The 8 Facts About Ninja & Ninjutsu

   Previously, we had discussed the common misconceptions found among people about the image of ninja and the art of ninjutsu in the post The 12 Misconceptions About Ninja & Ninjutsu. This post is about clarifying some truths, presenting some facts that people either do not already know or they do know but are in doubt if such things actually existed, about ninjutsu. Here are eight of such facts or truths, associated with ninja or ninjutsu:

1. The Use of Psychic Abilities: Basically, the hidden aim of a ninja is to acquire such capabilities which seem to contradict the basic way of nature, though there's nothing which is out of the laws of nature. Hence so, there have been numerous attempts by people from other factions and not only the shinobi. The success of such attempts depends upon various factors and therefore, no one is as much sincere so to accomplish them. Shinobi too practiced various such techniques and there have been some shinobi noted with extraordinary capabilities -in short I am saying that some shinobi did have good psychic abilities. One example is that Kain Doshi, who taught the principles of ninjutsu to Daisuke Nishina of Togakure-ryu, is said to have the ability to leap several feet into the air using only his Kiai. There have been two basic ways of shinobi to attain such extra-ordinary abilities: the way of Mikkyō, the belief of which is based upon the philosophy of becoming one with nature; the other way is that of Shinden Yaguruma no Hō -Arts of the Divine Arrow Windmill which is based upon the beliefs of Shinto Bhuddism. Many Shinobi practiced either one or both of them (Togakure Shinobi generally followed Mikkyō while Koka shinobi followed latter). The special techniques of each basic method are some of the deep secrets of ninjutsu. The shinobi who masters such techniques along with the other aspects -of knowledge, strategy and physical skill- in the art of ninjutsu is called a Jōnin level ninja, which means all those famous shinobi like Hattori Hanzō, Natori Masatake, Momochi Sandayu and others did have at least some skill in this part of ninjutsu. The shinobi who couldn't master such techniques would often fake them using other skills so as to psychologically dismantle the enemy. Similarly comes invisibility.

2. The Use of Illusions: Warfare is the way of deception. The main purpose of using shinobi in field was to get the target in an unexpected, undetected manner. This means that they have to have to use deception. A shinobi's ability is measured by how well he can deceive. This isn't like Genjutsu that you see in the popular Anime. A true shinobi's approach to the use of illusions is different. There's a story about Hattori Hanzō that once during his journey with Tokugawa Ieyasu they stayed near a stream of water. The lord (Ieyasu) asked, inquiring his shinobi abilities, "For how long can you stay underwater?". Hattori Hanzō replied, "For as long as you wish, master". Tokugawa Ieyasu first ordered one of his servants, who was an expert swimmer, to go under water and he could hold his breathe for no longer than 2 minutes underwater. Then Hattori Hanzō asked permission to let him go underwater and he didn't return for another 4 hours. Tokugawa Ieyasu was impressed and asked how he could stay for so long underwater upon which Hattori Hanzō replied, "My Lord! forgive me for I hoped not to disappoint you but the truth is that when I went underwater, I silently moved inside towards the shore on the other side of the trees that you can see, so none of you or your men could see me behind the trees. There I got outside and rested there on a rock nearby. After I woke up, I silently moved back here again and now have appeared before you." Tokugawa Ieyasu was further impressed without minding a single bit, especially for his skill to move silently underwater. This is one example of using deception or illusion. Another example of an illusion is that when you escape, you throw a brick or rock on side of the ground from the roof so that it makes such sound as if you have jumped that way while you escape actually in another direction. Basically the purpose of telling you this is how can you use deception or create illusions the simple way, as a shinobi. There are several techniques, simple or advanced, to create illusions as a mean of deception.

3. The Use of Disguise: Shinobi were without any doubt masters of disguise even to the level, as the word goes, that the (shinobi) father and son can not recognize each other when in disguise. Here you do not transform for physical into earth/rock, water, wood, fire or metal but take their appearance so that you are almost indistinguishable from them. Rock or earth is indistinguishable in a stream of water; water is indistinguishable in the wood; wood is indistinguishable in fire and fire is indistinguishable when carried by a hot metal. Rock is distinguishable from both wood and fire; water is distinguishable from both fire and metal; wood is distinguishable from metal and rock; fire is distinguishable from both rock and water and metal is distinguishable from water and wood. This is the principle of disguise of the shinobi. It simply means that if you wish to infiltrate into a place, you must choose a disguise that is suitable to the region and your job; one that stands out will give your intentions out. In the mid of the day, you can not wear a black suit with a face mask. You should also take a disguise that is closer to your personality; too far and you will not be able to perform better. The various disguises used are those of the Yamabushi (warrior monks), Komusō, merchants, Rōnin, artists, entertainers, house maids e.t.c. Disguise may also include the use of animal skins such as that of a monkey in heavy woods so no one can detect you. For a night activity, the colors of the dress used are black, navy blue, dark red, dark green and brown.

