Date of Birth: Born in New York on January 19, 1983
The same birth date as Yuming, a colleague in the same company; writer/poet Edgar Allan Poe whom I fell in love with in junior-high school; Ogai Mori, a writer of Japan's literary history; and dear Mr. Udo Suzuki, another person Japan is proud of. Please let me know if anyone you know is born on the same date.
Height: 158 cm It's my height, honest. It hasn't changed since my debut. I wonder if that means my growth is totally over?
Blood Type: A Well! True born type!, 'cause both of my parents are A. It's a common type among Japanese, isn't it?
Hobbies: Literature remains my eternal passion! I've been missing Japanese literature so much of late. I rushed into a bookstore which sells books in Japanese, and bought about 15 books in one swoop... I stay at home and have been grappling with the books like a hungry beast. Buying furniture, collecting furniture and interior goods Though I said I've been growing my hair long, I've had it cut. Ou, la, la. (Girls who had their hair short once would know this feeling?) Of course email is a tool indispensable for business and private life, but cruise the Net too. I learned about several sites from Toshiba EMI's engineer the other day. They are awesome -- quite interesting, Mesdames! I recommend first of all two of them, Modern Living and otogaiworld-------. Visit them late at night, then they'll be further to the point.
Specialties: To evade saying "I suppose it's OK"*To puzzle others*Independent action of my left little finger*Basketball*Cleaning. Really, I have confidence at it. I get strangely obsessed about the cleanliness of my house. If I suddenly disappear from the music world, you might see Hikaru Utada working as a helper at some inn in Atami.
Favorite Movies: Shawshank Redemption, Meet Joe Black, Godfather Part 2 (I like Robert De Niro), Good Will Hunting, Baghdad Cafe, The Jerk, Unbreakable, Orlando, Amadeus, Sleepy Hollow
Favorite Writers: Kenji Nakagami, "Izoku," "Kishuben"; Ryunosuke Akutagawa, "Rashomon," "Kappa"; Yasunari Kawabata ,"Kanjo Soshoku," "Yukiguni"; Ogai Mori, "Takasebune"; Soseki Natsume "Kokoro"; Kenji Miyazawa (poetry); Yukio Mishima"Kinkakuji"; Ryotaro Shiba "Sekigahara";
Hermann Hesse. Read "Siddhartha" and "Happiness" and "Steppenwolf" as finale, then you'll be fully satisfied! (I recommend the translation by Kenji Takahashi)
Roald Dahl, "Tales of the Unexpected"; Shel Silverstein, "Where the Sidewalk Ends," "A Light in the Attic";Edgar Allan Poe; Elie Wiesel, "Night"; John Berendt, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"; F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby.
Favorite Artists: I have many many more favorite artists than listed below. I have too many, in fact, and they are constantly increasing. Anyhow, here are some...
Freddie Mercury (Queen), Yutaka Ozaki, Bjork, Janet Jackson, Minnie Riperton, Slash (Guns 'n' Roses), Joe, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Craig David, Garbage, No Doubt, GLAY, Guru, Enigma, Blink182, Miles Davis, Mozart, Blue Man Group, At the Drive-in, Erykah Badu, Jimi Hendrix, Bela Bartok, Edith Piaf.
Places I Want to Go: Italy, Mexico, Machu Picchu, Sahara Desert, my ancestral home in Yamaguchi Pref. (I've never visited before, and would like to visit as soon as I can.)
Things Hooked on Recently:
*Hoop-shaped pierced earrings (again) and accessories with silver and gold mixed, though I used to focus on silver only before (does that mean that I've grown a bit?)
*Stimulant seasonings such as tabasco, sesame oil with chili peppers, vinegar and wasabi.
*I'm into long baths lately. Throughout the world, whether at home in New York, in Japan or in a hotel in Europe, I'm indebted to Japan's famous hot spring bath powder from Tsumura. My father said he likes it, too. Don't you think I have fairly composed daily schedule, though my looks may be quite far out....
*It's a fairly recent thing but I've become very fond of making drinks myself. I bought an espresso maker and coffee maker and make them myself every day. I also discovered a cute teacup set at DKNY and I make Japanese tea often and drink it. I squeeze oranges every morning to make juice... Are these things so common that everybody does them? For me who doesn't cook, it's great progress!
