Japan Trip May 2006 - Part 3

The Koka (Koga) Ninja village we visited is nestled in a small valley all its own and was created by Shunichiro Yunoki. It is reported that he was the last surviving Koka practitioner and started the village so that everyone could experience the tradition that his ancestors kept alive. As you leave the parking lot and head to the entrance you get the sensation that you are traveling back to a different era. The 8' wall surrounding the village is made from bamboo and is decorated with various signs. The entrance fee is used to cover the upkeep and repair of the many displays and of the village itself.

After we ask to see Mr. Shunichiro, the person at the front gate leads us down a manicured trail, around a big pond with a rope stretching across, past numerous huts containing the many displays until, finally, we reach the central store area, which also houses a place to sit and eat. Yoshi Jim Haynes acts as translator as we get to sit and meet with Mr. Shunichiro. We explain how we represent Konigun Ryu and asked about Koga Ryu. Mr. Shunichiro tells us how they refer to it as Koka and that he constructed the village as a way to maintain the traditions he learned as a child. He tells us that many come each year to use the facilities of the village to train with each other. We explain how we are meeting with different leaders of the different Ninjutsu Ryu to pay our respects. When we ask about other Ninjutsu Ryu, he said there are no more Iga or Koka except for the ones that came each summer to train. When we ask about Bujinkan he just shakes his head and says that they are not Ninjutsu. At each place we stop, we try to discover other Ninjutsu Ryu that the locals might know of as well as to discover the origins of what is known over here in the states.

After our cup of tea, Mr. Shunichiro calls someone over to show us the village. This man leads us out of the restaurant/store to the authentic Ninja House containing a series of false walls and trap doors which allowed a quick escape. An example of one of trap doors requires a little more in-depth description of the construction of the traditional Japanese kitchen. It is a room located inside the house that centers on a lowered section in the middle of the room which contains the fire pit. They put the whole fire pit on a runner system so that it slides under the surrounding floor exposing the crawl space beneath the house. Japanese houses are built a couple of feet above the ground, leaving plenty of room to move about when needed. As we follow our guide down one hallway he turns a corner and is gone--we were at a dead end. Then another section of wall rotates and exposes his smiling face as he gestures us through a secret hallway that leads into almost every room.

After we leave the Ninja House, we stop at the well at the back of the house and he gets in and disappears from sight. When we investigate further we see a series of handholds that will take us into the bottom of the false well. Once we reach the end of our descent, we find ourselves at the beginning of a long tunnel which comes out across the village behind some bushes. I imagine that during the time of the warring states period of Japanese history such methods of escape were the only way many survived hostile attacks.

The big pond of water that we passed on the way down is used to train villagers and students the various aspects of water walking using the pond walker shoes, buckets, or even tires. Although not deep, you really have to have good balance to be able to stay out of the muddy water. We wind through the bushes, across ridges, and down paths until we come across a balance rope spanning a gully. Being the only path, it must be traversed if you are to head up to the small Buddhist shrine that sits in a peaceful corner. The shrine is obviously maintained with love. Our path leads to two buildings containing all the artifacts of the Koka ninja that have been collected. We saved all our pictures to document the many exhibits we found within the two buildings. Like the Iga Ryu museum, the Koka have collected an impressive array of ancient artifacts. We can see all the manuals and scrolls outlining their different techniques. The authentic weapons and tools that Koka ninja used to practice their trade are on display with explanatory cards written in Hiragana or Kanji. One display shows the shoes they used to walk across marshy areas; in another the picks they used to pick the door latches or crude locks that were used in those days. We can see collapsible grappling hooks, collapsible boats, swords, kubitan, shaken, and every other manner of throwing device imaginable. It is evident from the size of the armor and weapons that the samurai and ninja of yesteryear were much smaller than the current generation.

