Greetings, fans of Japan. What do you know about the mysterious Japanese ninjas? Our imagination draws an image of a nimble man in a black suit, who knows how to fight well, run fast, climb walls and ceilings, and then masterfully disappears into the fog. We got this image of the Japanese superman from films and legends. But who were they really? Today my story is about who ninjas are, the history of their origin, the essence of their work and the qualities necessary to fall into this category of special people.

The essence of the concept

I would like to note that the concept of “ninja” simply did not exist in medieval Japan. Such people were called “sinobi no mono.” How did they transform into ninjas? Let's try together to understand the names in more detail and understand who these mysterious ninjas are.

The word "ninja" contains two hieroglyphs 忍者 （にんじゃ）:

• "nin" 忍 - “shinobi” means “to hide, hide, do everything secretly”
• "ja" 者 - "mono" means "person"

Essentially, this is a well-hidden person who does his business secretly. In short, a spy, scout, infiltrator. Don't forget that part of these guys' work was assassination. We conclude that “ninjas” are highly skilled spies with the additional specialization of a killer. They were outlaws, killing and spying for or for an idea. This closed caste also had its own code of honor.

How did they appear?

The history of the origin of the caste of Japanese secret agents goes back to the end of the 6th century, when the first mention of spies was recorded. A certain Otomo no Saijin, being a link between the aristocrats and the common people, was in fact a secret confidant of the feudal lord Shotoku Taishi. His task was to appear in the city dressed as a commoner, eavesdrop, spy, and report everything to his employer.

Another famous medieval spy is Takoya, a servant of one of the emperors, who already looks more like a ninja. He masterfully carried out various acts of sabotage, arson and murder.

As a powerful and terrible clan, ninja warriors appeared during the 9th-10th centuries. According to one legend, its basis was the warrior monks Ken Doshi.

Historical documents confirm that the very first place of training preparing professional ninjas was the Iga school. The founders were Buddhist monks who were quite militant. Exposed to persecution by the state, they went to, where they improved their skills. The monks were called “yamabushi” (mountain warriors), they were known as healers, dexterous warriors, experts in the art of espionage and trained those who wanted to become real intelligence officers. Yambusi have developed unique techniques to discover the unique capabilities of the human body.

In Japan they believe that ninjas could turn into demons, fly over tall walls and were invulnerable. According to legend, the monks intensively meditated, teaching these skills to future ninjas. Entering a trance, the warriors were reincarnated as a dragon or demon; their altered consciousness helped them do incredible things.

Medieval killers perfectly mastered the art of killing in slow motion, with a light touch. The ninja touched the enemy's body and after a certain time, he died mysteriously. Scientists suggest that simple blows were applied to certain vulnerable points of the human body, which is why death occurred. But how the killers could push it back for some time, no one still knows.

Who and how could become a ninja

Let's talk about how to become a real ninja. All Japanese youths did not dream about this. But they became trained intelligence officers by birthright and rarely by choice. Any Japanese boy born into a family belonging to a clan was supposed to become their successor. The baby's training began from the first days of life.

With the help of fairly tough games and exercises, children were taught agility, endurance, trained quick reactions, developed the vestibular system, received a strengthening massage and learned to swim. When the child could walk, run and float on his own, training began in climbing trees and walls, high jumping, and extreme horse riding.

Particular attention was paid to teaching how to fight without weapons and hardening the child’s body; a real spy must be able to spend a long time in the scorching sun or sit for hours in icy water. Future spies developed ninja qualities such as attentiveness, visual memory, instant reaction, developed sense acuity, and trained the sensitivity of hearing, smell and touch.

In addition to physical development, future scouts also received special education. They learned to read, write, translate,

The best spies had to be able to tell by the breathing of a sleeping person, determine his age and gender, understand by the whistle of an arrow how far away the enemy was, and name his type by the sound of a weapon. They had to skillfully master the skills of acting in order to easily change their disguises and masterfully imitate their death.

Professional intelligence officers communicated with each other using special codes: grains of rice left along the roads, special music, paper messages written in colorless ink.

Hitmen also required excellent ability to quickly appear and disappear. To do this, I had to spend hours practicing incredible tricks, throwing homemade grenades. Ninja were masters of camouflage, which is why they seemed to appear out of nowhere. Secret spies used many different tricks to make people seem practically demons. And they succeeded quite well. They were feared, legends were made about them, stories were told.

Japanese culture has given the world many unusual and interesting phenomena. I will try to tell you about some of them. We will continue our conversation about the mysterious ninja warriors another time. I say goodbye for today. Thank you for reading my notes and sharing them with your friends on social networks!

History and origin of the ninja

Ninja - reconnaissance saboteur, spy, infiltrator and assassin in medieval Japan.

Ninjas appeared in Japan during the time of feudal civil strife, which lasted there for more than 700 years in a row.

Japanese feudal society was divided into a number of classes: appanage princes (Japanese - 大名, daimyo:, lit. “big name”), below were professional warriors (Japanese samurai 侍, bushi Japanese 武士), even lower - peasants, then there were clergymen, artisans, merchants, and finally, the “dirty” class (Japanese - 部落民 “burakumin”). There was no place for ninjas in this hierarchy. They were outside society and outside the law. Accordingly, other rules ruled over them - their own.

Each feudal lord had in his service specialists of a special kind who created spy networks in other principalities to obtain information about the plans of their rulers. They also carried out various sabotage activities: arson, poisoning, kidnappings, murders, spreading false rumors, planting false documents in order to confuse their enemies and sow discord between them.

They, ninjas, were afraid. Because they personified a different world - alien, incomprehensible and hostile for the majority of the inhabitants of Japan at that time. They were credited with communicating with spirits, werewolves, ghosts and other dark forces. The shadow warriors themselves supported these superstitions in every possible way, because they gave potential opponents a feeling of doom and thus became another weapon in their arsenal. History shows that, using the fear of evil spirits to their advantage, ninjas sometimes achieved success in completely hopeless enterprises.

These were representatives of clans that existed outside the social hierarchy and did not obey generally accepted norms. Within these clans, a special discipline gradually developed, the main goal of which was to theoretically substantiate the best ways to quietly penetrate the enemy’s ranks, find out their secrets and crush them from within.

Even knowing well the symbolism of Chinese and Japanese culture, it is difficult to penetrate the secret that hides the history of the origin, lifestyle and psychology of the ninja. Due to the almost complete absence of ancient written sources, the information that has reached us about the old ninja clans is fragmentary.

The history of the ninja dates back to the mid-6th century. At that time, China was divided into two large states, Wei and Liang, and a number of small ones. They were all at enmity with each other. This struggle undermined their strength, and at the beginning of the next century, power throughout the country passed to the new Tang dynasty. In the Tang Empire, three religious and philosophical teachings coexisted: Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Buddhism, which began to spread among the Chinese from the middle of the 1st century, gained more and more strength and became so strong that the Tang emperors made it the state religion.

The Buddhist clergy in China were divided into two main groups: those who lived in monasteries (they were the majority) and those who wandered around the country, eating alms and preaching views that differed significantly from those officially recognized.

In their wanderings, wandering monks ("lyugai") gradually penetrated further and further beyond the borders of their fatherland - to Korea, Vietnam, and from the beginning of the 17th century - to Japan. It should be noted that the Chinese authorities have always struggled with mendicant wandering monks. Accusing them of perverting the teachings of the Buddha and of witchcraft, they persecuted them in every way possible. The monks, however, actively resisted, and went so far in the fight against the authorities that they often joined rebel detachments or gangs of robbers. Gradually, in connection with this, a unique system of survival in extreme conditions developed among them, called “lyugai men” - “the gate of the teachings of mendicant monks.” It included the art of disguise and transformation, methods of healing, preparing medicines, techniques of hypnosis and entering into trance, and much more, which helped wandering monks to overcome the dangers that awaited them everywhere.

Since the Tang Dynasty, strong ties have been established between the Buddhist circles of China and Japan. Suffice it to say that all schools and sects of Japanese Buddhism that arose between the 7th and 9th centuries borrowed their philosophy and rituals from similar Chinese schools. But once on Japanese soil, the schools of Chinese Buddhism mixed with local beliefs and therefore underwent quite significant changes. As a matter of fact, this is what makes it possible to distinguish them from Chinese prototypes.

Similar changes occurred with the sect of wandering monks "Lyugai", which was transformed into a movement of a part of Japanese monks (mostly self-proclaimed, i.e. without state certificate, the so-called "shidoso"), who opposed themselves to the official church. This movement was called "gyoja" (hermitage), and its central figure was the semi-legendary Enno Ozunu (634-703).

Growing up in a rich and noble family, at the age of fifteen he became a monk and began to study the Buddhist canon. But his penchant for mysticism prompted him to soon leave the monastery and settle in a cave on the densely forested slope of Mount Katsuraga. He lived there for more than 30 years. During this time, Ozunu, with the help of the Chinese, became familiar with the “Lyugai Men” system in detail and combined it with the Shinto cult of the mountains. The result was an original teaching, which he called “Shugendo” - “the path to gaining power.” Odzunu recognized the most important role in the practice of “gaining power” (i.e., mastering supernatural forces) in Buddhist methods of achieving “enlightened consciousness.” We are talking about breathing and meditative exercises (“kokyu”, Chinese “qigong”), ritual ascents to the peaks where mountain spirits (kami) supposedly lived, lighting sacred fires (goma) to attract divine power (ikoy), the technique of entering trance (“takisugyo”, standing under a waterfall, when the adept’s consciousness changes under the influence of ice water falling on the crown), recitation of spells (jumon).

