Secret lore about ninjutsu and kiaijutsu had existed in Japan since the end of the Muromachi period. In medieval writings such as the Ninpiden (1560), the Bansenshûkai (1676) or the Shôninki (1681) confidential and often esoteric methods and strategies were summarized. References to such tracts and the existence of specially trained espionage fighters only became known to Western readers long after the country was opened in 1853.
An article "The Ninjutsu" by Itô Gingetsu in Japan Magazin from 1918 is considered to be the first information in western language about ninja abroad. Two years earlier, Buyôken Kensai had published an “educational” publication on ninjutsu in Japanese for his compatriots. Because even in modern Japan little was known about these mysterious fighters. Just three months after publication - according to the author - all ten thousand (!) Copies had been sold.
The present book "Ninjutsu kiaijutsu hiden" deals with Buyôken Kensai's remarks and shows how much Japan was still mentally in the pre-industrial age at the beginning of the 20th century with regard to its martial arts. Kensai's statements seem strange and curious these days.
Characteristics:
Editor: Tengu Publishing Wolfgang Ettig
Author: Buyôken Kensais - edited by Wolfgang Ettig
Language: German
Hardcover: 160 pages
Format: 16.5 x 23.5 cm
34 illustrations
ISBN: 978-3-924862-51-0