After our tour of the grounds and the museum we return to Mr. Shunichiro where we express our admiration for the wonderful job he did in creating the village and the museum and all of the hard work it must have taken. After seeing all the scrolls, Yoshi Jim asks about the Ban Sen Sukai and the Nin Pi Den scrolls that Bujinkan claim as their heritage. He explains that these were reprinted in the early '60's and were readily obtainable from any book seller. He even brings us the copy he used to have on sale in his curio store to demonstrate his claim. We thank him for his time and before we leave we discuss the possibility of training with the Koka when they gather in the summers. We leave the Koka having made new friends and continue our journey through southern Honshu in our search for more information on the various Ninjutsu Ryu and their interactions with Konigun.

I must take a moment to state that although 7-Elevens have all but disappeared here in the states because of all the new chains that have cut into their market share, the same cannot be said in Japan. I think that they must be the only American chain of convenience stores over there and are matched in popularity only by McDonald's. It became a game of who would spot it first as they appeared practically on every corner. Southern Honshu is an industrialized area and the road south went through the heart of it. Although we follow the coast road, it is a non-stop stream of buildings. Stores and businesses are only broken up by the occasional hotel. We reach the southern tip of Honshu at night and can see the lights of the bridge stretch south across the channel to the island of Kyushu. The bridge is so tall and high off the ground that I imagine any ship that crosses beneath has more than enough clearance. We follow the signs, get lost, follow some more signs, and finally make it over the bridge and continue on our journey to Fukuoka where we stay the night. We leave with dawn the next day and travel south along one of the super highways that the Japanese have crisscrossing the country. The roads are well maintained. We make good time and are in Kagoshima within a couple of hours. Yoshi Jim asks a curator at the Kagoshima museum about any displays featuring Konigun or Saija. The curator looks at Jim and asks, "Do you mean the ninja?" When Jim says yes, he told Jim of a museum in Satsuma Sendai. We were on our way!

Kyushu is a strange contrast to the main island of Honshu. Because Honshu is so developed, Kyushu feels undeveloped due to the zoning requirements that allow no permanent building along the side or tops of the mountains. Kyushu is mostly mountainous, so this leaves the numerous valleys and coastal regions to support all the population. The only exceptions to this rule go to the buildings created before the law came into effect. Also, you can build up on the mountainside, but the structure has to be torn down once a year and made anew.

We follow the directions of our ever faithful "Tom Tom" which takes us directly to the address of the museum, but we arrive just as it is closing. We head back to town but stop at a temple that we passed on our way out to the museum. Situated on the top of a hill, you get to it by climbing a thousand steps. We climb the steps and at different times get help from each other making it up the long staircase. They say that the stairs are there for you to show the spirits your desire for your prayers' outcomes. By making the long pilgrimage up every step, you are putting your heart and effort into your prayer.

We start early the next morning after having spent the night in a hotel. I never thought I would like seaweed for breakfast, but I started to look forward to it and to the rice that came with the morning meals. We get to the museum and begin our tour beside a shop where an employee is working on a helmet. From there, we follow the pathway to the first building which contains a mock up of a daimyo lord with his samurai retainers. After we leave that building we see a man working with some stone statues and Yoshi Jim explains how we were referred to the museum from Kagoshima and asks if he knows where the exhibits are. The man explains that he put together the museum as a hobby because of his interest in local history. He introduces himself as the owner, Mr. Tanewa Shinobu, and offers to give us a tour. We readily agree and follow our host. He takes us into the main display room explaining that the museum is dedicated to Saigo Takamori. We learn that Takamori was the basis for the movie, "The Last Samurai." It seems that unlike the movie, Takamori came to lead the rebellion more by default than by any direct action on his part. After leaving Honshu and direct government service he returned to southern Kyushu to hunt with his dogs and train various samurai that came to him for training. Some of these same students, in protest of the government's actions toward the samurai class, seized the local garrison's armory and began the tragic tale. The government, unable to fathom that Takamori's students acted without his knowledge and support, laid a raid at his doorstep. He felt that since he could not escape being linked to the rebellion, his only hope of survival depended on its success. We all know how the story ends, but Mr. Tanewa shows us the many artifacts that he has collected through the years documenting the rebellion. We take lots of pictures as we make our way through the museum, documenting the swords, rifles, even the ninja chain mail and shaken that are in the displays. The other rooms contain depictions of events from Saigo Takamori's life from the time when he was teaching to the actual battles of the rebellion. Mr. Tanewa is famous for the armor that he makes for movies and recreation events. He takes Yoshi Jim inside another display building where he dresses him as a samurai. As you can see from the pictures, Jim looks at home in the armor.