Like the wandering "lyugai" monks in China, the followers of "shugendo" in Japan very soon began to be persecuted by secular authorities and the official church. Ascetic hermits deprived the treasury of taxes, and monasteries of parishioners and gifts. At the same time, they enjoyed enormous authority among the people as healers and soothsayers. It got to the point that many peasants began to consider self-proclaimed monks, these vagabonds and hermits, the only true followers of the teachings of the Buddha! It is clear that the ruling circles did not want to put up with this state of affairs. Decrees were issued prohibiting vagrancy (717) and the teaching of Shugendo (718). However, the bans did not give the desired result. The number of Enno Ozunu's followers continued to increase. They took refuge in secret hermitages in the mountains, so they began to be called “yama-no-hijiri”, i.e. "mountain sages"

During the reign of Empress Koken, all real power from 765 to 770 was concentrated in the hands of the minister-monk Dokyo, and persecution of the unofficial church intensified. By a special decree, Dokyo prohibited the construction of chapels and temples in the mountains and forests, and self-proclaimed monks were ordered to be searched for and taken into custody. The repressions entailed the unification of mountain hermits, wandering monks and some peasants - adherents of "shugendo" - into closed communities, and the increasing militarization of these communities.

The rudiments of knowledge about survival, gleaned from the Chinese monks "Lyugai", were supplemented and expanded; A special layer of warrior monks (sohei) emerged, whose main task was to protect mountain communities from attacks by armed detachments sent by the authorities. A major role in improving the martial art of the “mountain sages” was played by the fact that after the defeat of Nakamaro Fujiwara’s uprising in 764, the surviving rebels, most of whom were professional warriors, fled to the mountains. There they joined the ranks of the Sohei.

At the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, the teachings of "shugendo" were supplemented and deepened by the ideas of the Buddhist school "Shingon", including meditation in the process of contemplating sacred paintings, the art of spells, ritual poses and gestures, which gave a feeling of merging with the Cosmos and gaining magical power.

Political events contributed to the transformation of "sohei" into ninjas. From the mid-10th to the mid-17th centuries, all of Japan found itself engulfed in wars between princes against each other, revolts of the aristocracy, and popular uprisings. The bloody unrest continued for more than 700 years in a row! In such a situation, the need for qualified intelligence quickly arose, which could provide a decisive advantage to any of the warring parties. It was necessary not only to be able to obtain important information, but also to deliver it to its destination in the shortest possible time. "Sohei" had the necessary qualities of this kind. Therefore, it was they who became hereditary professional intelligence officers, terrorists and saboteurs in feudal Japan. Almost every appanage prince (daimyo) tried to win over some “sohei” clan to his side in order to protect himself from the enemy. Thus, by the will of fate, the warrior monks found themselves drawn into feudal feuds and the struggle for power. In turn, this led to the fact that the system of their training began to quickly improve. The "sohei" clans began to turn one after another into "ryu" ninjutsu.

In the middle of the 13th century, about twenty schools of ninjutsu became famous, and by the 17th century there were more than seventy of them. Replenishment of the ranks of ninjas in that era came mainly from “ronins”, i.e. samurai who lost their service, and with it their salary and land. The most famous schools were the following: Gekko-ryu, Joshu-ryu, Yoshitsune-ryu, Iga-ryu, Kaiji-ryu, Koga-ryu, Koshu-ryu, Matsumoto-ryu, Nakagawa-ryu, Negoro-ryu, Rikuji-ryu, Shinshu-ryu, Togakure-ryu, Uesugi-ryu, Fuma-ryu, Haguro-ryu, Hattori-ryu.

By 1615, shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu completed the unification of the country. The regime he established of brutal central power and isolation of the rest of the world lasted no less than 250 years, until the bourgeois Meiji Revolution of 1868. The feudal strife that had soaked Japan in blood for 700 years in a row finally stopped. During the Tokugawa era, ninja began to be considered not just renegades, but non-humans - “quinin” (literally this means “non-human”). From now on, any of them who fell into the hands of the authorities should have been executed with a cruel, shameful death, no longer for specific acts, but simply for the fact that by their existence they violated the generally accepted order.

When a lasting peace was established, finding themselves “unemployed,” the majority of ninja clans gradually switched to crafts and trade. Finding no practical use for their pets, and also due to widespread severe persecution, ninjutsu schools gradually fell into complete decline.

Ninja clans and schools

In total, there were several dozen ninja clans throughout Japan, but the most famous were the clans of Koga County and Iga Province. Koga County was controlled by a coalition of clans called the 53 Koga Families. Iga Province was divided between 3 major clans: Momochi in the south, Hattori in the center and Fujibayashi in the north. The most important ninja schools were formed in these two areas: Koga-ryu and Iga-ryu.

Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu (Japanese 忍術 Ninjutsu, “the art of stealth”) is a Japanese martial art.

Summarizing the statements of Japanese masters, we can define the essence of classical ninjutsu as follows: this is the path of spiritual and physical improvement of a person in order to gain the ability to secretly control events in order to survive his family, his family and his clan.

This is the art of winning no matter what. Do not hope for success, but be confident in it, being in joy, without experiencing either fear or anger - such is the spirit of true ninjutsu!

Preparing for hand-to-hand combat

There are two main ways to prepare for hand-to-hand combat, which are fundamentally different. The first of them is based on the selection of a certain set of technical techniques that best suit the capabilities of a given person. Then mastery of these techniques is brought to the level of mastery. Situations that arise in battle are then adjusted to suit the chosen techniques. This is a way of formalizing technology, reducing it to certain templates. Its concentrated expression is a set of standard technical actions, known as “kata”, “taolu”.

And there is a second method, based on spontaneous movements of the body that automatically reacts to any emerging situation. This is a way of improvisation. It is based on the idea that any pre-worked techniques (templates) deprive a person of the freedom of action that is so necessary in a real, not a game, fight. The ninja relied on the second of these methods, which they called “elemental combat.” They meant that the specificity of improvisations in each specific case is determined by the interconnection and mutual transitions of the five natural elements - earth, water, fire, wind and emptiness.

The first of these methods is the most common. This is evidenced, in particular, by the fact that even in the schools of modern ninjutsu, elemental combat most often means the same sets of specific techniques, only performed in a certain manner. However, this is a profanation that has nothing to do with the true battle of the elements. It is based on special mental states that dictate technical actions without any participation of consciousness. You don’t need to play in the element, but be the element. Moreover, the transformation must become so convincing that even the enemy involuntarily believes in the image being imposed on him.

The platforms for launching certain programs of action in battle are the proper starting positions. The “key” for launching specific programs (i.e. specific tactics) are mental images symbolizing the primary elements of the ring:

• Fire (visualization - yellow triangle; quality - aggressiveness and indomitability; direction - West)
• Water (visualization - orange circle; quality - pliability and fluidity; direction - East)
• Earth (visualization - red square; quality - constancy, hardness, stability; direction - South)
• Emptiness (visualization - blue dot; quality - creativity, extension; direction - Center)
• Wind (visualization - green semicircle; quality - lightness and mobility; direction - North)
• The Fight of Fire ensured success in a fight with an insufficiently experienced or cowardly opponent. He was suppressed by pressure, a cascade of straightforward head-on attacks.

An enemy acting in a similar manner was forced to fight with Water. It was characterized by withdrawals back and to the sides, followed by counterattacks that resembled waves, over and over again rolling onto the cliffs of the impregnable shore and eroding it.

For example, one of the possible ways of fighting on Earth is a mighty avalanche (ninja) caused by a random small pebble (enemy). The first in this case demonstrates absolute confidence in himself and in his abilities. The enemy will be crushed, crushed, demolished by a powerful counterattack, no matter how he tries to resist his inevitable death.

One of the aspects of Void combat was “keeping a distance”, caused by the need to be at any moment of the battle where the enemy will not reach you, or will reach you with minimal damage. The enemy's attack "fails" into nowhere, exposing him to a counter attack. Choosing the correct distance is impossible without a good eye, the so-called “sense of the enemy” and the ability to move.

The Wind fight was suitable for fights with a skilled and strong opponent. It was dominated by deceptive movements, sudden disappearances from the field of view (for example, a sharp sag down, jumping, somersaulting) and circular movements with blows, throws, and painful effects on the joints. The image of a typhoon, pulling into itself and breaking everything in its path, fits well with the Battle of Wind.

An important condition for mastering aspects of elemental combat is a tendency to imaginative thinking. In addition, it is stupid to practice combat of the elements if the body is “squeezed”, if the person is not completely healthy. The naturalness of movements ensures relaxedness, freedom, confidence, and the absence of excessive tension in the psyche and muscles.

Hand to hand combat

Defeat the situation, not the enemy. Direct combat with the enemy was not at all the intention of the skilled agent. The enemy was eliminated if the interests of the case required it, and also when he clearly interfered with the plans of the ninja. A competently carried out operation should not have left behind any incriminating traces, except in cases where attention was specifically focused on such traces in order to sow the desired thoughts and moods in the minds of enemies. The opponent was most often perceived only as an animated obstacle, but not as an object of action. To win is to complete the assigned task, and not to finish off a living obstacle that has arisen along the way.

Rationality. All actions of the spy were subordinated to one goal and had to be strictly rational. Why waste energy fighting an enemy when you can simply blind him and escape? Why sneak up on a sentry through the rustling grass, risking every second, if you can silently shoot him with a poisonous needle from a blowpipe? Why get involved in a group fight when it’s easier to misdirect your pursuers? It was considered very advisable to use special weapons and devices that made it possible to neutralize the enemy even before he came into direct contact with the spy.

