Page 32 - Martial Science Magazine Feb/2015 #7

The Shinobi and

the firearms...

In this short article we will present the relationships

of the shinobi with the firearms, a brief history of
the Tanegashima (muskets) and

how they arrive to Japan.

By: Antonio Fernández Ángel Rioja
Japan Ninjutsu Federation Coordinator

Edit and illustrations: Henry Binerfa

The ninja or shinobi were people with be surprised that when firearms were in
a very specific set of skills. These skills Japan, these shinobi clans quickly saw the
were very big and they included the “arts” great advantages offered and adopted and
of spying and acting as an undercover modified for their own use.
agent, the ability to explore up close to In the outlined above must be added
the enemy, to infiltrate as a member of the other key information, the relationship of
enemy force itself to get information be- the ninja with skills related to fire, so the
fore back to their own side, to steal docu- shinobi also excelled in the development
ments, making fires and ambushes.. and use of explosives in secret, including
the ability to cause fires. This skill was
The arts of the ninja included theft, mur- known as Kajutsu fire or skills. The ninja
der if necessary but often overlooked were able to make not only basic powder,
many of his other skills: the development but different types of powders for diffe-
and use of tools and utensils for their mis- rent uses: to cause explosions gunpowder,
sions, from picks to saws, through liste- to smoke, powders and colored light sig-
ning devices remotely bridges to cross ri- nals...
vers, watch towers.
But their skills in the Kajutsu were not li-
The ninja stood out as excellent crafts- mited to the manufacture of gunpowder,
men, the shinobi families adapted their they will be masters also creating different
weapons for its missions, using swords types of torches, including models that re-
for infiltration shorter, smaller arches that sisted the rain. All of this information is
went unnoticed. Therefore we should not well documented in the “Bansenshukai”.

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