My Favorite Words:
kinomi kinomama (with only the clothes one happens to be wearing); shogyo mujo (All things are in flux and nothing is permanent); kechon kechon (completely); charappoko (no sweat); gakeppuchi (cliff edge); ikkaku senkinn (quick money, fortune at a stroke) (--laugh);
February; maybe; love;
"Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be" - Abraham Lincoln;
"Instead of tug o'war, let's play hug o' war" - Shel Silverstein;
"Turn a negative into a positive picture" - Lauryn Hill
Friday, October 21, 2011
Yoshitaka Amano
Yoshitaka amano??
he is my inspiration ,.. ^^b
Yoshitaka Amano was born in 1952 in a small town at the foot of mount Fuji in Shizuoka, Japan. As a child, he reveled in making unbroken loops of drawings on the huge paper rolls that his brother brought home from his job at a paper factory. "I don't remember a time when I wasn't making drawings," he recalls. While visiting a friend in Tokyo in 1967, he boldly took his paintings to the animation studio Tatsunoko Productions, creators of Space Ace and Mach Go Go Go. His talent was instantly recognized, and at the age of 15, his family reluctantly moved him to a company dormitory in the capital city. After a year of training, Amano took part in designing characters for many of Tatsunoko's greatest cartoons, including Gatchaman (released in the US as G-Force and Battle of the Planets), Hutch the Honeybee, and Cashaan: Robot Hunter. Yet after fifteen years with the animation studio, Amano began to grow restless. He tendered his resignation at the age of 30, exchanging his established career for the precarious life of a freelancer. "Even the tax authorities questioned my decision," he remembers. "But once your life is too stable, your creative dies." Amano soon gained a loyal audience through the Japanese publication Science Fiction Magazine, which serialized his work in their Twlight World feature. In 1984, he published his first collection of paintings, Maten (Evil Universe) . He went on to collaborate with numerous writers, creating close to 20 illustrated books that have sold millions of copies. These works include Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D, Kaoru Kurimonto's Guin Saga, Yoshiki Tanaka's Arslan Chronicals, and Rasen-O (Spiral King) and Chimera by Baku Yumemakura. At the same time, in 1984 he teamed up with director Mamoru Oshii to create the animated film Angel's Egg, which became a cult hit in Japan. His artistic success won him access to yet another format in the 1980s; concept illustration for videogames. His first project, Final Fantasy, became an international hit. He also created character designs for the games Front Mission, Gun Hazard, Rebus (released asKartia in the US), and Emblem of Eru (to be released in Japan by Capcom.) Amano pushed his boundaries even farther in 1997, when he began creating work in New York City. "New York" says Amano, "is my fantasy city, a place where I can dream freely and without constrictions of the known." His 1997 "Think Like Amano" exhibition in New York City's Puck Building presented a retrospective of his work, and debuted his series of ambitious New York paintings. In the fall of 1998 the exhibit travelled to Tokyo's Uenonomori Museum, where it drew record crowds. 1998 also saw the premiere of 1001 Nights , a collaborative film/music project with composer David Newman that was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The 3D computer graphic animated film was produced by Yukio Sonoyama and premiered as the inaugural event in the L.A. Philharmonic's innovative "Filmharmonic" series. In the fall of 1999, Amano will present a multimedia exhibition of his new character Hero, open from October 6th through October 31st at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City. Also in 1999, Amano has joined for the first time with Neil Gaiman to introduce a new edition of the wildly popular Sandman series.