After a wonderful lunch of soba noodles in broth, Mr. Tanewa continues our tour by taking us to his armor-making facilities in town and shows us some of the many weapons that he supplies to the reenactments. We even receive the honor of being invited to have tea at his personal home. He is very efficient and conscientious about everything he produces and it shows in the many awards he has received over the years. We left the museum with more information and the beginning of yet another friendship.

We stay north of Satsuma Sendai to make it easier on Yoshi Jim and Bushi Jason as they are leaving to tour Shimbara Jo the following day while Shidoshi Dallas and I are off to pay our respects to Insei Saija. I drop Yoshi Jim and Bushi Jason off at the ferry terminal and return to Shidoshi Dallas for our trip to visit with his teacher.

Japan Trip May 2006 - Part 2

We left Hatsumi-san, self proclaimed last remaining Ninja Master, to begin our journey to visit the masters of Iga and Koga Ninjutsu Ryu. Getting to the southern prefectures entails riding one of the bullet trains for which Japan is famous. If you have never traveled on one, it is a cross between an airplane and a ritzy bus. The seats are high backed comfortable affairs set in banks of four, all facing the same direction until you pull a lever, and the whole contraption swivels around so that you are facing the seats behind you. You could tell that many rode this route often as they greeted each new person that entered the car, many rotating the chairs to face friends and catch up on the latest gossip.

We finally found a car that was half full near the front of the train after working our way through car after car of bustling passengers seeking seats, friends, luggage…an instantaneous obstacle course. Navigating this with backpacks bigger than many on the train became a challenge, but finally we made it to what was to become our seat. It was strategically placed in the last row, where we stored our backpacks behind the seats and settled in for the ride. Our train left the station before we made it to our car, but only began to pick up speed after we left the city. All of our neighbors tried at different times to practice their English with us while we did the best to keep up our end of the bargain using our Japanese with the southern drawl. A stewardess pushed a trolley through the car, as the buildings, and towns whooshed by outside our large panoramic windows. What was offered is not what you would expect to find, because it had things like squid and octopus.

During the ride we got to see majestic Mount Fuji approaching, flashing by and then sliding into the distance as we closed the kilometers on Nagoya, our destination. The city was flash and glitter, full of all the people celebrating the national holiday called "Golden Week." This was my first time in Nagoya. We exited from the train and were overlooking the main square and a sea of people. The neon signs bathed the cool night in a festive glow as party-goers flowed along the crowded corridors of the marble subway station. We set the bags down in a corner away from the hustle as some went in search of the bathroom and others went in search of a hotel for a couple of nights. We planned on meeting Roberto Velasquez who is known by the moniker of GTO on a message board where the hate group was trash talking. He was the only civilized person we had spoken with online who was demanding contact with Shidoshi's teacher. Since GTO already lived in Japan, he volunteered to go with us to meet Saija-san and put an end to the furor over the existence of Shidoshi Dallas' teacher. We called him to let him know what hotel we were in and how he could get in touch with us.

While we waited for Roberto to contact us, we went to Nagoya Jo, which is a huge castle. There are pictures posted on our site that we took while walking around the castle, showing the massive workmanship that went into the construction of the whole place. When you first enter the area, you walk across a bridge spanning a moat which looked 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep. There is a 50 foot high wall just above the edge of the moat which could have stopped any army. As you can see from the pictures posted on this site they actually made the walls into different level plateaus upon which the different buildings sat. This gave plenty of flat ground. Perfect for training the many soldiers that must have been needed. Within the outer walls lies another set of walls surrounding the main palace. Bounding the four corners of the inner walls are four towers built as mini castles designed to watch and guard. You have to cross the moat by a bridge to enter into the inner grounds. We had to wait in a long line to enter into the main castle or "Jo" which wound its way up through a massive Bailey and into the Jo through the main door/ gates. Inside they have many displays of armor, weapons and the art of the Nagoya Jo history. See the attached brochure and the many pictures that we took.

