Antony Cummins' and Yoshie Minami's 'The Book of Ninja [The First Complete Translation of the Bansenshukai (Japan's Premier Ninja Manual)]'

446 Pages·2016·6.84 MB·English

by  Antony Cummins and Yoshie Minami

THE BOOK OF
NINJA
The First Complete Translation of
THE BANSENSHUKAI
JAPAN’S PREMIER NINJA MANUAL
ANTONY CUMMINS & YOSHIE MINAMI
READER WARNING
The Bansenshukai is a Japanese military manual based on samurai guerrilla tactics, espionage,
assassination and destruction, which contains dangerous and deadly information. Instructions include:
theft, explosives, poisonous gases, toxins, clandestine and underhanded action and arson, among many
other military topics. This translation has been made available in English for the purpose of history
and for education and is a deep and academic look into the misunderstood arts of the Japanese
shinobi no mono, or ninja as they are more commonly known. Therefore, the information contained
within is for research purposes only and should not be recreated nor re-enacted in any way.
DEDICATION
We should remember that within these pages is the combined knowledge of generations of men who
fought in forgotten wars and confrontations, who were unknown, faceless and who died, not on the
front lines, but way beyond its borders. We must also remember that while the shinobi have become
iconic in our world, they were once real people who were caught up in the horrible reality that is
war, a practice humans still cling to even in our ‘enlightened society’. These men of Iga and Koka
should be collectively remembered, as while they were part of that world, they pushed the
conventional limits and went beyond the required norm and perfected themselves on the darker
path of clandestine warfare. Thus, we should take their teachings and forge them into positive
ways for future generations, taking their seed of perfection and detailed thinking, making the
shinobi of tomorrow individuals who can fathom the logical outcomes of today’s decisions and who
can help make those decisions count, for the benefit of everyone.
SPECIAL THANKS
A special thank you must go to members who have helped with the pursuit of and the interpretation of
this manual. Firstly and most importantly to Steven Nojiri, who has become a corner stone of the
Historical Ninjutsu Research Team and whose knowledge on Japanese locks, history, politics and
subtleties is profound. Secondly, to Dr Nakashima Atsumi, whose avid research into the lives of the
people of Koka and Iga is helping to rediscover and respect the ways of the untold numbers of
faceless combatants from the past and to all the family members and friends who have understood our
need to drag ancient writings into this modern age. Lastly, a thank you to our editor, James Hodgson,
for his phenomenal effort in bringing this script to life and to Rebecca and Deborah at Watkins for all
their hard work.
Foreword
by
Dr Nakashima Atsumi
First of all I would like to express my sincere admiration to Mr Antony Cummins and Ms Yoshie
Minami, who have translated the Bansenshukai and introduced it to the English-speaking world.
Therefore, to appreciate their devoted work, I am going to comment on how this publication has been
realized and also on the outline of the Bansenshukai manual itself.
Antony came here to Japan, from the other side of the world, from the distant land of England, and
has travelled around this country of Japan with Ms Minami conducting thorough research. Through
these travels, we came to be known to each other due to the fact that I have previously published a
commentary on the Shoninki ninja manual and other books on the subject of ninjutsu. The first time
we met, I realized that they were amazingly passionate and strongly determined to publish the English
translation of my Shoninki and then to follow up with the Bansenshukai too, which moved me so
deeply and in truth left me feeling a little envious.
Of the numerous ninjutsu scrolls, the Bansenshukai is profound, and is the largest compiled
volume of information from the ninjutsu schools of both Iga and Koka, which were considered the
lands of the ninja. Fortunately, compared to the Shoninki – which I believe is a real masterpiece – the
text of the Bansenshukai is straightforward and self-explanatory. In addition, it is also fortunate that
the transcription kept in the National Archives is written in a style comparatively close to modern
Japanese and can be read and understood by those who are not so familiar with old writings, which is
a great advantage. Therefore, it is possible to convey to people what is written within without making
many serious mistakes. However, in order to achieve a complete interpretation of the text, as there are
so many places in its pages which have deeper connotations and are difficult to understand in a
profound way, even a discourse of three thousand pages would not be enough to make a perfect
explanation of all the meanings within and it would take many years of study to truly explain every
detail. This is because hidden within the meaning of the text is the masses of knowledge that was
made up of kuden or oral tradition, which now, unfortunately, has been lost.
Generally, when defined in short, ninjutsu is a set of arts, including: life skills, espionage,
sabotage, murder, military science, divination, astrology, astronomy, magic, various kinds of
observation skills, and any other skills people needed to survive and achieve their aims. These might
also include the martial arts, for a ninja would have to train himself in arts such as jujutsu grappling,
kenjutsu swordsmanship, archery and horse riding etc. Also, there are many other skills required by
the ninja, but they are too extensive and various to mention here. Manuscripts on ninjutsu have only
the simplest mention of general skills of living or astrological skills and the arts of astronomy, and
assume that the reader should well understand these things. In particular, they have no mention of
swordsmanship, horse-riding skills or other combat skills, because it was taken for granted that
