The Koga Ninja

                                                                         Koga Ninja


For hundreds of years the Iga group of Ninja were the major force in ninjutsu. Smaller groups existed in other parts of Japan, but in the Sengoku era Ninja groups sprang up throughout Japan. Within these groups of spies, saboteurs, and killers, there developed two super groups: the Iga of Mie prefecture and the deadly Koga of Shiga prefecture. Not surprisingly, Shiga is next to Mie prefecture in southern Japan. The Koga and Iga inhabited the same mountain range, in two valleys divided by a mountain. Completely isolated from the outside world, they lived as farmers and were sought after by the locals for medicine, herbs, weather forecasting, and agriculture help.

In time there were great generals who gradually unified Japan. These leaders such as Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen, and possibly the greatest general in Japanese history Tokugawa Ieyasu all employed the Ninja to help control the country through a complex spy network.

The Koga Ninja consisted of fifty-three families. They specialized in medicines and explosives and developed many of the tools and weapons used by the Ninja. Though small in number, they were an elite force and became the second most famous group, besides the Iga, in the annals of ninjutsu. Based near Kyoto, they were recruited by the great leaders of Japan as counselors and military strategists.

In 1600 the Koga rescued lord Tokugawa from an assassination attempt by rival Ninja. They made a dummy of Lord Tokugawa, filled it with explosives, and placed it in Tokugawa's carriage. Then, acting as personal escort, they made it known that Tokugawa was on the move through enemy territory. This diversionary tactic succeeded when the false carriage was attacked by the enemy and all the Koga Ninja killed, giving the real carriage with Tokugawa precious time to escape.

In time Tokugawa became the shogun of Japan. He ruled from the city of Edo, now called Tokyo, and took three hundred ninja with him from both Koga and Iga to be his personal bodyguards. They were placed in positions of gardeners and personal valets. The Koga ninjas were at the front, and the Iga were responsible for the rear of the castle.

And under Tokugawa there began a reign of peace that lasted for 265 years. As the years passed the need for Ninja's declined and the number of men willing to endure the intense training needed to become a ninja declined as well because these young men did not want to just become gardeners for Lord Tokugawa. This was the decline of the powerful Ninjas from Japans proud history.

The Iga Ninja

                                                           Iga Ninja


Who were the best ninjas of fuedal Japan, that is a question that is not easily answered. Though virtually every clan throughout Japan had its own form of ninjitsu training, there were only a couple whose name and reputations bacame legendary. The shinobi were used as spies, sabatuers, and assasins by the most powerful and wealthy leaders in Japan and virtually every province had some form of its own ninjas so there were no shortages of the elite warriors.

In time there were two schools of ninjitsu that continued to show the excellence of their training. First were the warriors from the clans in the Iga provence. Iga is located in the central area of Japan in a mountainous region. Its location being a basin surrounded by mountains afforded it good protection from outside forces and also provided excellent terrain for the ninjas to train. As their reputation grew the need for them to prove their abilities was not needed. For in fuedal Japan before a ninja was hired for a specific mission he would be required to perform a less critical mission showing that he would be capable of executing and surviving the orginal mission that he would be hired for. But the excellence of their training and the past success of previous Iga ninjas cemented their reputation so much that just stating that you were from Iga gauranteed immediate hire for the primary missions. Now back in the late 1500's the warlord Oda Nobunaga had come to hate and fear the Iga ninjas because they would not bow down to him and perform any mission that he declared. He felt that if they would not bow to him then they should be conquered. In 1579 Oda sent his son and a force of soldiers in to Iga to dominate them, that attack however failed miserably. Two years later in 1581 Oda launched another attack this time though he sent somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 soldiers and attacked from 6 different directions. This attack succeeded as Oda's men slaughtered a large population of this regions inhabitants. He did make one error in that he called a cease fire before everyone was killed and this allowed for some of the remaining ninjas to escape in the surrounding countryside. Though the strength of Iga never returned some believe that the teachings did and this training helped other provinces to improve their ninjas abilities.

The Throwing Star

                                                                      Shuriken


The shuriken is a small hand held weapon that was designed to act as a distraction more then a killing weapon. The literal translation is "sword in hand". They were made from everyday items such as needles, nails, knives, coins, and a variety of flat plates of metal with sharpened edges. It was an inexpensive weapon to make, that would be easily hidden, and yet could be a tactical advantage in a fight or even a battle.

The shuriken was not just a ninja's weapon, but was part of the minor martial arts training for many martial arts schools back in fuedal Japan. It was a supplemental weapon to the Nihonto family of weapons, i.e. the katana sword, spear, etc.. Its exact origins are still unknown, but research is still going on. However, there is documentation showing that the shuriken and the art form of throwing it was around in the 1600's and was part of the general training. This particular school was called shurikenjutsu.