Another museum that we visited was the Tokugawa Museum. This was housed on what used to be the private gardens of the Tokugawa family and is also the site of the Hosa Library which holds the former collection of the Owari Tokugawa family. The current collection consists of about 110,000 items of classic Japanese and Chinese books and pictorial images handed down through the family since Ieyasu Tokugawa, founder of the Edo Shogunate. Besides the collection, we were able to photograph some of the many displays they have available for the public's enjoyment which include armor, scrolls and weapons.

The museums although informative were not the reason for our stay in Nagoya. GTO along with many of the people on the internet had the temerity to demand the phone number of Shidoshi Dallas's teacher, a man in his 80's. Originally we had contacted GTO with the same request of meeting with his teacher and having a phone number with which to contact his teacher, since we were taking GTO to meet with Insei Saija. The only contact we had with Mr. Velasquez (GTO) was an email, in which he stated, "that we would not be able to meet with his teacher nor get his phone number as it is only allowed to be given to his senior students." This is an example of the many double standards imposed upon Shidoshi Dallas and his teacher by GTO and the members of the hate groups on the message boards. After waiting on GTO for three days we had no choice but to continue on with our own trip. GTO never made an appearance.

We rented a Nissan Note - I highly recommend these cars if they ever come to the states. The four of us along with our backpacks were able to fit into this compact car and still have plenty of head and leg room. With the small wheel and tight roads it made for an interesting but fun ride, because 90kph felt like 90 mph. We would have probably gotten lost a time or two if it were not for our little "Tom-Tom," which came with the car. All we had to do to find a point was to enter in the address or phone number of the place we were trying to reach and it would pull it up on the map and take us there by the shortest route. A lot of the time it chose the expressways, but we often chose a shorter more scenic route.

This was how we discovered a village built using the traditional construction materials and techniques. As you can see in the pictures, the huts were built using rolled grass for the roofing material. This historical site was located in a park just slightly off the road, as we would see a playground situated over here in the states.

It only took us a morning of driving to reach the city of Iga Ueno, which glorifies its rich Ninjutsu Heritage. It was easy to find the Iga Ryu museum, because everyone seemed to be headed to or working there. The parking lot was packed, and off we went to explore not only the ninja museum but the Ninja Castle (Iga Jo). This castle has 30 meter walls completely surrounding it and was built around 1609 by Tokatora Todo. He did this while trying to repair the defenses of Ueno city under the direction of Tokugawa. Go up the stairs to the main entrance and enter the realm of the ninja of Iga Ryu. The 100 ft by 100 ft main room is completely surrounded by embattlements. The displays surrounding the main floor show historical suits of armor and weapons that were used in the defense of the castle. Also displayed on the main floor were the palanquins which carried the leaders and woman around. The one thing that stands out the most is how earlier generations were a lot smaller than we are today. Dominating the center of the room is a grand stairway going up to the next level. As you look through the pictures, take note that on one of the sets of armor is a medallion embossed on the facemask of the helmet. Each Ryu uses its own style of medallion, and this one resembles the Konigun medallion.

On the top floor you could see all of the surrounding countryside. Located in the center of the room is a miniaturized topographical model of the castle and the surrounding countryside with which they built and directed their battle plans.

From the castle we could see the ninja museum and the haiku pavilion, which were to be the next stops, once we descended the steps. Unbeknownst to me before my visit, Iga Ueno was home to one of the foremost Haiku poet masters, Matsuo Basho. There is a giant Haiseiden (Poets Memorial Hall) on the grounds of the Iga-Jo and Iga-Ryu Ninja Museum which we got to enjoy while we walked to the ninja museum. The museum is full of historical information and memorabilia. In the exhibits you are still able to see the many devices used by the ninja in their effort to gain information and practice their trade.

