Samurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth That Shatters the Bushido Mystique (38 page)

Extracts by Hattori Naoyoshi &
Hattori Naofusa of Owari, c. seventeenth century

城の内による鉄砲をうたするな鳥のたつまに忍びこそいれ
Do not fire guns from your castle at night. While the birds are
flying off, a shinobi will infiltrate.
Samurai war poem c. seventeenth century

The Oniwaban

The Guards of the Inner Castle Gardens

On the periphery of the identity of the shinobi is the word “Oniwaban,” half in the shadow of the shinobi and half in normal Japanese life. The origins of the Oniwaban began when the bloodline of the Tokugawa shogun failed and an heir was needed to replace the main family branch. Luckily the Tokugawa family had planned for this possibility. The Tokugawa clan had set up three major houses to support them. In the case where an heir was not given by the main line they could take a male from one of these other branches. The seventh shogun presented just such a case and, to find the eighth shogun, the clan had to look to one of the three great houses of the Tokugawa family. The eighth shogun was found in the Kishu branch and was put into position as shogun in 1716. When he moved from Kishu he took his own men and among these were the “gunpowder handlers.” When the new shogun set up in Edo castle he gave these gunpowder handlers the status of
Iga-mono
(a form of ninja). This entitlement gave them permission to move around the inner sections of Edo castle where others could not. This new group were renamed as Oniwaban—“guards of the inner castle gardens.” They wore black jackets, traditional samurai trousers and a sword. Their main task was to secure the gates at night, to patrol the area around the main castle and gardens, and to oversee the gardeners and craftsman that were needed to upkeep the inner areas.

The groups were eventually divided into the main-Oniwaban and the west-Oniwaban. The Oniwaban originally consisted of families from Kishu, some of which collapsed and were replaced by second sons who established their own lines. On top of overseeing the manual work that was undertaken when the lord was absent from the gardens and inner palace, a selection of the best of the Oniwaban was given further tasks. Firstly, they would investigate and vet anyone who was to work in the inner castle, martial arts instructors and teachers, etc., making sure that all were of the correct caliber, reputation and background. In addition to this, the lord or an intermediary gave secret missions to some, but not all, members of the Oniwaban. If rumors abounded about a Japanese warlord somewhere, signs of deception or treachery surfacing, then the Oniwaban would be sent. They would go disguised to discover the truth of the matter. Upon their return they would submit a report that was crosschecked before it reached the lord himself. Furthermore, if an official delegation was sent by the shogun to oversee certain matters in another province, two members of the Oniwaban would take on disguises. They would follow behind the delegation to investigate and observe matters. This system included having agents—who were not Oniwaban—living in Kyoto and Osaka, as well as having a contract with an express messenger firm. These express messengers often moved between Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo delivering post and messages. Therefore, if the Oniwaban needed to move out in a pair they would hire an express messenger to guide them to and around one of the cities, where they could take up lodgings with their secured agents in either Kyoto or Osaka. With this system in place they could investigate and report on the major daimyos and report either directly to the lord or to the intermediary.

Often the Oniwaban are confused with actual gardeners, but this is fictitious. The Oniwaban were half-samurai who oversaw all work, including the gardeners themselves. They were in fact one of the
ban
divisions,
ban
meaning “guard.” The reason that they were given the rank of Iga-mono is because of an imaginary line drawn in society around the lord. Everyone fell into one of the following brackets:

1. Omemie-ijo—those who are allowed an audience with the lord.

2. Omemie-ika—those who are not allowed an audience with the lord.

Being of the rank of Iga-mono meant that the Oniwaban could be in the presence of the lord. In fact some of the Oniwaban’s ancestors worked as grooms for the shogun’s horse—i.e., in close proximity, and all were from established, well-trusted families whose sons inherited the role. This factor is the reason that they are given this status of Iga-mono. It ensures that men of Kishu protected the shogun and his family. This was so that the guards of the garden did not have to leave every time the lord entered. In this way, if the lord so wished, he could give them orders directly, from mouth to ear. The Oniwaban continued to work in that role until the fall of the samurai in 1868.

The Oniwaban being of the status of Iga-mono must not be confused with the actual Iga-mono at the castle. A distinction must be remembered. This should be between the one hundred Iga-mono who worked at the “one hundred man guard house” (at the entrance to Edo castle)—which was nowhere near the inner palace—and the Oniwaban (also Iga-mono) who worked at the center of the castle. The one hundred Iga-mono were the descendants of those samurai who had helped Tokugawa Ieyasu cross Iga when his life was in danger. The Oniwaban were families from Kishu chosen from the “gunpowder handlers” within Kishu—who were classed as Iga-mono serving Kishu Province.

It is interesting to know that the word shinobi—to date—never appears next to Oniwaban. While their ancestry may have been connected to the shinobi in some way, and even though they do undertake secret missions, records never directly connect them to shinobi. They are a form of inspecting officer, or secret service, that have a distant connection to the ways of the shinobi. Oniwaban may have started from the Koka-mono of Kishu castle in modern-day Wakayama.

The Picture of the Shinobi

The above selection of shinobi translations, quotes and statements will have now made apparent the arts of the shinobi, and how they fit into samurai life. The image of the samurai or foot soldier trained in special military ways, and very much a part of Japanese military culture, is self-evident. The shinobi were those warriors who had that extra skill, their actions were dreaded by some, hated by others—but were known to all as a fearsome art form.

