Today in many countries hundreds of books about ninjutsu are published. But all informathion containing in these books can be traced only to several sources - either to the texts of Buzinkan founder Hatsumi Matsaaki, whose words are repeated by dozens of students on different languages in different countries, or to several popular books, a good half of which was written by authors, who wanted to make money by propagandizing self-created school of “nin-jutsu”.

Different authors and different titles don’t mean different ways in researching such a complicated phenomenon like ninjutsu. All the “historians” (most of them don’t know Japanese language and have never seen neither historic chronicles nor ninjutsu treatises) tell the same version: the ninjas are representatives of “secret” clans (word “clan” by unknown reason is understood as “secret society”, not as “family”) based on esoteric spiritual teaching Shugendo (“way of obtaining the supernatural powers”), which is intended to bring harmony with the Universe. Shugendo followers were not supported by government’s benevolence and constantly were under attack. So, ninja clans had to develop a secret art of diversions, espionage and hand-to-hand combat, which later was named “ninjutsu”. Therefore, ninja clan is not a spy organization. It is society of researchers of highest enlightenment and finding a harmony with outer world.

But if we would study Japanese historical texts, classical literary texts, real ninjutsu treatises, and works of leading modern researchers of ninjutsu history - Yamaguchi Masayuki, Okuse Heishichiro, Nava Yumio and others - we will find a different image of ninja and ninjutsu. Here I want to quote from a XVIII century book “Titles of samurai’s families” (“Buke myomokusho”): “Shinobi-no mono execute different espionage work. Therefore they also are named kanja or choja. So, their service is to secretly penetrate to another provinces and find out the real situation in enemy camp, or by mixing with enemy to find out his weak points. Additionally in enemy camp they set fires, and as assassins kill people. These shinobi are used in many cases. They are also named mono-kiki, shinobi-metsuke. If from the first time their duties are not fixed, there are no tasks which they are not given.

As shinobi usually common people, “light-legs” (ashigaru), police guards (doshin), rappa, seppa and others are used. Near Kyoto in Iga province and in Koga [district of province] Omi there were many jizamurai, after Onin years (1467-1477) they organized their own bands (to) and fought during the day and during the night, they also stealed and robbed. Many of them became masters in theirs art of espionage (kancho-no jutsu), after this feudal lords (daimyo) of all clans began to hire such jijamurai. The usual practice was to hire them as spies (shinobi). And they were named Iga-mono - Men from Iga - and Koga-mono - Men from Koga” (translation from old japanese from: Koji ruien. Tokyo, 1969, v. 43, p.346).

This quote can be seen very often in different japanese researches on ninjutsu, and it is not surprising because here all main things are underlined - who is ninja (or shinobi-no mono, how they are named in the text) and what is the role of notorious secret clans in developing of art of ninjutsu. Well, what is most important in this text? First, shinobi-no mono were military spies, and they served to feudal lords. “Spying” function, not belonging to some religious-mystical teaching was a base for distinguishing of this category. Because of this the source easily changes the word “ninjutsu” for the word “kancho-no jutsu”, which means just espionage without any spiritual aspects, and uses simple words “kancho” and “choja”, which mean “spy” and have chinese origin, as synonyms to “shinobi-no mono”.

In this case it is interesting to see a list of social groups from which shinobi are recruited: common people, low-level samurais (ashigaru), so-called “guards” (doshin) who executed police functions and guarded feudal lord’s castles, various criminal riff-raff seppa and rappa (due to japanese sources they were bands of “bandits from mountains and fields”). If we add here the fact that some sources, for example “Diary of Momii family” (“Momii-ke nikki”), use the term shinobi-no samurai (see “Koji ruien” v.43 p.355) - “samurai, serving as shinobi-no mono”, then it is clear that any man possessing special skills could serve as shinobi-no mono.

Then, in this passage from “Buke myomokusho” the role of famous groups from Iga and Koga is formulated very exactly. There were many masters of “proper art of espionage”, i.e. they really had a tradition of studying ninjutsu and transferring the knowledge of ninjutsu from generation to generation in these regions. But “men from Iga and Koga” are not called the creators of art of espionage, and they came on the field of espionage very late, at the end of XV century.

Of course, one cannot decide about such a complicated phenomenon as ninjutsu only on the base of one passage. But it is supported by many other sources: “Chronicle of five generations of Hojo” (“Hojo godaiki”), “Records of eight provinces of Kanto” (“Kanhasshu-roku”), “Military chronicle of Matsuo” (“Matsuo-gunki”) and many others.

Therefore it is possible to make a conclusion that modern “historians of ninjutsu” distorted the real image of japanese “invisible men” very much, hence the concept of ninjutsu history, which dominates in modern literature, should be reconsidered on the base of existed historical documents.

We are often told about the lack of credible information about ninja. But in fact the situation is not so desperate. Nowadays we have by hand several dozens of ninja treatises the most famous of which are “Bansenshukai”, “Ninpiden” and “Shoninki”, which all were published in Japan several time each. We have a detailed account of Oda invasion to Iga province in “Iranki” with parallel fragments in “Shinchokoki”. We have dozens of reports of shoguns’s o-niwaban and other documents. We have lot of genealogies of many ninja clans - the Hattori, the Fujibayashi, the Momochi and others. And finally hundreds of passages from many gunki-monogatari - “Taiheiki”, “Hojo godaiki”, “Kanhasshu-roku”, “Matsuo-gunki”, “Intoku Taiheiki”, “Taikoki” and many others. Why should we neglect sources? Why did the western historians neglect them?

A little about my own background. My name is Alexei Gorbylyov. In the present time I am a post-graduate student working on PhD. dissertation (The tradition of shugendo of Kumano-Yoshino Mountains in the end of Heian period) in the Moscow States University, the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Russia.

I conducted a vast research in ninjutsu history on the basis of both investigating old sources (now I am translating “Iranki” with parallel fragments of “Shinchokoki”, and “Shoninki” into Russian language) and field research (I visited Iga Ueno, Konan, Koka and Negoro). In 1997 I published a book titled “The Way of Invisible Warriors. The True History of Ninjutsu” (Minsk, Belorus, Harvest Publications, 496 p., in Russian language of course) with the circulation of the first edition 15000 copies (the content of the book is given bellow). It is a popular book aimed at an ordinary reader almost without references. It is devoted exclusively with history and legends of ninjutsu. I am also working as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the most popular in the countries of the former Soviet Union Martial Arts Magazine “Kempo”.

These days I am working on an article headlined “The Hattori clan. Investigating the roots and nature of ninjutsu tradition of Iga” in English language.

Alexei may be reached via e-mail shigetsu@citiline.ru