many scrolls in Japan, on various topics, are simply lists of skills.

For example, “Fox skill” or “invisible cloak skill” were passed down from generation to generation without proper training, so over time their true meanings were lost, but they were never encrypted.

4. If a ninja fails a mission, he will commit suicide.


In fact, it's just a Hollywood myth. There is no evidence that mission error leads to suicide.

In fact, some manuals teach that it's better to fail a mission than to rush through it and create problems. It is better to wait for another, more suitable opportunity.

There is historical evidence that ninjas could kill themselves and burn themselves alive if they were captured by the enemy - to hide their identity.

3. Superhuman strength


It is believed that ninja have much more physical strength than ordinary warriors, however, in fact, there were only a certain number of ninja who were trained and trained in special forces.
Many ninja led a double life, pretending to be ordinary residents in the provinces of the enemy: they were engaged in daily routine activities, trading or traveling, which contributed to the spread of “necessary” rumors about them.

The ninja had to be disease resistant, have high intelligence, be able to talk quickly, and look stupid (because people ignore those who look stupid).

Fun fact: one ninja retired due to back pain.

2. Ninja no longer exists


In Japan, there are people who call themselves masters of the ninja schools, whose origins date back to the days of the samurai. This issue is very controversial and delicate. To date, all those who call themselves real ninjas have not provided any evidence to convince them that they are right.

This means that there is not a single real ninja left. While the world is still waiting for proof...

1. Real ninjas are much cooler than fictional ones.


While fictional ninjas have been roiling people's hearts for nearly 100 years, the emerging historical truth is far more impressive and interesting.

With the advent of historical ninja manuals, which are now being published in English, a more realistic and unexpected image of them is emerging. Ninja can now be seen as part of the samurai war machine, each with a specific set of skills and abilities, trained in areas such as espionage, undercover operations, solo activity behind enemy lines, surveillance, explosives and demolition specialists, and psychologists.

This new and improved take on the Japanese ninja is more respected for the depth and complexity of samurai warfare.

The fundamental mistake of adherents, researchers and historians of ninjutsu today is that the ancient phenomenon is considered as a kind of martial art. This is completely untrue, for martial techniques themselves constituted only a small part of the extensive program of training for scouts, while much more attention was paid to issues of camouflage and covert movement, methods of breaking into houses and castles, methods of breaking, digging and jumping, swimming and running, the ability to remain motionless for hours in the most unthinkable position (for example, hanging on a branch), and many other skills.

In addition to pure "physics", mental aspects were also thoroughly worked out - hypnosis and self-hypnosis, the ability to memorize enormous amounts of information, ways to concentrate attention, sharpen the senses, mobilize energy, and so on. As follows from their other name - shinobi (crouching), the practice of night werewolves was based primarily on observing absolute invisibility, noiselessness and facelessness.

Therefore, a very beautiful story by Viktor Popenko on the pages of his book "Ancient Weapon of the East" about how proud of their profession ninjas for greater glory painted sword blades in different bright colors (and the color corresponded to one or another particular school), makes you imagine Standartenführer Stirlitz with a full set of Soviet orders and medals, up to the sign of the end of the Academy of the Red Army. It is impossible to agree with such fictions, if we take into account the custom of spies even to mutilate their faces if they are caught, in order to deprive the enemy of any possibility of identification. At the same time, it is strange to have a blade with you, on which, so to speak, “blue on white” is written about involvement in Kotto-ryu. If we also take into account that another indicator of the reliability of such information is the author’s statement about the chrome plating of blades (in the 17th century!) To shoot bunnies in the eyes of the enemy, then you should not take all this seriously at all.

The most that the ninja could do with their weapon was to smoke it in the flame of a candle or a fire to eliminate the slightest possibility of light reflections, each of which could lead to detection, death, and, which is incomparably more important, to the failure of the entire operation. To date, the first and so far the only reliable work on the history of espionage in Japan has been published in our country - these are two books by Alexei Gorbylev: Path of the Invisibles and Claws of the Invisibles. Only in it those who are interested in the real picture of the emergence and development of ninjutsu will find answers to almost all questions.

We are interested in cunning rogues only insofar as all their incredible skill and fantastic deeds directly depended on the ability to handle a diverse arsenal of special devices, from the simplest to the very complex and witty.

