The Bansenshukai | The Three Famous Ninja Manuals

in the previous video in this series we dived deep into the history of espionage in japan to uncover the myth and reality of the ninja or more accurately the shinobi so if you haven't watched that video i highly recommend you go check it out because in this video we are going to be going even deeper as we explore the most important document on the tactics and philosophy of espionage in feudal japan a manual known as the banzin shukai which in japanese can also be read as mansi this will not be the only ninja manual we examine in this series as there are three great manuals we will eventually come to look at but this one is the first we are going to be going through simply because it is the largest and most important without the bansin shukai our knowledge of espionage in feudal japan would be extremely lacking because through its writings we are able to so much better understand the role of the shinobi in samurai warfare for this video we're going to be using this book the book of ninja the first complete translation of the bansin chukai japan's premier ninja manual once again throughout this series i am working alongside historian author and youtuber anthony cummins anthony is the managing force behind this translation and publication of the bonsan chukai which i will have a link to in the description along with some of his other great books his website youtube channel and instagram all of which i highly recommend you all go check out but with that said let's dive into the book of ninja and before we get too far into the actual text we should first start off by talking about its authenticity where does the ban senshukai come from and is it credible what is important to know is that the bansinsukai was not written as one single piece of information rather it is a collection from various sources ranging from kusanoki ryu teachings to the shinobi hotbeds of iga and koka which were all combined into a single text that's name roughly translates to all rivers merge into the sea essentially meaning many streams of knowledge flowing into one it was produced during the edo period in 1676 by a warrior named fujibayashi yasutake a man who was fearful that in this age of peace following the chaotic sengokujidai the teachings of the shinobi would be lost to time thus the bansin shukai is actually as much a work of preservation as it is for its practical uses for samurai warfare as it records the teachings from kusunoki all the way to the most important areas for the history of espionage in japan iga and koka yet interestingly enough a lot of what is recorded in the bansin chukai isn't just japanese since espionage is so broad a concept that spans back as long as wars have been fought much of the knowledge in the bansinsukai actually comes from much older and foreign sources as stated there are many references to the tactics of kusanoki masashige who was an extremely influential and famous imperial loyalist of the genko war and subsequent kenu restoration but even more interesting is that a lot of the text goes back to chinese military classics detailing the history of important chinese figures and their usage of espionage once again as mentioned in the previous video we begin to run into the same problem of discerning when does espionage in japan actually start to become works of the shinobi keeping in mind that the shinobi were members of the samurai or ashigaru not a separate entity as pop culture would have you believe this question becomes somewhat significant here again as we see just how far back the information within the ban senshukai goes yet although the actual knowledge of the ban senshukai managed to survive throughout the ages the original version of it created by fujibayashi yasutake was unfortunately lost what remains now of the ban sinchukai are copies and transcriptions of the original text located in museums archives and private collections each of which largely remain the same with the only differences being transcription errors or removed sections and luckily the version used for the translation for the book of ninja is without a doubt one of the most complete and well-preserved versions of the text as it is the one kept by the japanese national archives with only a single section missing known as shochi three this national archives version was actually presented to the tokugawa shogunate in 1789 by samurai from koka who were wishing to sell their knowledge in exchange for recovering their former status sadly they were turned away yet their gift of the ban senchukai remained with the shogunate and later the japanese government thus becoming the base copy used for this translation and although antony worked alongside a very skilled translation team to provide the most accurate translation of the text possible it is important to note that the bansin chukai is one of the easiest shinobi manuals to understand not only due to the fact that it is written in a style relatively close to the modern japanese language but also because of its simple approach of explaining the subject to the reader using very little cryptic writing however even with that said there are still some areas that remain somewhat difficult to fully understand and are further made hard to interpret due to the addition of kuden kuden which translates to oral instruction or oral tradition can be found a lot throughout the text these are areas fujibayashi yasutake and others who copied the text left out as to better be explained in person this may have been done to help people better understand more complicated subjects or more accurately as a method of salesmanship as although the text says a lot more can be explained by a master explaining the text in private lessons because of the addition of kuden in the ban senchukai there are plenty of details we are unfortunately not privy to nonetheless it still remains the finest ninja manual we have access to today helping us better understand the role of the shinobi because of this the ban senshukai has become a cornerstone in the understanding of espionage in japan for over 70 years and has been used by all academics as a reference manual as even today mia university's department of ninja studies continues to analyze the manual as a historical text although there has still been some criticism surrounding it as some people have said that it was only written to perhaps allow the author to get a job however this is a common misunderstanding as i said earlier the original version by fujibayashi yasutake was actually written in 1676. it wasn't until 1789 when koko samurai presented a copy of it to the tokugawa shogunate with the actual aim being employment this had nothing to do with yasutake's original goal of compiling knowledge on top of that there is no way that real shinobi families from koka would have given a false document to the shogunate to gain employment that would have been a dangerous thing to do the pansenchukai manual was highly sought after in the ninja hotbeds of iga and koka and at times secret oaths were even given so that shinobi students could study the manual if it was in any way inauthentic the families of iga and koka who were famous for their ninjutsu would not have valued it while the original is lost the many transcriptions left to us were only brought to the public eye in the 20th century yet the skills inside the manual are very close to the other manuals written at different times and in different places it would be impossible for all authors of ninja manuals to have made a mass conspiracy to bemuse the future researchers like all good samurai families they were simply recording their traditions that does not mean that the manual is perfect but what it does mean is that it is a true representation of ninjutsu for the time it was written and it is a gateway into the shadows of the shinobi so how is the manual made up the bonsanchukai itself is broken down into a collection of 22 volumes which may have originally only