In addition to special tools and devices, ninjas widely used any objects that came to hand. The ability to use improvised means greatly facilitates the implementation of many techniques: for example, strangulation with a stick is much faster and more effective than strangulation with hands, and a blow with a stone is more powerful than a blow with an empty fist.

In combat conditions, all the capabilities of a well-trained body were realized - from striking to escaping from a restraining grip through an acrobatic trick. Each action taken should immediately follow from the previous one. It is absolutely unacceptable to be captured if you have not yet decided what you will do in the future. Techniques are performed only to the extent that they correspond to the desired result. No more, no less.

Surprise. Since the fighter usually faced professionals who were fluent in weapons, victory had to be achieved by unconventional tactics, mixed with surprise and putting the enemy in an unusual combat situation. The most common stunning actions were surprise and suddenness of the attack, closely related to invisibility or lulling the enemy's vigilance with his appearance and behavior; unpredictable changes (“breaking”) of the distance; instant shutdowns (blinding, deafening) or deception (false noise) of the senses; using standard weapons in an unusual manner and using weapons unfamiliar to the enemy (for example, spiked gloves).

Linking the fighting style to the characteristics of the enemy. In the event of a direct confrontation, the scout was confronted by a wide variety of opponents, each of whom had his own level of skill, personal life attitudes, and his own strengths and weaknesses. The enemy's capabilities and vulnerabilities could be assessed based on many factors.

By appearance, involuntary movements and face it was determined which points of the fighter were most vulnerable, but by his physique it was assumed in which fighting techniques the enemy was undoubtedly dangerous, and by his manner of movement his place in the system of primary elements (elements) was recognized, on the basis of which his fight option.

The transition to one or another type of “elemental combat” had to occur reflexively, as a reaction to a subconscious assessment of the enemy and external conditions (for example, a fight in a narrow space was not suitable for the wind style, and a meeting with a timid fighter clearly corresponded to the fire style). The creation of the necessary reflexes was facilitated by the strict discipline of the training fight, reinforced in a sleepy state, and the rejection of any constraining rules.

Naturalness of movement (shizen) ensures relaxedness, freedom, confidence in battle, and the absence of excessive stress on the psyche and muscles. To make basic techniques natural, a person needs to turn them into something as familiar as, for example, moving a hand with a piece of bread to your mouth. This requires a huge number of repetitions of the techniques being learned. No meditation will help here.

Learn to correctly distribute weight and apply force, while moving at different angles forward, backward, to the side, moving in a circle, rotating in one place.

Perform strikes, throws, knocking movements, dodges in various positions, repelling various types of attacks, playing out some situations in the forest, on the roof, in a narrow corridor, etc. Here you can learn something only together with your partner.

The principle of “body and weapon are one”. This statement has a slightly different meaning than another well-known thesis - “weapons are an extension of the body.” In ninjutsu, the emphasis is on the fact that the body itself is a weapon, while any mechanical device (weapon) serves only as an auxiliary means to enhance the damaging effects of body movement. When working with any weapon, the state of consciousness, basic principles, the nature of movements and slopes, vectors of force application, energy consumption - everything remains unchanged.

Use of the setting. By becoming accustomed to the theory of the five elements, the ninja became a natural part of the environment, and therefore could use it as his own body. This included, for example, periodic disappearances during battle on the ground, and taking advantage of the features of the combat area (altitude difference, type of surface), and using details of the situation as a barrier between oneself and the enemy. By relying on weather conditions, it was possible to expose the enemy to the blinding sun, adjust the decisive technique to the moment the moon went behind the cloud, and lure the enemy onto a slippery surface in the rain.

Anonymity. In any of his actions, the ninja was obliged to remain unrecognized. Identifying him could put contactees at risk and decipher past and future actions of the clan. In combat conditions, such anonymity was ensured by working in invisibility and a specific hood mask, leaving only the eyes open. When improvising, you can use a scarf or some kind of stretchable fabric tube (stocking, piece of sweater) for this. While making identification difficult, the mask also eliminates the unmasking reflection of the facial skin and muffles the sound of breathing.

Getting used to weapons. Just as a samurai, armed with a sword, draws it from its sheath, tests the sharpness of the blade, weighs it in his hand, makes several swings in the air, and then begins to chop vines and straw targets, so a ninja must get used to any technique he learns, make it his own .

Mastering, for example, a punch, he first chooses the most convenient way for himself to form a fist, tries different trajectories of striking with it. The main goal is to achieve natural, relaxed movements.

Ninjas acted secretly, and therefore tried not to stand out among others and avoided collisions with them in every possible way. There were outposts on all the roads of medieval Japan, at all city and village gates. Suspicious travelers were subjected to thorough searches. Therefore, the ninja had a minimum of equipment with him.

A piece of rope or chain, a towel, a staff, a short peasant knife, maybe a sickle, some food and medicine, a flint for making fire, that's all. With such a load, he could move freely without fear of inspections. Having reached their destination, the ninja made the devices he needed from improvised materials, and took the weapon (if necessary) from the enemy. Having completed the task, he destroyed or hid his tools and again took on the appearance of a harmless traveler.

Ninjas most often used agricultural tools and everyday items as weapons. This principle allowed them not to arouse unnecessary suspicion, not to carry unnecessary things with them, and not to complicate their lives with the problems of making blades, handles and other technically complex products.

That is why one of the most important types of their weapons (if not the most important) was a wooden stick. There is confusion regarding the size of these poles. To avoid it, let's take as a basis the fact that the average height of a Japanese man in the Middle Ages was approximately 150 cm (the Japanese today have become taller thanks to food rich in animal proteins). The length of the staff did not exceed the length of human height (plus the height of wooden sandals - “geta”), but most often equaled the distance from the ground to the shoulder. In other words, it fluctuated between 140-160 cm.

In battle, the staff was usually held with two hands. The technique of working with it was something between the use of a spear (yari) and a halberd (naginata). It included jabbing (face, throat, heart, solar plexus, groin) and swinging blows, cutting (on the joints of the arms and legs), blocking enemy weapons, strangulation, and combined shackles. They used the staff for support in jumping kicks, for raking and throwing sand or dirt into the enemy's face.

The scythe and sickle (in Japanese "kama" or "gama") are the classic weapons of peasants who participated in wars and rebellions. There are many varieties of sickles and scythes, differing from each other in the long wooden handle, the length and degree of curvature of the blade, and the way it is attached to the shaft. In principle, the longer the handle and blade and the straighter they are, the greater the effectiveness of the kama as a weapon, but the more difficult it is to hide this weapon under clothing. Most often, two sickles were used simultaneously: “o-gama”, with a sickle on a long handle (up to 120 cm) they parried and deflected enemy attacks, and with a small sickle, “nata-gama” (blade 15-30 cm, handle 20-45 cm .) hit the enemy.

The main targets when attacking with a sickle are the hands holding the weapon, elbow and knee bends, neck and head, back and sides. In modern conditions, when there are no longer samurai armed with swords and spears, the sickle is even more effective in close combat than before. They are very comfortable intercepting kicks and successfully resisting any opponent armed with a melee weapon (pole, chain, club, dagger, etc.). You can even throw it at a target. A well-trained fighter armed with two sickles can only be stopped with a shot from a pistol or machine gun.

It is very difficult to work freely with one sickle, much less with two. If you have poor command of the technique, it is easier to injure yourself with them than the enemy. It takes a lot of time (several years of daily hard training) before the sickles feel like a natural extension of your hands. Therefore, for training you should use only training weapons, with dull wooden “blades” that completely exclude cuts and punctures. The most suitable handle length for a training “nata-gama” is from the wrist to the elbow, and “o-gama” is from the wrist to the armpit.

Purely technical hand-to-hand combat of ninjas (taijutsu) included concentrated strikes with limbs on the most vulnerable places of the human body (daken-taijutsu), bone-crushing grips, throws, painful effects (ju-taijutsu). The hand-to-hand combat technique also included various dodges (kawashi), falls (ukemi), somersaults with rolls (kaiten), wheels (daisharin) and jumps (tobi).

Ninja Ghillie Suit

According to Japanese historian Gorbylev, ninjas never used the black tight suit popular in films and novels. Ninja night costumes had shades of reddish brown, ashen, tan or dark gray. According to Gorbylev, it was these shades that made it possible to completely merge with the darkness of the night, while an absolutely black suit stands out sharply in these conditions. The ninja suit had a baggy outline. During the day, ninjas wore casual clothing to blend in with the crowd.

One of the real ninja armors. Museum exhibit

Ninja Equipment

Ninja equipment included 6 mandatory items (rokugu): amigasa (wicker hat), kaginawa (cat), sekihitsu (stylus) or yadate (ink bottle with brush case), yakuhin (medicine), tsukedake or uchidake (container for carrying embers). ), sanjaku-tenugui (towel).

Curious facts about Japanese ninja warriors

Our knowledge of ancient Japanese ninja warriors is based mainly only on literary works, films and comics, which contain a lot of conflicting information. Read below for some real ninja facts that will leave you amazed.

Shinobi no mono

According to surviving documents, the correct name is "sinobi no mono". The word "ninja" is a Chinese interpretation of a Japanese ideogram that became popular in the 20th century.

Shinobi-no-mono (ninja) in Japanese

First mention of ninja

For the first time, the ninja became known from the military chronicle “Taiheiki,” written in 1375. It said that ninjas entered an enemy city at night and set buildings on fire.