he is my inspiration ,.. ^^b
Yoshitaka Amano was born in 1952 in a small town at the foot of mount Fuji in Shizuoka, Japan. As a child, he reveled in making unbroken loops of drawings on the huge paper rolls that his brother brought home from his job at a paper factory. "I don't remember a time when I wasn't making drawings," he recalls. While visiting a friend in Tokyo in 1967, he boldly took his paintings to the animation studio Tatsunoko Productions, creators of Space Ace and Mach Go Go Go. His talent was instantly recognized, and at the age of 15, his family reluctantly moved him to a company dormitory in the capital city. After a year of training, Amano took part in designing characters for many of Tatsunoko's greatest cartoons, including Gatchaman (released in the US as G-Force and Battle of the Planets), Hutch the Honeybee, and Cashaan: Robot Hunter. Yet after fifteen years with the animation studio, Amano began to grow restless. He tendered his resignation at the age of 30, exchanging his established career for the precarious life of a freelancer. "Even the tax authorities questioned my decision," he remembers. "But once your life is too stable, your creative dies." Amano soon gained a loyal audience through the Japanese publication Science Fiction Magazine, which serialized his work in their Twlight World feature. In 1984, he published his first collection of paintings, Maten (Evil Universe) . He went on to collaborate with numerous writers, creating close to 20 illustrated books that have sold millions of copies. These works include Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D, Kaoru Kurimonto's Guin Saga, Yoshiki Tanaka's Arslan Chronicals, and Rasen-O (Spiral King) and Chimera by Baku Yumemakura. At the same time, in 1984 he teamed up with director Mamoru Oshii to create the animated film Angel's Egg, which became a cult hit in Japan. His artistic success won him access to yet another format in the 1980s; concept illustration for videogames. His first project, Final Fantasy, became an international hit. He also created character designs for the games Front Mission, Gun Hazard, Rebus (released asKartia in the US), and Emblem of Eru (to be released in Japan by Capcom.) Amano pushed his boundaries even farther in 1997, when he began creating work in New York City. "New York" says Amano, "is my fantasy city, a place where I can dream freely and without constrictions of the known." His 1997 "Think Like Amano" exhibition in New York City's Puck Building presented a retrospective of his work, and debuted his series of ambitious New York paintings. In the fall of 1998 the exhibit travelled to Tokyo's Uenonomori Museum, where it drew record crowds. 1998 also saw the premiere of 1001 Nights , a collaborative film/music project with composer David Newman that was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The 3D computer graphic animated film was produced by Yukio Sonoyama and premiered as the inaugural event in the L.A. Philharmonic's innovative "Filmharmonic" series. In the fall of 1999, Amano will present a multimedia exhibition of his new character Hero, open from October 6th through October 31st at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York City. Also in 1999, Amano has joined for the first time with Neil Gaiman to introduce a new edition of the wildly popular Sandman series.
Cosplay
Cosplay , short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and Sci-Fi. Favourite sources include manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies. Any entity from the real or virtual world that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject. Inanimate objects are given anthropomorphic forms and it is not unusual to see genders switched, with women playing male roles and vice versa. There is also a subset of cosplay culture centered around sex appeal, with cosplayers specifically choosing characters that are known for their attractiveness and/or revealing (even explicit) costumes.
Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centred around role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.
"For almost 50 years, costume fandom has had a consistent and widespread following with costumers markedly influencing science fiction writers, artists and the media. Costuming, as an innovative, three-dimensional art form, has probed and broken all limits of imagination in SF and fantasy. From the first Worldcon in 1939 to last year's Worldcon in Philadelphia, costume fandom has emerged as a robust and dynamic force within science-fiction fandom. At the First World Science Fiction Convention in New York in 1939, a 22-year-old Forrest J Ackerman and his friend Myrtle R. Jones appeared in the first SF costumes among the 185 attendees. The future editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland was dressed as a rugged looking star pilot, and his female companion was adorned in a gown recreated from the classic 1933 film Things to Come. Both of them created quite a stir among the somber gathering of writers, artists and fen (plural of fan), and injected a fanciful, imaginary quality into the convention's overly serious nature. Frederik Pohl, in his book The Way The Future Was, described the couple as "stylishly dressed in the fashions of the 25th century" but feared that they had started an ominous precedent. He was right! So successful were their costumes that the following year, about a dozen fans turned out in their own "scientifiction" apparel. Now, over a half century later, costume fandom has come to represent a large segment of the hardcore genre audience. Artists like Kelly Freas, Wendy Pini and Tim Hildebrandt, authors like Julian May and L. Sprague de Camp, and fans by the hundreds dress regularly in costume. Groups, such as the U.K.‘s Knights of St. Fantomy, the Society for Creative Anachronism and the International Costumers' Guild, conduct business and ceremony in costume, and the masquerade has become the central event of most large conventions
Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centred around role play. A broader use of the term cosplay applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.
History of cosplay
Dorayaki
Dorayaki is a type of Japanese confection, а red bean pancake which consists of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of sweet red bean paste.
It originally only had one layer, and the current shape was invented in 1914 by the Ueno Usagiya.
In Japanese, dora means "gong", and because of the simililarity of the shapes, this is probably the origin of the name of the sweet.
Legend has it that the first Dorayaki were made when a samurai named Benkei forgot his gong (dora) upon leaving a farmer’s home where he was hiding and the farmer subsequently used the gong to fry the pancakes, thus the name Dorayaki.
It originally only had one layer, and the current shape was invented in 1914 by the Ueno Usagiya.
