ninja part 2

Well my last blog entry was about the ninja and there was so much information that I could not fit it all in one blog entry so I split it up and this is the second part and this one is all about the tools that the ninja used. And not all the tools that ninja used where weapons they had tools for climbing, and making distractions. No this will be a pretty big list but it is buy no means all that the ninja used I don’t think anybody knows them all. And I am sure there are many times of each.
Tools used for infiltration and espionage and assassinations. Ropes and grappling hooks were common, and were tied to the belt a collapsible ladder also sometimes used. Spiked or hooked climbing gear worn on the hands and feet also doubled as weapons and the ninja would use the claws on his hands to block sword strikes and would make for an effective countering move. Others include chisels, hammers, drills, picks and so others like that to carve into a wall to make foot holes.
The kunai was a heavy pointed tool that kind of looks masonry trowel. Although it is often portrayed as a weapon, the kunai was primarily used for gouging holes in walls. Knives and small saws were also used to create holes in buildings, where they served as a foothold or a passage of entry, like the hammers drills and so one from above.
Although shorter swords and daggers were used, the katana was probably the ninja's weapon of choice like the samurai, and was most of the time carried on the back unlike on the hip like the samurai. The katana had several uses beyond normal combat like the sword could also be laid against the wall, where the ninja could use the sword guard (tsuba) to gain a higher foothold. While straight swords were used before the invention of the katana, the straight ninjatō was used.
An array of darts, spikes, knives, and sharp, star-shaped discs were known collectively as shuriken. They were an important part of the arsenal, where they could be thrown to mostly cause a distraction so the ninja had an opening. Bows were used for sharpshooting, ninja bows were intentionally made smaller than the traditional yumi (longbow) so they can be carried and shoot while remaining stealthy. The kusarigama or the chain and sickle were also used by the ninja. This weapon consisted of a weight on one end of a chain, and a sickle or a (kama) on the other. The weight was swung to injure or disable an opponent, and the sickle used to kill at close range.
When explosives were introduced in Japan hand-held bombs and grenades were adopted by the ninja to cause a distraction or to injure a group of people, they were also useful in starting fires. Soft-cased bombs were designed to release smoke or poison gas, along with fragmentation explosives packed with iron or pottery shrapnel to cause massive damage. Later the ninja adopted this into eggs, they would make a hole in an egg empty it all out and packed the empty shell with various things the most common was glass, and they would use these egg (black eggs) in a fight, they would smash the egg in the eyes of there opponent and they glass would grind in there eyes causing massive damage to there eyes and making easy for the ninja to escape or to execute a killing blow. Things like the black egg just go to show the creative minds of the ninja making weapons and tools to make there job easier and more effective. The ninja had to use weapons multiple ways because he could not carry to many things because then he would be weighed down. There are many miscellaneous arms that were associated with the ninja. Some examples include, caltrops, cane swords (shikomizue), land mines, blowguns, and poisoned darts. Poison was a very valuable tools to the ninja they could kill elite samurai with one little poison dart shot into his neck. They also would use it for assassinations, where they would put it in food or in a drink and then be gone before the target died.
Once again I ran too long so my next blog will finish where this one left off

