Ninja (41 page)
Authors: John Man
4
Thanks to Antony Cummins and Yoshie Minami for this translation.
CHAPTER 8
1
The main source for this account is Lidin,
Tanegashima.
2
The story is told by both Turnbull (
Ninja
) and Zoughari,
The Ninja
quoting the original Japanese sources.
3
Donn F. Draeger was martial arts coordinator in the James Bond film
You Only Live Twice.
4
“Ground spider,” with other senses, including (in folktales) a spider-limbed monster and a race of underground dwarves.
5
Asian Fighting Arts
, p. 130.
6
Ieyasu
, 107.
7
Thanks to Yoshie Minami for this information.
CHAPTER 9
1
Quantity surveyors assume that the average man can move 1 cubic meter of earth (1.5 tons) in 2.7 hours, or about 4.5 tons in 8 hours.
2
Both summarized in Zoughari,
The Ninja
(p. 45â6), and Turnbull,
Ninja
(p. 38), based on Japanese sources.
CHAPTER 10
1
This, like all the quotes in this chapter, is from Momochi Orinosuke,
K
o
sei Iran-ki
(Ueno, 1897), translated by Turnbull, in his
Ninja
(mainly chapters 5â6), with thanks.
2
Oddly for English-speakers, both Chinese and Japanese
kanji
use the same sign
for “blue” and “green” (Chinese:
q
i
ng
, Japanese:
sei
in Sino-Japanese,
ao
in Japanese). In the Inner Mongolian capital, Hohhot (from K
o
kh-Khot, Mongolian for “Blue City”), Chinese sometimes insist that the name means “Green City.”
3
Also spelled Kashiwara, even Kashiwahara. Confusingly, there is another Kashihara 15 kilometers to the west.
4
Zoughari says that the name Sandayu does not appear in the Momochi genealogies, “which leads one to suppose he is a fictitious character.” Momochi Mikyo's account leads one to suppose the opposite. Zoughari suggests that, if he was not fictitious, Sandayu was so good at the art of invisibility that he managed to hide evidence of his existence. See Zoughari,
The Ninja
(pp. 84â5).
CHAPTER 12
1
Sadler reports a story about the death of Ishida Mitsunari, loser at Sekigahara. On his way to execution with his colleague, Konishi Yukinaga, he asked for a cup of tea from his captors. He was offered a persimmon, but refused it, saying that it would not be good for his digestion. “It seems hardly necessary to consider one's digestion just before decapitation,” said Konishi dryly. “How little you understand,” was the retort. “You can never tell how things will turn out . . . while you have breath in your body you have got to take care of yourself.” That's the samurai spirit: Always look on the bright side of death. See Sadler,
Maker of Modern Japan
(p. 214).
2
These details are mainly based on Turnbull in
Ninja
(pp. 85â8).
3
The assault is portrayed in the Akizuki Folk Museum (cf. Turnbull's
Strongholds of the Samurai
, pp. 131â132 and 180â81, and his
Ninja
, p. 88).
CHAPTER 13
1
It is now. The 180,000-word translation by Antony Cummins and Yoshie Minami is due for publication in autumn 2013.
2
Adapted from Antony Cummins (personal communication), with thanks.
3
Former dean of the Human Environmental Science Department and now emeritus professor of Japanese history, Mukogawa Women's University. Author of several books on Japanese history and contributor to
Traditions Unbound: Groundbreaking Painters of Eighteenth-Century Kyoto
(in English).
4
It is known as the Ohara Kazuma version, after the K
o
ga man who presented it.
5
Ehon Taik
o
-ki
by Takenouchi Kakusai. Details are in Turnbull's
Ninja
(p. 125).
CHAPTER 14
1
Officially, the Rikigun Nakano Gakko (Army Nakano School).
2
Onoda's words in this and the next chapter are from his book,
No Surrender.
3
Fujiwara,
F. Kikan
, introduction.
4
Fujiwara's words here and later are from his book,
F. Kikan.
5
Louis Allen, author of
Burma: The Longest War
, in what he called the “postface” to Fujiwara's
F. Kikan.
6
Not to be confused with General Yamashita Tomoyuki, who commanded the invasion of Malaya, was hanged in 1948 after a controversial trial, and is also known as “the Tiger of Malaya.” A 2003 play of this name, by Hiro Kanagawa (Japanese-born Canadian actor, playwright, and screenwriter), is about the general, not the bandit. The two Tigers were linked through Fujiwara, one his boss, the other his employee.
7
Izumiya, Tatsur
o
,
The Minami Organ
, University Press, Rangoon, 1985.
8
Minami means “south,” the direction in which the Imperial Japanese Army was heading.
9
Ne Win (Brilliant Sun) was his alias. His real name was Shu Maung.
10
This section is based on Allen, “The Nakano School.” Allen cites no source for this account but gives the impression it is based on a personal communication from Suzuki Hachiro.
11
Later, forty were tried for war crimes. Nine death sentences were handed out but commuted on retrial. Twelve were condemned to life imprisonment, fifteen to prison sentences of twenty to forty years.
12
Mercado,
Nakano,
p. 199.
13
Allen,
The Nakano School.
CHAPTER 15
1
Because both these two are known internationally, their family names are usually placed last, following the Western tradition.
2
Not “Bondo-san,” as in the book. Fleming liked authenticity. Mass-market moviemakers don't much care.
3
The idea is well explored by Nora Cobb, in “Behind the Inscrutable Half-Shell.”
CHAPTER 16
1
Both these stories were the subject of many newspaper articles and several books.
2
Another oddity in Onoda's book, perhaps a reflection of the strain he was under: In the text, he says the ceremony was with General Jose Rancudo, chief of the air force. But a photograph in the picture section clearly shows him either handing his sword to Marcos or receiving it back.