At one point I got to speak with one of the demonstrators at the ninja recreation center about Iga-Ryu Ninjutsu. He gave me the address of a school that still teaches Iga-Ryu style of Ninjutsu. When I asked about Hatsumi connection to the Iga-Ryu, he dismissively stated that there was never any connection.

We left the city of Iga Ueno and headed to the Koga Ninja Museum located in the next prefecture. The drive through the hills and mountains surrounding Koga was very scenic, which made it late by the time we arrived in the area near the ninja camp. So we camped near a beautiful lake. The night's downpour did little to dampen our spirits when we were greeted in the morning with a beautiful sunrise.

Still too early to visit the museum, we ate our breakfast and trained with Shidoshi Dallas. One of the topics discussed was, "what it means to be a ninja." After the class it was finally time to go and meet the Koga Ninjutsu Ryu.

Japan Trip May 2006 - Part 1

Hey everyone, did you enjoy camp? I just now have time to sit down and tell you about our trip to Japan. I imagine a just few of you might be interested in a first hand account. Sorry it took so long, at first I had to process all the pictures we took, then help mom, then the Gathering and Conclave - whew! Didn't those pictures Jim, Jason and I took turn out great? Especially the scrolls, they are so beautiful. I really wish I knew what they said. Now, we tried to document everything we saw with pictures for you guys and will try to add the commentary to each one as things calm down here in the Home Office.

We started off with a 17 hour plane ride to Tokyo in which we practiced our broken Japanese skills with other passengers on the plane. Needless to say, it started us on a path of understanding that would serve us well throughout our trip.

When we arrived in Tokyo we got to experience something unique - they lost our luggage. It actually came on a different plane from LA when we flew out of NJ, but the airport officials handled everything efficiently. Once the other plane landed, we were on our way to the heart of Tokyo. Found out the Taxi rides cost around $80, so we decided on alternate means of transportation to our hotel.

Once there, the jet lag hit us and we were out until the next morning, when Bushi Jim(now Yoshi - congrats!) and myself caught a train to pay our respects to soke Hatsumi. We followed the map that the Bujinken members had given to the Dojo, but found out after much walking that the station we needed was one more stop down the line. With some help from some neighbors, and a pair of Europeans walking across the tracks, we discovered that Hatsumi-san now teaches every Tuesday at the public sports complex in a section of Tokyo. Once again we hopped on the train - we got to see lots of great scenery and I think it is just fun to ride on them. I wish we had more of them in the states, because it is a great way to travel.

Finally we arrived where we needed to be, to deliver the present we had carried from the states to show respect for Hatsumi sensei. We saw students and black belts from every what seemed like every country of the world and even a couple Japanese who are all paying £30 per two hour class. Luckily, they allowed us to watch while we waited to be presented to Hatsumi-san. It is always very enlightening watching the techniques of other styles.

Hatsumi san went over some basic techniques while different people translated not only what he said, but what they experienced when he did the techniques on them. I guess not everyone understood what their sensei was trying to convey as I saw some impossible techniques and movement sequences. A lot were giving courtesy drops it appeared, because they would drop in a different direction than the joint/bone manipulation would be sending them them. It seemed as if Hatsumi sensei had noticed it also.

As he walked around the room, he could only get so far before he seemed compelled to jump in and add something new for everyone to try. Each of the few times he saw a student performing good technique would invariably lead to another lesson. I met a quite few good people while observing, and if I ever make it to their part of the world I will definitely stop in to see them. After all the goodbye's, we finally got a chance to be introduced to soke Hatsumi by one of his students. He helped translate what Yoshi Jim is unable, which it not too much. Hatsumi-san really liked the gift we brought, the Jack Daniels for which Tennessee is famous. We told him that our teacher had respect for him and in honor of the respect our teacher had conveyed, we brought this gift over from America. He asked who our teacher was, and we informed him - he asked, Koga? No, Konigun. At this point his student and he conversed quite a bit after which he had some interesting advice, "All ninjutsu comes through him."

I considered this confusing as I thought, What about the Koga? We will find out when we ask them at our next stop! To be continued...