ninjas of the night part 1

For my last blog I talked about the masters of the blade, the samurai well now for this blog I will talk about the opposite the Shinobi (shadow warriors),or more known as the ninja. I love the ninja because they were very skilled at not being detected they used unconventional weapons to defeat the clearly superior fighters the samurai.
The ninja were stealth soldiers and mercenaries hired mostly by various people, and their roles were those of espionage and sabotage, although assassinations were also done by ninjas. In battle, the ninja could also be used to cause confusion amongst the enemy.
Espionage was the chief role of the ninja. With the aid of disguises and stealth, the ninja gathered information on the enemy, such as the terrain, building specifications, as well as obtaining passwords and communications.
Arson was the primary form of sabotage practiced by the ninja, who targeted castles and camps. They would set fires to slow down the enemy, or to make the enemy paranoid. Ninja would also use fire to get away from the enemy if they were spotted they would start a fire to divert the attention of the soldiers while they escaped.
A variety of countermeasures were taken to prevent the activities of the ninja. Precautions were often taken against ninja infiltrations, such as concealed weapons, or Buildings were constructed with traps and trip wires attached to alarm bells.
Japanese castles were designed to be difficult to navigate, with winding routes leading to the inner compound. Blind spots and holes in walls provided constant surveillance things like is nightingale floors, which rested on metal hinges that were designed to squeak loudly when walked over. Grounds were covered with gravel provided early notice of unwanted intruders, and segregated buildings allowed fires to be better contained things like these were all built to help against the ninja.
Disguises were a huge part of the ninja and they trained hard in making the disguises believable. They would disguise themselves like monks, traveling musician or merchants and even ronin to travel safely from one place to another so they would not arouse suspicion. So in order to make it believe able they would often learn medicines or a musical instrument to make the disguises more believable
The skills required of the ninja have come to be known in modern times as ninjutsu, ninjutsu covered espionage and survival skills along with combat skills.
Training of ninjas began in the mid-15th century, when certain families started to focus on covert warfare, including espionage and assassination. Like the samurai, ninja were born into the profession, where traditions were kept, and passed down through the family. Ninjas trained from childhood just like samurai. They would study survival and scouting techniques, as well as teachings in poisons and explosives. Physical training was also important, which involved long runs, climbing, stealth methods of walking and stealth swimming. Also they need medical training, so if they ever got hurt while on a mission.
The ninja did not always work alone. Teamwork was a very important skill for the ninja, in order to scale a wall for example, a group of ninja may carry each other on their backs, or provide a human platform to assist an individual in reaching greater heights.
Supernatural powers were often associated with the ninja. Some legends include flight, invisibility, shape shifting, and the ability to "split" into multiple bodies, and more have stemmed the ninja ability to distract someone.
The ninja had trained had in the ability not seem invisible. They would avoid combat when ever possible so they would not raise alarm. But when needed the ninja trained in many types of combat and in many types weaponry. they carried an array of tools and weapons which I will cover in my next blog because there are so many of them. But they had to train in many weapons incase they needed to use a weapon that they did not carry or if the situation ever happened where they needed to uses them.
The two biggest ninja clans were the Koga and the Iga and where villages devoted to the training of ninjas first appeared, because of the remoteness and inaccessibility of the surrounding mountains which also had a role in the ninja's secretive training
A distinction between the ninja from these areas, and the commoners or samurai acting as ninja, the Iga and Kōga clans produced professional ninja, specifically trained for their roles. These professional ninja were actively hired by shoguns for there wars complain. I will talk more about these to clans in a later blog because there lots on information on them and this blog is just a quick over view.

the way of the sword

Well for this blog I am going to expand on my last one because I never really explained why I like that period of time. So for this one I will be doing just that, and the main reason I like that time period is my two favorite warriors were in that time frame. And they were the sword masters the samurai and the shadow warriors the ninja.
The Samurai is the term for the military nobility of Japan. And they were noble to there leaders. They were fierce warriors. The samurai followed a set of written rules called the Bushidō. Samurai teachings can still be found today in the martial art of Kendō, meaning the way of the sword. Bushido was not only their sword technique It was how they lived there life. It was considered cowardly to run from a battle no matter what the circumstances, it was more important to die a despicable death. So the samurai would fight to the death and they would do anything for their master (shogun).
Samurai were bound by a code of honor and were expected to set an example for those below them. A notable part of their code is seppuku, which allowed a disgraced samurai to regain his honor by passing into death. Committing seppuku, (ritualized suicide through disembowelment), they would pull out a tanto or a dagger and stab them self’s in the gut from the right side and move to the left slicing the stomach all the way across. Then from there they would cut up and then cut all the way right, and they would do this all in one cutting motion (the tanto had to remain in the stomach the whole time). In this manner of killing them self’s they thought they would gain there respect back and be able to rest in piece in the afterlife. The other ritual seppuku was they would do the same thing but when they made they last slice they would have there closest friend cut threw their neck. And the true way of doing that was they would cut the head off but they would leave a little skin so the head would not fall and roll onto the floor and disgrace not only the samurai committing seppuku but the samurai’s friend. No on the battle field if the samurai was wounded instead of bleeding to death they would commit seppuku to regain if honor of losing. What they would do on the battle field is they would just do a single stab into the stomach. If they could not do it them self they would sometimes have a comrade of the person who beat him in battle to stab him once more to end his life. If a shogun was displeased by a samurai or if the shogun died while under the protection of samurai he would ether command them to commit seppuku or if he died they would do it them self because they let their master die.
The samurai used various weapons, but the katana is the main weapon that was used by most. Bushido teaches that the katana is the samurai's soul and sometimes a samurai is entirely dependent on the weapon for fighting. They believe that the katana was so precious that they often gave them names and considered them as part of the living. When a male child would reach the age of thirteen, a ceremony was held and the child was given his first diasho (A katana and a Wakizashi(a smaller version of a katana used for combat in buildings personal protection) together are called a daishō), armor, and a adult name, and became a samurai. The wakizashi itself was a samurai's "honor weapon" and purportedly never left the samurai's side. He would sleep with it under his pillow and it would be taken with him when he entered a house and had to leave his main weapons outside all buildings had this rule.
The samurai were also stressed to have skill with a yumi or longbow, being able to shoot a yumi from horseback was also a great skilled samurai needed.
the yari (spear) was also a big weapon used along with the naginata Staff weapons were also used like bo staff’s or the Kanabo which is a club coated in steel studs, some called it the shield breaker. In later periods, the samurai started using rifles for a deadly weapon. But the main weapon threw out the samurai existence was the katana.
When the child was 13 he began the teachings of bushido by a mature samurai and they would grow a bond called Shudō. The child was the mature samurai’s apprentice and the child would follow him where ever the master went. Along the way the master would teach him bushido. He would also teach him how to fight how to live on his own, how to cook, and most important why to fight and when to fight.
So what I am trying to say is the samurai were fearless warriors that had great wisdom, not only in weapons and fighting but in life. They would not sneak up on people or attack with stealth. They would fight like a man and if he lost. Lots of samurai wanted in life was to fight a great battle they would roam the land looking for the strongest warrior they could and fight him to the death to prove that he was the best and no one could match his skills. That’s what I love about the samurai. They did not care about anything but being a master in combat. Some samurai did not even have a master they were called ronin. Those where the men that would travel around with not home or bonds, they would just wander form place to place in search of something be it a strong warrior or something more personal.
I and going to stop there but I could keep going and who knows maybe next week I will keep with this subject. if not then I will be moving on to why I love the ninja. So keep on reading