Golden age of the ninja

Ninjas flourished during the 15th and 16th centuries, when Japan was torn apart by internecine wars. After 1600, peace reigned in Japan, after which the decline of the ninja began.

"Bansenshukai"

There are very few records of ninjas during the era of wars, but after the onset of peace, they began to keep records of their skills. The most famous manual on ninjutsu is the so-called “Ninja Bible” or “Bansenshukai”, which was written in 1676. There are about 400 - 500 manuals on ninjutsu, many of which are still kept secret.

Samurai Army Special Forces

Today, popular media often portrays samurai and ninja as sworn enemies. In fact, ninjas were something like modern-day special forces in the samurai army. Many samurai trained in ninjutsu. Since ninjas were mercenaries, they also worked for samurai. For anyone who paid money. Samurai and ninja were at enmity only when their interests did not coincide, for example, when the ninja had to kill a person who was guarded by the samurai.

Ninja "quinine"

Popular media also portrays ninjas as being from the peasant class. In truth, ninjas could come from any class, samurai or otherwise. Moreover, they were “quinine”, that is, they were outside the structure of society. Over time (after peace) ninjas were considered lower in status, however they still held a higher social position than most peasants.

Ninjutsu is a specialized form of hand-to-hand combat.

It is generally accepted that ninjutsu is a form of hand-to-hand combat, a system of martial arts that is still taught throughout the world. However, the idea of ​​the specialized form of hand-to-hand combat practiced by today's ninja was invented by a Japanese man in the 1950s and 1960s. This new fighting system was brought to America during the boom in ninja popularity in the 1980s and became one of the most popular misconceptions about ninjas.

Shurikens or shakens

Throwing stars (shuriken or shaken) do not have the slightest historical connection with ninjas. Throwing stars were a secret weapon used in many samurai schools. They only began to be associated with ninjas in the 20th century thanks to comic books and animated films.

Masks and headbands

Ninjas are never shown without masks, but there is no mention of ninjas wearing masks. In fact, they often had to cover their faces with long sleeves when an enemy was nearby. When working in groups, they wore white headbands so they could see each other in the moonlight. Wearing a mask in normal times would attract more attention.

Ninjas blended into the crowd

A popular ninja look always includes a black bodysuit. In fact, in such a suit they would look just as appropriate as, for example, on the streets of modern Moscow. They wore traditional Japanese clothes.

Clothing for camouflage

Today, people believe that ninjas wore black clothes to help them hide in the dark. The Shoninki (The True Way of the Ninja), written in 1681, stated that ninjas should wear blue robes to blend in with the crowd, as this color was popular at the time. During night operations, they wore black clothes (on a moonless night) or white clothes (on a full moon).

Ninjas did not use straight swords

The now famous "ninja-to" or straight-bladed, square-hilted ninja swords did exist in medieval Japan, as square handguards were made back then, but they only began to be attributed to ninjas in the 20th century. “Medieval special forces” used ordinary swords so as not to stand out ahead of time.

"Kudzi"

Ninjas are known for their spells, which they supposedly performed using hand gestures. This art was called "kuji" and it has nothing to do with ninja. Kuji originated in India and was later adopted by China and Japan. It is a series of gestures designed to ward off evil in certain situations or to ward off the evil eye.

Land mines, hand grenades, explosives, poisonous gas

The image of a ninja using a smoke bomb is quite universal and common in the modern world. Although medieval warriors did not have smoke bombs, they had hundreds of fire-related recipes: land mines, hand grenades, waterproof torches, varieties of Greek fire, fire arrows, explosives and poisonous gas.

Yin Ninja and Yang Ninja

This is half true. There were two groups of ninja: those who could be seen (yang ninja) and those whose identity always remained a secret (yin ninja).

Ninja - black magicians

In addition to the image of the ninja assassin, in old Japanese films one could often find the image of the ninja master, a warrior-mage who defeated enemies with cunning. Interestingly, ninja skills did contain a certain amount of ritual magic, from magical hairpins that supposedly provided invisibility to sacrificing dogs to gain the help of the gods. However, standard samurai skills also contained an element of magic. This was common for that time.

The Art of Covert Operations

To be more precise, they were indeed often hired to kill a victim, but most ninja were trained in the arts of covert operations, propaganda, espionage, making and using explosives, etc.

"Kill Bill"

Hattori Hanzo became famous thanks to the film Kill Bill. In fact, he was a famous historical figure - Hattori Hanzo was a real samurai and trained ninjas. He became a famous general who received the nickname "Devil Hanzo". It was he who, at the head of a group of ninjas, contributed to Tokugawa becoming the shogun of Japan.

Hobbyists and Enthusiasts

The first major boom in modern ninja popularity came in Japan in the early 1900s, when very little was known about these medieval spy-assassins. In the 1910s - 1970s, many books were written by amateurs and enthusiasts, which were simply replete with errors and falsifications. These errors were then translated into English during the ninja boom in popularity in the 1980s.

Encrypted Ninja Scrolls

It is alleged that the ninja manuscripts were encrypted so that no outsider could read them. This misunderstanding arose due to the Japanese way of writing scrolls. Many Japanese scrolls simply listed lists of skill names without properly deciphering them. Although their true meanings have been lost, the texts have never been deciphered.

The myth of ninja suicide when refusing a mission

This is a Hollywood myth. There is no evidence that mission abandonment resulted in suicide. In fact, some manuals teach that it is better to abandon a mission than to rush things and cause problems.

Sleeping agents

It is believed that ninjas were much more powerful than ordinary warriors, but only certain ninjas who were trained in a special style of warfare were so. Many ninja simply lived the lives of ordinary people in secret in enemy provinces, conducting normal daily activities or traveling to spread rumors. Recommended abilities for ninjas were: disease resistance, high intelligence, fast speech, and stupid appearance (because people tend to ignore those who look stupid).

Neither clan nor clan

There are a number of people in Japan who claim to be masters of ninja schools that trace their lineage back to the times of the samurai. This issue is very controversial, since there is not a single proven fact that ninja families or clans have survived to this day.However, there is no evidence that ninja clans do not exist. Ninjas do not like to advertise themselves.

Ninja weapons and equipment

In films and books about ninjas, these legendary spies from feudal Japan always use unusual weapons and ingenious devices that help them perform difficult tasks and arouse interest and amazement among their contemporaries. In most cases, the equipment on display is by no means a work of fiction. Shurikens, kunai, arare, sai and much more - all this was truly included in the arsenal of the shinobi.

Real samples of ninja weapons and equipment. Museum exhibit

Before going “on duty,” unique equipment was selected for each member of the squad (or single warrior), depending on the goals of the mission (murder, kidnapping, sabotage, espionage, theft, intimidation, and so on), his role in the operation and the expected external conditions. After all, it was physically impossible to carry around a full arsenal of ninjas, consisting of several dozen weapons, all the time.

It is important to note that the features of shinobi weapons and equipment are determined by the specifics of their activities. Firstly, they almost always acted secretly, under the cover of darkness or at dusk, avoiding direct and open clashes. Therefore, they had no need for bulky, heavy and noisy weapons (like armor). Secondly, the ranks of shinobi included women and even teenagers (the ninja’s initiation rite took place very early), which also shifted priority in favor of light and compact weapons.

Thirdly, ninjas often disguised themselves as peasants, tramps, merchants, monks or artists. Therefore, their equipment had to be such that, if something happened, it could be hidden under clothes or passed off as agricultural (or any other) equipment.

Well, now let’s move on to a direct examination of the most interesting and unusual types of weapons and equipment of the night warriors.

1. Ninja or gatana

A straight short sword, also known as a ninja-to. Its blade was often specially darkened so as not to give glare, and the sheath was slightly larger than the size of the blade, since the free part of it was used as a case for various useful little things: poisons, master keys, documents, and so on. By the way, shinobi often had to flee, during which they abandoned the most burdensome equipment, and primarily the sword. Therefore, unlike samurai katanas, tachi and wakizashi, gatana was made from cheaper steel using simplified technology.

2. Amigasa

A secret weapon in the form of a wide-brimmed straw hat, into the frame of which a sharp ring-shaped blade was woven. Sometimes the blade was continuous, and sometimes it consisted of disparate elements woven in random order around the perimeter of the hat. In the second case, it was much more difficult to recognize the weapon in the hat. Such weapons could be used both in close combat and thrown at the enemy from a medium distance.

3. Shuko and Ashiko

Devices for climbing walls and trees in the form of pads with spikes, which were worn on the feet and palms. Also, if necessary, ashiko could be used as a weapon, causing terrible lacerations, like those from the claws of wild animals.

4. Kama

A sickle-shaped weapon with a short blade and an elongated handle, often used in pairs.

5. Makibishi

Metal spikes against infantry or cavalry, which the ninja scattered in case of pursuit. They had a variety of shapes and sizes: from twisted nails and pointed pyramids to balls spiked like hedgehogs.

6. Kusarigama

A very cunning weapon that has several different techniques of use. It consists of a sickle (kama) and a chain attached to the handle with a weight at the end. With a chain it was possible to confuse the enemy, knock the weapon out of his hands, and then strike him with a sickle. You could also throw the sickle itself at the enemy, and then pull the weapon towards you with a flail.

7. Kakute

A ring with one or more spikes pointing inward, which allowed it to be worn as jewelry. In open battle, the kakute could turn its spikes outward, like brass knuckles. Sometimes ninjas wore several of these rings at once. Poison was often applied to the thorns.