Today, with the light hand of writers and screenwriters, the general public has the impression that the ninja only did what they killed right and left, and only with the help of swords, sickles and shurikens. Meanwhile, this ominous image has about the same relation to the real practice of ninja as the brilliant James Bond has to the activities of real British intelligence. As noted above, a true shinobi was primarily a master of stealth, penetration, and kidnapping, and not at all hand-to-hand combat. Nowadays, from this point of view, an experienced burglar or pickpocket has a much greater right to identify himself with a ninja than all those members of clubs and sections that dress in black clothes, throw "stars" and brandish straight swords of Taiwanese manufacture, do not being able to even steal a wallet from a passerby. I don't sing or condone stealing, but the fact remains a good ninja is first of all a good rogue.

A huge number of fascinating stories tell us about the tests of skill that spies were subjected to by their employers or teachers. Almost all such tasks were sophisticated thefts of objects (a sword, a scroll, a pillow from under the head) from the owner who was warned in advance and prepared to fight back. Even when it came to military exploits in the enemy's disposition, the ringing of steel was always preceded by an imperceptible penetration into a carefully guarded area.

One ninja, one weapon

In full accordance with the theme of the work, the selection of auxiliary means was carried out, and each item could serve many purposes at the same time, and weapons in their pure form were almost never used - even the notorious shinobi-ken with a square tsuba was a whole arsenal, providing tasks that were very far from each other . "Invisible" simply could not afford to be hung with a pile of heavy bulky equipment, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie "Commando", so compactness and versatility were the first and decisive criterion in the selection of equipment. Even when the employer craved the death of an opponent, the case most often did without sickles and swords. The true master of his gloomy craft used, as historical documents testify, incredible tricks and inventions - again with the aim of invisibility and one hundred percent effectiveness of the action.

After all, the goal was, as a rule, not an ordinary warrior, but a commander, a prince, that is, a person always extraordinary, experienced in all the intricacies of battles, and besides, carefully guarded. Such a person had a developed intuition and the famous goku-i ("sixth sense"). Everyone is well aware of the textbook episode with (presumably) Yagyu Munenori and his servant (student?), when the sleeping master instantly caught the thought that flashed through him about his defenselessness, and the next second he was already standing with a sword in his hands. Therefore, it was very difficult to simply hack or slaughter the intended victim - most likely, he would have sensed the enemy in advance, no matter what the well-known Eric Lastbader wrote about the skill of the ninja to hide the emanations of his brain in the series about the adventures of the tanjian Nicholas Linner. In addition, one should not ascribe absolute perfection to night passes decisively in all types of martial arts. The generalist will always lose out to the narrow specialist in his favorite field, and the average samurai certainly outperformed the average spy in sword and spear technique. Do not focus on the outstanding representatives of the profession on both sides. In any case, there are unique ones, and our speech is not about them.

ninja sword

Just as today a normal scout in a foreign country does not sneak along the dark streets with a pistol in his hand, so three hundred years ago, ninja preferred to do without a sword until the very last limit, when guards or a chase fell upon him. And usually the result of such a fight was a foregone conclusion. Some advantage was the use of unconventional, little-known fighting techniques, attacks from unexpected angles, an abundance of acrobatic elements, and so on. All this brought victory in a quick skirmish, but only if there was a factor of surprise. In those cases when the swindler was forced to grapple openly, using his shorter and lighter sword, the result, I repeat, was known in advance. In addition, the wonderful blades of samurai katanas and tachi most often outperformed spy weapons in their characteristics. This is easily explained, since the samurai sword was made for a long time and for centuries, being often a family treasure.

The ninja sword (in those cases when he preferred "special item") was just a working tool, one of many and far from the main one, which it was not a pity to throw away if something happened. This does not mean that the blade was bad. He fully provided the range of his tasks, but did not possess any outstanding properties. Of course, again, you should not talk about exceptions. And by the way - only film ninjas are everywhere and everywhere equipped with their straight sword, which is constantly fitted behind their backs. In fact, there is not a single historical evidence of the existence of direct spy swords - no records, no surviving copies. Real scouts most often used the most common samurai blades, and they wore them, as expected, on the side.

Strictly speaking, there was no clear boundary between samurai and ninja at all, since samurai were an estate, and ninja were a profession, and nothing but the Bushido code prevented the poor campaigner from espionage and contract killings. Most famous ninja clans are samurai.

Many samurai really devoted themselves to the "Yin craft", and the roots famous schools bujutsu go into the soil of monastic fighting techniques, which also gave rise to excellent spy systems. The ninja themselves also did not reinvent the wheel, adopting in full the excellent, time-tested methods of samurai training.

Taking all of the above into account, it can be argued that under normal working conditions, our rogues preferred silent and incomparably more effective weapons to the sword and cutting - poisoned needles, projectiles, poisonous fumes, powders, liquids and other devilish things. How is it with Vladimir Vysotsky:

He was a good fellow

Got the old lady drunk

A feat of arms accomplished -

The house burned down!

