Page 54 - All About History - Issue 34-16

A samurai training in ninjutsu
draws his katana

Seven Famous

HATTORI HANZŌ
1540s-96
Hanzō was also a samurai, a
master tactician and an expert in
spear fighting in the service of the
Tokugawa shogunate. During the
1580s, he and his ninja protected
their lord, helping him become the
ruler of all Japan.
MOCHIZUKI CHIYOME
1540s-70s
Mochizuki is one of the most
famous female ninja. She founded
an all-female espionage network
from orphaned girls, refugees
and prostitutes to spy for her
husband’s uncle, Takeda Shingen.
FŪMA KOTARŌ
1550-1603
Kotarō was the leader of the
independent ninja Fūma clan.
Kotarō served the Hōjō clan, and
in 1580 he and his ninja covertly
infiltrated the Takeda clan’s camp
causing chaos and panic.

ISHIKAWA GOEMON
1558-94
Goemon was an outlaw ninja and
Japan’s answer to Robin Hood,
who stole from wealthy feudal “ Ninja infiltrated the Imagawa castle and
lords and daimyos to give to the
poor. He was finally captured and
boiled to death in a cauldron. set fire to its towers, causing panic”

TOMO SUKESADA
16th century to defend their land. Following the Onin War, During the 1560s, Tokugawa Ieyasu hired Kōga
Sukesada led the Kōga ninja. He
and 80 of his men were hired by the Rokkaku began to rebel against the Ashikaga ninja, led by Tomo Sukesada, to raid Imagawa clan
Nobunaga to destroy Kaminogou shogunate, seizing territory and ignoring the outposts. Sukesada and his Kōga ninja infiltrated
castle, held by the Imagawa clan. shogun’s orders. In 1487, Ashikaga Yoshihisa, the the Imagawa castle and set fire to its towers,
They set fire to the castle’s towers
and killed 200 defenders. ninth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, led an causing panic and killing much of the garrison.
army to besiege Rokkaku castles. It was during this They again played a pivotal role during the Battle
KATŌ DANZŌ conflict that the Iga ninja, serving the shogunate, of Sekigahara, where they helped defend Fushimi
1500-69 and Kōga ninja clashed. One by one, Rokkaku Castle and hold up Ishida Mitsunari’s attack.
Danzō was a skilled illusionist castles fell and the lords fled, ordering their Kōga Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory at the battle enabled him
who combined this talent with retainers to fight to the death. The Kōga ninja to create the Tokugawa shogunate, which would
his ninja training to become
known for his ability to create were masters of guerrilla warfare and launched an rule until 1868.
distractions and disappear. He insurgency, confounding the shogun at every turn. From 1600 onward, the Kōga and Iga ninja
served Uesugi Kenshin. They exploited their expert knowledge of the local worked together as the shogun’s elite guard,
geography, hiding in the mountains and launching defending his principle seat of power at Edo Castle.
KIDO YAZAEMON raids on Yoshihisa’s forces. The ninja attacked the The Tokugawa shogunate presided over several
1539-89
Yazaemon became an expert shogun’s camps, causing chaos and confusion with centuries of peace in Japan, but in 1638, the ninja
with the Tanegashima matchlock fires and smoke screens. were called upon one last time.
arquebus. In 1579, he led a band After holding off the shogun’s troops for a few The Shimabara Rebellion saw Christian rebels
of ninja armed with muskets in an years, Yoshihisa’s death in 1489 finally ended the led by Amakusa Shirō rise up after their taxes
assassination attempt on warlord
Oda Nobunaga. occupation of the Kōga’s territory. The skill and were raised. As the shogun’s armies closed in on
bravery of the Kōga ninja’s guerrilla war made them the rebels, they fell back to the castle at Hara and
famous, and they gained a formidable reputation as dug in for a long siege. With their expertise in
both conventional and unconventional warriors. siege warfare, the Kōga ninja returned to the field.
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