In Japanese, dora means "gong", and because of the simililarity of the shapes, this is probably the origin of the name of the sweet.
Legend has it that the first Dorayaki were made when a samurai named Benkei forgot his gong (dora) upon leaving a farmer’s home where he was hiding and the farmer subsequently used the gong to fry the pancakes, thus the name Dorayaki.
How to make Dorayaki
Taiyaki
Taiyaki is a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, or cheese. Some shops even sell taiyaki with okonomiyaki, gyoza filling, or a sausage inside.
Taiyaki is made using regular pancake or waffle batter. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold for each side. The filling is then put on one side and the mold is closed. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown.
Taiyaki was first baked by a sweet shop Naniwaya in Azabu, Tokyo in 1909, and now can be found all over Japan, especially at food courts of supermarkets and Japanese festivals .
They are similar to imagawayaki ,which are thick round cakes also filled with sweet azuki bean paste or custard.
If you plan on making taiyaki, you’ll need a taiyaki-ki (taiyaki mold). But if you’re simply after the flavor of taiyaki, you can also make silver dollar size cakes with the batter and fill them with anko. This confection is called dorayaki (literally, “grilled gong”, in allusion to their round shape).
I wanted a more crisp bread for my taiyaki and have tweaked a krumkake recipe I found online. This recipe yields a firm, light crust that’s not too sweet.
Taiyaki
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
3 Tbs. water
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 Tbs. honey (optional)
1 1/2 cups anko, room temperature
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and cornstarch. Set aside.
Beat together the eggs, honey, if using, and sugar till frothy and to it add the flour mixture and water. Whip till smooth.
Preheat a taiyaki-ki and brush it lightly with oil. Pour in a small amount of batter to the preheated pan, add a tablespoon of anko and more batter as necessary to fill in the details. Close and latch the pan.
Turn the heat to medium low and cook about 30 seconds then turn the pan over. Heat evenly for a minute and turn again. Repeat. The taiyaki are done when you can easily open the iron and the taiyaki are a golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.
Makes 12 Taiyaki
Difficulty: Easy | Time: 30 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Easy
The Japanese use fillings other than anko for taiyaki. Chocolate, custard and even savory fillings are also popular additives. Use whatever you like; make it your okonomi-taiyaki!
You can make dorayaki with this recipe and add more honey to up the flavor and make it more moist. If you want, cut shapes from the dorayaki with a cookie cutter while the cakes are still warm. You can then sandwich anko between them.
Taiyaki is made using regular pancake or waffle batter. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold for each side. The filling is then put on one side and the mold is closed. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown.
Taiyaki was first baked by a sweet shop Naniwaya in Azabu, Tokyo in 1909, and now can be found all over Japan, especially at food courts of supermarkets and Japanese festivals .
They are similar to imagawayaki ,which are thick round cakes also filled with sweet azuki bean paste or custard.
If you plan on making taiyaki, you’ll need a taiyaki-ki (taiyaki mold). But if you’re simply after the flavor of taiyaki, you can also make silver dollar size cakes with the batter and fill them with anko. This confection is called dorayaki (literally, “grilled gong”, in allusion to their round shape).
I wanted a more crisp bread for my taiyaki and have tweaked a krumkake recipe I found online. This recipe yields a firm, light crust that’s not too sweet.
Taiyaki
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
3 Tbs. water
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 Tbs. honey (optional)
1 1/2 cups anko, room temperature
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and cornstarch. Set aside.
Beat together the eggs, honey, if using, and sugar till frothy and to it add the flour mixture and water. Whip till smooth.
Preheat a taiyaki-ki and brush it lightly with oil. Pour in a small amount of batter to the preheated pan, add a tablespoon of anko and more batter as necessary to fill in the details. Close and latch the pan.
Turn the heat to medium low and cook about 30 seconds then turn the pan over. Heat evenly for a minute and turn again. Repeat. The taiyaki are done when you can easily open the iron and the taiyaki are a golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve immediately.
Makes 12 Taiyaki
Difficulty: Easy | Time: 30 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Easy
The Japanese use fillings other than anko for taiyaki. Chocolate, custard and even savory fillings are also popular additives. Use whatever you like; make it your okonomi-taiyaki!
You can make dorayaki with this recipe and add more honey to up the flavor and make it more moist. If you want, cut shapes from the dorayaki with a cookie cutter while the cakes are still warm. You can then sandwich anko between them.
other ways to make Taiyaki
Thursday, October 20, 2011
ninja
Black-clad figures with muffled faces skitter through a courtyard, swarming over walls like spiders and running lightly across rooftops, quick as cats.