Ninja is a modern spy

Truly a spy action! No wonder it was the ninja who were the first to appreciate and use all the advantages of gunpowder in business, and in general they tried to stay on the crest of the scientific and technological progress of those years, turning any invention to their advantage. That is why the range of their available means was extremely wide, although it was not weapons that dominated it, but means of penetration and disguise, eavesdropping and delivery of information, overcoming obstacles, and the like. All those who are interested in specific descriptions and illustrations of espionage equipment can refer to numerous publications on this fertile topic - from brochures by home-grown experts to the aforementioned two-volume work by A. Gorbylev.

I deliberately do not want to touch here on the frankly infernal techniques of the psycho-energetic training of the “invisible”, since this is certainly not in any way included in the topic of our conversation. All their favorite cinematic "fingers" and black magic fit perfectly into the familiar lines of the same Vysotsky:

They drank the potion in the turtles, ate the bulniki,

Danced on coffins, blasphemers...

Ninja must improvise

It is much more remarkable that the ninja were outstanding masters of improvisation, real professors in the use of any ancillary items, since the changeable kaleidoscope of emergency situations required lightning-fast decisions and precise actions. Whatever fell into experienced hands could turn into a weapon, and into a master key, and into anything. No matter how extensive the list of wearable equipment is, it is impossible to foresee everything.

Unexpected factors could always appear, forcing them to compose and construct something new from what was available or found nearby. It's hard to imagine a scout going out on a mission empty-handed. Intelligence and sabotage is always work with certain subjects, the success or failure of the case directly depended on the skill of handling them, and this is where the points of contact between ninjutsu and kobudo lie.

Ninja: demons of the night

Ninjas have always been shrouded in legends. Dressed in black, silent warriors-saboteurs appearing in the night, inflicting a mortal blow on the enemy and disappearing, as if on silent wings ... The image of a secretive but omnipotent intelligence officer and a secret killer with incredible abilities has always struck the imagination of foreigners. A lot of films have been made about ninja, dozens of books have been written and a whole host of computer games. At the same time, as is often the case, real ninjas were very different from the cinematic ones, although, of course, partly what is shown in the movies corresponds to the historical truth.
The art of the ninja - ninjutsu - is what ninjas have been trained to do since they were young. In fact, the main thing in the ninja craft has always been obtaining information, that is, intelligence, and not acts of sabotage and murder as such. It was for this reason that ninja usually wore everyday peasant clothes so as not to stand out from the crowd. A merchant, a peasant, even a circus acrobat - for the sake of disguise and achieving his goals, a ninja could take on any image! In addition, according to historical data, the famous black ninja night costumes are nothing more than fiction and myth-making. Just a black suit is noticeable at night, as it becomes a dark spot that is easy to detect. No wonder they say: "at night all cats are gray." That is why the actual ninja costumes had different shades of gray, including ashen, as well as reddish-brown and yellow-brown colors. Ninjutsu is a whole complex of various kinds of skills, which primarily included obtaining information by any means, as well as the possession of any household item as a weapon. In addition, ninjas learned how to defend themselves against any weapon, suddenly appear and disappear, and also studied medicine, herbal medicine and acupuncture. It is widely known that ninjas were able to stay under water for a long time, breathing through a tube, climb rocks and roofs, navigate the terrain well and see in the dark - thanks to special training.
Ninjas have always been considered separate class in medieval Japan, not belonging to either the military or the peasant class. They were usually hired by samurai rulers to use their ninja skills against rival clans. Among the ninja equipment, the most famous is the shuriken - a throwing weapon in the form of a metal star with rays in the form of spikes or blades. Many other types of ninja weapons were disguised as peasant tools. Although the main weapon they always had was a katana and a special spear. Everything was aimed at not standing out from the crowd in any way, acting unexpectedly, quickly achieving their goal and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Ninja appeared somewhere around the tenth century, and their heyday fell on the so-called Age of the Warring States, in the XV - XVI centuries, when samurai clans competed among themselves for supreme power in Japan. With the victory of Ieyasu Tokugawa and the establishment of the shogunate in Edo, the affairs of the ninja began to decline. First, Tokugawa, rightly fearing that his defeated enemies could use ninja against him, provoked a war between the two most powerful clans, Koga and Iga, and then, when they bled each other, he forced the surviving ninja to swear allegiance to him personally. In addition, with the beginning of the Edo period, internecine wars ceased, and therefore the demand for ninja services - intelligence and contract killings - fell sharply.
Legendary ninjas - mystical night demons with their incredible stealth and deadly skill - are a thing of the past. However, they left a bright mark in the history of Japan and their image will always remain attractive.