The Ninja: From Reality to Myth
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2020
- Who were the Ninja? More accurately known throughout history as Shinobi. This video serves as a first in a series working alongside Historian, Author, and RUclipsr Antony Cummins. It is here we shall dive deep into the history of espionage in Japan to uncover the evolution of Japan's shadowy warriors.
Check out more great content From Antony Cummins!
Antony's RUclips Channel: / tsoas2008
Antony's Instagram: historicaln...
Antony's Website: www.natori.co.uk/
Some great books By Antony Cummins!
"The Book of Ninja: The Bansenshukai - Japan's Premier Ninja Manual"
www.amazon.com/Book-Ninja-Ban...
"True Path of the Ninja: The Definitive Translation of the Shoninki (The Authentic Ninja Training Manual)"
www.amazon.com/True-Path-Ninj...
"The Secret Traditions of the Shinobi: Hattori Hanzo's Shinobi Hiden and Other Ninja Scrolls"
www.amazon.com/Secret-Traditi...
"The Ultimate Art of War: A Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide to Sun Tzu's Teachings"
www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Art-W...
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"Moegi" from Civilization V (Owned by Firaxis Games)
Artwork/Images:
Some Photographs Provided by Antony Cummins
Classical art, which in most cases can be considered public domain.
Art from Osprey Publications.
Museum Exhibits.
Other modern artist renditions, if you see your work in this video please contact me so that I can give you proper credit!
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Support the channel on Patreon! www.patreon.com/theshogunatey...
#Ninja #Japan #History
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6:43 As many have already pointed out, yes I got the phrase wrong, it is "One and the Same".
Very entertaining and informative. Although I’m pretty sure shinobi did Infact assassinate. Maybe not under the guise of a black clad masked warrior but as their natural Samurai attire 👹
so you are saying that even tho they were samurai who were doing different missions, like scouting, going into enemy's territory, extracting information or even if possible killing etc.. they were not using any different combat style.. Full samurai armor, samurai style engagement, samurai weapons and everything.. how does that make sense?? I mean a special forces unit is trained different, equipped different, engages in combat completely different.. howcome these " samurai " just the same samurai but doing all that stuff?? I am not saying the pop culture version is right or anything.. it is just your own explanation doesn't make sense either. Btw were those japanese people all honorable, honest and clean people? Like no one went for assasinations? abductions? No one was up to sneaky stuff? Who did the dirty stuff or who rescued a hostage from enemy's territory? Samurai in full armor using typical samurai combat style? Like marching to the gates of enemy castle and demanding a fight or directly going for a siege? In my nation's history there are so many things which ended up in tales, songs, legends but were never documented. You could look at an event and say it is fake because you can not find documents about it, but find out that a bunch of other cultures have the same/similar stories about the exact same event. When we hear about some insane events in the history and just go " that is plain bullshit.. they made it up.. " just to wait some time and hear from some other scientists proving it with no documentation but science. A meteor exploding over a city turning the sand into glass, destroying everything was explained in a whole different manner in gospels.. it sounded like totaly made up stuff till some scientists actually figured what happened was true. What i am saying is, forget about ninjas and all that, this kind of approach to history is flat out bs for my opinion. " we searched all the documents and didnt find anything in there.. " cool bro..because everything is guaranteed to be written and kept somewhere.. there is no documents about rapunai so fuck them, they didnt exist..
"One in the same" is more grammatically correct in my language.
@@noshit1871 their are real stories of Hattori Hanzo, he was a Shogun/General for Ieyasu Tokugawa. He went on several missions as a shinobi, infact he was known to run his own ninja clan. He was known as Demon Hanzo/Oni Hanzo. The real Zabuza of Fuedal Japan 👹
would not shinobi practices be too shady for anyone to be considered a samurai? where the hell you found that reference?
There is absolutely no evidence that a shinobi ever assassinated anyone.
Sounds like they did their job.
@ He could be trying to say that Shinobi never got caught killing someone cuz they are very good at it.
exactly XD why would you write "today i assassinated someone" XD
@ You seem like a fantasist. The Japanese are as cultured and honorable etc as any other people, which is to say for every example of decency, there is callousness or hate (the Sengoku period was a vicious and bloody era where Japanese eagerly destroyed other Japanese, the occupation of Korea & China were similarly horrible but perpetrated on foreigners). You've been watching too much anime for your own good...
Well that's not true at all since the Japanese used ninjas to kill the Korean royal family..its been well documented in korea.
@@zaylinnkhant9660 Haha. I think you need to read up on history and tell me if (i) Korean comfort women; (ii) slave labor, (iii) treatment of Chinese during foreign expansion equates to "more" civilized people. Unlike you I make no claim that there are "lesser" civilizations, just that humans are humans in all their glory and degeneracy.
You can be both samurai and ninja, be the ghost of tsushima!
Samurai of the day and wind of the night
YEEESSS
Ahahaaaaaaa
We are Jin SAKAI
Samurai by day, the wind by night
It's worth mentioning that the history of ninja in cinema didn't start with the James Bond movie of '67. At least in Japan. There is a series of 8 movies and a television series called Shinobi no Mono based on a series of novels. The first movie dates from 1962.