8. Shurikens

Perhaps the most popular shinobi weapon in modern culture, regularly appearing in films and games about ninjas. They are plates sharpened at the edges for throwing, which can be of various shapes and sizes.

9. Sai

A stabbing weapon like a stiletto, the specific guard (pointed and with curved edges) of which makes the sai look like a trident.

10. Kaginawa

A crampon consisting of a rope with a double or triple (sometimes more) hook at the end. Designed for climbing walls and overcoming other high obstacles.

11. Fukibari

A miniature blowpipe or “throwing mouthpiece”, which more accurately characterizes its miniature dimensions - no more than 5 cm in length. This made it possible to hide it in the mouth, and, if necessary, to hit the target with a poisoned needle (hari) from a distance of 5-7 meters. There were also larger blowpipe - fukiya-zutsu, the length of which was up to 30 centimeters, and the distance of the dart was several times greater than that of a miniature fukibari.

12. Tessen

A folding battle fan consisting of iron plates or knitting needles pointed at the top edge. Due to its impressive weight, it could be used as a weapon (bludgeon) even when folded.

13. Some people

Five thimbles sharpened like claws at the end, turning a shinobi's hand into the paw of a wild beast. Neko-te allowed him to deliver lashing blows to the face and unprotected areas of the enemy’s body, leaving behind terrible and often fatal lacerations.

14. Shobo

A metal or wooden stick, sharpened at both ends and equipped with a finger ring in the middle. It was clamped in a fist and made it possible to deliver jabbing blows with sharp ends aimed at the vital organs of the enemy.

The world of secret societies has always been filled with myths and legends. This is understandable - the right reputation often decides much more than a massacre. But few people can compete with a ninja. They run on the water, sleep on the ceiling, and the most advanced ones are sitting under your table right now, waiting for the right moment to... I won’t say. It's scarier this way. figured out the history of who ninjas are.

They always have “stars”, their faces are covered with black masks, only the cruel eyes of the best hired killers and spies are visible. But was it really like that? Where did ninjas come from - or "shinobi", "in hiding"? What did they eat? What did you do with the rest of the time after the sudden murders?

Jin'ichi Kawakami - 21 Soke (family head) of the Ban house from Koga Prefecture, founder of the Ban family shinobi tradition study and practice society and manager of the Ninja Museum in Iga - laughs and says: "You don't make a living being a ninja."

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Hermit fighters

From an anthropological perspective, the emergence of the ninja is not much different from the emergence of such a thing as the Cossack Sich, and the development of ninjutsu as a martial art is very similar to capoeira, which fugitive slaves created to fight their former masters.

In the Japanese version, it all started with yamabushi. Shintoism, the “way of the gods,” considers mountains to be sacred places where kami gods and ancestral spirits live. It's not very polite to disturb them if you're a mere mortal. Another thing is the mountain hermits who master Buddhist and Taoist magic. It also serves as a convenient way to deliver prayers. Do you want to ask God for something? The last yamabushi leaves before sunset, so be sure to tell him your message.

But it was unsafe in the mountains: the robbers were not particularly respectful of either the gods or the hermits. Therefore, the monks had to get together and learn to fight. They spied some things in China, came up with some things themselves, and simply made up some things.

Naturally, the existence of powerful mountain warriors did not go unnoticed; those who wanted to learn martial arts were drawn to them. And, gradually, someone came to the conclusion that you can make a living from this if you dress in inconspicuous clothes and have patience.

Spies and spies

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Amigasa
(straw hat)

One version says that ninjas appeared at the same time as samurai. The feudal lords read about espionage in Sun Tzu's treatises and decided to acquire their own intelligence service, which did not need to be based on moral principles. Because honor is honor, and business is business. In fact, the profession of intelligence officer-saboteur-killer was created. Shinobi were not considered criminals, they pursued political motives.

According to another version, no one created ninjas; they appeared on their own in the form of a “family business.” Entire clans within which elite warriors were raised. A man from the street could not get into this school, he had to be born into a family to become a shinobi.

Most likely, it was both ways. What is known for sure: ninjas had no gender prejudices. When the noblewoman-poet Mochizuke Chiyome was widowed, her samurai husband’s uncle, the head of the Takeda clan, suggested that the girl create a women’s ninja school. Orphans, prostitutes and refugees were recruited there to be introduced into the structures of rival clans. Of course, kunoichi - female ninjas - were trained differently: they relied on charm and knowledge of poisons.

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Dawn and oblivion

Ninjas felt especially at ease during the feudal wars of Sengoku Jidai. It began in the mid-15th century and lasted 150 years. The shogunate began to crumble, the feudal lords took advantage of the moment to eliminate injustice towards themselves. Some lacked land, some lacked power. At times like these, assassins are in high demand, so shinobi prospered.

The mountain fortresses of the two largest schools - Iga and Koga - were considered the most impregnable structures in the country. In total there were about 70 ninja clans. Their influence grew. Which, naturally, did not please the ambitious samurai, who planned to return the shogunate under their strict leadership.

The feudal lords realized that the new estate was interfering with their plans. And they launched a real war against the ninjas: from attempts (quite successful) to discord the largest clans to full-scale battles.

Photo by shutterstock

Ironically, however, it was the future shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu who received the fleeing ninja. And he used them against his opponents to establish a puppet government in the regions based on the principle of blood. I mean, he placed his relatives in key positions. So the ninjas, in fact, sacrificed themselves to the coming Edo period - an era of peace and development.

Next was the Oniwaban, the secret service of the Tokugawa shogunate, which existed until the mid-19th century. Combat saboteurs became court seksot spying on citizens. In the new period - the Meiji Restoration - ninjas were completely considered obsolete and forgotten about them for many hundred years.

Think, dress, eat like a ninja!

Ninjas, in fact, were and remain slightly modified Buddhists. They believed that absolute harmony and security could not be achieved. And every action upsets the natural balance and causes an equal reaction. Only by understanding the true cause of the intervention can its consequences be minimized. To put it very simply: think about what you are doing, and what will happen to you for it, and try to breathe more evenly.

Three blocks of ninja skills

Ninjutsu is based on three main blocks of skills. The first of these is working with the environment and equipment. Shinobi learns to read tracks, move secretly, overcome obstacles and deceive the enemy. The second block is the actual fighting, both the art of the body (tai-jutsu) and the use of weapons (bu-jutsu). And finally, the third block is the most difficult. Psychotraining Nimpo-mikke helps ninjas mobilize the internal resources of the body with the help of consciousness.

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Warrior Equipment

Equipment is a separate problem. In movies and cartoons, the only thing missing from tight suits is a nuclear warhead. You can see the standard equipment of a real ninja in the infographic. We will focus on interesting points.

For example, shinobi mastered the “nekome-jutsu” technique, which allowed them to answer the question “what time is it” by looking at a cat’s pupils - the higher the sun, the narrower they are. This seems funny until you remember how important it is for a warrior to tell the time correctly and how common it was to come across wristwatches in medieval Japan.

But the famous poisoned hairpins are not a myth; kunoichi used them with all their might and were called kanzashi. To find out what was being said in the next room, shinobi took out a wiretapping tube - saote hikigane. And they wrote everything down in a pencil-yatate. To transmit the code, they carried multi-colored grains of rice. And finally, a headshot. Do you know how ninjas hid noise from movements at night? They put crickets in their pockets.

To carry such a bunch of useful gadgets and flutter across rooftops, you need to stay in shape, so the ninjas were on a diet: millet, dark rice with bran, fruits and vegetables. Many of them were vegetarians. Not because they loved animals so much, the considerations were more utilitarian: camouflage includes getting rid of unnecessary odors.

Yes, about the clothes. If you have already prepared a black robe with a hole for the eyes, throw it away. Ninjas knew how to disguise themselves. This means no black tight suits unless you're going to a party where everyone is dressed like that. Shinobi clothing corresponded to the terrain, setting, weather, time of year and day. What does it mean to wear white clothes in winter and dark blue clothes during the full moon?

Famous ninjas and their superpowers

Mochizuke Chiyome, the founder of kunoichi, could spin in a series of pirouettes so that she took off and soared in the air.

Shimotsuge Kizaru, nicknamed the “tree monkey,” also knew how to fly, after jumping well. He passed this skill on to Shimotsuga Kozaru, his son, the “little monkey.”

Hatchisuka Tenzo from the Iga clan could dig a whole tunnel for retreat while his opponents were crowding around a hole in the ground and throwing up their hands in bewilderment.

There is also a reliably known story about a nameless ninja who sat in a cesspool, waiting for a future victim, and ended her life with a well-aimed spit of a poisoned dart into the nearest naked place. However, similar things are said about assassins.

James "I will restore the world's interest in shinobi" Bond

What is the connection between Roald Dahl, Sean Connery and the 20th century revival of the ninja? In 1967, the author of Fantastic Mr. Fox and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wrote the script for the fifth James Bond film.

Unidentified people are stealing US and USSR spaceships. A nuclear war is about to break out between the superpowers. And only a British superspy can save the world. And since the action takes place in Japan, Japanese spies, that is, ninjas, come to the aid of the English spy.

By the way, this word came to the Oxford Dictionary, and then to all of us, three years earlier, in 1964, when Ian Fleming published the original novel, which differed from the film adaptation in its gloominess and greater love for little things.

But the true popularity of ninjas came in the 80s. The massive move of oriental actors and martial artists to Los Angeles had an effect. Literally every second action movie featured clever and bloodthirsty mercenaries. There have become so many shinobi that even the “law of conservation of ninjutsu” has appeared - the more ninjas in the frame, the easier it will be for the main character to deal with them.

