Ninja Textbook: New Mansenshukai
Ninja Textbook: New Mansenshukai
Ninjas have always been very popular in fiction, both now and in the past. Even abroad, the word "ninja" is understood as is.
So, what were real ninjas like in history?
There is no doubt that ninjas existed. However, it is difficult to know the reality of them. This is because ninjas were, literally, "those who hide." If they left traces of their activities, they would be disqualified as ninjas.
This book introduces the reality of such ninjas in an easy-to-understand manner.
This book has a source material. It is a ninjutsu manual called "Mansenshukai" written in the Edo period.
It is said that not everything written in "Mansenshukai" is true. However, it is valuable as a ninjutsu manual written during the time when ninjas actually existed and were active. It can be said that it is a book that gets quite close to the reality of ninjas.
This book breaks down the contents of "Mansenshukai" so that it is easy for modern Japanese people to understand. It is a thin book of less than 50 pages, so you can read it through easily.
I have written the table of contents for this book below.
Introduction
1. The Work of a Ninja
2. History of the Ninja
(1) History of the Iga Ninja
(2) History of the Koga Ninja
(3) The Battle of Magari
(4) The Sengoku Period
Column 1: The Attack on Nobunaga
(5) The Iga Sokoku Ikki (Iga League Uprising)
(6) The Tensho Iga War
(7) The Shinkun Iga-goe (Ieyasu's Escape through Iga)
(8) Around the Battle of Sekigahara
Column 2: Koga-ryu Ninjutsu Residence
(9) The Edo Period
(10) Chronology of Ninja History
Column 3: The Theory that Matsuo Basho was a Ninja
3. Ninjutsu and Ninja Tools
(1) What is Ninjutsu?
Column 4: Tateoka Dojun, who used the Art of the Monster
(2) Ninjutsu Manuals
(3) Yonin and Innin (Visible and Invisible Ninjutsu)
(4) The Six Ninja Tools
(5) Shichihode (Seven Disguises)
(6) Ninja Food
(7) Ninja Medicine
(8) Koga Medicine and Yamabushi
Column 5: The Theory that Kan'ami was a Ninja
4. Ninja Essays [Special Contribution]
Shugendo and Ninjas - Yuji Yamada (Professor, Mie University)
"NARUTO" and "ONE PIECE" - Yuya Yoshimaru (Associate Professor, Mie University)
Conclusion