Blame it on whitey
I love and have the first 3 movies of that series. Black and white, greatest shinobi lore
The fact that there isnt a whole lot of information on the ninja just makes them seem that much cooler! 😍
Man... Ninjas are so secret that even history couldnt touch them... they are as always in the shadows...
Yeah, son of Clever.
their tool are mostly for show.. and useless...
you don't get, is true image of ninja is thief🥴
Go with the flow
bat ba ang cringe magsalita ng mga pilipino pota
In the year 3020; a video online titled "The Hitman: From Reality to Myth"
I can see that happening.
Hitmen are already TOTALLY mythicized
@@frankg2790 Привет и Скажи мне Был Крестовый поход на Персию🇮🇷⚔🇪🇦✝️⚔☪️Иран🇮🇷⚔🇪🇦✝️⚔☪️🇮🇶⚔🇨🇵✝️И были Там Бои Франками-Тамплиерами🇨🇵🇻🇦⚔Сарматами-Сарацинами🇮🇶🇮🇷☪️⚔✝️🇨🇵⚔🇪🇬☪️🇹🇷⚔🇪🇦✝️🇻🇦⚔🇸🇦☪️
Navy SEALs never existed bro
3020 me: What?! You kidding me of course Hitmen from 2020 had lazer eye beams, and brain chips to record the target list, I use mine to do the groceries!
The whole concept of a spy has had a similar fate in the West as well, in part thanks to movies like James Bond. The archetype most people think about are these individuals who are out stealing plans for weapons and blowing up bridges, but the reality is much more subtle, mostly passive observation, and perhaps subtle pushes within the societies.
In short, it's just that we love to fictionalize and add fantastical elements to many historical realities for entertainment's sake, particularly in the realm of historical espionage. Both reality and fantasy versions are fascinating and deserve the spotlight in their own ways.
Indeed. But it's always good to remind people of the difference between facts and fiction.
Over the years there's probably been hundreds of videos like this but they're always relevant.
Or that's just want they want you to believe.
japan be like, you want ninja I WILL GIVE YOU THE NINJA
@@midgetydeath Lmao grow up dude, if you seriously think people like James Bond exist you are nothing short of delusional💀💀💀
The differences between ninja and samurai helped me understand what good and evil actually are. As a child I didn't understand why some books had ninja as the good guys and some books had samurai as the good guys. It was frustrating and then one day it finally hit me, it wasn't what they were it was what they were doing individually that made the character good or bad. I'm sure it is stupid for other people to read this, but, that is what I associate ninja and samurai with now.
So you learned that collectivism is false.
@@CyrusCageSCWS Yes. Unironically so.
Woow that's awesome man. So cool. I can't think of a better, healthier and more beautiful way of learning that.
@@CyrusCageSCWS explain how that relates to collectivism?
@@carpeomnia2011 Associating an identity as good. We see cops as good and if there is no individual then all cops are good. But there are individuals. I disagree with collectivism being false though. This is just my interpretation on why they said it is false.
Let's be honest here, can we really judge Japan for marketing this image of the Shinobi? In Romania, my country, the people have been marketing the image of Vlad the Impaler as Count Dracula, a blood thirsty vampire.
That's sad.
That a shame great war hero protecting the church and his country ,being revive as the infamous Count dracula son of the devil that super unfortunate
Well, he was controversial even by his contemporary.
At least a chronicler condemning his ruthlessness and his conversion to Catholicism (Wallachian being Orthodox).
He's actually worse then Dracula.... He was one of the most prolific killers and he derived extreme pleasure from torture. Not exactly a "war hero"
Do some research before you talk outta your ass
Samuel Gaspar a bit rude, but I understand what you’re trying to say
I'm a ninja. My father was shinobi. My grandfather was samurai. My great grandfather was a dragon. My great great grandfather was a carp. That's history
Ninja please
@@thepopeofkeke lolol!!
@@thepopeofkekedude, I literally choked and almost pisses myself when I read this😂😂😂😂 omfg I’ll never forget you. Thank you
I thought your grandpa was the dragon warrior😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I thought you were flaming for a second
🤓
it will always amaze me how they managed to be so secretive.. even now I feel like there is a lot missing from the picture
Probably because they didn't really exist in the way that Hollywood and the rest of us picture them
Good, good. Debate. While you discuss our powers? I'm stealing your toilet roll. FLASHBANG. Then the terror set in~ ninja took your butt paper an there IS NOTHING you can do to stop us! Hahahaha!
@@GnohmPolaeon.B.OniShartzwait a minute! You're the bastard that nicked all my TP during COVID!
Well I finally tracked you down!