The worst thing is to run into one ninja; it may well turn out that he is the protagonist, and you are a random victim. And, of course, we cannot forget the animated series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” thanks to which most children and adults generally learned about who shinobi are.

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Not murderers, just people with regular jobs

In the modern world there are practically no ninjas left. I mean, spies, saboteurs and masters of unconventional combat exist, but cannot boast of origins in medieval legends. There are thousands of schools of ninjutsu that do not correspond to koryu. This is a list of martial arts that existed before the Meiju Restoration, which contains all the rules.

“Ninjas were not ordinary assassins, as they show in the movies”, says Jin'ichi Kawakami. He is one of the last ninjas, as they say, with a pedigree. Comes from the ancient house Ban of Koga Prefecture - the same one where the impregnable fortress of the Koga clan was located.

He studies all the traditions of ancient art from the age of six. Now his goal is to preserve them. The master is quite ironic about ninjas “walking on water” and “flying in the sky”. "They're just people", he is sure. This means that you cannot work as a ninja 24 hours a day if you are a man or woman in a clan. “They also had day jobs,- he smiles - you had to feed yourself, murders didn’t happen very often.”

Ninja (Japanese 忍者 “hiding; one who hides” from 忍ぶ “sinobu” - “to hide, hide); endure, endure” + “mono” - suffix of people and professions; another name is 忍び “shinobi” (short for 忍びの者 shinobi no mono)) - reconnaissance saboteur, spy, infiltrator and assassin in Medieval Japan.

Ninja in literal translation still means “infiltrator”. The root of the word nin (or, in another reading, shinobu) is “to sneak.” There is another shade of meaning - “to endure, to endure.” This is where the name of the most complex, most mysterious of all martial arts comes from.

Ninjutsu is the art of espionage that 20th century intelligence services could only dream of. Having undergone physical and mental training that was superhuman in difficulty, and perfectly mastering all the techniques of kempo without weapons and with weapons, ninjas easily overcame fortress walls and ditches, could stay under water for hours, knew how to walk on walls and ceilings, confuse pursuers, fight with insane courage, and if necessary, remain silent under torture and die with dignity.

Spies and saboteurs who sold their work to the highest bidder, ninjas obeyed an unwritten code of honor and often went to their death in the name of an idea. Declared people of the lowest class (hi-nin), pariahs, outlaws, they inspired involuntary respect among the samurai. Many clan leaders disputed the favor of experienced ninjas, many tried to instill ninjutsu experience in their warriors. And yet, military espionage for centuries remained the lot of the elite, the family trade of a narrow circle of irreplaceable specialists, a clan “craft.”

Ninjutsu, certainly associated with the esoteric practice of a number of Chinese schools of wushu, is fraught with many mysteries not only for historians, but also for doctors, biologists, chemists, physicists, and engineers. What we know is only the tip of the iceberg, the base of which goes into the dark depths of mysticism, into the cosmic abysses of parapsychology.

In all likelihood, the process of separating the ninja into a separate social stratum, into a closed caste, proceeded in parallel with the formation of the samurai class and in almost the same way. However, if samurai squads were initially formed on the northeastern borders from otkhodniks and runaway commoners, then some fugitives preferred to hide close to their homes. The increased power of the samurai subsequently allowed it to take an independent position in the public life of Japan and even come to power, while scattered groups of ninjas never represented and could not represent any significant military and political force.

A number of Japanese historians define ninja as warrior-farmers (ji-zamurai). And in fact, at the initial stage of development they had much in common with samurai. But already in the Heian era (8th-12th centuries), which was marked by the rule of the palace aristocracy, proud bushi considered hired spies to be a dangerous, declassed element. From time to time, local feudal lords and government troops staged real raids on ninjas, ravaging their camps and villages, killing old people and children.

Ninja strongholds were scattered throughout the country, but the wooded environs of Kyoto and the mountainous regions of Iga and Koga became the natural center of ninjutsu. Beginning with the Kamakura era (1192–1333), ninja camps were often replenished by ronin, serving samurai who had lost their overlord in bloody internecine strife. Over time, however, access to the mountain communities was almost eliminated, as the commonwealths of free mercenaries gradually developed into secret clan organizations, sealed by ties of blood relationship and oath of allegiance.

Each of these organizations became a unique school of martial arts and cultivated the original tradition of nin-jutsu, called, like the samurai schools of bu-jutsu, ryu. By the 17th century There were about seventy ninja clans. Of the twenty-five, the most influential were Iga-ryu and Koga-ryu. Each clan passed down its own tradition of martial arts from generation to generation.

Having been excluded from the state system of feudal relations, the ninja developed their own hierarchical class structure that met the needs of this type of organization. The community was headed by the military-clerical elite (jonin). Sometimes jonin controlled the activities of two or even three adjacent ryu. Leadership was carried out through the middle level - tyunin, whose responsibilities included the transmission of orders, training and mobilization of ordinary performers, the lower level (genin).

History has preserved the names of some jounin from the late Middle Ages: Hattori Hanzo, Momochi Sandayu, Fujibayashi Nagato. The position of senior and middle management varied depending on the community. Thus, in the Koga clan, real power was concentrated in the hands of fifty chunin families, each of which had under its command from thirty to forty genin families. In the Iga clan, on the contrary, all the reins of power were concentrated in the hands of three jonin families.

The key to the well-being of the community was, of course, secrecy, so ordinary spies who performed the most difficult and thankless work received a minimum of information about the top of the hierarchical pyramid. Often they did not even know the names of their jounin, which served as the best guarantee of non-disclosure of secrets. If ninjas had to operate in several groups, communication between them was carried out through intermediaries, and no information about the composition of neighboring groups was provided.

Tyunin was in charge of organizing appearances, building shelters, recruiting informants, as well as tactical leadership of all operations. They also came into contact with employers - agents of large feudal lords. However, the agreement was concluded between the jonin and the daimyo himself. The remuneration received for services was also transferred to the head of the clan, who distributed the money at his own discretion.

The art of espionage gained great fame primarily from genin, mostly unknown performers of the most difficult assignments, overcoming dangers and pain, risking their lives at every step for a meager pay or simply “for the love of art.” If captured, the tyunin could still hope for salvation by promising a ransom or selling some of the important documents for his life, but the fate of the ordinary ninja was decided - he gave up his ghost in terrible agony.

Samurai, faithful to the laws of knightly honor, did not torture prisoners of war of noble birth. They rarely humiliated themselves to the point of torturing a commoner, on whom they could only try the edge of a blade. Another thing is the ninja, pariahs among people, cunning and evil beasts who always strike on the sly, forest werewolves who master the devilish techniques of hand-to-hand combat and the witchcraft art of transformation. If one of these “ghosts” fell into the hands of the guards alive, which happened extremely rarely, he was interrogated with passion, showing sadistic sophistication.

Ninja training began from infancy. The parents had no choice, because the child’s career was dictated by belonging to the outcast caste and success in life, that is, promotion to the ranks of the tyunin, depended solely on the personal qualities of the fighter.

Physical training began from the cradle. In the house, a wicker cradle with a baby was usually hung in the corner. From time to time, parents rocked the cradle more than was necessary for rocking, so that its sides hit the walls. At first, the child was frightened by the shaking and cried, but gradually got used to it and instinctively shrank into a ball when pushed. After a few months, the exercise became more complicated: the child was taken out of the cradle and hung freely “on the reins.” Now, when hitting the wall, he had to not only concentrate, but also push off with his arm or leg.

Similar play exercises were done in the reverse order, when a soft but rather heavy ball was rolled onto the child. Submitting to the instinct of self-preservation, the baby raised his hands to defend himself and “put up a block.” Over time, he began to find a taste for such a game and confidently dealt with the “enemy.” To develop the vestibular apparatus and muscles, the baby was periodically spun in different planes or, being picked up by the legs and lowered head down, they were forced to “stand up” on the palms of an adult. In a number of ryu, a young ninja began swimming at the age of six months and mastered swimming techniques earlier than walking. This developed the lungs and gave excellent coordination of movements. Having become accustomed to water, the child could remain on the surface for hours, dive to great depths, and hold his breath for two to three minutes or more.

For children from two years old, games were introduced to test the speed of reaction: “scratch-scratch” or “magpie-thief” - requiring the instant withdrawal of a hand or foot. At about three years of age, special strengthening massage and breathing control began. The latter was given decisive importance in all further training, which was reminiscent of the Chinese qizong system. As in Chinese kempo schools, all ninja training was carried out within the framework of the Heaven-Man-Earth trinity and was based on the principle of interaction of the five elements. As soon as the child gained stability on land and in the water, that is, he could walk, run, jump and swim well, the classes were transferred to “Sky”.

First, a log of medium thickness was strengthened horizontally above the very surface of the earth. On it the child learned several simple gymnastic exercises. Gradually, the log rose higher and higher above the ground, simultaneously decreasing in diameter, and the set of exercises became significantly more complicated: it included elements such as “splits,” jumps, flips, and back and forth somersaults. The log was then replaced by a thin pole, and eventually by a stretched or slack rope. After such training, the ninja could easily cross a chasm or a castle moat by throwing a rope with a hook to the opposite side.

