Investigations into the history of karate

For the academic study of karate, it is always important to think outside the box. I regularly look to see what’s new on the publication market and what scholarly approach the authors have chosen for their research of other martial arts disciplines. 

It has been a long time coming. But now Stephen Turnbull’s new book has finally arrived. “Ninja. Unmasking the Myth” is a comprehensive historical and scholarly study of the ninja phenomenon that shatters the conventional wisdom. His argument is based on numerous original Japanese sources, some of which have never before been translated and included in academic discourse. His main aim is to separate fact from fiction and to expose false assumptions and half-truths. The title of the book gives an indication of where the reader will ultimately be led – namely, to unmask the myth of the ninja.

The author, Stephen Turnbull, is Professor Emeritus of Leeds University and an expert on Japanese military history, with over 30 years’ research experience. He has won the British Association for Japanese Studies Cannon Prize and the Japan Festival Literary Award, and has published numerous books and academic articles on the samurai.

In his 2014 essay “The Ninja: An Invented Tradition?” (published in: The Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective, Volume 9, Number 1: Interdisciplinary Reflections On Japan), based on his 2013 keynote address at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, USA, Turnbull sets out the direction of his research efforts: he argues that the whole phenomenon is an invented tradition as defined by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger (1983) and that much of what we think we know about ninja and ninjutsu is simply wrong. And already at this point he has provided good evidence that his research is valid.

ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF RESEARCH

Discussions about the ninja phenomenon, the authenticity of historical traditions and the legitimacy of modern ninjutsu schools are not new. Especially on the internet there has been a lively discussion for years. Moreover, the subject has increasingly become part of an academic discourse. Respectable academics, book authors and practitioners, military historians, Japanologists and hoplologists alike are in the process of gaining knowledge about the background and historical development of the whole complex.

Apart from the popular image of the ninja and its popular-scientific treatment by Andy Adams (1970 etc.), Donn F. Draeger (1977) and Stephen K. Hayes (since 1980), there are several approaches based on valid arguments that leave scratches on the previous construction. For example, Ikeda Hiroshi reports that ninjutsu has not existed since the 19th century (What is a Ninja? In: Martial Science Magazine August 2015, pp. 55–56). Diane Skoss, journalist and bujutsu practitioner, believes that today’s ninjutsu schools are not based on the continued transmission of technique and culture. And Karl Friday, professor emeritus of Japanese history, goes a step further, saying that the idea that there might have been a special, specialised ninjutsu ryūha before modern times is highly questionable (“A Discussion on Ninja,” in: Journal of Japanese Sword Arts 11/6 # 103 (1999), pp. 33–39).

Since 2009, British author Antony Cummins has taken a controversial look at historical ninjutsu, arguing that ninjutsu per se is not a martial art with physical aspects, but a system of information gathering and sabotage. He proves this by translating and analysing the sources of historical textbooks such as the Bansenshūkai 万川集海, Shōninki 正忍記 and Ninpiden 忍秘伝. His work is not without controversy, as he does not speak, read or write Japanese and is assisted by a colleague who is not trained in the translation of historical documents. On the other hand, Kacem Zoughari (2009), while sharing some of the more recent findings, clearly believes that a specialised system of ninjutsu has survived from generation to generation over the centuries and is still practised today.

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Based on an intensive study of sources, Turnbull presents a book of 15 chapters and 230 pages in which he deals comprehensively with the subject of the ninja from the 7th century to the present day. He uses sources that he did not have in 1991 when he first worked on this complex (see Ninja, The True Story of Japan’s Secret Warrior Cult). It’s only since working with Mie University, which in 2012, under the direction of Professor Yamada Yūji, launched the Iga Ninja Culture Collaborative Field Project research project, which eventually culminated in the 2017 International Ninja Research Center), for which Turnbull gave the opening lecture.

After explaining his motivation for the book in the preface, Turnbull begins by examining how and by whom the various terms for ninja (including nin-sha, shinobi, shinobi-no-mono, ninjutsu-mono, ninjutsu-sha, ninjutsu-tsukai) have been used and how their use has changed over time. He notes that the term shinobi has essentially been the dominant term for a long time.

Turning to the origins and historical development of the ninja phenomenon, Turnbull uses three sets of sources for his study (p. 4). First, he looks at how the archetypal ninja – dressed in black and equipped with a unique arsenal of weapons – is understood today. He uses this image as a starting point for a comparison with an image that might have existed in the past. He then looks at accounts of clandestine warfare by unbiased eyewitnesses from a time before 1600, when wars were still being fought in Japan. Finally, Turnbull looks at the extensive written material from the period after the end of warfare in Japan. He finds that the image of the ninja in the writings of the peaceful Tokugawa period (1603–1868), which is essentially the basis for today’s image of ninja and ninjutsu, has been exaggerated and manipulated by contemporary authors, and by this time no longer corresponds to its historical origins.

In chapters 3 to 6, Turnbull gives his readers a comprehensive overview of the geography and history of the Japanese regions of Iga and Kôka, which are considered to be the origins of the ninja idea, especially in modern literature. Among other things, he presents five authentic accounts – four of them in English translation for the first time – of clandestine operations carried out at the time by ‘Iga warriors’. However, according to Turnbull, contemporary reports of this kind end as early as the 1580s, with such actions only being discussed again in the 20th century (see p.76: “The Iga component of the ninja myth lay dormant, slumbering like Sleeping Beauty, ready to be awakened in the twentieth century by the kiss of a handsome prince”.)

