Iga-ryū
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Iga-ryū (伊賀流, "the Iga School") is an umbrella term for ninjutsu traditions that come from the Iga region, according to Japanese legend. It became one of the two most well-known ninja traditions in Japan. The Iga-ryū traditions originated in the Iga Province in the area around the towns of Iga, Ueno, and Nabari (modern Iga City and Nabari City in Mie Prefecture). Iga-mono is a synonym for Iga ninja.
History
Since the
During the early
In 1582, during the turmoil following Oda Nobunaga's death, Hattori Hanzō advised Tokugawa Ieyasu to escape to Mikawa through the Kōga and Iga regions. Ieyasu, when he became the shōgun, employed ninja to guard Edo Castle—the headquarters of the Tokugawa shogunate—and to supply intelligence. He settled 200 men from the Iga-ryū in the Yotsuya neighborhood of Edo (Tokyo). Hanzo's Gate in Edo Castle took its name from the nearby residence of the Hattori clan.
Hattori Hanzō's son Hattori Masanari commanded the castle's Iga guards but proved a less successful leader than his father. In 1606, the Iga men rebelled due to harsh treatment. They continued to serve the shogunate as a musketeer unit and as dōshin, low ranking samurai policemen, with their ninja skills gradually fading out in later generations. One of the last known recorded ninja missions performed by an Iga ninja was in the late Bakumatsu period of the 19th century, when an Iga ninja by the name of Sawamura Yasusuke (沢村 甚三郎 保祐) infiltrated one of the black ships of Commodore Matthew C. Perry.
Organization
Iga ninja were trained in disguise, escape, concealment, explosives, medicine, and poisons, as well as more conventional forms of warfare such as unarmed combat and various forms of weaponry. They used scaling hooks for climbing and many different tools, such as lock picks and ladders. According to the
See also
- Iga-ryū Ninja Museum
- Kōga-ryū, umbrella term for a major school of ninjutsu