been 21 but it covers a wide range of topics significant to the role of the shinobi we can further classify these volumes into seven sections the first of which limited to a single volume is introductory identifying the practices of the shinobi and their role within warfare the second section containing two volumes is all about the correct mind of the shinobi the third section containing four volumes is a guideline for how commanders should learn to think like and utilize their shinobi the fourth section containing three volumes is in regards to the art of yonin open disguise as opposed to the fifth section containing five volumes which is in regards to enin hidden infiltration the sixth section containing two volumes is more esoteric describing the opportunities bestowed upon us by heaven including omens lucky dates and weather predictions and the seventh and final section containing five volumes is all in regards to the many unique tools that the shinobi have been known to use so with that said let's jump in starting off with seishin one and two the volumes concerning the correct mind this is one of the more philosophical sections because it goes deep into describing what the correct mind of ishinobi should be using principles that link back to confucianism and taoism and what is particularly interesting about them is while much of it pertains specifically to the difficult role of an agent of espionage as a whole its teachings can apply to any samurai or soldier as these are principles all warriors should try to adhere to it is obvious why these volumes came before anything else because when you approach the rest of the work with your mind correctly attuned each following section becomes easier to understand the importance of the next section is comprised of shochi one through five the volume is all about a guideline for how commanders should utilize their shinobi these are extremely important texts that try to combine the minds of the commander and the shinobi as the closer they are to one entity the more efficient the actions of espionage can be a large focal point of these volumes are the chinese military classics such as the art of war by sun tzu as they are used to better help the reader understand the nature of warfare and its intricacies and while much of it focuses on how shinobi should be effectively deployed these volumes also go into great depth regarding defending one's forces from actions of enemy shinobi what comes next are two of the most important sections in the banshen sections detailing yonin and inin in and yo are the japanese way of saying yin and yang and therefore the manual is using the ancient chinese concept of duality to explain the roles of the shinobi in old japan yonin and eenin can be considered the most significant arts that shinobi must become well acquainted with in order to be successful in their endeavors yonin is the art of open disguise blending into your surroundings it is the teachings of yonin that focus on being inconspicuous and thus drawing no attention to oneself this portion of the manual tries to educate the correct ways shinobi should attempt to disguise their identity when performing acts of espionage within enemy territory this is opposed to enin which is entirely concerned with being not seen while yonin is all about blending in enin is about being hidden this art is all about the role of stealth in actions of espionage now once again this is in no way a reference to the stereotypical fake image of the black clad ninja we know however it is still the closest art form of the shinobi to resemble the popular image of the ninja but instead detailing more practical approaches to spycraft that aid in not being seen or heard yonin and eenin are the backbone of the shinobi and why the volumes concerning these arts are so incredibly significant to understand without these sections the intricate details of the infiltration methods of the shinobi would have been mainly lost these sections should be considered as a national treasure for the japanese because the ninja is now a worldwide icon and it is only through the dedicated writings of fujibayashi yasutake that such details remain yet while the volumes of yonin and enin focus so much on practicality the following two volumes tenji one and two explore the esoteric mindset describing the opportunities bestowed by heaven at their root they attempt to explain to the reader that even though countless hours of hard planning and preparation may have gone into a shinobi's mission it may all be for nothing due to the will of heaven but these volumes also move into those parts of the medieval mind that were not detached from the unknown when was a lucky day when would it rain where do the gods reside and how can a shinobi channel their energy such questions are answered in these sections these volumes describe from a more spiritual sense that all the actions we take are still to some degree out of our direct control and thus we should not rely too heavily on being perfectly prepared instead the main focus is on dates and times relating to spirituality and japanese culture following in accordance with these more philosophical dates and times are meant to bring a greater chance of success than simple planning alone because only heaven itself will grant the shinobi his opportunity for success the final volumes nin ki one through five are the many tools that have been used and recorded by the shinobi to better perform their duties and while some appear to be more exaggerated others appear to have been highly practical items such as flotation devices and rafts different types of collapsible ladders lanterns and even poly mechanisms there is seriously a lot of unique gadgets in this section that would have been able to help the shinobi perform his task and without the ban senchukai some of these tools would be totally lost to history fujibayashi yasutake's research is so in-depth that he even tediously lists the various types of padlocks and ways to bypass them he shows us how to saw through walls make commando boats lock doors into position for night raids and even how to make and wear padded sandals for stealth his research on incendiary weapons and explosives is second to none for his time and he even introduces us to the medieval hand grenade and landmine the effectiveness of all of his tools have yet to be tested but the fact that he recorded them allows these tests to even exist while the ban senshukai is not the only shinobi manual to contain secret teachings it is known as the bible of ninjutsu for a very good reason having now gone through the many volumes of the bansin shukai you can really see how important it is for our understanding of shinobi today without it we would be left so much more in the dark regarding the history and implementation of espionage in feudal japan this is why the book of ninja is such an important asset to us today not only because it is the first full english translation of the text but also for its role in helping us better understand the actions of the shinobi and although this is the greatest ninja manual we have access to it's not the only one as i mentioned at the beginning in this series working alongside anthony cummins we'll be diving into the other two great ninja manuals that anthony and his team have worked to translate once again i want to give a shout out to anthony cummins and remind you all to head down to the description where not only is there a link to the book of ninja but also some of his other works and links to his content so with that said thank you all for watching and don't forget to keep an eye out for the next video anthony and i make on the topic of the shinobi

Channel: The Shogunate

Views: 99,747

Keywords: Samurai, Ninja, Shinobi, Japan, History, Daimyo, Book, Writing, Military, Sword, Katana, Honor, Bushido, Shogun, Shogunate, Ancient, Wisdom, Teaching

Id: 7vRfQ8BEcWs

Length: 16min 44sec (1004 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 02 2020