The descendants of the two groups, Iga and Kōka, Turnbull notes, were now responsible for internal security at the Shōgun’s court in Edo, and were also involved in intelligence gathering (Chapter 7). This completely changed their roles: “… the two names meant nothing in terms of spying in 1590; by about 1680 they meant everything” (see page 87). According to Turnbull, the underground operations of the Sengoku period (1467–1603) eventually added another aspect to the ninja myth (see page 95).

In chapter 8, Turnbull leaves the development of the myth for a moment and takes up the subject of ninjutsu (p. 96: “a subject about which there is a certain sensitivity that is largely absent from discussions of the ninja”) from the early Tokugawa period to the 20th century. He uses various writings, such as the military manual Buyō Benryaku 武用便略 of 1684 or the chapter “Iga Ninjutsu” of the Iga Kyūkō of Kikuoka Jogen of 1699, which he considers essential for the creation of the ninja myth (see p. 98) and which are said to have provided the main material for every popular ninja book since the early 20th century (see p. 100). Many of these scrolls are now available in translation. However, Turnbull points out that most have been reworked, parts are missing due to better understanding, and translations are simply not accurate (“… the word ninja is regularly inserted where it never appears in the original”, see page 100). To place these written sources within the overall complex, Turnbull comments on the original Japanese version: the Gunpo Jiyoshū 軍法侍用集 of 1653 (pp. 102–103), Shinobi no den, published around 1700 and also known as Ninpiden (pp. 10–104), the Mansenshūkai / Bansenshūkai of 1676 (pp. 103–107) and the Shōninki of 1681. In addition, Turnbull uses for his research the Ninjutsu Ōgiden published around 1800, for which he presents a complete translation (pp. 109–112).

In the next chapter, Turnbull looks at ninja in popular culture and presents examples of illustrations, such as those by the Japanese artist Hokusai (1760–1849), which, according to Turnbull, have nothing to do with the historical models and certainly nothing to do with the shinobi from the text he has already described. The same applies to the multitude of historical novels and heroic tales as well as the silent and sound films of modern times, so that in the following chapter 10 he finally arrives at the 20th century and the central figures of today’s ninja image, Itō Gingetsu (1871–1944) and Fujita Seikō (1899–1966). Their self-contradictory works, which use the distorted ninja image of historical textbooks and are mixed with misinterpretations by the authors (see page 123), ultimately represent the hitherto uncontradicted ninja image of the 1960s, according to Turnbull.

Turnbull, on the other hand, identifies Okuse Heishichirō (1911–1997) as the “inventor of the ninja” (see p. 144), the then municipal official and mayor of Iga who, together with the novelist Adachi Ken’ichi, brought the Iga region into the public eye (chapter 11). Chapter 12 shows us the evolution of the ninja in film and how ninjutsu was developed as a martial art by the film industry and its advisors.

Turnbull looks at the “ninja weapon par excellence” (see p. 166), the shûriken, to show how parts of the ninja image have been added over time. His case study (chapter 13) shows that shûriken, as we know them today, are in part a modern invention, introduced to the ninja world by Fujita Seikō in 1936. Chapter 14 then looks at how cities today capitalise on the myth for commercial purposes.

Finally, Turnbull concludes that while the origins of our image of the ninja can be traced back to pre-1600 secret warfare, it has been reinvented over the centuries. What we now think of as ninja and ninjutsu are, in fact, nothing more than modern constructions made from historical mosaic stones in the first half of the 20th century.

ASSESSMENT

This is not the first time Turnbull has tackled the subject of ninja. In recent years, since the early 1990s, he has dealt with the subject on several occasions. However, according to him, he was no longer satisfied with this work. He already commented on this circumstance in his essay of 2014 (see above) in a very self-critical way, when he stated that he had written his 1991 book too enthusiastically and with little reflection (“… I will re-examine the evidence with a degree of academic rigour that may have been lacking in 1991”).

This time he presents a scholarly treatise on this aspect of Japanese history, thoroughly examining the myth of the ninja and, as the title suggests, unmasking it. Turnbull does this very well, using many original sources and placing them in their respective historical contexts from their origins to the present day. At the same time, he is always guided by the latest findings of his Japanese colleagues, who, since the establishment of the Ninja Research Centre at the University of Mie at the latest, have been striving for a comprehensive scientific review of this Japanese cultural heritage. Much has already been achieved, but further research is needed to capture all facets, as Turnbull notes, quoting his colleagues (p. 191).

The result is the realisation that today’s common concept of the ninja is a constructed image that only developed into what it is today in the 1950s/60s. Many of the previous points of discussion have thus taken on a new dimension. For example, the findings challenge active ninjutsu factions that see themselves as part of a historically transmitted lineage and defend their supposed authenticity like “members of a religious cult” (Turnbull). It is to be expected that, not least because of this, there will undoubtedly be many critical voices questioning the results of Turnbull’s work.

As Turnbull uses many technical terms and Japanese words, a knowledge of the subject matter and Japanese history – although not absolutely necessary – will help you to read the book. The author’s numerous notes, which provide valuable information in addition to the text, can be found as endnotes at the end of the book, but are tedious to look up. The fact that some sources are mentioned in the endnotes but not in the bibliography is ultimately negligible. It would have been a useful addition if the author had translated the titles of the Japanese sources in the bibliography for better understanding and content.

Conclusion: Turnbull’s work not only joins a series of prominent works that have set out to illuminate the ninja myth more scientifically. Rather, he sets a new standard. It is to be hoped that more dedicated scholars will soon take up this interesting aspect of Japanese history and present their findings to a non-Japanese speaking readership.