The Ninjutsu Thesis of Iga Ryu & Koga Ryu

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <IMG SRC="074c2b80.jpg" border=0 width="194" height="184" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Arial" ><B>INTERNATIONAL NINJUTSU SOCIETY</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFCC99" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT>  |   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="INTERNATIONAL NINJUTSU SOCIETY"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id106.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Japanese Ninjutsu Info "><U>Japanese Ninjutsu Info </U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="04358020.png" border=0 width="600" height="2" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Ninjutsu Thesis of Iga Ryu & Koga Ryu</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Ninja of Iga and Koga</B></div> <bR> <div> For hundreds of years the Iga Ninja groups were the major force in Ninjutsu. Smaller groups existed in other parts of Japan, but in the Sengoku era Ninja groups rose up throughout Japan. Within these groups of spies, saboteurs and assassins, there developed two super groups, the Iga of Mie prefecture and the Koga of Shiga prefecture.</div> <div> Interestingly Shiga prefecture resides next to Mie prefecture in southern Japan. The Koga and Iga inhabited the same mountain range, in two valleys divided by a mountain. Being completely isolated from the wandering eyes of the Japanese military and Samurai, they lived as farmers and were consulted by the locals on medicines, herbs, weather, and agriculture.</div> <bR> <div> Most of the Koga Ninja and Iga Ninja were descendents from the Yamabushi-(Mountain Priest Warriors), that settled in the region. Ikai, a General in the Chinese military, brought Kosshijutsu to Japan after fleeing China's war during the battle of the Kitan and Xia dynasty against King Jinso during (1040-1050). This man had many teachings from The Art of War and was responsible for introducing these teachings to the Japanese.</div> <div> Other Iga and Koga groups consisted of wandering Ronin, who were master-less Samurai, similar to modern mercenaries, who took home in the same region. The Koga Ninja were capable of forming false groups within the same area in apparent opposition to one another. This threw off suspicions and allowed the Ninja (Koga) to hide their numbers and to be hired by both sides of any dispute in the region. In that way they acted as triple agents, working not only for both sides, but for themselves as well. The Koga Ninja organizations were most likely shadows of themselves and it is probably the reason the Koga Ninja consisted of 53-family groups within their own region. They remained unobtrusive and less centralized; therefore, they were harder to ferret out and destroy-unlike their Iga counterparts.</div> <bR> <div> From among the warlords, came great generals Takeda Shingen, Oda Nobunaga, and last Tokugawa Ieyasu who gradually unified Japan with a complex spy network. These leaders used the Ninja spy network to control the forth comings of such areas of land and power throughout Japan.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="627" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="355"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="355" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="265"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="265" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Iga Ninja</B></div> <bR> <div> The Iga Ninja became such an apparent threat that they attracted the attention of their enemies. They were finally attacked in 1581 and many of their people slaughtered. In this battle some say that General Oda Nobunaga leader of the attacking force, was mislead by false information to believe that the Iga Ninja were of a greater number than they actually were. This was a typical Ninja tactic designed to forestall an attack. Yet, Oda Nobunaga attacked with great forces and the Iga Ninja found them selves facing odds greater than ten to one. The Iga Ninja attempt to assassinate General Oda Nobunaga only succeeded only after their power in the region was broken by the invading forces of other Ninjas; including the assistance of some Koga Ninjas. Many of the Iga retreated, only to return in later times. The fatal error of the Iga Ninja was becoming too numerous and visibly powerful in the eyes of all, and were evident within the structure of the military recruitment of other Shogun leaders. The Iga Ninja became marked for destruction. However, the Koga Ninja, also threatened, escaped the fate of their Iga counterparts, and survived the age of the Samurai relatively intact.</div> <bR> <div> The 45-families of the Iga ryu are:</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="630" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Tozawa ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Fujiwara ryu*</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Minamoto ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Taira ryu*</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Momochi ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Ishitani ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Hattori ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Izumo ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Ohkuni ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Tsutsumi ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Arima ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Hata ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Mizuhari ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Hanbe ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Shima ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Togakure ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Ise ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Sakgami ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Narita ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Oda ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Ooyama ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Mori ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Abe ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Ueno ryu*</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Otsuka ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Ibuki ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Kaneko ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Kotani ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Shndo ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Iida ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Kataoka ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Kanbe ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="151"><div> Sawada ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="164"><div> Kimata ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Toyata ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="151"><div> Toda ryu</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> (The star-*-accented at the end of the family name are direct indications of the Iga and Koga ryu's Ninjas being connected by the same family at the same time during the periods of civil war in feudal Japan.)