An unsuspecting samurai sleeps peacefully as these shadows permanently silence his body guards. The bedroom door slides open without a sound, an up-raised blade glints in the moonlight, and...
This is the ninja of the movies and comic books, the stealthy assassin in black robes with magical abilities in the arts of concealment and murder.
This wraith-like being is very compelling, to be sure. But what is the historical reality behind the popular culture icon of the Ninja?
Origins of the Ninja:
It is difficult to pin down the emergence of the first ninja, more properly called shinobi. After all, people around the world have always used spies and assassins.
Japanese folklore states that the ninja descended from a demon that was half man and half crow. However, it seems more likely that the ninja slowly evolved as an opposing force to their upper-class contemporaries, the samurai, in early feudal Japan.
Most sources indicate that the skills that became ninjutsu, the ninja's art of stealth, began to develop between 600-900 A.D. Prince Shotoku, (574-622), is said to have employed Otomono Sahito as a shinobi spy.
Mainland Influences on the Early Ninja:
By the year 850, the Tang Dynasty in China was in decline. It would fall in 907, plunging China into 50 years of chaos; the collapse prompted some Tang generals to escape over the sea to Japan.
These commanders brought new battle tactics and philosophies of war with them.
Chinese monks also began to arrive in Japan in the 1020s, bringing new medicines and fighting philosophies of their own. Many of the ideas originated in India, and made their way across Tibet and China before turning up in Japan.
The monks taught their methods to Japan's warrior-monks, or yamabushi, as well as to members of the first ninja clans.
The First Known Ninja School:
For a century or more, the blend of Chinese and native tactics that would become ninjutsu developed as a counter-culture, without rules.
It was first formalized by Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi.
Daisuke had been a samurai, but he was on the losing side in a regional battle. He lost his lands and his samurai title.
In 1162, Daisuke was wandering the mountains of southwest Honshu when he met Kain Doshi, a Chinese warrior-monk. Daisuke renounced his bushido code, and together the two developed a new theory of guerrilla warfare called ninjutsu.
Daisuke's descendants created the first ninja ryu, or school, the Togakureryu.
Ninjutsu versus Bushido:
Ninjutsu developed as an opposing force to the samurai code of bushido.
Samurai valued loyalty and honor above all else.
Going into battle, a samurai would select a single opponent, announce his challenge, list his family pedigree, and then attack. Samurai wore bright colors on their armor to announce their clan identity.
Bushido was very noble, but it couldn't always get the job done.
That is where ninjutsu came in: the ninja code valued accomplishing a mission by whatever means necessary. Sneak attacks, poison, seduction and spying were all shameful to the samurai, but fair play by the rules of the ninja.
Who Were the Ninja?:
Some of the ninja leaders, or jonin, were disgraced samurai like Daisuke Togakure. They had lost in battle or had been renounced by their daimyo, but fled rather than committing seppuku.
Most ordinary ninja were not from the nobility, though. They were villagers and farmers, who learned to fight by any means necessary for their own self-preservation.
The most famous ninja strongholds were the Iga and Koga Provinces.
Women also served in ninja combat. Female ninja, or kunoichi, infiltrated enemy castles in the guise of dancers, concubines or servants. They were successful spies, and sometimes acted as assassins as well.
Samurai Use of the Ninja:
The samurai lords could not always prevail in open warfare, but they were constrained by bushido. So, they often hired ninja to do their dirty work.
Secrets could be spied out, opponents assassinated, or misinformation planted... without sullying a samurai's honor.
This system also transferred wealth to the lower classes, as ninja were paid handsomely for their work.
Of course, a samurai's enemies could also hire ninja. As a result, the samurai needed, despised, and feared the ninja, in equal measure.
The ninja "high man," or jonin, gave orders to the chunin, "middle man," who passed them on to the genin, ordinary ninja.
Ninja Clothing, Tools and Weapons:
In modern movies and comic books, ninjas are portrayed in all-black clothing, with only their eyes showing.
This costume, however, comes from the kabuki theater.
Actual ninjas wore navy blue for night operations. Usually, however, they dressed to blend in with their targets - as any sensible espionage agent would do.
Ninja tools and weapons included: shinobigatana, medium-length swords; the bo and naginata, war staves and pikes; and martial arts like karate.
Ninja also developed special equipment like the shuko, an iron hand-crampon used for climbing, and the tessen, a sharpened metal fan.
