Kōka-ryū (甲賀流, "School of Kōka"; occasionally transliterated as "Kōga") is an umbrella term for a set of traditions of

ninjutsu , sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some trad ...

that originated from the region of Kōka (modern Kōka City in

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...

). The samurai of Kōka-ryū were known as "Kōka-no-mono", and operated as ''

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– ...

'' throughout Japan's turbulent

Sengoku period The was a period in 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 feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

History

The beginnings of the Kōka-ryū may be traced to near the end of the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...

. While the district of Kōka, in

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countri ...

, was under the jurisdiction of the Rokkaku clan, it was a kind of autonomous municipality, composed of localized unions called ''sō'' (). All important decisions in the municipality were made by a majority vote from the union representatives. This kind of system was uncommon for the period in question. At this time, the leaders of the Rokkaku clan, using Kannonji Castle as a base, started to steadily build up military might. They made light of commands from the

Ashikaga shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establis ...

and eventually began to ignore the shogunate altogether. In 1487, General Ashikaga Yoshihisa brought with him an army to stamp out this rebellion, and a battle between Ashikaga and the Rokkaku forces ensued. Ashikaga mobilized ''

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

s'' from several provinces against the castle of Kannonji, the headquarters of the Rokkaku; as a result, Rokkaku Masayori and Rokkaku Takayori (Masayori's son) were forced to flee to the castle of Kōka. The factual accuracy of their escape is debated; it is likely that they gave up the town to avoid a direct confrontation instead. Ashikaga then moved his base to Anshiyoji of Kurita District and attacked the castle of Kōka. Kōka fell, but the Rokkaku duo escaped again and ordered the Kōka samurai who followed them to mount a heavy resistance against Ashikaga using

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ...

. Exploiting their geographical advantage in the mountains, the Kōka warriors launched a wide range of surprise attacks against Ashikaga's forces and tormented them by using fire and smoke on Ashikaga's camp during the night. The guerrilla warfare prevented a final showdown, until Ashikaga died in battle in 1489, ending the three-year conflict and sparing the lives of the Rokkaku duo. The elusive and effective guerrilla warfare used by the Kōka samurai became well known throughout the whole country. As a result of this victory, the local samurai in the 53 families who participated in this battle were called "the 53 families of Kōka". The last reported

Sōke , pronounced , is a Japanese term that means "the head family ouse" In the realm of Japanese traditional arts, it is used synonymously with the term '' iemoto''. Thus, it is often used to indicate "headmaster" (or sometimes translated as "head o ...

of Kōga-ryū was 14th headmaster Fujita Seiko (1898–1966). In his autobiography ''Doronron: Saigo no Ninja'' ( "The last ninja", October 1958), Fujita categorically stated that he had not and would not teach anyone ninjutsu, and would not pass on the school. The Bugei Ryuha Daijiten, a definitive Encyclopedia of martial arts schools, catalog of Koryū Bujutsu (old schools) and Gendai Budō (new schools) of Japanese martial arts (''

budō is a Japanese term describing modern Japanese martial arts. Literally translated it means the "Martial Way", and may be thought of as the "Way of War" or the "Way of Martial Arts". Etymology Budō is a compound of the root ''bu'' (武:ぶ), m ...

'') states that no one knows the teachings of this school today. Few today who state a connection to Koga Ryu can show any evidence to refute this claim, and it is in all likelihood that there are no authentic living traditions practiced today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koka-Ryu Ninjutsu organizations History of Shiga Prefecture Azuchi–Momoyama period

History

See also

References