</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="627" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="355"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="355" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="265"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="265" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Koga Ninja</B></div> <bR> <div> Koga ryu Ninjutsu was the other Ninja clan of big importance in Japan. It consisted of 53-families and, was most likely founded during the Tenkyo period between 938 and 946. It was after Mochizuki Saburo Kameie won the war against Taira no Masakado that he received a bit of land southeast of the Omo province. The area was called KOGA-GUN. Mochizuki changed his name to Koga Oni No Kami Kameie. It was his son, Oni no Kami Iechika, an impressive military student as well as skilled in the literature arts, who was supposedly to have been the one who founded the Koga ryu. It is said he studied Genjutsu from the Buddhist monk Tatsumaki Hoshi who also lived in the area.</div> <bR> <div> The tradition continued for seven long generations of this family. They went by the names of: Oni no Kami Ienari, Iesada, Ienaga, Iekiyo, Ietoo, Ieyoshi, and Yoshiyasu before it spread to other families like: Mochizuki, Ugai, Naiki, and Akutagawa. To these five head families, the remaining troops from both the northern and southern kingdoms joined the clan during the Namboku war (1335-1395). With the help of the Koga ryu, they grew to 53 families. </div> <bR> <div> Some of the ryu-has within the Koga ryu, were:</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="628" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="146"><div> Koga ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="185"><div> Tengu ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="287"><div> Tachibana Hachi ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="146"><div> Byaku ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="185"><div> Taira ryu*</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="287"><div> Shinoi ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="146"><div> Kuruya ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="185"><div> Tatara ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="287"><div> Kawachi Yon Tengu ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="146"><div> Otomo ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="185"><div> Fujiwara ryu*</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="287"><div> Tomo ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="146"><div> Isshu ryi</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="185"><div> Hiryu ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="287"><div> Saski ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="146"><div> Taro ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="185"><div> Sugawara ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="287"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="287" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> While the Koga ryu grew, there were 8-families (Koga Hachi Tengu) that would be the strongest, leading the other families of Koga. The 8-famililes were:</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="627" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="336"><div> Koga ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="284"><div> Mochizuki ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="336"><div> Ugai ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="284"><div> Naiki ryu</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="336"><div> Akutagawa ryu</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="284"><div> Ueno ryu*</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="336"><div> Ban ryu (Nan-Ban)</div> <bR> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="284"><div> Nagano ryu</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Groups in the Koga ryu such as Hiryugumi, Kakuryugumi, Tachibana Hachi-Tengu Gumi, and Kawachi-Yon Tengu Gumi had their own Ninjutsu masters of high renown. During the Hokuto period (1441-1451), the leading heirs were Koga Saburo, Mochizuki Goro, Ugai Ryuhoshi, Naiki Fujibe, and Akutagawa Kazuma. Koga Saburo II, Mochizuki Yaijiro, Ugai Chiaki, Naiki Gohei and Akutagawa Tenoei, were hired by the Sasaki family, who was the Daimyo in that area, to lead their troops against Ashikaga Yoshizawa during the Bunmei period (1469-1487). One hundred years later the Sasaki family again hired Ninjas from both the Koga and Iga (as well as Samurai) in 1570, with the hopes of destroying Oda Nobunaga. Even though the Samurai were trained rigorously as ordered by the Ninja Jonins, General Nobunaga defeated them.</div> <bR> <div> For centuries, both the Iga and the Koga ninja groups continued training themselves to be amongst the best warriors the world has ever seen. They continued in relative quietness until the twentieth century, when they started to export their teachings to others outside the homeland that they considered worthy.</div> <div> After the hostilities of WWII ended, the world was open to the Ninja. Free to travel and to coexist amongst all peoples, they continued passing their secrets from master to student, and father to son. Their own country had placed restrictions and hindered the Ninja arts to flourish, even more than it did decades ago. In the early 1960's a small group of Ninjas (Koga) immigrated to the western nations of Canada and the United States. Others traveled to countries that belonged to NATO, with the U.S.A. as it's founding leader. Many of these Koga Ninjas were businessmen and professionals looking to blend in within the confines of their new homes, and intentionally prepared for the passing of all the secrets of the ninja arts to any who they found worthy to study.</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>