Chokuto works Kage No Senshi, BattleBlades

The beginnings of the Shinobi Ninja Provinces

To protect themselves, their homes, and families from the constant warfare of the Sengoku period (1467-1598), commoners known as shinobi formed their own caste outside of the usual feudal social categories such as lords, samurai, and serfs. While their stealth may go back even further, it wasn't until the Sengoku period that ninjas were specifically trained for their purpose: harnessing constant warfare.

The Yamabushi also lived in the mountainous regions of Iga and Koga and practiced religion and inner peace. The new caste system was partly founded by them, as they wanted nothing to do with the cruel foreign war. The formation of their own caste system allowed the two ninja strongholds of Iga and Koga to exchange information and practice their own techniques of medicine, espionage, warfare, and assassination. Both Iga and Koga were ruled by a council rather than a daimyo (ruler), making them politically and socially independent, democratic, and self-governing ninja provinces. However, this era was destined to come to an end when the last Koga ninja were employed in the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637 and the mountainous regions came under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and its 300 daimyos. The Shimabara Rebellion was the largest civil war in Japan during the relatively peaceful Edo period (1603-1867). With the end of the Edo period, imperial rule in Japan was restored by the Meiji Emperor and the Boshin War.

ninja weapons

During the Sengoku and Edo periods, the two ninja strongholds of Iga and Koga developed their own weapons along with martial arts. The preferred weapons of the ninjas were the katana and the straight bladed swords like the ninjato. There were many techniques that the ninja used with these swords, including their use as weapons and distractions. Ninja swords were coated with a mixture of red pepper and earth towards the tip of the scabbard. When the sword was unsheathed, the mixture was thrown into the eyes of enemies to distract them from the fatal blow.

Much is left to the imagination, as much of the information known about the national myth surrounding the ninja comes from folktales and modern pop culture. This mystery surrounding shinobi has led to the belief that some of them even possessed supernatural powers, such as flight, becoming invisible, shapeshifting, the ability to 'split' into various bodies, summoning animals, and control of all five. classic elements.

The modern pop culture ninja was largely inspired by actor, writer, and martial artist Sho Kosugi, who made the straight-bladed ninja sword famous through his movies and TV shows in the 1980s. It is still debated. whether a straight-bladed ninja sword with a square tsuba really existed in feudal Japan, although it is depicted in many paintings. Myth or not, the Kage No Senshi Chokuto is a tribute to the great Sho Kosugi and the Ninja To that he popularized again.