ALL HAIL FEUDAL JAPAN!!

Well this is my 5th blog, isn’t that awesome. Not really but I thought I might celebrate this special occasion, with a special topic. When I was trying to think so something special to do I keep thinking of none special things, until I thought what are something that means a lot to me. So my topic for this blog is my favorite time in history.
My favorite time in history is feudal Japan. Now for those who don’t know what this time line was about I will elaborate, but before I explain why I love this time period. First I read a lot of history books and most are on this time period. So I will give you a quick over view of the time. Warning this might be very boring and seem like a history lesson to some people.
The feudal period of Japanese history ruled by powerful military warlords called the shogun and this time period ran from the 12th to the 19th century. This time is usually divided into periods following the reigning family of the shogun.
The Kamakura period, 1185 to 1333, is the first period that marks the governance of the Kamakura shogunate and the transition to the Japanese medieval era, a nearly 700-year period in which the emperor, and central government were left intact but were mainly for ceremonial functions. All military, matters were controlled by the bushi or as most people know them samurai. And the person who controlled the samurai was the shogunate they belonged to. The Kamakura period ended in 1333 with the destruction of the shogunate and the short reestablishment of imperial rule.
In 1467 the period known as the Sengoku period, or the Warring States period reestablished the shogun rule, and was a time of intense warfare, and marks the first contacts with the West, with the arrival of Portuguese In 1543. Firearms were introduced by Portuguese and would bring the major innovation to combat ranks of samurai. And change the warfare in Japan forever
The Azuchi-Momoyama period runs from 1568 to 1600. It marked the reunification of the country under a single ruler,
During the Edo period, also called the pre-modern era, the ruling of the country was shared by over two hundred rulers. The Tokugawa clan, was the most powerful, with their headquarters at Edo. (Present-day Tokyo).
The shogunate made a number of laws, like they placed the samurai class above the commoners like the farmers and merchants. They made laws limiting hair style, clothing, and to enforce these laws they would hold five responsible for the acts of each individual. To prevent rebelling,
During the 17th century, the shogunate thought that the traders and missionaries were actually forerunners of a military conquest by Europeans. This led to a revolt by persecuted peasants and Christians in 1637 where 30,000 Christians and peasants faced a massive samurai army of more than 100,000. The rebellion was crushed at a high cost to the shogun's army.
Then Meiji Restoration Renewed contact with the West The shogun resigned and soon after the Boshin War, the emperor was restored to power. The Meiji Restoration made many changes like the feudal system was abolished, the military was modernized, and many Western ideas helped rebuild the county into a unified and modern country.
Sorry for it being so long and boring but you need to know this stuff for next weeks where I tell you why I love this time period. Once again sorry for the history lesson but I got into this and could not stop. I even left things out to cut down on length if you ever get bored look this up and give it a good read.