“Combines enlightenment on 16th-century Japanese lise with a sharp and well integrated mystery.” – Kirkus Reviews |
Blade of the SamuraiJune, 1565: When a killer murders the shogun’s cousin, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo are summoned to the shogun’s palace and ordered to find the killer. The evidence implicates Hiro’s friend and fellow shinobi, Kazu, who was working undercover at the shogunate; however, the victim’s wife, a suspicious maid, and even the shogun’s stable master also had reasons to want the victim dead. The investigation reveals a plot to assassinate the shogun and depose the ruling Ashikaga clan. With enemy forces approaching Kyoto, and the murderer poised to strike again, Hiro and Father Mateo must produce the killer in time . . . or die in his place. Blade of the Samurai is a complex mystery that will transport readers to a thrilling and unforgettable adventure in sixteenth-century Japan. |
- The Seven Disguises Used by Real Ninjas
Hollywood likes to portray the ninja in black pajamas, scaling a roof to assassinate a samurai. In reality, ninjas, also called shinobi, were more like spies.
Assassinations played a role (as did those famous dark pajamas) but ninja training focused as much on espionage as it did on killing, and then–as now–a large part of successful spying depended on disguises.
During the 17th century the head of a famous ninja clan wrote a manual called the Shoniniki, which described techniques and methods used by medieval ninjas. At the time, the Shoniniki was considered a “secret” manuscript, used and protected by shinobi clans. Now, it offers a glimpse into the real ninja’s world, including the types of disguises ninjas favored.
The Shoniniki lists “Seven Disguises” as recommended “personas” a shinobi could assume in order to infiltrate a town, obtain information, or generally fool people into thinking he was someone other than a spy. (Female ninjas, called kunoichi, used disguises too.)
The Shoniniki’s Seven Disguises include:
1. Itinerant monks (komuso) - for wandering the countryside.
2. Buddhist monks – for infiltrating temples, towns, and cities.
3. Mountain ascetics.
4. Merchants.
5. Actors.
6. Street entertainers.
7. “Normal Appearance” – which means taking on the persona of a typical resident of the city, village, or area the shinobi wanted to infiltrate without being noticed.
***
Ninjas weren’t limited to these seven roles. When on a mission, a ninja blended in with the population–or with the environment, in the case of truly clandestine missions–and was expected to take on any persona or disguise that allowed him (or her, in the case of kunoichi) to pass unnoticed.
Shinobi assigned to long-term missions might use only a single disguise, living for years as a farmer, monk, or merchant. This allowed the ninja to gather information or “wait in place” as a sleeper agent until his clan was hired to assassinate a nearby lord or other valuable target.
On short-term missions, a shinobi might use multiple disguises, blending in with different crowds as needed to reach the goal. Ninjas were trained to think independently and conceal themselves in many ways … including the use of disguises to hide in plain sight.
Disappearing is great, when you have the cover of night or foliage, but hiding in plain sight is the best disguise of all.
Did you know that shinobi were trained to “hide in plain sight”? Does it surprise you to learn that ninjas were masters of espionage as well as assassination?
