Prologue

Completely different from the image? Ninja’s secret tools ②

Concealed weapons are ninja’s stealth techniques

Ninjas rarely carried large spears or swords because of their nature, and they used weapons that were hidden in things that did not look like weapons at first glance. These are called “concealed weapons”.

There are various types of concealed weapons, but the typical ones are “concealed spears” and “concealed swords”. These are spears or swords hidden inside a cane, and they use them as canes normally, and fight with the spears or swords hidden inside them in case of emergency.

There is an interesting one for blinding the enemy with a concealed cane. This is a cane that has chili peppers hidden inside it, and it sprinkles chili peppers on the enemy, and escapes when the enemy is stunned. This kind of concealed cane was called a “blinding cane”. Blinding canes not only used chili peppers, but also smoke and gunpowder.

Ninja’s essential tools “Shinobi Rokugu”

Ninjas have important tools that they always carry with them. They are the six tools called “Shinobi Rokugu”. Shinobi Rokugu were multifunctional items that supported ninja’s stealth techniques.

The first of the Shinobi Rokugu!Sanjaku Tenugui！

The first of the Shinobi Rokugu is Sanjaku Tenugui.

Sanjaku Tenugui is a cotton towel that is 3 shaku (about 90cm) long, as the name suggests. It is characterized by the suou color (a reddish color with a hint of black) dyed with a leguminous plant called suou.

The reason why it is included in the Shinobi Rokugu is because of the wide range of uses of the towel.

It was worn as a cheek cover or a headband to hide the face, or as a belt. Also, thanks to the antibacterial effect of suou, it was used as a bandage to cover wounds, or as a tool to filter and sterilize water for drinking, ensuring a hygienic environment.

Furthermore, it could be used as a substitute for a rope to climb walls or trees by taking advantage of its length, or as a weapon by wrapping a stone and swinging it around. It not only protected the ninja’s health, but also became a tool for attack.

The second of the Shinobi Rokugu! Amigasa

The second of the Shinobi Rokugu is Amigasa.

Amigasa is a hat made of grass that covers the face completely.
It was a common costume worn all over Japan in the past, so it was not suspicious to wear it anywhere.
Ninjas used it to prevent their faces from being seen by others when they infiltrated enemy territory.

The third of the Shinobi Rokugu! Inro

The third of the Shinobi Rokugu is Inro. This is a small container for carrying medicine or seals. Ninjas could put poison, tinder, medicine and other things in the Inro and use them when needed.

The fourth of the six tools of stealth! Uchitake

The fourth of the six tools of stealth is uchitake.

Uchitake is a tool that ninjas used to carry matchlock as a material for starting fires. It is a short bamboo tube with matchlock inside, and a small hole for ventilation is drilled in the tube. Inside the tube, there are several iron wires stretched vertically, and the matchlock inside is trapped in a cage of iron wires. This structure prevents the bamboo tube and the matchlock from touching directly.

Uchitake was an indispensable tool for ninjas who often used fire in various situations, such as lighting candles, setting fire to enemy camps, or using firearms.

The fifth of the six tools of stealth! Sekihitsu

The fifth of the six tools of stealth is sekihitsu.

Sekihitsu is a portable writing tool made of rod-shaped wax stone or hardened clay. Wax stone writing tools are still widely used in construction sites and factories today.

The characters written with sekihitsu can be easily erased, so it was good for writing down information temporarily and then erasing it, or for erasing messages written by comrades after reading them, without leaving any traces.

The sixth of the six tools of stealth! Kaginawa

The sixth of the six tools of stealth is kaginawa.

Kaginawa is a ninja tool that has an iron hook attached to the end of a rope. By hooking the hook with a shape that is hard to come off like a fishing hook, you can climb walls, cliffs, or fences that are too high to climb by yourself or have no footholds.

In addition, the iron hook part acts as a weight, and it can also be thrown far away by using centrifugal force. Therefore, not only climbing walls, but also when you have to cross a moat or river without a bridge, you could swing across by hooking the kaginawa on a tree on the other side.

Furthermore, the rope part was used for purposes such as “tying up enemies captured alive” or “tying up things together”.

Essential for travel? The six tools of stealth

The six tools of stealth that we talked about this time. These tools were also introduced as convenient items for travelers in travel books from the Edo period (17th century). This suggests that they were carried by ordinary people at that time as well. These were used as the six tools of stealth because they were convenient items and because they were not suspicious of being ninjas even if they were found.

Epilogue