They also practiced techniques for climbing trees with a bare trunk (with and without a rope loop around the trunk), jumping from branch to branch or from branch to vine. Particular attention was paid to high and high jumps. When jumping from a height, there was a slow, careful increase in difficulty, taking into account the age characteristics of the body. There were also various ways to absorb the impact of a fall using the legs, arms and the whole body (in a coup). Jumping from a height of 8-12 m required special “softening” somersaults. The features of the relief were also taken into account: for example, it was possible to jump onto sand or peat from a higher height, and onto rocky ground - from a lower one. A favorable factor for “high-altitude” jumps were trees with a dense crown, which could spring back and make it possible to grab a branch.

Diving was a separate discipline. Ninja high jumps, about which there are many legends, were based mainly on regulating breathing and the ability to mobilize ki. However, in childhood, only the technique of movements was mastered. There were many ways to jump high, but preference was always given to jumping with a “roll”, arms forward, with or without a somersault, from acceleration or from a standstill. In such jumps, which served to overcome small obstacles - fences, carts, pack animals, and sometimes a chain of pursuers, it was important, upon landing, to immediately enter a fighting stance.

High jumps were usually practiced on a simple “simulator” - instead of a bar, the child had to jump over a bush of thorny bushes, but during the “exams” real weapons were also used, which, if unsuccessful, could cause serious injury. Pole vaulting was just as painstakingly practiced, allowing one to jump over walls several meters high in the blink of an eye. Long jumps over deep ditches and “wolf pits” were supposed to develop the ability not to be afraid of depth and the skill of landing not only on the legs, but also on the arms with pull-ups.

A special section was made up of “multi-stage” jumps. As a preparatory exercise for them, one should master running along a vertical wall. With a slight acceleration, the man ran diagonally upward for several steps, trying to maintain balance as much as possible due to the large angle to the surface of the earth. With the proper skill, a ninja could thus run up a three-meter cliff and stop on the ridge, or, with a sharp push from the support, jump down and unexpectedly attack the enemy. In Chinese quan-shu, this technique is called “tiger jumping onto a cliff.” Another option for a multi-stage jump was jumping onto a low (up to 2 m) object, which served as a springboard for the next, final jump to a total height of up to 5 m. This technique, combined with the use of miniature portable springboards, often created the illusion of “flying through the air” .

Developing strength and endurance served as the basis of all ninja training. Here, one of the most popular exercises for children was “hanging” on a tree branch. Clinging to a thick branch with both hands (without the help of legs), the child had to hang for several minutes at a great height, and then independently climb onto the branch and descend down the trunk. Gradually the hanging time was increased to an hour. An adult ninja could thus hang on the outer wall of the castle under the very nose of the sentries, so that, at the right moment, he could sneak into the room. Naturally, numerous push-ups, weight lifting, and walking on hands were practiced.

One of the mysteries of ninjutsu is walking on the ceiling. Let’s immediately make a reservation that not a single ninja could walk on an ordinary smooth ceiling. The secret was that the ceilings of Japanese rooms are decorated with open relief beams and rafters running a short distance from each other. By resting his hands and feet on parallel beams or by clinging to one beam with the help of “crampons”, hanging with his back to the floor, the ninja could move across the entire room. In the same manner, but by jumping, he could climb up, resting against the walls of houses on a narrow street or in the corridor of a castle. One of the interesting aspects of ninja training was running over different distances. Marathon running was the norm for any child aged 10-12 years: he covered several tens of kilometers per day almost without stopping. This kind of skill was required not only to evade pursuit, but also to convey important messages.

At very long distances the relay principle was used. In the sprint, an ordinary straw hat served as an indicator of “sufficient” speed. At the start, you had to press your hat to your chest, and if it remained there, pressed by the flow of oncoming air until the finish line, the test was considered passed. Steeplechase could take many different forms. They set up barriers, traps and snares along the route, stretched ropes in the grass, and dug “wolf pits.” The young ninja had to, without interrupting his movement, notice traces of a person’s presence while moving and go around an obstacle or jump over it.

In order to move around enemy territory, it was not enough to be able to run well—you had to learn to walk. Depending on the circumstances, a ninja could use one of the following walking methods; “creeping step” - soft, silent rolling from heel to toe; “sliding step” is a common way of moving in kempo with arched movements of the foot; “compacted step” - moving in a straight line, the toe pressed closely to the heel; “jump step” - powerful kicks, reminiscent of the “triple jump” technique; “one-sided step” - jumping on one leg; “big step” - normal wide step; “small step” - movement according to the principle of “race walking”; “cutting holes” - walking on toes or heels; “staggered walking” - zigzag movements; "normal step" “walking sideways” - moving with an “extra step” or with your back to prevent the pursuit from determining the direction of movement.

During group operations in areas where tracks were clearly visible, ninjas most often moved in single file, trail after trail, hiding the number of people in the squad. The main requirements when walking in any way were speed, economy of strength and control of breathing. An important addition to the art of walking was movement on high, light stilts made of bamboo - takueuma, which, if necessary, could be made in a few minutes.

Inhabitants of inaccessible mountain regions, ninjas were born climbers. From childhood, a child learned to climb rocks and scree, descend into crevasses, cross rapids and bottomless abysses. All these skills were subsequently supposed to help the spy climb the impregnable walls of castles and penetrate the inner chambers of monasteries.

The art of rock climbing (saka-nobori, or toheki-ztotsu) was one of the most difficult subjects in the ninja training program. Although there were some auxiliary tools to make the climb easier, it was believed that a true master had to climb a sheer wall using nothing more than his own hands and feet. The secret was the ability to concentrate the power and vital energy of ki in the tips of the fingers. Thus, the slightest protrusion or bump on the surface of the wall became a reliable point of support. Having felt at least two or three ledges, the ninja could confidently continue his way upward. Mentally at this time he rushed “into the depths” of the wall, as if sticking his body to the stone massif. The castle walls, made of huge hewn blocks, could be considered impregnable due to their height and steepness, but for a trained scout it was not difficult to overcome such an obstacle with many cracks and cracks.

From about four to five years old, boys and girls in the ninja camp began to be taught how to fight without weapons and with weapons - according to the system of one of the jujutsu schools, but with the obligatory inclusion of acrobatic elements, which gave the fighter clear advantages in the fight. In addition, children were subjected to cruel and very painful procedures in order to achieve free dissection of the joints. As a result of many years of exercise, the joint capsule expanded and the ninja could, at his own discretion, “remove” the arm from the shoulder, “unfasten” the leg, turn the foot or hand over. These strange properties were invaluable in cases where the spy had to crawl through narrow openings or free himself from fetters imposed by some ingenious method.

Finding himself in the hands of his pursuers and having allowed himself to be tied, the ninja usually tensed all his muscles, then to loosen the rope with general relaxation, “pulling out” his hands so that the loops slipped off his shoulders. What happened next was a matter of technique. In the same manner, a ninja could free himself from a painful hold or lock. In fencing, the dissection of the joint made it possible to lengthen the arm by several centimeters when striking.

Some schools also sought to reduce sensitivity to pain. To do this, from an early age the body was treated with a special “painful” massage, which included tapping and strong blows, pinching, clapping, and later “rolling” the body, arms and legs with a faceted stick. Over time, a thin but durable muscle corset was formed, and the pain was significantly dulled.

A natural accompaniment of the entire complex of physical education was the general hardening of the body. Children were not only taught to walk almost naked in any weather, but also forced to sit for hours in the icy stream of a mountain river, spend the night in the snow, spend the day in the scorching sun, go for long periods without food and water, and get food in the forest.

The acuity of feelings was brought to the limit, because life depended on the correct and quick reaction. Vision was supposed to help ninjas not only find out the secrets of the enemy, but also safely avoid traps. Since reconnaissance operations were usually carried out at night, there was an urgent need to navigate in the dark. To develop night vision, the child was periodically placed for several days and even weeks in a cave, where daylight barely penetrated from outside, and was forced to go further and further from the light source. Sometimes candles and torches were used. Gradually, the intensity of the light was reduced to a minimum, and the child acquired the ability to see in pitch darkness. As a result of regular repetition of such training, this ability did not disappear, but, on the contrary, was strengthened.

Visual memory was developed through special attentiveness exercises. For example, a set of ten items covered with a scarf was laid out on a stone. For a few seconds, the scarf rose, and the young ninja had to list all the objects he saw without hesitation. Gradually the number of objects increased to several dozen, their composition varied, and the display time was reduced. After several years of such training, the intelligence officer could reconstruct from memory in every detail a complex tactical map and literally reproduce a dozen pages of text he had read once. The ninja's trained eye unmistakably determined and “photographed” the terrain, the location of the castle corridors, the slightest changes in the camouflage or behavior of the sentries.

Hearing was brought to such a degree of sophistication that the ninja not only distinguished all birds by their voices and guessed the partner’s conditioned signal in the bird chorus, but also “understood the language” of insects and reptiles. Thus, the silent chorus of frogs in the swamp spoke of the approach of the enemy. The loud buzzing of mosquitoes from the ceiling of the room indicated an ambush in the attic. Putting your ear to the ground, you could hear the tramp of cavalry at a great distance.

By the sound of a stone thrown from the wall, it was possible to determine the depth of the ditch and the water level with an accuracy of up to a meter. By the breathing of those sleeping behind the screen, one could accurately calculate their number, gender and age, by the clink of a weapon, one could determine its type, and by the whistling of an arrow, the distance to the archer. And not only that... Adapting to actions in the dark, ninja learned to see like a cat, but at the same time sought to compensate for vision at the expense of hearing, smell and touch. In addition, the training, designed for long-term blindness, was designed to develop and superbly developed extrasensory abilities.