Vengeance is mine! Have at you!!!
that what i tought , I mean the daimyo wouldn't want to record the activity of their shinobi cutting off provision from the enemy clan or spread false news among them to weaken them off ,it's a war winning strategies , plus its not an honorable act,and since japan is a place wherere they put honour above everything else they probably keep it off record about their shinobi activity
Your version of who the "ninja" actually were and what they actually did is remarkably similar to what I heard from Grandmaster Shoto Tanemura nearly 30 years ago. He is the ancestral head of the Tanemura clan and also said that mostly the shinobi were samurai. The specialised weapons were generally just common agricultural or carpentry tools or other items which field operatives would have had available to them in an emergency. The fundamental weapons system was the same as the samurai which varied from region to region depending on terrain, predominant style of armor, whether or not they were expected to fight in massed ranks etc. The unarmed combat system of Ninpo Taijutsu was introduced to Japan from China , was not unique to the so called "Ninja" and was used by various Samurai clans as well depending on how and where they lived and predominantly fought. For example most systems of Ju Jutsu developed around the necessity to be able to fight in crowded areas and limited space which restricted movements while wearing armor but Taijutsu was favored in environments such as steep unstable terrain or ships where heavy armor was a liability and greater reliance was placed on evasion and maneuverability. You are incorrect in the assumption that the Japanese have only started seriously translating the ancient scrolls. Professor Roy Ron of the Tokyo University's history department has been working on them for many years together with Kotoro Tanemura. Some of the challenges are that there are a lot of scrolls, which are not readily available to foreign researchers and many of which are written in dialects that nobody speaks anymore.
Most dialects where from chinese dialects. shinobi is also a word for a skilled person.😊
Makes much sense.
@@josephshehan4969 Individuals with very specific skillsets ;-)
A wiseman once said, history eventually become myths after so long..
Master oogway? 🐢 🦯
Imagine one day in the distant future when they talk about 2017/2021 like it’s some sort of oddessy
@Aiman Radithya7 some people already think it’s a myth 😂
@Aiman Radithya7 that's pretty unlikely except for stupid people. I mean, there was the Spanish flu from 1918 to 1920s and that was only 100 years ago but most people know it was real
What wiseman?????
Ninja seems to be for Japan what King Arthur is for Brits. A mystical figure, based on a truth and blown up out of all proportion and is popular in western cuture for stories to be woven around. That's how legends are born.
King Arthur is a myth????????? ... noooooooooooooooooo
@@kylefisher5138 Don't listen to him. The historical Arthur totally got a scimitar thrown at him by a watery tart and peronsally wetted his half-sister at the Battle of Badon Hill.
I think of the American legend of the Cowboy. The job simply required the individual to move cattle from one point to another, the job itself was either tedious or dull, and you were more likely to get killed from work related hazards than from a gunfight or an Indian confrontation - which never seemed to happen. The high point of the cowboy lasted only as long as it took for the railroads to extend their tracks to cattle towns. Nevertheless, the image of the cowboy being a tough gunfighter lingers on. I'm not even sure if most of the gunfighters were ever cowboys, save for a few.
You guys are going way to far with your analogies. You can trace the concept of ninjas back through China and Sun Tzu's "The Art of War". China had spies doing ninja shit earlier. The only difference is that they weren't mythologized into being anything other than spies (scouts, saboteurs, thieves, kidnappers, assassins, arsonists, etc).
Yeah its like the SS during WW2, they give these kind of warriors way too much credit... Ninjas, Vampires, SS Troopers, what's next Green Berets and Spec Ops (CIA) come on now
The best way to imagine a ninja is someone who the military uses for covert, black op missions. They are to carry out undercover acts such as espionage, assassinations, slandering, spreading misinformation, guerrilla warfare, and terrorism. Not much is known about them because they obviously covered their tracks. The concept of the ninja is not just in feudal Japan as it is used by other countries throughout history to win wars (e.g., Vietcong during the Vietnam War, American Rebels during the American Revolutionary War, and Hashashin group in the medieval Middle East).
How the heck do YOU know???
@@jonhohensee3258they told him
So maybe Hamas would be actually would be Ninjas?
Sounds like the CIA
NinCIA
Foreigners: “We love your ninja cultures! We wanna see more!”
Japan: “Um, they are not what you thi-“
Foreigners: “We got rich tourists...”
Japan: “IRASHAIMASE!!!”
LMAO
well ninja nowaday are more like for show since they just for historic show...
Lol
They gave us the white ninja, we gave them the Japanese cowboy. Even tradeoff.
I'm Japanese. There was a ninja. The last mission that the ninja did remains in the official Japanese record. But NARUTO's ninjutsu is fiction.
Tenchu to this day is one of my favorite games
I'd love to see a remastered edition to that game! Or a new one with a quality equal or greater than Ghost of Tsushima
@@robertmilanese1523 Same here
Robert Milanese that’s would be amazing, easily game of the year
Ghost of Tsushima really made my year because it’s almost like a Tenchu game. I used to chilled in waterfall caves and get really into Tenchu. All of them.
Atriox Airsoft Sekiro
Why is there no mention of ninja turtles?
Historians: "Ninja's were not who you think."
Ninjas: "Then my work here is done."
"No confirmed evidence of a shinobi assassinating anyone"
So your saying they were good at their job then?
They use russian stealth "no guards left for the body to be noticed"
@@raindoset5408 for nigga to be notified
@@jeegunugger1871 that's stupid
I see what you did there... Awesome
@@pihlajafox nigga or notified?
: You have no honor
And you're a slave to it
-The ghost
I knew that was gonna be the last fight. I stopped caring for him and felt bad for Jin lol
Best quote of the game.
WHat did you choose I chose kill lord shimura
@@man1o8 first time I killed him, then on game plus I saved him. Killing him is much more satisfying.
@@docsquish plus I feel like it's the right thing to do to kill him because he would probably suicide later anyway.
You’ve enlightened my day. Ninjas are fun to think about just as other things throughout history. You learn something new every day. Thank you.
