Do Japanese ninjas exist?

The evolution of the name ninja

The title ninja began to exist in Japan during the Edo period, but the history of ninja began much earlier. It is said that the first person to send "ninja" to complete the mission in Japan was Prince Tokusho. At that time, ninjas were called "shinengbian". According to different times and places, there are various titles. The following are the titles of ninjas in each period: Asuka Period: "Shi Neng Ben"; Nara Period: "Scout"; Warring States Period: There are many names, the most popular ones Hiro's nickname is "Ranbo", which is the name given by Takeda Shingen. Edo Period: "Ninja".

Although the name was officially established in the Edo period, it was from this era that Japan entered a long period of peace ruled by the Tokugawa family, so the stage for ninja activities became more and more So small that many ninjutsu from the Warring States Period were lost. Activity on the stage of history becomes less and less. Due to the loss of the stage for activities, ninjas gradually disappeared from the stage of history. So many ninjutsu were lost. The last record of ninja activities was during the "Shimabara Rebellion" in 1637, when ninjas fought as part of the shogunate's deployment.

The Origin of Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu, also known as Hidden Technique. There are different opinions about the origin of ninjutsu and ninja. Some people in China believe that ninjutsu originated from the Five Elements Technique of the Han Dynasty in China and was later spread to Japan. Like karate, judo, Shaolin Temple boxing and other Japanese martial arts, ninjutsu is a Japanese martial art that gradually developed after ancient Chinese martial arts were introduced to Japan. The authoritative book on ninjutsu, "Wanchuan Jihai", points out that the origin of ninjutsu ideas comes from Jiang Taigong Lu Wang during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties in China. It was he who first proposed the concept of ninjutsu and wrote it in the famous book "Six Tao" handed down from generation to generation. Later, Sun Wu, Zhang Liang, Han Xin and others successively improved the theory of ninjutsu. In particular, Sun Wu's "The Art of War" is highly respected by the ninja class. At this time, Ninjutsu also basically formed its prototype consisting of tactics, formation, yin and yang, and skills. As ninjutsu spread to Japan, ninjas also appeared and developed in Japan.

The Japanese believe that the theoretical basis of ninjutsu evolved from Sun Tzu's Art of War passed from China to Japan, and then added the training method and the infamous mountain ambush warfare technique (mountain ambush warfare) It originated from Japanese farmers ambushing bandits who robbed tourists of their belongings in the valley, and the Japanese also had the shame to brag about it. It developed into the so-called four-character mantra of "wind, forest, fire, and mountain". After the rise of the samurai class during the Heian period, it vigorously absorbed the military art of mountain ambush warfare and developed it. In the Genpei era, Minamoto Yoshitsune successfully used the technique of ambush in the mountains and completed the theory of attack surface warfare. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Kusunoki Masashige developed the defensive art of war. At this point, ninjutsu and martial arts were separated into different systems and officially became independent.

Immigrants from China and North Korea are also closely related to the development of ninjas. Because Japan was very backward in ancient times, the Japanese government very much welcomed immigrants from China with highly developed science and technology and culture to settle in Japan. Therefore, Koreans who were influenced by Chinese civilization were also welcomed. The Japanese called these immigrants "naturalized people" (although they are welcome, But they are still discriminated against. It is difficult for immigrants to enter the upper class society, and they cannot use the language and culture of their original place of residence. They must change their names to Japanese and use Japanese). These ancient skilled immigrants brought to Japan a large amount of advanced science, technology and cultural knowledge, such as techniques for making pottery, armor, clothing, and the Chinese martial arts that decisively promoted the development of Japanese ninjutsu. Because most ninjas come from peasants at the bottom of society, rather than noble-born samurai. Therefore, as immigrants who are difficult to be accepted by the upper class, "naturalized people" have also entered the ninja industry in large numbers. "Naturalized people" usually settled in Kyoto, and then a large number of people moved to nearby Iga or Koga. This is also the main reason for the unusual development of ninjutsu in the two places. For example, the famous Hattori Hanzo Masakashi is a Chinese. His surname is Qin. The Qin family came from the Wu Kingdom in China at the end of the third century and the beginning of the fourth century AD (the traditional name for Japanese kimonos is "Wu Fu", which is taken from the Wu state where the Qin family was born). country) crossed the sea and settled in Japan, and later changed his Japanese surname to Hattori. Hattori Hanzo joined Tokugawa Ieyasu and later moved to Edo. Legend has it that this ninja finally realized the true meaning of forbearance, something that had never happened to many generations of ninjas. To this day, the Japanese still praise the legend of "Oni Hanzo" when they mention him.