Ninja Techniques:
Ninjutsu is practical; if a tactic is effective, then it is acceptable.
The Eight Methods taught in many ryu were: Body skills, karate, spear fighting, staff fighting, blade-throwing, use of fire and water, fortification and strategy, and concealment.
Many ninja weapons were modified from farm sickles, saws for wood cutting, pruning shears, etc. If discovered, these items would not give away a ninja's identity.
Among the ninja were expert poisoners. Poison was added to food, or applied to a dart or blade.
Some ninja disguised themselves as flute-playing mystics. The sturdy flute could be used as a club or blow-dart tube.
The Rise and Fall of the Ninja:
The ninja came into their own during the tumultuous era between 1336 and 1600. In an atmosphere of constant war, ninja skills were essential for all sides.
The Nanbukucho Wars (1336-1392)
For more than 50 years in the 14th century, Japan had two separate imperial courts, which fought for control of the country.
The Northern Court was controlled by the shoguns. The Southern Court belonged to Emperor Go-Daigo, who wanted to rule in his own right.
Ninja played an important role on both sides in this struggle, infiltrating castles as spies, and even burning down the South's Hachiman-yama Fortress.
The Northern Court eventually won, and the puppet-Emperor system was retained.
The Onin War (1467-1477)
About 70 years later, the Onin War broke out. Ninja featured heavily in this conflict, as well.
The war began as a succession fight within the ruling Ashikaga clan, but soon devolved into a nation-wide civil war.
Although the Onin War ended after 10 years, it ushered in a century of turmoil called the Sengoku Jidai, or "Warring States Period" (though it was actually samurai clans fighting, rather than states).
Ninja served a number of purposes during the Sengoku Period (1467-1568). They acted as kancho (spies), koran (agitators), teisatsu (scouts), and kisho (surprise attackers). They were most effective in castle sieges, infiltrating and distracting the defenders inside while the main besieging army attacked from outside.
Destruction of the Ninja Bases (1581)
The ninja were an important tool during the Sengoku Period, but a destabilizing influence. When war-lord Oda Nobunaga emerged as the strongest daimyo and began to reunite Japan (1551-1582), he saw the ninja strongholds at Iga and Koga as a threat.
Nobunaga's lightning-quick attack on Iga forced the ninja to fight open battles; they were defeated and scattered to nearby provinces or the mountains of Kii.
While their power-base was destroyed, the ninja did not vanish entirely. Some went into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who later became shogun in 1603.
The much-reduced ninja continued to serve both sides in struggles. In one famous incident from 1600, a ninja sneaked through a group of Tokugawa's defenders at Hataya castle, and planted the flag of the besieging army high on the front gate!
Edo and the End
The Edo Period (1603-1868) brought stability and peace to Japan, bringing the ninja story to a close. Ninja skills and legends survived, though, and were embellished to enliven the movies, games and comic books of today.
An unsuspecting samurai sleeps peacefully as these shadows permanently silence his body guards. The bedroom door slides open without a sound, an up-raised blade glints in the moonlight, and...
This is the ninja of the movies and comic books, the stealthy assassin in black robes with magical abilities in the arts of concealment and murder.
This wraith-like being is very compelling, to be sure. But what is the historical reality behind the popular culture icon of the Ninja?
Origins of the Ninja:
It is difficult to pin down the emergence of the first ninja, more properly called shinobi. After all, people around the world have always used spies and assassins.
Japanese folklore states that the ninja descended from a demon that was half man and half crow. However, it seems more likely that the ninja slowly evolved as an opposing force to their upper-class contemporaries, the samurai, in early feudal Japan.
Most sources indicate that the skills that became ninjutsu, the ninja's art of stealth, began to develop between 600-900 A.D. Prince Shotoku, (574-622), is said to have employed Otomono Sahito as a shinobi spy.
Mainland Influences on the Early Ninja:
By the year 850, the Tang Dynasty in China was in decline. It would fall in 907, plunging China into 50 years of chaos; the collapse prompted some Tang generals to escape over the sea to Japan.
These commanders brought new battle tactics and philosophies of war with them.
Chinese monks also began to arrive in Japan in the 1020s, bringing new medicines and fighting philosophies of their own. Many of the ideas originated in India, and made their way across Tibet and China before turning up in Japan.
The monks taught their methods to Japan's warrior-monks, or yamabushi, as well as to members of the first ninja clans.
