Page 35 - Martial Science Magazine Feb/2015 #7

In the history of Bushi Endo Kiemon Naotsune we can observe the use of these weapons by the shino-
bi, and in a specific way being used by a ninja. Using it as a sniper gun:

“Endo was at war against Oda Nobunaga forces and
he put some Iga Ninja in the Kuchiki Valley, which
was a narrow gorge through which only one line of
warriors could pass through it. The Iga Ninja waited.
When Nobunaga went through a ninja shot him with
a sniper weapon, but he was unable to kill Nobunaga.
So Nobunaga escaped alive by the hair and seeing the
hopeless situation, he returned to Kyoto, being so an-
gry that he decided to attack again Azai Nagamasa. “

Courtesy of Tetsuji Yamada.

Later Nobunaga suffered a similar attack on his way from Kyoto Mino on May 19, 1570 in the moun-
tains of Chigusa. The person who attacked him was Sugitani Zenjubō which was a Koga ninja. The tech-
nique used was the same as in the previous event, taking a shot at long distance.
But again Nobunaga escaped alive.

Nobunaga spent nearly four years looking for him
until he was found in a temple. Zenjubo was tortu-
red to reveal the Rokkaku which was subsequently
hired him Zenjubō be executed by a gruesome me-
thod. Zenjubō was buried in a straight hole in the
ground, so that only the head protruded. He was
beheaded slowly using a fine saw bamboo. Zenjubō
suffered nearly a week before he died.

Zenjubō Sugitani was a ninja clan, one of the Koga
ninja clan 53

With these two short stories we can see how from the very first moment the shinobi were using mus-
kets, which was not a surprising fact.

But more interesting is that they were already using the in a specific way. They have adapted this wea-
pon for a particular use as the ambush and using it as sniper weapon. It is already clear that the clans of
Iga and Koga did not have the same goals as the normal samurai as we have already talked in the begin-
ning, while their world was the war, their way of dealing with the war was different from the samurai,
ninja were always trying to avoid an open confrontation and performing complex tasks for which it was
absolutely necessary highly specialized skills.

This demonstrates and leads us to the last and most important conclusion. Shinobi were primarily
survivors and knew (and should) adapt quickly to the changes occurring around them, trying to get the
maximum benefit for their roles and missions.

FEBRUARY/2015 35