This makes no sense, obviously they were doing good at assassination if there’s no evidence💀
Wait so you're telling me that if I trained very hard and never give up I'll never be the greatest ninja and become hokage?...my life is a lie...believe it!
If you want to, you can, you just have to train harder than hard and not tell anyone
Datebayo
Naruto itself is a lie tbh
lol
better believe it
BORUTO!
@@sLanga777 are you joking or being serious?
Ninjas? Thats old news. Today in 2020, we just know these"Shinobis" as, The Ghost.
@Neji Hyuga and he's not slowing down :D
"You sir, are no slave to honor."
I called it Tenchu.
Watching this video makes Jin’s story make that much more sense.
Khotun Khan: Kill the ghost!
Fun fact: The TMNT's 'cowabunga' derives from a Shinobi Ninja term meaning 'within the shadows'.
I can't tell if you're joking or not but you can quickly find out it was made up for the Howdy Doody show
On the contrary, if there are no accurate records of their activities, It means that they did an excellent job.
I think the Shinobi did the wonderful work in the regard of revealing their existence. The lesser you know about them, the better secrets they can hold. That's the way of the Shinobi.
Its like Fight Club... We don't talk about Fight Club
Considering Shinobis were probably for hire and joined armies it would not be necessary to be secretive
they job is to be spy.. rarely they kill anyone.. since it mostly impossible...
@@campkira and because you’re not a ninja not Kamakazi
Did they kill/assasinate people you may never know, for the way of the shinobi won't tell you anything
This is what the Shinobi 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 you to think... Nice try Shinobi.
Lenin-dono, arise!
👎
Don’t listen to the guy above me, he’s just a troll account
Most historic writings from then concern ninja more as for espionage, infiltration in the royal courts, listening, etc. The running around on roof tops shooting ninja stars as assasins might have been a very rare circumstance.
There was one ninja though that got the nickname "flying" Katō Danzō (加藤 段蔵, c. 1503 - 1569)
This was an excellent piece. Thank you.
This is why I'm in love with Ghost of Tsushima. Even though not perfect, it shows a samurai willing to bend the rules of Bushido to defend his homeland and not some random shinobi with a super catchy name from some secretive clan or mystical village, and his new tactics instead of being call "magical or mysterious", they are simply referred to as terrorism. Also as you go further in the game, it shows the hypocrisy of the Samurai "code of honour" but I'm sure you probably have another video on that subject. Lol
I love it because jin is just using guerrilla warfare against an overwhelming force. The samurai in the game moan about it but espionage and "dirty tactics is effective.
Bushido wasn't invented until hundreds of years after the events of Ghosts of Tsushima
@@kiteofdark Yeah... It's barely representative of the time period or actual Japanese culture/history. Still a great game, but it's just a romanticised fiction of a true event.
That's the significance of a ninja that it's everything opposite of a samurai. Ninjas lives and hunts from the shadows, thats why Shimaru was afraid that Jin was becoming more like of what they truly despise
"A man with no honour"
Jin is becoming a ninja
*makes jutsu signs with hands*
*nothing happens*
NARUTO YOU LIED TO ME
Shut up Betty.
Isn't betty a woman's name..?
@@JoyfulUniter SHIRT RIPPER!
XD
You're not doing it right.
Invisible So I can never be a real hokage? *MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIE!!!!!*
Ninja assassin is such an elite film
Thank you for the book sources, I'll definitely be acquiring these
Great work. I'm surprised that you didn't elaborate on the role of Edo theater in the evolution of the image of the ninja. In traditional theater, stagehands dressed entirely in black, and audiences were used to ignoring their presence. In plays featuring ninja, the ninja would dress in this way, making it shocking when they interacted with the characters - kidnapping, assassinating, etc. The stereotypical ninja outfit is essentially the garb of a stagehand: "invisible" in the context of theater.
Would love to hear response to this
Best comment.
Unbelievable. That's so awesome.
I'm pretty sure Turnbull debunked that explanation in recent years
@@ShiroiTengu would this be in his 2018 book? I've not read it - looks fascinating.
The most op clan in shogun 2 wasn't even a land owning clan. RIP hattori.
What do you mean the Hattori didn't walk into Kyoto and take over the shogunate on turn 1 in 1545?!?!???
That OP clan has worse ninjas than the rest of the game.
@@djay4802 Just get the Unofficial patch mod, it fixes them and various other stuff.
@@thepizzafoogle5481 I can, but I'm still going to make fun of Creative Assembly for it.
Hattori is the worst clan in the game. All of their units are more expensive to upkeep and only gain the kisho deployment. Oda is the most powerful. Getting cheaper upkeep on an already cheep unit while buffing that units stats (and the long yaris are just broken) or the ikko ikki with their whole converting provinces and making them rebel and their insane loan sword ashigaru backed by the strongest monks in the game.
This was very intriguing. Amazing job!
Excellent work. Thank you a lot.
It would be great if you could also talk about how samurai fight on an actual battlefield. People still have a lot of misconception of samurais using katana as their primary weapons.
Yeah, I tried to spell that out for people in my samurai sword video but definitely a good topic to make a video on at some point.
I recomend watching the samurai headhunters documentary.