The First Known Ninja School:
For a century or more, the blend of Chinese and native tactics that would become ninjutsu developed as a counter-culture, without rules.
It was first formalized by Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi.
Daisuke had been a samurai, but he was on the losing side in a regional battle. He lost his lands and his samurai title.
In 1162, Daisuke was wandering the mountains of southwest Honshu when he met Kain Doshi, a Chinese warrior-monk. Daisuke renounced his bushido code, and together the two developed a new theory of guerrilla warfare called ninjutsu.
Daisuke's descendants created the first ninja ryu, or school, the Togakureryu.
Ninjutsu versus Bushido:
Ninjutsu developed as an opposing force to the samurai code of bushido.
Samurai valued loyalty and honor above all else.
Going into battle, a samurai would select a single opponent, announce his challenge, list his family pedigree, and then attack. Samurai wore bright colors on their armor to announce their clan identity.
Bushido was very noble, but it couldn't always get the job done.
That is where ninjutsu came in: the ninja code valued accomplishing a mission by whatever means necessary. Sneak attacks, poison, seduction and spying were all shameful to the samurai, but fair play by the rules of the ninja.
Who Were the Ninja?:
Some of the ninja leaders, or jonin, were disgraced samurai like Daisuke Togakure. They had lost in battle or had been renounced by their daimyo, but fled rather than committing seppuku.
Most ordinary ninja were not from the nobility, though. They were villagers and farmers, who learned to fight by any means necessary for their own self-preservation.
The most famous ninja strongholds were the Iga and Koga Provinces.
Women also served in ninja combat. Female ninja, or kunoichi, infiltrated enemy castles in the guise of dancers, concubines or servants. They were successful spies, and sometimes acted as assassins as well.
Samurai Use of the Ninja:
The samurai lords could not always prevail in open warfare, but they were constrained by bushido. So, they often hired ninja to do their dirty work.
Secrets could be spied out, opponents assassinated, or misinformation planted... without sullying a samurai's honor.
This system also transferred wealth to the lower classes, as ninja were paid handsomely for their work.
Of course, a samurai's enemies could also hire ninja. As a result, the samurai needed, despised, and feared the ninja, in equal measure.
The ninja "high man," or jonin, gave orders to the chunin, "middle man," who passed them on to the genin, ordinary ninja.
Ninja Clothing, Tools and Weapons:
In modern movies and comic books, ninjas are portrayed in all-black clothing, with only their eyes showing.
This costume, however, comes from the kabuki theater.
Actual ninjas wore navy blue for night operations. Usually, however, they dressed to blend in with their targets - as any sensible espionage agent would do.
Ninja tools and weapons included: shinobigatana, medium-length swords; the bo and naginata, war staves and pikes; and martial arts like karate.
Ninja also developed special equipment like the shuko, an iron hand-crampon used for climbing, and the tessen, a sharpened metal fan.
Ninja Techniques:
Ninjutsu is practical; if a tactic is effective, then it is acceptable.
The Eight Methods taught in many ryu were: Body skills, karate, spear fighting, staff fighting, blade-throwing, use of fire and water, fortification and strategy, and concealment.
Many ninja weapons were modified from farm sickles, saws for wood cutting, pruning shears, etc. If discovered, these items would not give away a ninja's identity.
Among the ninja were expert poisoners. Poison was added to food, or applied to a dart or blade.
Some ninja disguised themselves as flute-playing mystics. The sturdy flute could be used as a club or blow-dart tube.
The Rise and Fall of the Ninja:
The ninja came into their own during the tumultuous era between 1336 and 1600. In an atmosphere of constant war, ninja skills were essential for all sides.
The Nanbukucho Wars (1336-1392)
For more than 50 years in the 14th century, Japan had two separate imperial courts, which fought for control of the country.
The Northern Court was controlled by the shoguns. The Southern Court belonged to Emperor Go-Daigo, who wanted to rule in his own right.
Ninja played an important role on both sides in this struggle, infiltrating castles as spies, and even burning down the South's Hachiman-yama Fortress.
The Northern Court eventually won, and the puppet-Emperor system was retained.
The Onin War (1467-1477)
About 70 years later, the Onin War broke out. Ninja featured heavily in this conflict, as well.
The war began as a succession fight within the ruling Ashikaga clan, but soon devolved into a nation-wide civil war.
Although the Onin War ended after 10 years, it ushered in a century of turmoil called the Sengoku Jidai, or "Warring States Period" (though it was actually samurai clans fighting, rather than states).
