# Primary sources on the Ninja



## ak510 (Sep 23, 2007)

Hello all, I'm looking for primary resources (interviews, newspaper articles, documents, etc.) talking about ninja. The only thing I've found so far is the poem "Otomo no Yakamochi" by Heguri Uji, I need more. Anything you know of that is a first hand account of ninja or their activity. Anything at all would be helpful, thanks in advance!

By the way, my name is John. I am enrolled in an East Asian Civilizations class, and I have to write a 10-12 page paper on anything relating to East Asia, I chose the ninja of Japan.


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## Bigshadow (Sep 23, 2007)

ak510 said:


> Hello all, I'm looking for primary resources (interviews, newspaper articles, documents, etc.) talking about ninja. The only thing I've found so far is the poem "Otomo no Yakamochi" by Heguri Uji, I need more. Anything you know of that is a first hand account of ninja or their activity. Anything at all would be helpful, thanks in advance!
> 
> By the way, my name is John. I am enrolled in an East Asian Civilizations class, and I have to write a 10-12 page paper on anything relating to East Asia, I chose the ninja of Japan.



You may want to dig into some of Stephen Turnbull's books.  That is the best I can offer you at this time.


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## ak510 (Sep 23, 2007)

I am preparing to dive into a number of books, some of his are among them. But I need sources from people who saw or felt the effects of the ninja. A periodicals, letter, diary, any of that. Thanks for confirming that author for me though, I'm about to order some books tomorrow.


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## Bigshadow (Sep 23, 2007)

ak510 said:


> I am preparing to dive into a number of books, some of his are among them. But I need sources from people who saw or felt the effects of the ninja. A periodicals, letter, diary, any of that. Thanks for confirming that author for me though, I'm about to order some books tomorrow.



The reason I mentioned Stephen Turnbull's books is that maybe he cited his sources and you may be able to get access to them.  There are others on here that may be of more assistance but they are not online at this time.  Hopefully someone can give you some more leads.  Good luck on your paper.


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## Kennedy_Shogen_Ryu (Sep 23, 2007)

Most of the stories that I've read about the Ninja have been in books about the Samurai where the supposed feud between the Ninja and the Samurai are mentioned, titles escape me right now, but as soon as I think of them, I will post them.

On a side note, watch Revenge Of The Ninja or The Octagon, two of the greatest Ninja movies ever, anyone....anyone?


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## Bigshadow (Sep 23, 2007)

Kennedy_Shogen_Ryu said:


> On a side note, watch Revenge Of The Ninja or The Octagon, two of the greatest Ninja movies ever, anyone....anyone?



  :shrug:


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## kenjutsushi (Sep 24, 2007)

That's a tough one for sure.  Good Luck!  I tried to write a paper when I was in school and was unable to find any historical proof.  It was a real let down since I wanted to prove to my history teacher that ninja did exist.  He was firm in his belief that they were nothing but fiction.  Even what I got from Stephen Turnbull's books weren't good enough.

If you want to see movies that depict realistic ninjutsu to the best of my knowledge I would suggest "Shinobi no mono" 1&2 starring Ichikawa Raizo.  They are by far the best examples I know of.  However I don't believe they are historically accurate as far as the people and actual events but I believe them to be great examples of actual ninja techniques.  The Octagon and Revenge of the Ninja are total nonsense when it compared to reality.  You can usually pick up Shinobi no mono on Ebay for a few bucks.


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## Bill Sempf (Sep 24, 2007)

In the late 17th century, Yasutake transcribed the oral tradition of the fighters of the Iga and Koga provinces.  The scroll is called the Bansenshukai, and it could be considered primary material.  

It is, however, historically debatable and it is written in a script that most Japanese and chinese scholars have trouble reading because it is some strange combination of the two.  It may still be of some help.

http://www.ninpo.org/historicalrecords/bansenshukai.html

Good luck.  When you have completed your research post back here so we can see what you have discovered.


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## KogaTengu (Sep 24, 2007)

There are certainly a lot of folklore tales about the ninja and maybe even some historial accounts of their actions, but I think it will be hard to find anything in English about it.

I did a search over on koryu.com and did not turn up anything. In fact, what turned up really point towards there not veing any real Ninjutsu "ryu" per se at all. There may have been individuals that performed guerrilla warfare type actions, but they seem to think that there were no real "ryu" in the sense of a koryu in existence anyways.

Dave Lowry
http://www.koryu.com/library/dlowry4.html
"To meet the grazing appetites of the interested public, there was also no shortage of arts that were more or less concocted, e.g., "ninjutsu," created out of folklore or ambitious fictions."

Diane Skoss
http://www.koryu.com/library/ninjutsu.html
"Simply put, it is our opinion that modern-day ninjutsu and ninjutsu-derived arts are not _koryu bujutsu_....That's because we sincerely believe that if your training is working for you then it is none of our business. However, if you come to us and ask whether we consider ninjutsu or the Bujinkan-derived arts to be koryu--well, we can only provide our honest opinion."

Meik Skoss
http://www.koryu.com/library/mskoss5.html
"First of all, as one aspect of the martial arts, the equivalent, more or less, of military intelligence, it is certainly a legitimate area of study. The problem is, except for a handful of koryu, where it's a part of a larger comprehensive curriculum, ninjutsu just doesn't exist anymore. Certainly not as an independent ryu-ha. What is commonly taught as ninjutsu, in Japan and elsewhere, is nothing more than a rather disparate collection of unarmed and weapons arts. This, according to the people with whom I've spoken (people who are either professors of martial studies at Tsukuba University, the International Budo University, and Chukyo University, or headmasters and senior exponents in the classical martial arts), is something that's not very clearly understood by the general public. That's not to say these arts are not technically valid or that they don't have historical provenance. What they aren't, however, is the art of ninjutsu per se."

I for one enjoy arts based on the Ninja. I hope you are able to find good sources on their acts and ways of training.


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## Bigshadow (Sep 24, 2007)

KogaTengu said:


> There are certainly a lot of folklore tales about the ninja and maybe even some historial accounts of their actions, but I think it will be hard to find anything in English about it.
> 
> I did a search over on koryu.com and did not turn up anything. In fact, what turned up really point towards there not veing any real Ninjutsu "ryu" per se at all. There may have been individuals that performed guerrilla warfare type actions, but they seem to think that there were no real "ryu" in the sense of a koryu in existence anyways.
> 
> ...



I believe you are searching in the wrong place.


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## Sukerkin (Sep 24, 2007)

*ak510*, I wish you the very best of luck in your search.  I'm sure that it won't come as a surprise that many have taken up the ravelled thread of 'ninja history' and none have been able to formulate a convincing case.

I've been looking into Japanese history for (counts on fingers and toes) over twenty five years {since specialising in Japanese economic history in my Economics B.A.} and the (short version) conclusions I have reached are very likely at your fingertips in this fora - just do a search on my name and Ninja and you'll probably find more than enough to garner my opinions  :lol:.


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