I’ve not found a single source of information that says Samurai didn’t use Katana as their primary weapon. Cause as far as I know they used Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, and Tachi and many other swords. Including a Samurai version of a great sword called an Odachi or Nodachi. Also, Samurai did use guns for battle but mostly only used them for hunting. So what is this primary weapon the Samurai used that the rest of us are so misinformed about?
@@Re-Todd_Howard Probably the same weapon that was by far the most commonly used in the world at the time.
The spear.
@@hisholiness4537 Once the Tokugawa Shoguns consolidated power, they gradually reduced and restricted production and ownership of firearms, leading to the 'golden age of the sword.' Much of the popular notion of the samurai, 'bushido', etc. comes from the Edo period. Japanese culture dictated what weapon was the most popular. The katana was far more popular than the spear, the bow or the gun.
I do think it's important to distinguish history from fiction, but I also don't think that means abandoning our pop culture fantasies as well. I feel like there's absolutely room to both tell stories about our beloved mysterious clans of shadow assassins, while also acknowledging that it's fantasy, just as we do with wizards, dragons and elves.
Are people wasting their hard earned money on wizard classes, dragon riding, or elven smithing-being told that what they’re learning is authentic and historically accurate? Because if not, then you’re just comparing apples and oranges.
Wait...Wizards, dragons, elves are fantasy... Well dang
@@isaacb5968 They do waste time and money on costumes, cons, " reenactments", themes for parties events, books movies.. figurines and efFing holidays in the western world. Is there a cultural distant root? well, yes. Can that be what`s happening in Japan? Not too far! uhm Marketing for both sides. Fing YEAH!
If the west can capitalise on it Japan Effin should too.
Honestly this guy has no idea what he's talking about. Ninjas are secretive so I'm confident they did kill people, like it's depicted in pop culture. Don't take his words as facts, Ninjas are skilled at disinformation.
Yeah, Ninjas are cool.
That's a good listen. Thank you.
I really like the art used to make this video. The traditional Japanese drawings as well as more contemporary style realistic depictions are so well done. I'm jealous of these gifted artists ! 😊
Agreed
I get my ninja knowledge from the 80's so it's gotta be historically accurate.
American ninja lol 1 2 3
Not rlly dude since most of the 80's are tropes lol
@@benten3212 next you'll tell me 1 commando can't take out a whole army with the hip fire technique...
@@sgtb3691 idk if you're being sarcastic. But yes. Ninja's are more like spies than a one man army.
In fact, ninja's would try to avoid combat if possible. With their scarce resources and lack of armor. They would get killed as soon as they enter combat with more than one samurai.
Their techniques revolved with stealth and hiding from sight and if they ever get found they would retreat as soon as possible.
So yes. 80s Ninja are pretty much tropish. Doesn't mean they aren't enjoyable. You can enjoy them if you enjoy them. But like I said most of them are just tropes.
@@benten3212 yes, it was sarcasm.
In my head cannon, the Ghost of Tsushima was the first ninja.
Agreed, folk mentioned "I never seen a samurai fight like that" meaning the concept of a ninja is still unusual
I feel like that's what is being implied with the game. Jin is effectively bringing the "Shinobi" way of espionage to the Samurai, ushering a new way of fighting that will be used in future wars to come.
No one will remember his name, but all will remember, "the Ghost".
IF he decided to continue to be a dishonorable warrior. Past that very first stealth kill, you don't have to be sneaky at all. Its a choice.
@@Aus10McNeal Without spoiling too much, he does far more as the game story progresses.
@X To Skip i finished and thought of that comment and said to myself "I was so wrong"
Knowing the true historical context for anything is important to me- especially in this topic. That being said, I like both: the real history and the fantasy one
Narrator: "There is no evidence a shinobi ever assasinated anyone."
Ninjas: "Mission accomplished."
Actually Ninja have lot of similarities with Modern Special Forces.Just look at they outfit lol.
Yep!
Full Bushi samurai were more like modern special forces.. because they actually FOUGHT.
The ninjas I know is from shogun 2. Those bastards literally sniped my entire family tree within a couple of turns. I'm telling you, it's like Vietnam
Meanwhile, my ninja tried to drop kick the enemy Daimyo off the balcony but fell to his death instead.
Use the power move and mass monk, then convert everything. Why kill when you can convince someone to just give up on everything.
Your entire family tree was also sniped in Vietnam?
I'm very surprised you didn't utilize the historian Stephen Turnbull as he has written many books about feudal Japan including several about the Ninja and his research goes back to the '70s if not further.
I always found it weird that there would be such discrepancies over fighting styles in the same war period, thanks for the explanation, made more sense to me
Just a touch of help. The “famous” Hattori Hanzo you’re looking for is Hattori Hanzo Masanari. His son was Masashige. The history escapes me at the moment, but it was either under Masashige, or the next in line that the Hattori clan began to fall into disarray under the Tokugawa shogunate.
Ninjutsu was developed by the samurai of the Nanboku-cho period, and further refined by groups of samurai mainly from Kōka and the Iga Province of Japan in later periods.
