Samurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth That Shatters the Bushido Mystique (35 page)

敵之心騒セ申事̶夢

Teki no Koto no Sawagase Mosu Koto—Yume

Disturbing the mind of the enemy—dreams

Teki no koto no sawagase mosu koto
is to use the skill of musotoshi (“transmitting dreams”) and to have the enemy lord-commander dream of difficulty. Alternatively this can be to write [on the spell-paper] that a certain retainer of the enemy is in secret communication with the allied side; this will appear to the enemy lord-commander in a dream.

忍ニアハヌ薬̶生 [姜]

Shinobi ni Awanu Kusuri—Shoga

Medicine to protect yourself from other shinobi—Ginger

This can be used for all things.

Shinobi ni awanu kusuri
—grate ginger, spread it thinly into a one sun square on paper and put it with thin glue tightly onto your
hori
—belly button.
^*
This is a medicine to prevent sleep and it can be used to work against coldness and heat—have no doubts about this, for it is a great and wondrous medicine.

行燈ノ火カクス事

Andon no Hi wo Kakusu Koto

Hiding the light of a lantern

Andon no hi kakusu koto
—use tweezers or other such things and grip it so that the light does not show.

城内又ハ人ニ知ラレヌ書状書様　付タリ見様ノ事

Jonai Matawa Hito ni Shirarenu Shojo Kaki Yo

Details on how to write secret letters that are to be sent into an enemy castle and cannot be read by others

Supplementary to this: how to read them.

Jonai e okuru matawa hito ni shirarenu shojo kakiyo no koto
—this skill is used when someone is detached from their allies [and correspondence with them is needed]. This [letter] should be written with ground soybeans or with the liquid used to strain teeth, or even with the juice of the Yuzu fruit. To read [such a letter] hold it over a fire or soak it in water. The liquid used to stain teeth cannot be seen unless it is soaked in water. I must state that to read the letters written with this tooth staining liquid you should coat the underside of the paper in ink; this is because the characters will not absorb the ink, making them clear to see.

[Untitled]

Use the ideogram for Cockerel
酉
seven times

The ideogram
酉
should be written on the left and right of your pillow at night.

The annotations state the point of using “cockerel seven times.” No matter what time [you wish to awaken] trace the ideogram
酉
seven times on each side of your pillow while praying and asking to be “startled” at the exact time you wish—then you may sleep. The ideogram
hiyomi no tori
酉
means cockerel, this is because the cockerel will inform you of the time. This is a magical ritual.

Use a toothpick made from the
Sakaki cleyera japonica
plant and use
torimichi ni kaku
to write on the road [where people] walk.

The annotations state:
通道二書
^*
torimichi ni kaku
means “to write on the passing road.” To do this, have a manushi snake “bite a new ink stone” and write with that ink, by doing this anything that you write will come to pass. Do this by capturing a live manushi and securing it, open the mouth and have it “bite” a new ink stone. Then put [the ink stone] into a pot jar and close it with a lid and bury it under a road where people walk for seven days. Finally take it out and write anything you wish with this ink—your wish will come true.
^†

水練之事

Suiren no Koto

Aquatic training
^‡

The measurement is 1 shaku 4 sun

Suiren no koto
is a way to stay underwater as long as you like without taking a breath. Make [a device] that is 1 shaku [4 sun] that is made of leather coated with tung oil. Make a mouthpiece of deer horn like a gunpowder flask used for muskets, so that you can hold it in your mouth. The tip of the mouthpiece should be made of copper. Make [a mouth seal] of toad skin to protect against water on the both sides and put a ball of lead in the bag.

Labels from left to right:

1. Toad skin

2. The ball inside

3. Deer horn here

鹿ノ一足

Shika no Hitoashi

The leg of the deer

♦
Arsenic – 10 momme—collect this from a silver mine

♦
Young Japanese five-lined skink (
Eumeces latiscutatus
) – 2 momme dried in the shade

♦
Sheep Bot flies
^*
– 2 momme charred

♦
Root of the Japanese butterbur – 3 momme powdered and raw

♦
Komyoshu cinnabar
^†
– five momme

The above should be kept in thin paper.

Shika no hitoashi
—powder the five ingredients above. Make a paper bag like a tea bag and put the mixture in it. Carry the bag holding it in a folded tissue paper. If you sprinkle it onto the enemy, the enemy will suffer hardship, becoming disoriented, or they may even die. Take precaution not to get it on yourself. The drawing above shows what the tissue paper should be like.

堀渡舟之事

Hori Watashi Bune no Koto

Moat crossing boat

Hori watashi bune no koto
—make four boxes that slot into one another and cover them with a thin wooden plate like that of the
hasamibako
—clothes carrying box. These can be [connected together] to make the shape of a boat.

Latches and plates should connect them with each other. The oar should be jointed like a fishing rod.

A basic mock-up of the boat latched together

浮沓之事

Ukigutsu no Koto

Floating aids

This should be made in the same manner in which a lantern is made with rings and should be made of whale fin
^*
—there are oral traditions.

Ukigutsu
—this should be made of leather and coated with tung oil. It should be attached onto the waist and to the wakizashi.

第四之巻

Dai yon no maki

Part Four

忍之火持之事

Shinobi no Himochi no Koto

The shinobi method of carrying embers

♦
Charred sheaves of young bamboo shoots – 1 momme 5 bu

♦
Camphor – 4 bu

Mix the above and solidify it with thin glue. Next, cut bamboo into a five sun section and make a hole in the end. When the mixture is truly dry, push it into the cylinder and ignite it at the open end—if you carry it in this fashion then it will last three days and three nights.
^*

Shinobi no himochi no daiji
—Scrape the surface of the bamboo and apply [paper] with glue, with persimmon tannin mixed in.
^†
The bamboo cylinder should have joints both on the top and the bottom. Pierce a hole in the joint on the bottom and ram a mixture of the two ingredients in tightly. Put a small hole on the top joint as an air vent. This is also called
Kaichu no hi
—“fire within the kimono.”

忍之薬