As an army moved out, some shinobi would have already been positioned within the enemy for months or years in advance. Other shinobi would be marching out with the allied forces, scouting ahead. When camps had been formed and fortresses built, the shinobi would sleep in the day but venture out in the dead of night, playing “cat and mouse” with enemy shinobi and guards. Moving through the moonlit or moonless night, stalking in the grass, listening and “feeling” for others, they would intercept and construct plans, deceive and fool the opposition and venture deep into hostile territory. They would raid camps, burn stores and perform “black arts.” The shinobi devised vicious strategies. They constructed deep plans. They conspired and formed spy networks. They ran between the enemy and their own army, then sat down to an evening meal within the company of their own—but awoke eating breakfast with the enemy, having infiltrated during the night. The shinobi were the warriors between, they were the men who looked for and moved through gaps—just as the sun moves through the gap of an open gateway.

*
i.e., skilled and experienced generals.

*
These have been published in
The Secret Traditions of the Shinobi
.

†
Unknown material, possibly a skull.

‡
Called the
koganemushi
in modern day Japan, the name
kuso-mushi
was used in the text, translates as “excrement insect” and is a relation to the dung-beetle.

*
“Dog” in medieval Japan was a term used to describe an infiltration agent.

*
The ideograms for this are not recorded; the ideogram is made of both
女
“woman” and
粧
“make up,” therefore it appears to be white “make up” which was based on white lead.

*
A second transcription states 10 momme.

*
To read the English translation of the scroll
Shinobi Hiden
and the shinobi scrolls of the
Gunpo Jiyoshu
manual, see Cummins & Minami,
The Secret Traditions of the Shinobi
.

*
Ikeda Toshitaka (1584–1616), also known as Harutaka. The first son of Ikeda Terumasa, who had a fief of 500,000 koku and was the lord of Himeji castle. In 1614, Toshitaka took part in the winter Siege of Osaka Castle on the Tokugawa side—the importance of this document should not be underestimated, giving us a great view of the winter Siege of Osaka.

*
A man of means who has no need of employment.

†
Unknown skill or tool.

*
木綿核
.

†
Possibly Oriental bezoar or its literal translation.

*
実石
Unknown substance, presumably a sort of mineral (stone).

*
実石
Unknown substance, presumably a sort of mineral (stone).

†
実石
Unknown substance, presumably a sort of mineral (stone).

‡
As these quotes are taken from different sections of the original manual, the last six before the sentence in question were grouped together.

*
The episode is not recorded here.

*
窃盗得る
.

†
I.e., an internal conspiracy will become evident and the enemy will see his castle fall around him—of course the agent is lying, there is no such conspiracy.

*
In legend Kiichi Hogen was believed to have owned the Six Secret Teachings from China, and was transmitted to Minamoto no Yoshitsune—Kiichi’s traditions are also mentioned in the Shoninki—
True Path of the Ninja
.

*
A pentagram. Presumably, the name “Seimei” comes from a famous Japanese yin-yang diviner in the tenth century, Abe no Seimei. This sign is well known and also known as “Seman.”

†
A grid of five horizontal lines and four vertical lines. The name “doman” comes from a famous yin-yan diviner, Ashiya Doman, who lived in Heian Period.

‡
This could be taken as “bottom.”

§
A famous monk (668-749) who aided the construction of the Great Buddha in Nara.

*
The author of the annotated script is questioning the recipe.

*
The ideogram for bridge is used here but often “bridge” and “ladder” are interchangeable.

*
It is possible that this is a transcription error and should be “Mudra of Mist”
霧之印
.

†
Literally, “a loss of the ten directions,” i.e., without awareness of all that is around.

‡
Meiha literally means “bright breaking.” In the annotations below, it is called Monyaburi
門破
“gate breaking”.

*
In the annotations, it says
入墨
, which means tattoo.

†
Possibly for digging out clay walls or as a battering ram.

‡
“Frost plum” is a direct translation of the Chinese. This is a traditional medicine for sore throats, which is made of unripe plum, salt, Gleditsia sinensis, dried Chinese bellflower, Arisaema, pinellia (tuber) and liquorice.

§
Unknown, possibly a kind of mochi rice.

*
Literally, “liquid silver.”

†
忍人
Shinobi hito.

*
Most likely an ancient Shinto prayer representing the process of the creation of the Universe. Literally meaning 1, 2, …. 10,000.

†
To make a “diamond” shape with your hands together and held out to the front.

‡
“Dairyo-gumo” is an alternative name of the
Kogane-gumo
spider (
gumo
meaning “spider”), Argiope amoena.

*
Throughout this manual it refers to “oil of
x
” such as “oil of toad” which is a common item; however, “oil of rat” and “oil of human” are used in this writing. These are considered to be extracts from the creature mixed with oils or fats or the oil and fat of the specific animal listed, or are the names for remedies from Chinese medicine that may not be connected to the animal in question. Therefore they have simply been translated here as they appear in the original scroll.

†
Literally, “burning”; however the ideogram was also historically used to mean “glowing” and with the addition of water this is most likely a way to have the sword appear “ghostly” in reflected light.