The first Shinobi were Samurai
This was enjoyable, thank you
Regarding assassinations, the absence of direct evidence of shinobi assassinations does not exactly mean it did not happen. Getting rid of people who your lord finds problematic has been (and still is?) a thing pretty much everywhere so why it would not be in the far east? And if the assassin was good, he would not exactly leave a sign that this person was killed by a shinobi, that kinda misses the point of assassination (unless you are trying to send a message, mafia style). An open murder from outsiders perspective could be seen as yet another fight in the street where a person happened to get killed and the killer escaped. Or poisoning could be seen as a premature death by natural causes, unless someone who knows this shit examines the body more closely. I am just saying that the idea of specialised covert operators never assassinating anyone is just as dubious as the fantasy ninja clans all wearing black throwing shurikens. Are we just swinging from one extreme to another here?
It's entirely possible they did perform assassinations. There is just no evidence to 100% confirm it.
It's entirely possible they did perform assassinations. There is just no evidence to 100% confirm it. That is probably the way they wanted it lol.
Supposedly ninja would have their name (or calling card) etched or whatever onto the blade they used to stealthfully kill someone and would leave it at the scene. No idea how true that is though.
@@robertharris6092 I'm not sure that is true, as there would be lot's more evidence to shinobi doing assassinations if that was the case.
@@robertharris6092 No, Sword smiths would etch their signature into the hilt before applying a grip to it.
I love how you don't subscribe to the hype and unafraid of presenting the cold, hard facts.
This Channel is a gem in a mountain of peebles.
Keep it up.
Thanks.
Some decades ago I would've been sad to be disillusioned in such a manner, but now it makes a lot of sense.
I met some Ninjutsu students and teachers back in the day and can clearly imagine how reluctant they would be to let go of their dreams
The effectiveness of The art of Shinobi is evident in all the speculations about them.
Well, you missed out on a pair of *huge* popularizations... first being _Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari,_ that is a 1839 series of novels that held such influence that characters became part of the Naruto franchise, and another being 1958's _Kōga Ninpōchō_ Which has been adapted several times over as well. Both set up the Ninja heros as having supernatural abilities.
The Gallant Jiraiya was, I thought, a much older story. There are artist prints of the characters made in the 1800s. Well, whatever, not that it really makes a difference.
I love this channel. I played some games when i was young that really left a mark on me but it wasnt until i was somehwat older that i found out that the characters had existed in real life. Some of my favourites were Oda Nobunaga, Sanada Yukimura and Honda Tadakatsu.2 weeks ago i found this channel where i learnt so much about the Warring States Period of Japan and damn have i been excited for every video that comes out. Basically i love your channel thank you so much for reading what might be considered a long comment (if you end up reading it) and please keep up the good work and stay safe
It's a great channel been looking for one like this for years! Found it 3 months ago or so. Enjoy it!!
@@khal7702 it is!!! i will and dammit if if aint my favourite channel on youtube
I always looked at it like this:
Samurai = Army Rangers
Ninja = 75th Ranger regiment
Just a specialized version of the former.
great one with awesome background music
I am a Japanese translator and I am about to embark on a project to translate a chunk of the story Jiraiya Gouketsu Monogatari, or the Heroic Tale of Jiraiya, also known as the Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya.
I just hope I can find a publisher for it when I've finished translating a large enough part of it to have something to show :P
But as some of you might now, Jiraiya is one of the legendary sannin in Naruto, and I think it would be fun for there to actually be an English translation of some of his adventures involving the two other members of the sannin, Tsunade and Orochimaru.
how’s that going?
I'll like to hear bout it
"No evidence a Shinobi assassinated anyone."
And surely they studied and were making poisons just for fun)))
I dont know why we would need evidence for something that cant be proven.
it happened trust me lol
@@ghostoftsushimaguides ︎
source?
Saying there's no evidence for assassinations is kinda a stupid thing to say, this is a negative point of this video.
During war times, the Shinobi was used to infiltrate ranks of other Lords. They made tools and poisons which has been historically recorded and they also had swords of their own (Ninjato). This doesn't sound like they are baking a cake...they are getting ready to do damage. This is a game of chess, if you have spy's infiltrating a network, the order to kill would be as simple as flicking a switch (depending on how close they are in terms of status to their target).
Also you won't hear of assassinations as they are classified by the Lord, he isn't going to document it is he lol. Not a lot was written down back then, everything was word of mouth.
Things like sending parchments attached to a bird so that a Shinobi in the forest can find his next target is all fictional and part of the myth, it could have potentially happened a hand full of times but we have no way of finding out. Also carrier birds possess a potential risk as they can easily be intercepted or can fly off track with a note attached to it from who, when and the target.
@@Jameslawz I am not so sure about ninjato swords cause this weapon can easily uncover ninja. I think they carried typical swords to be as common as possible and did not distinguish themselves from ashigaru, monks or samurai in any way.
Yeah I've read most of this stuff back when I was a kid and all about some Oriental Martial Arts. Now I remember reading once that the black clad ninja we think of comes from the outfit worn by workers on the set of Kabuki theaters. It's been speculated someone acting as a Shinobi might have utilized similar stealth techniques and clothing at some point, but that it was never a standardized "ninja uniform". I mean there was nothing to stop them from doing it like that,but that wasn't standard operating procedure.
I'm sure that they used such apparel when it was useful. There's even a single example of shinobi armor, thought to be one of the only ones they created at all, and it's clearly designed to blend in with darkness and even the armor plates are padded to keep it from clanking when moving. It is thought to have been created either for special kinds of jobs or for one specific, very important mission. If the latter, I imagine whoever wore it was ninja Rambo.
