This page is under construction.  Check back often.   In 1049, Ikai, a Chinese warlord from the Shitio Province in China, fought with the warlord of So Province.  Ikai's forces were defeated, and he made his way to Ise, which borders Iga, in Japan.  Here lived out the rest of his life, and here he taught what would eventually evolve into ninjutsu.  He taught two people: Fujiwara no Chikada (also known as Gamon Gouji) and Hogenbo Tesshin.  He taught them the eighteen warrior skills which later became known as the Shinobi Juhappan.

There are three volumes of books that were written hundreds of years ago, about ninja and by ninja.  These make up the bulk of the research material for the anthropologists.

Ninpiden.  Written in 4 volumes by Hattori Hanzo Yasukiyo in 1653.  It is the secret teachings of ninjutsu.

Shoniki.  This is a 3 volume work written in 1681 by Fujibayashi Masatake, and means ‘Correct Ninjutsu Memories’.  In these scrolls it is written that the colors worn by ninja on their operations were blue, gray, maroon and brown.  (The idea of black outfits comes from nineteenth century Japanese kabuki theater).

Basenshukai.  This is the most extensive work on ninjutsu that was ever written.  It spans ten volumes, and it was written in 1676 by Fujibayashi Yasutake, a samurai (he was probably a ninja as well) from Iga-Ueno and part of the famous ninja family of Fujibayashi.  It is written solely on Iga ninjutsu.  The only surviving ninjutsu comes from the Iga region.  Originally there were approximately 95 ninja clans in Iga.  The only other area in Japan in which ninja originated was Koga, which was adjacent to Iga.  But of the 53 ninja clans from the Koga region, no Koga ninjutsu systems have survived into the 20th century.

The following is from the Basenshukai:
‘The essential element for a ninja is a pure heart.  If a ninja pursues the wrong course using trickery or plots, his heart cannot be pure and his judgement will always be misguided, never permitting an honest course of action.  The heart of a ninja is pure and honest.’

 

 
The Iga ninja survived into modern times by allying themselves with the Tokugawa Shogun in the early 1600’s.   They were not ‘Watari Ninja’, or ninja who changed their loyalties from one warlord to another, depending on the changing times.  They rendered great assistance to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and they were in fact instrumental to his success at becoming Shogun. They were used in battles as late as the mid-1800’s. The Iga ninja remained loyal to the Shogunate until it was disolved.