people would naturally train themselves in those areas. Other general skills that the ninja learned are
left not in ninjutsu manuals but in other forms. For example, in the Umasugi clan of Koka, they have
passed down a menkyo certificate for the horse-riding skills of the otsubo ryu in their family,
meaning that simply looking at just the ninja scrolls limits our understanding of the full range of skills
in which shinobi would have been proficient.
Most writings on ninjutsu have only simplified information, and where it needs detailed
explanations, they would not write down everything but simply say ‘kuden’, which means ‘passed
down in oral traditions’. Therefore, to interpret those manuscripts, you need a great deal of
capability. In other words, it depends on your level of comprehension as to whether you feel that the
Bansenshukai is marvellous or it is not.
Even with the titanic work of the Bansenshukai, if you were a ninja, you would not be able to fully
understand everything at once. Therefore, please take your time and try to read between the lines and
with patience.
A number of transcriptions of the Bansenshukai have been left and, as they were all transcribed by
hand and not mechanically, no two transcriptions are completely identical. I myself have interpreted
four versions of the manual, which are different from each other, some having missing parts, some
adding supplementary sections, or even omitting that which the transcriber thought was unnecessary,
etc.
Of the multiple transcriptions that exist today, this English translation is based on the text kept in
the Cabinet Library in the National Archives and the Ohara version, which are considered to be
standard versions, and has straightforward and reasonable interpretations. It clearly indicates what is
unknown, so I believe it makes a great introduction to the Bansenshukai, and gives an objective
understanding of shinobi no jutsu to foreign people of different cultures.
Like most ninjutsu manuscripts, the Bansenshukai was written in the Edo period, in 1676, which
was a long tranquil time without war, leaving many ninja – including the Koka ninja – unemployed.
As a result, some Koka ninja travelled the distance to Edo to appeal to the shogunate against their
difficult situation in the hope of recovering their status by offering them the Bansenshukai manual in
1789. To their disappointment, however, their appeal was not accepted. Through this deposit in Edo,
this secret information was revealed and later used in cartoons and stories, which even today is
supplying Japanese children with future dreams. The Bansenshukai is full of very interesting stories,
as it is a compilation of skills from various schools from Iga and Koka and therefore documents the
histories of various people.
The definition of ninja, however, is not so clear. In my opinion, ninja were those who met the
following two conditions:
1. They should have knowledge of the skills and arts of the ninja
2. They should work for a clan, have a clear aim, and measures that enable them to fulfil their
mutual aim successfully without delay and with the greatest result possible.
The above is exactly what Iga mono and Koka mono were, and the Bansenshukai was born in such an
environment. If the Bansenshukai could be of any help to an individual person, it would be only
thieves, robbers or bandits. That is exactly why it preaches the need for a correct mind and at great
length. The ninja had to lead a life as in-betweens, who were samurai and not samurai at the same
time. Most lived as farmers who carried their skills as their side business through the pre-modern era
of the Edo period, as those bushi of the early Warring States period gradually faded into the mists of
time.
It is fun for us to find the traces of ninja in the skills and tools of the shinobi. A recent master
whose name was Fujita Seiko, who acclaimed himself as the last Koka ninja, founded the Bujutsu
Research Institute and was involved actively as the first chairman of the organization, an organization
to which I once belonged. Mr Fujita was the penultimate teacher of mine and he also taught at the
Nakano war school of the Japanese imperial army, which was a facility for the training of spies
during World War II. This teaching was on the subject of ninjutsu. My beginnings and now this link
with Antony and Yoshie make me feel that fate has brought me to write this foreword.
Lastly, I am sincerely hoping that the Bansenshukai will be read by myriad people from various
fields and with interest, and furthermore that it will give you inspiration to improve your life.
Dr Nakashima Atsumi
Chairman, the Federation of Japanese Koryu Bujutsu (an organization for the traditional schools of
the martial arts in Japan)
Contents
Foreword by Dr Nakashima Atsumi
Author’s notes
Introduction
A short introduction to Japanese locks and the art of lock-picking by Steven Nojiri
The Bansenshukai
Preface
Introductory notes
Volume One
Table of contents
Questions and answers about ninjutsu
Volume Two Seishin I – The Correct Mind I
Volume Three Seishin II – The Correct Mind II
Volume Four Shochi I – A Guideline for Commanders I
Volume Five Shochi II – A Guideline for Commanders II
Volume Six Shochi IV – A Guideline for Commanders IV
Volume Seven Shochi V – A Guideline for Commanders V
Volume Eight Yo-nin I – Open Disguise I
Volume Nine Yo-nin II – Open Disguise II
Volume Ten Yo-nin III – Open Disguise III
Volume Eleven In-nin I – Hidden Infiltration I
Volume Twelve In-nin II – Hidden Infiltration II
Volume Thirteen In-nin III – Hidden Infiltration III
Volume Fourteen In-nin IV – Hidden Infiltration IV
Volume Fifteen In-nin V – Hidden Infiltration V
Volume Sixteen Tenji I – Opportunities Bestowed by Heaven I
Volume Seventeen Tenji II – Opportunities Bestowed by Heaven II
Volume Eighteen Ninki I – Ninja Tools I
Volume Nineteen Ninki II – Ninja Tools II
Volume Twenty Ninki III – Ninja Tools III
Volume Twenty-One Ninki IV – Ninja Tools IV
Volume Twenty-Two Ninki V – Ninja Tools V
The Bansenshukai Gunyo-hiki
Secrets on Essential Military Principles
by Sasayama Kagenao of the Ohara Clan