was an intermediate-ranking Iga

ninja 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. 2 ...

during the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. He is also known as Igasaki DoshunJoel Levy , ''Ninja: The Shadow Warrior'' or . Stephen K. Hayes, ''The Mystic Arts of the Ninja'' In 1558, during the siege of Sawayama, Tateoka Doshun and his 48 men (including four

Koga KOGA is a Dutch bicycle manufacturer based in Heerenveen, Friesland. The company is known for its long time partnership with Japanese frame manufacturer Miyata, producing bicycles and sponsoring racing teams under the brand name Koga Miyata. As ...

ninja) entered the

Sawayama Castle was a castle in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. This castle was an important military stronghold of Ōmi Province. The Azai clan held this castle in the Sengoku Period. Niwa Nagahide held it after the ruin of the Azai clan and la ...

by the use of ''bakemono-jutsu'' (ghost technique) of making

paper lantern A paper lantern is a lantern made of thin, brightly colored paper. Paper lanterns come in various shapes and sizes, as well as various methods of construction. In their simplest form, they are simply a paper bag with a candle placed inside, a ...

s displaying the enemy's badge. Dressed as a samurai and carrying the lanterns, they walked in unchallenged, then set fire to the castle, allowing

Rokkaku Yoshikata was a samurai head of the Rokkaku clan during Japan's Sengoku period. He was ''shugo'' (governor) and later ''daimyō'' of an area of southern Ōmi province, he served as castellan of Kannonji Castle. He later became a Buddhist monk, under th ...

to make a successful assault. The same technique was also used by

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of t ...

during the siege of Kaminogō Castle in 1562. There is a popular rumour concerning the death of Tateoka Doshun that

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

had Doshun assassinated by

Hattori Hanzō or ''Second Hanzō'', nicknamed , was a famous Ninja of the Sengoku era, who served the Tokugawa clan as a ninja, credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu and then helping him to become the ruler of united Japan. He is often a subje ...

during the

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute The was a series of battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi (who would become Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1586) and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu had both served Oda Nobunaga and had not previou ...

for giving information to the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary ...

References

{{People of the Sengoku period , state=collapsed Japanese ninjutsu practitioners Ninja People of Muromachi-period Japan Samurai