Years of training gave the ninja's ear the sensitivity of a dog, but his behavior in the dark was associated with a whole complex of auditory, olfactory and tactile sensations. The ninja could blindly judge the proximity of fire by the degree of warmth, and the proximity of a person by sound and smell. The slightest changes in ventilation streams allowed him to distinguish a through passage from a dead end and a large room from a closet. With long-term loss of vision, a person’s ability to navigate both in space and time quickly progressed. The ninja, who naturally did not have a watch, was operating indoors and was deprived of the ability to calculate time using the stars. Nevertheless, based on his feelings, he determined what time it was, accurate to within a few minutes.

The most talented students, after several years of study, acted almost as freely with a blindfold as without it. Cultivating their ability to suggest, they sometimes established “telepathic contact” with an invisible enemy sitting in ambush, and delivered a pre-emptive strike right on target. In Japanese houses with an abundance of sliding partitions made of wax paper into screens, where the eyes could not always tell about the location of the enemy, all other senses came to the rescue. The notorious “sixth sense”, or “extreme intelligence” (goku-i), which theorists of bu-jutsu loved to talk about, was essentially a derivative of the existing five, or rather three - hearing, touch and smell. With their help, it was possible to avoid a trap in time and even repel an attack from the rear without turning around.

The sense of smell also told the ninja about the presence of people or animals, and in addition, it helped to understand the location of the castle's chambers. The living room, bedroom, kitchen, not to mention the latrine, differed sharply in smell. In addition, the sense of smell, and equally taste, were indispensable in some pharmaceutical and chemical operations, which ninjas sometimes resorted to. The physical training of the ninja continued until the onset of maturity, which was marked by the rite of passage into members of the clan. Initiation usually took place, as in samurai families, at the age of fifteen, but sometimes earlier. Only after becoming full members of the community did the boys and girls move from standard psychophysical training to knowledge of the hidden mysteries of the spirit contained in the teachings of the Yamabushi monks, in Zen and in sophisticated yoga techniques.

Despite the fact that all ninja clans provided universal espionage and sabotage education, the main thing for a qualified spy was to perfectly master the signature technique of his school. Thus, from generation to generation, Gyoku-ryu passed on the secrets of hitting pain points with the help of fingers (yubi-jutsu), Kotto-ryu specialized in painful grips, fractures and dislocations (konno), and also practiced the art of hypnosis (saimin-jutsu). In physical training according to the system of this school, the influence of Indian yoga was especially noticeable. Kyushin-ryu was famous for its masters of the spear, sword and javelin. The ninjas of Shinshu-ryu, nicknamed “transparent waves,” and their brothers from Joshu-ryu, “stormy waves,” from Rikuzen-ryu, “black windings,” from Koshu-ryu, “wild monkeys,” also had their secrets.

No one, even the most experienced ninja, experienced in the secrets of hypnosis and black magic, ever went on a mission without a “gentleman’s set” of weapons and technical equipment. Ninjas were, if not inventors, then at least active consumers and modernizers of all kinds of bladed weapons (primarily smaller and hidden types), as well as subversive mechanisms and military engineering devices.

Exercises with weapons began for ninjas, as in samurai families, from early childhood and went in parallel with general physical training. By the age of fifteen, boys and girls had to master, at least in general terms, up to twenty commonly used types of weapons. Two or three types, for example a dagger and a sickle or a club and a knife, were considered “profiling”. They were solemnly presented to the initiator at the ceremony of initiation into members of the clan. The ancient law of kempo was in effect here, according to which any weapon, if wielded masterfully, can become a reliable defense against a heavily armed enemy, including, of course, bare hands.

The ninja arsenal included three categories of weapons: means for hand-to-hand combat, projectiles and chemicals, including explosive mixtures. For ninjas, a sickle with a long chain played the role of an alpenstock during ascents, a drawbridge and a lift.

However, the most curious thing in the entire complex of edged weapons was a specific ninja tool called kyoketsu-shoge. This ingenious device looked like a dagger with two blades, one of which was straight and double-edged, and the other curved like a beak. It could be used as a dagger, and the curved blade helped to catch the enemy’s sword in a fork and pull it out by turning it around its axis. It could be used both as a throwing knife and as a grappling hook for “dismounting” riders.

A pole (bo) and a club (jo) in the hands of a ninja worked wonders. Any stick that came to hand became a deadly weapon.

One of the most important aspects of a ninja's activity was defeating the enemy at a distance, so much attention was paid to the art of shooting and throwing small objects. Most often, scouts took with them on a mission a small, “half” bow (hankyu) no more than forty to fifty centimeters long. There were also arrows of the appropriate size, which were often rubbed with poison.

Fleeing from pursuit, the ninja sometimes threw at his pursuers, and more often scattered iron spikes (tetsubishi), an analogue of Russian and European “garlic,” along the road. The wounds from such a thorn were very painful and incapacitated a person for a long time.

Disguising himself as a wandering monk, peasant, priest or... Circus performers and ninjas in the daytime wore a wide-brimmed conical hat made of rice straw (amigasa) - a very comfortable headdress that completely covered the face. However, besides camouflage, the hat could serve another purpose. A massive arc-shaped blade, attached from the inside “under the visor,” turned it into a giant shuriken. Launched with a skillful hand, the hat easily cut through a young tree and separated the man’s head from his body, like a guillotine.

To overcome open water spaces, especially castle moats, the ninja carried a breathing tube (mizutsu). In order not to attract attention with a special bamboo stick, an ordinary smoking pipe with a long straight stem was often used as mizutsu. With the help of a breathing tube it was possible to swim, walk or sit (with a weight) under water for a long time.

A more spectacular offensive and defensive weapon was the shuriken - a thin steel plate in the shape of a gear, cross or swastika with pointed edges. An accurate hit with a shurike ensured death. The purely psychological impact of these ominous metal plates in the form of magical symbols, which, in addition, sometimes whistled in flight, was also great. Let us add that the ninja also skillfully handled ordinary stones, sending them into the eye or temple of the enemy.

With the cessation of civil strife and the abolition of the samurai class after the “Meiji Restoration” in 1868, the traditions of ninjutsu seemed to be completely interrupted. Ninja mountain camps were largely eliminated under the Tokugawa era. The descendants of brave scouts and ruthless killers moved to the cities and took up peaceful trades. Some of the ninja's arsenal was adopted by military agents and detective police, and some of it moved into the field of jujutsu and combat karate. The unique complex of physical, mental, technical and philosophical-religious training, which was the medieval art of espionage, was revived only today on a commercial basis at the school of Hatsumi Masaaki.

And a few additional photos.

Ninja equipment (though for some reason heavy)

Shinobi Kusari-gama

Popular ninja gestures

Some basic ninja characters

Ninja: Demons of the Night

Ninjas have always been shrouded in legends. Silent saboteur warriors dressed in black, appearing in the night, delivering a fatal blow to the enemy and disappearing, as if on silent wings... The image of a secretive but omnipotent intelligence officer and secret killer with incredible abilities has always captured the imagination of foreigners. Many films have been made about ninjas, dozens of books have been written, and a whole host of computer games have been created. At the same time, as often happens, real ninjas were very different from the cinematic ones, although, of course, partly what is shown in the movies corresponds to historical truth.
The art of ninja - ninjutsu - is something that ninjas have been trained since childhood. In fact, the main thing in the ninja craft has always been obtaining information, that is, reconnaissance, and not at all acts of sabotage and murder as such. It was for this reason that ninjas usually wore casual peasant clothes so as not to stand out from the crowd. A merchant, a peasant, even a circus acrobat - for the sake of disguise and achieving his goals, a ninja could take on any image! In addition, according to historical data, the famous black ninja night costumes are nothing more than fiction and myth-making. It is the black suit that is noticeable at night, as it becomes a dark spot that is easy to detect. No wonder they say: “all cats are gray at night.” This is why real ninja costumes came in different shades of gray, including ashen, as well as reddish brown and tan. Ninjutsu is a whole complex of different kinds of skills, which primarily included obtaining information by any means, as well as the possession of any household item as a weapon. In addition, ninjas learned to defend themselves from any weapon, to suddenly appear and disappear, and also studied medicine, herbalism and acupuncture. It is widely known that ninjas were able to stay under water for a long time, breathing through a tube, climb rocks and roofs, orientate themselves well and see in the dark - thanks to special training.
Ninjas were always considered a separate class in medieval Japan, not belonging to either the military or peasant class. They were usually hired by samurai rulers to use their ninja skills against rival clans. Among ninja equipment, the most famous is shuriken - a throwing weapon in the form of a metal star with rays in the form of spikes or blades. Many other types of ninja weapons were camouflaged as peasant tools. Although their main weapon was always a katana and a special spear. Everything was aimed at not standing out from the crowd in any way, acting unexpectedly, quickly achieving your goal and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Ninjas appeared somewhere around the tenth century, and their heyday occurred in the so-called Age of the Warring States, in the 15th - 16th centuries, when samurai clans competed with each other for supreme power in Japan. With the victory of Ieyasu Tokugawa and the establishment of the shogunate in Edo, things began to decline for the ninja. First, Tokugawa, rightly fearing that his defeated enemies might use the ninja against him, provoked a war between the two most powerful clans, Koga and Iga, and then, when they bled each other, forced the surviving ninja to swear allegiance to him personally. In addition, with the beginning of the Edo period, internecine wars ceased, and therefore the demand for ninja services - reconnaissance and contract killings - fell sharply.
The legendary ninjas - the mystical night demons with their incredible stealth and deadly skill - are a thing of the past. However, they left a bright mark on the history of Japan and their image will always remain attractive.