Posts Tagged ‘Koto’
Ninja Tools – Gun Powder and Kaginawa
(following excerpts taken from page 55 and 57 of “Real Ninja”)
A gunpowder-like material had already been developed by 1274, when Mongolia attacked Northern Kyushu during the Kamakura shogunate period; the gunpowder-like material had been incorporated into primitive bombs. The ninja used this powder for making signals, bombs, smoke, handguns, mortars, sounds, arson arrows, and mines. Ninja were characteristically spies—not fighters and were surreptitious, always surprising unsuspecting people. Almost all of the attack weapons were for ninja advantage—they were not designed to give their opponent a fair chance.
- Kaginawa illustration by Hirohisa Oda
Kaginawa – The hook and rope is used for climbing up and down, tying up people, or for locking a sliding door. The strings of the Japanese harp, the “Koto” were often used to make the rope because they were so strong.
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"The student of ninjutsu should have an understanding of the history of the ninja, and that is just what one gets with "Real Ninja". I recommend this book for any serious student of ninjutsu." – M. Chesbro (Rainier, Washington)