Very cool. Thank you!
This video just credit Ghost of Tsushima a lot more, those developers did their home work
Of course they did, Japanese games r the best in the world!
@@guy7912 except ghost of tsushima was not developed by japanese people, it was developed by the west. Still a great game tho
@@Jack-ex1uo what I meant to say is that games based around Japan (more recent titles like Ghost and Sekiro) are the finest but I understand the confusion
GoT is not meant to be historically accurate. Check out Dartigan's video...
@@lancewang4923
There is no history for ninja it's plagirism from assassins hashashen
This is the problem I have with alot of people examining something like shinobi, archery or swordmanship of the past. "If it's not written down, it didn't exist or wasn't done that way." What documents managed to survive the passage of itme is not the total sum of all knowledge about that subject. A good portion is gonna be lost or wasn't even written down. If you're really trying to figure it out, you're gonna have to make inferences.
Very good point, much if not most of human history is ORAL history, people spread knoledge from mouth to mouth, father to son, and for a secretive group of assassins they would either hide or destroy their written wisdom if they were no longer useful or were about to get destroied.
Samurai would proudly expose their glorious history for generations, Shinobi would hide it as they live in the shadows.
True
Well I still appreciate the video but it was all stuff I already know still amazing and ya have a new subscriber just lettin ya know what I think keep em coming I’m gonna binge your channel today 😂🤙
Honestly, I think Shogun 2 has a good portrayal of the Shinobi. People may have already mentioned it, but I appreciate the fact that going for an assassination in that game is almost always the hardest thing for a Shinobi to do. Hence, they spend more time walking around, scouting and sabotaging rather than assassinating.
You don't needed to be a cliche "show" ninja to assassinate a target. Something as easy as poisoning the target's food would be enough.
Also snipers and in older times they could use crossbow
Just what I was thinking.
But not to leave any evidence.U need to be a pretty good ninja🤷♀️
The hardest thing to swallow was hearing the sanada braves have no real basis in history to be honest, rip
Regardless, I knew you'd get to this topic eventually, it was only a matter of time lol
I can also share your pain of being more into samurai than the modern ninja as a kid, hell I still have to with friends I have today; Hope you and Cummins are enjoying working together :)
There was honestly a lot if myth thrown into both samurai and ninja. I loved them both
Did you ever just assassinate a whole camp in ghost of thushima after finishing the game
*Black Ninja Costume:*
In Kabuki Theatre, a highly stylized form of acting popular during the Edo period from 1603-1867 (following the Sengkoku Jidai till the Meiji Restoration), there were also propsmen/stagehands dressed completely in black.
Though clearly visible during the play despite their black costumes, they were assumed to be invisible.
Ninjas were from then on depicted in black to symbolize their invisibility.
Which is decent evidence that Ninjas, if they ever existed, certainly never were dressed all in black.
As much as I know, they mostly wore peasant clothes so that they could easily blend in. For example, European spies also didn't wear everything in black, but mostly iron armour of the guards in the building they were performing action in.
@@Admiral45-10 In the movie 'Kagemusha' we see Shinobi (the spy variant of Ninja) in the guise of travelling merchants and peddlers.
Which was rather sensible. Medieval peasants were bound to the lands they worked on. If a peasant was caught outside his or her lord's lands, he would be very suspicious and if his lord got his hands on him, he would probably be punished severely.
@@AudieHolland especially if he wore everything black. Even at night, it would be easy to spot a black shape moving around, especially with its arnament.
If you were going to wear a ninja suit, dark blue would be a better color for stealth at night anyway.
Maybe the ninja were just so effective that we just can't figure out what they really were.
So Chuck Norris never really fought Ninja's in the Octagon?
prety sure he was the ninja
I’m so glad I found your channel. I love this stuff. Thanks for making it!
Great stuff!
Very good. I researched this subject forty years ago and discovered what you covered, before internet 😂 but it coincided with my research, I hadn't heard those names in a long while
So what drew you to samurai over shinobi?
I guess I was always more interested in stoic, armor clad, warrior figures over shadowy assassin like fighters.
@@TheShogunate Привет и Скажи мне Был Крестовый поход на Монголию🇲🇳⚔🇵🇹✝️
@@user-wg1mv5hu5vdude do you think we can read enchanting table
Extremely informative, just in time for my next D&D campaign too.
D&D?
have you tried Legend of the Five Rings RPG or Sengoku RPG? (i don't recommend the latter as the game, but the rulebook is rich in historical information).
@@jarekscat3887 if i remember correctly l5r actually has both the popcultre ninja but also groups that are more like the historical ones
S0L1nv1ctus they have both , the crane and crab clan more like historical one and the scorpion is the romance one. But the real fantasy one belong to the spider clan.
Jarek's Cat I have thought about giving it a go
I have a question here: Were ninjas considered as a militar force as well?
I've been reading articles about them but I am not quite sure if they're a branch of military at all, and in my own opinion they are. But I don't want to jump into conclusions yet.
Thanks for the knowledge... That said, what a Fing bummer...
