, sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

and

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tact ...

unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces, subversion, or guerrilla warfare. This is typically done to avoid escalation into conventional ...

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

and

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

purportedly practised by the

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some traditional Japanese schools, which integrated study of more conventional

s (''taijutsu'') along with ''

shurikenjutsu is a general term describing the traditional Japanese martial arts of throwing ''shuriken'', which are small, hand-held weapons used primarily by the Samurai in feudal Japan, such as metal spikes ''bō shuriken'', circular plates of metal known a ...

'', ''

kenjutsu is an umbrella term for all ('' ko-budō'') schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of ...

'', ''

sōjutsu , meaning "art of the spear", is the Japanese martial art of fighting with a . Origins Although the spear had a profound role in early Japanese mythology, where the islands of Japan themselves were said to be created by salt water dripping fro ...

'', '' bōjutsu'' and others. While there is an international martial arts organization representing several modern styles of ''ninjutsu'', the historical lineage of these styles is disputed. Some schools claim to be the only legitimate heir of the art, but ''ninjutsu'' is not centralized like modernized martial arts such as

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

Togakure-ryū is a historical tradition of ''ninjutsu'' known as the "School of the Hidden Door", allegedly founded during the Oho period (1161–1162) by ( ), who learned his original fighting techniques from a Chinese monk named Kain Dōshi. However, the h ...

claims to be the oldest recorded form of ninjutsu, and claims to have survived past the 16th century.

History

Spying in Japan dates as far back as

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half- ...

(572–622). According to

Shōninki The ''Shōninki'' ( Japanese 正忍記) is a medieval ninja document from Kishū province. Written by Natori Masatake in 1681 it describes the espionage strategies of the shinobi from Kishū. Together with the Bansenshukai and Ninpiden it is ...

, the first open usage of ''ninjutsu'' during a military campaign was in the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself ...

, when Minamoto no Kuro Yoshitsune chose warriors to serve as ''shinobi'' during a battle. This manuscript goes on to say that during the Kenmu era,

Kusunoki Masashige was a Japanese samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty. Kusunoki fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and restore power in Japan to the Imperial Court. Kusunoki ...

frequently used ''ninjutsu''. According to footnotes in this manuscript, the Genpei War lasted from 1180 to 1185, and the Kenmu Restoration occurred between 1333 and 1336. ''Ninjutsu'' was developed by the samurai of the Nanboku-cho period, and further refined by groups of samurai mainly from

Kōka was a after ''Tenpō'' and before ''Kaei.'' This period spanned the years from December 1844 through February 1848. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * December 2, 1844 (): The new era name of ''Kōka'', meaning "Becoming Wide ...

and the

Iga Province was a province of Japan located in what is today part of western Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Iga" in . Its abbreviated name was . Iga is classified as one of the provinces of the Tōkaidō. Under the ''Engishiki'' cl ...

of Japan in later periods. Throughout history, the ''

shinobi A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 21� ...

'' were

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...

s, scouts, and spies who were hired mostly by territorial lords known as ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

''. Despite being able to assassinate in stealth, the primary role was as spies and scouts. ''Shinobi'' are mainly noted for their use of stealth and deception. They would use this to avoid direct confrontation if possible, which enabled them to escape large groups of opposition. Many different schools ('' ryū'') have taught their unique versions of ''ninjutsu''. An example of these is the Togakure-ryū, which claims to have been developed after a defeated samurai warrior called Daisuke Togakure escaped to the region of Iga. He later came in contact with the warrior-monk Kain Doshi, who taught him a new way of viewing life and the means of survival (''ninjutsu''). ''Ninjutsu'' was developed as a collection of fundamental survivalist techniques in the warring state of

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inve ...

. The ''ninja'' used their art to ensure their survival in a time of violent political turmoil. ''Ninjutsu'' included methods of gathering information and techniques of non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection. ''Ninjutsu'' involved training in disguise,

escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

, concealment, archery, and medicine. Skills relating to espionage and assassination were highly useful to warring factions in feudal Japan. At some point, the skills of espionage became known collectively as ''ninjutsu'', and the people who specialized in these tasks were called ''shinobi no mono''.

References

External links

''Ninjutsu'' techniques
– ''ninjutsu'' kata and techniques in the AKBAN wiki
''Ninjutsu'' history
– history of ''Ninjutsu'' and its evolution {{Authority control Japanese martial arts

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links