A common type of shuriken that was used was the Bo-shuriken. It was a straight piece of rod usually four-sided but sometimes round and had a single-pointed end. Their length varied from 5" to 8 1/2" in length and weighed between 1.2oz and 5.5 oz.. The Bo-shuriken was a very popular due to the many different ways it could be thrown. Overhead, underhand, sideways, and rearward, but in each case the release is about the same with the blade slidingout of the hand through the fingers to give it a smooth controlled flight.

There is a wide variety of forms of hira-shuriken and they are now usually identified by the number of points the blades possess. As with bo-shuriken, the various shapes of hira-shuriken were usually representative of a particular school or region that preferred the use of such shapes, and it is therefore possible to identify the school by the type of blade used. Hira-shuriken are constructed from thin, flat plates of metal and had a different number of points ranging from 3 points up to and including 8 points. These are sometimes called "ninja stars" or throwing stars as ninja are consistently seen throwing this which looks like a star. They often have a hole in the center and possess a fairly thin blade sharpened only at the tip. The holes provided a means of being able to secure the stars by tying them together and it affected their aerodynamics, of course the holes were originally in them because they were made from old coins, washers, and nail-removing tools.

The Sai

                                                                            The Sai
The Sai is a 3-pronged weapon used in close combat like a knife. Though the design my very from nation to nation it still maintains a central long spike with 2 shorter spikes on either side which helped to protect the hands of the individual wielding it. Now some show that the 2 shorter pronges may have 1 facing the same direction as the central spike and 1 facing down towards the handle, or that both short spikes face the same direction as the longer central spike.

Now like many of the other weapons that the ninjas would employ, this was also a tool that was used by the peasants in everyday operations. Its exact use can not be certain, some believe it was used for digging holes for rice, or measuring the stalks of plants. Others believe that this was used to lock cart wheels so the cart would not roll away. Either way in the hands of a trained martial artist this was a deadly weapon.

The side prongs allowed the wielder to block or catch the blade of a long sword and with a twist of the wrist it may have been possible to crack or break the sword blade. Though the central spike was not sharp as a sword blade would be its long tapered design would allow it to be punched into an enemy causing death or severe injury. On the back side of the Sai was a ball or knuckle which allowed for a solid blunt force that was able to break or crack bones in your enemy giving you a chance to escape or disarm and kill your enemy.

So, given the commonplace of this agricultural tool/weapon a trained ninja would be able to carry it around and not raise suspicion from gaurds and soldiers. This allowed ninjas to travel the countryside well armed and also able to protect themselves or kill their enemies at anytime.

Real Ninja Weapons

There is no exact time in history when the "ninja" came to be. It was a military organization that came to be out of neccesity and family training. They tend to be misunderstood and their abilities are legendary to the point of being superhuman and even mystical.  But in truth, Ninjas were actually peasants highly trained in martial arts, unlike the Samurai who were typically born into their rank.

Real Ninjas are able to do some of the things they due because of their intense training and their mastery of their environment as well as their mind and body. But, Ninjas are not superhuman, they are not some mystical being. They are human. In most cases the ninja was trained by his clan. After his training was complete (this took many years) he or she would go out into the world (Japanese society) and begin to earn money by selling themselves to the wealthy or politically powerful. Their missions usually involved spying, but was not limited to that. They were also master assassins and sabatoers. Now the money that they earned would go back to their clan to help support their families and continue the training of future ninjas.

The Samurai class did not particularily like them and even feared the ninja because the ninja did not fight by the same code as the samurai. Where the samurai lived and died by the code of "Bushido" the ninja would do whatever it took to win or succeed at their mission. Ninjas did not try and fight in "fair fights" they were out to survive and escape using any means necessary. 

Here are some of the basic weapons used by Real Ninjas in fuedal Japan:

The Knife

The knife is a great weapon for close hand to hand combat. They train intensely to be able to kill quickly and quietly. The knife was also a great weapon because of its ability to remain concelled and hidden until it was needed.



The Staff

The staff was one of mans first weapons ever used. Originally made of wood, and polished to a smooth surface it was a common sight to see people carrying it, helping with walking, herding, or any other domestic uses. In the hands of a trained person the staff can also be a dangerous and deadly weapon often overlooked by guards.



The Spear and Naginata

The art of sojutsu is a very extensive training in ninpo. It is a weapon similar to a staff except with a pointed end, or sharpened stone tied to the end, or even a metal blade on the end. This particular weapon allowed the ninja to attack an enemy from a distance while remaining untouched.



The Kusari Gama

This weapon, like the staff is a weapon that has domestic uses. It is a short-handled sickle that peasants would use to harvest rice. But put a chain on it with a weighted end and it becomes a very deadly range weapon that can also kill close up.



The Ninjato

A ninjato is a sword used by the ninja that differs from the traditional katana. The ninjato is a straight bladed sword, not curved like the katana. They also tended to be a little shorter then the katana allowing a faster draw. The ninja typically focused on using the last 1/2" of the blade for cutting. And it was very common for the ninja to use just 1 hand on the sword to permit a free hand to grab the enemy, or possibly the enemys weapon to be able to inflict a killing blow.