Ninja served a number of purposes during the Sengoku Period (1467-1568). They acted as kancho (spies), koran (agitators), teisatsu (scouts), and kisho (surprise attackers). They were most effective in castle sieges, infiltrating and distracting the defenders inside while the main besieging army attacked from outside.
Destruction of the Ninja Bases (1581)
The ninja were an important tool during the Sengoku Period, but a destabilizing influence. When war-lord Oda Nobunaga emerged as the strongest daimyo and began to reunite Japan (1551-1582), he saw the ninja strongholds at Iga and Koga as a threat.
Nobunaga's lightning-quick attack on Iga forced the ninja to fight open battles; they were defeated and scattered to nearby provinces or the mountains of Kii.
While their power-base was destroyed, the ninja did not vanish entirely. Some went into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who later became shogun in 1603.
The much-reduced ninja continued to serve both sides in struggles. In one famous incident from 1600, a ninja sneaked through a group of Tokugawa's defenders at Hataya castle, and planted the flag of the besieging army high on the front gate!
Edo and the End
The Edo Period (1603-1868) brought stability and peace to Japan, bringing the ninja story to a close. Ninja skills and legends survived, though, and were embellished to enliven the movies, games and comic books of today.
Samurai
The samurai (or bushi) were the warriors of premodern Japan. They later made up the ruling military class that eventually became the highest ranking social caste of the Edo Period (1603-1867). Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword.
Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"). Strongly Confucian in nature, bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior. Many samurai were also drawn to the teachings and practices of Zen Buddhism.
History
The samurai trace their origins to the Heian Period campaigns to subdue the native Emishi people in the Tohoku Region. Around the same time, warriors were increasingly hired by wealthy landowners that had grown independent of the central government and built armies for their own protection.
The two most powerful of these landowning clans, the Minamoto and Taira, eventually challenged the central government and battled each other for supremacy over the entire country. Minamoto Yoritomo emerged victorious and set up a new military government in 1192, led by the shogun or supreme military commander. The samurai would rule over Japan for most of the next 700 years.
During the chaotic era of warring states in the 15th and 16th centuries, Japan splintered into dozens of independent states constantly at war with one another. Consequently, warriors were in high demand. Many of the famous samurai movies by Kurosawa are set during this era.
The country was eventually reunited in the late 1500s, and a rigid social caste system was established during the Edo Period that placed the samurai at the top, followed by the farmers, artisans and merchants respectively. During this time, the samurai were forced to live in castle towns, were the only ones allowed to own and carry swords and were paid in rice by their daimyo or feudal lords. Masterless samurai were called ronin and caused minor troubles during the 1600s.
Relative peace prevailed during the roughly 250 years of the Edo Period. As a result, the importance of martial skills declined, and many samurai became bureaucrats, teachers or artists. Japan's feudal era eventually came to an end in 1868, and the samurai class was abolished a few years afterwards.
Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido ("the way of the warrior"). Strongly Confucian in nature, bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one's master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior. Many samurai were also drawn to the teachings and practices of Zen Buddhism.
History
The samurai trace their origins to the Heian Period campaigns to subdue the native Emishi people in the Tohoku Region. Around the same time, warriors were increasingly hired by wealthy landowners that had grown independent of the central government and built armies for their own protection.
The two most powerful of these landowning clans, the Minamoto and Taira, eventually challenged the central government and battled each other for supremacy over the entire country. Minamoto Yoritomo emerged victorious and set up a new military government in 1192, led by the shogun or supreme military commander. The samurai would rule over Japan for most of the next 700 years.
During the chaotic era of warring states in the 15th and 16th centuries, Japan splintered into dozens of independent states constantly at war with one another. Consequently, warriors were in high demand. Many of the famous samurai movies by Kurosawa are set during this era.
The country was eventually reunited in the late 1500s, and a rigid social caste system was established during the Edo Period that placed the samurai at the top, followed by the farmers, artisans and merchants respectively. During this time, the samurai were forced to live in castle towns, were the only ones allowed to own and carry swords and were paid in rice by their daimyo or feudal lords. Masterless samurai were called ronin and caused minor troubles during the 1600s.
Relative peace prevailed during the roughly 250 years of the Edo Period. As a result, the importance of martial skills declined, and many samurai became bureaucrats, teachers or artists. Japan's feudal era eventually came to an end in 1868, and the samurai class was abolished a few years afterwards.
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