Came here somehow because of Ghost of Tsushima. Will be headed back to Sekiro to become a master Shinobi.
maybe the lack of documentation was intentional. Considering the shinobis' line of work. All according to plan!
yeah it was the same thing with the middle eastern assassins. apparently that castle actually existed and their cultist like leader did really messed up things to get people to believe.
im sure the shinobi kept this stuff a secret because it was their job lol. its not like they wanted documentation for insured historical accuracy
@@ghostoftsushimaguides cool didn’t know that
@@Santi-mz9ll yeah thats what inspired assassins creed. the leader was quite evil though :D
Best video on this subject seen
You say certain events never happened, or certain people never existed. No. Japan knows how to keep secrets.
I feel like our picture of the ninja (shinobi) is kinda of a mixture of a ronin , the shinobi and a assaisain.
When you think about weapons associated with shinobi (shuriken, explosives, smoke screens, poisons), these are all very common tools of war, not just spycraft. Kashima Shinryu, for instance, is a koryu school of samurai combat which includes shurikenjutsu among its curriculum.
Where is that school?
A lot of stereotypical ninja weapons like the Kunai and Kusarigama were also fashioned out of farming tools, which supports the claim that some ninja were peasants with unique sets of skills.
and a lot of them were not even used, because anyone who could afford a sword could carry one
@@Saru-yr3qk those were okinawans not shinobi, shinobi avoided fighting at all costs, they were first and foremost spies
@@GrimViridian Okinawans = a group of people living in ryukyu. They are not a profession. Shinobi is a term widely use to cover any aspect of warfare involving information gathering and battlefield reconnaissance and infiltration. If you work as a scout in some clans, you would likely to be termed shinobi no mono. They are unlikely to be peasants either, most likely warrior caste going into infiltration.
It makes sense. Why a samurai lord would hire strangers to spy for him?How he can be sure that they will not lie or betray him to enemies?
Ya know, Japan has its ninja, and we in the US have the cowboy. I'd say they are extremely similar in concept in the sense of being more mundane in reality.
Actually there's another job in edo period that's kinda shinobi like, secret police (oniwaban).
Oniwaban was in Samurai X aka Kenshin
“We’ve never heard or can confirm shinobi 🥷 have assassinated anyone” that means they did a really good job.
Let's get this to 1 million views family!
I’m super late to this good, informative video. I’m also loving the Ghost of Tsushima comments. ❤😎💪🏼
To echo the point many have raised, I think that the toughest part of addressing the existence of shinobi is that they have a legacy of being secretive by nature. But I also think that there are some other factors to consider. I am not any kind of expert on Japanese culture or the feudal period and readily admit that essentially all of what I have seen has come from pop culture. But I do have to ask the question - if shinobi did engage in assassination in an era where honor was essentially everything, would anyone in a prominent position own up to using such means? It seems odd to me that not one person would potentially use an assassin or engage in assassination in any time period of war as human beings. This is not a statement to besmirch anyone's honor. It is not to impugn your research. I merely raise the question because of human nature and the time period.
Indeed, upon further reflection, the legendary tale of "The 47 Ronin" was an assassination (a political act) as much as it was a show of loyalty and commitment. Moreover, the men who did so reportedly disguised themselves and hid their plans as well as actions literally for years before engaging in their fateful choices. I am not saying that these men where shinobi. I just use it as an example of having a very particular skill set, an agenda, a plan, hiding all of the above, and then executing said plan in a very deliberate fashion.
Another part that I think bears pondering is the impact of the caste system on Japan. To this day, caste plays a role in many social situations that extend to employment, marriage, safety, education, and more. If people were of a different caste and engaged in an action that was beneficial to a samurai, daimyo, etc, would it even be acknowledged let alone recorded? And wouldn't these segments of society be the perfect recruiting ground because it would be unthinkable to many?
The martial arts practices are yet another question. Secret martial arts techniques, although depicted in a very exaggerated fashion in pop culture media, do exist. There are places where "outsiders" are virtually never allowed to be taught a particular style. And there are families in martial arts that are known for their prowess across generations. Although the techniques are not "secret," the Gracie Clan and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are essentially synonymous as just one example.
I am not at all saying that you claim to pose a definitive answer. Nor am I looking to say that my very cursory thinking compares to your research. It categorically does not. But I do think that conceptually, there is still a lot to ponder. Thank you for your channel and its videos. I wish you the best in all things.
the thing that i can clearly point out in this video is how he say (paraphrasing) yeah they assassinated important high ranking individuals but they wernt assassins, kinda makes it sound ass backwards like saying yeah they spied but they wernt spies.....
@@GabrielGarcia-wg3iq Well think of it like this, the police can kill criminals but their job isn't to kill criminals all the time. They uphold the law and sometimes to enforce it they have to kill the criminal.
Very well said. I found a few contradictory assertions in this video that I don't really care to delve into nor expound on, but you definitely pose a substantial argument.
Information we have access too... Thats the crazy thing about secret arts lol
Great video!! you should used Tenchu gameplay as an example haha, love that game!
They’re cool. Love the vid.
Actually in 1962 there was a series called "the Samurai" which portrayed the battles between the good samurai along with the Iga ninja against the evil Koga ninjas. This series was the first introduction to this concept and produced by the Japanese themselves ! So the question is ,,did they in fact make this stuff up themselves,or was there some basis in fact? anyone?
Later mid 60 s the Japanese brought out The Phantom agents" which portrayed good modern ninjas..