4. Using Animals: Animals include all insects, birds, mammals, fish and reptiles. This is not about summoning giant animals to fight in battle or a ninja chicken, cat or dog, like you mostly see, which is based upon folk tales of the ninja. The approach of a real shinobi to the use of animals is also different; Reality is even more interesting, if you have the eyes to see it. I will here present examples for each category of animals that were used by Shinobi, in the reality; first, mammals. In mammals there are two animals of the most use to a Shinobi: cats and dogs. The eyes of the cat can be used to know the approximate time of the day. Moreover, cats can be trained and used (followed) to find the path in the darkness, because they can see better than humans at night; they can (if properly trained) also be used to indicate the inner situation of a castle that is heavily guarded. Black cats can be better used because superstitious people fear them and it helps in psychologically demoralizing them; they can better infiltrate at night if the enemy questions even the animals. Dogs can be used to detect the enemy soldiers or shinobi. Dogs can also be used to counter the enemy's dogs. If you wish to infiltrate a house or castle, where there is a dog, you should make it friendly by treating it well with food and patting for a few days; you can also deprive them of their voice by mixing with their food dry sesame seeds. It is also advised that you carry dog food with you all times, as a shinobi. Moreover, you can take a dog with you and have it bark at a pole or tree so as to hide the sounds of your own infiltration. Next insects, whose use is one of the most interesting arts of the shinobi. There is a story of two shinobi friends, one of which challenged the other that he's such a skilled shinobi that he would creep into his house at night without him noticing and take by his head the note or key. The second friend accepted the challenge and said that he would capture him anyway because he's skilled too. The night of the challenge arrived and the first friend came outside but didn't infiltrate the house because he had noticed that his friend has already noticed his presence and is awake. The next day, the first friend came to a lunch/dinner at the second friend's house where the wife of the second friend asked the two, "How did the two of you came to notice each other?". The second friend, who was to defend, said that he had noticed that the sound of the insects in the garden gradually stopped and thus he understood that his friend has came to infiltrate. The first friend, who was to infiltrate, said that he noticed the sound of the disturbance of the mosquitoes so he understood that his friend has came out of his mosquito net; the story ends here. You can also use insects to hide the sounds of your infiltration by carrying a jar filled with buzzing flies (at the day) or grasshoppers/locusts (at night) treated with special chemical to keep them chirping. Birds can be used to carry messages, act as signals, detect soldiers or other shinobi and find water or prey. Fish are also used to detect someone or indicate something. Reptiles especially snakes can be used to instill fear in the enemy or to be used (dead or alive) as a decoy. Also Gecko Lizards have good ability to stick to the wall. In India, in old times, gecko lizards were used by Thugs and thieves to infiltrate into houses through a high window or roof. Similar can be also used by Shinobi.

5. Using Women: You may have heard of Kunoichi (female ninja). Kunoichi are better at gathering information of the internal affairs of a house or castle. Women are loose at talk and so easily spread or give away information. Kunoichi can involve in such discussions with local women to gather intelligence. Moreover, they can work as housemaids and listen to the conversations of the house and if required poison them. They can also carry more hidden tools with them. But the use of women is not limited to Kunoichi. You may, as a shinobi, use a woman for the target person to fall in love with her and so that woman can extract important information through terms of love confession. This woman can also economically destabilize the victim. One way is also that you present precious gifts to the women of the house (they are easily tempted) so as to turn them in your favor; the house head may also be pleased with you for this act or he may be suspicious, which you can both use to your advantage. Also, women are more superstitious than men and so they can be approached as a priest or monk to tell them of the bad luck a specific person of their house possesses. There are other ways to use women but I feel it against my personal morality to discuss it here.

6. Astronomy, Astrology, Meteorology and Geography: The positions and phases of stars, moon and planets; the geography and topography of the target area and especially weather -those are important factors to ensure the success rate of a shinobi mission. Astronomy is used to find directions in the night. Astrology is used to find the auspicious and inauspicious days for carrying shinobi people (because old people of Japan, including shinobi were much superstitious -discussed in detail in the next section). Geography and Topography are important for carrying out plans of attacking and/or infiltrating a place. Without the proper study of geography of the area, you will not be able to devise a good strategy; you will fail in the application of your plans and you may not find a good way to escape. A shinobi leader, expert in the use of geography, can defeat massive armies with a small force and limited resources. Meteorology is the art of predicting weather and the changes in atmosphere. It is important especially for carrying out night activities. A bad weather may slow down your activities while rain can also help in carrying a successful infiltration and escape, hence it is important to know the time of rain and the directions of clouds and wind. There are several important and interesting techniques for this. One way is to predict the wind and rain using the flame and soot of a candle. If the flame of the candle makes noises, it will become windy soon and if the soot of the candle is longer, it's going to rain soon. Animals can also be used to determine if a rain, wind or hail storm is coming.

7. Superstitions: This has two ways -one is that many shinobi of warring states period were superstitious -the other is the use of superstitions to advantage by shinobi. Many shinobi were superstitious,especially those of Koka line. They strongly believed in the effects of stars, certain events and personal looks of a person, on luck. Hence there were established methods to find the auspicious time and days for carrying out shinobi activities; other than these days, it was considered inauspicious. The shinobi can also make use of the superstitions associated with certain objects or events. Kumogakure ninja were good at this and they used face masks and fireworks to imitate the images of tengu and fire breathing dragons.

8. Not all truths be told.