In Search of the Niinja (52 page)

‘The Night Attack Torch’

1    Oral tradition

2    This is made of ‘tied grass’.
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Youichi Taimatu
means ‘night attack torch’, and is a close cousin of the
Torinoko
, a form of hand-held torch used for work at night. These balls are made of tied grasses with flammable insides, such as ears of straw our pounded wood. The tool can be held in the hand or thrown into an area to give light so that you can see, or to set fires. The first image here is of interest as the black ‘pips’ are most likely to be iron spikes. This tool is straw on a metal frame, used to throw and stick into buildings to cause them to ignite.

‘The Donohi Live Embers Case’

1    It can be made of Iron or Copper – according to the metal’s hardness

2    This is called a ‘Tanpo’.

A Donohi is a material treated to burn slowly and to retain embers for a prolonged period so that you can warm your body and hands and also so you can start fires or commit arson. The version in the
Shoninki
comes with a copper cylinder to hold the materials; the
Bansenshukai
has some versions that need wrapping to carry. The box is a container to keep these materials in and in fact matches perfectly with a description given in the
Shinobi Hiden
manual.

Hyorogan
–
A Soldiers’ Campaign Rations

Energy Food Pills

Hakurogan
189

Mix the above with water, knead very well and steam in a basket steamer. Make small balls and consume five to seven of these a day. It is also beneficial to give them to horses too. Crush it with your teeth and put it into the mouth of a horse, along with water.

Mix the above with honey and knead well.

An alternative for horses only:

Decoct the roots of the
Ibara
red thorny plant and feed the decoction to the horse.

For
Tsumeuma,
which is ‘breaking in’ or exercising horses you should give the above decoction to them with vinegar mixed with stream water or
Funori
‘glue’ made from seaweed.

For
Baritsume
, which is hard ‘breaking in’ or exercising, you should give the above decoction with vinegar or a further decoction of the shrub,
Akebia quinata
. To calm its breathing, remember give it to the horse with water.

Put the above mixture into a bamboo cylinder and firmly ram it down, then shave the surface of the bamboo until it is as thin as paper. Mix alum with glue and apply it on the surface of the cylinder. The mixture should include alum,
Nomono
192
and glue with a ratio of 3:2:1.

Put the above into a bamboo cylinder and compress it firmly. Shave the surface of the bamboo and apply a mixture of a little borneol and glue. Alternatively you may apply a coat of wax.

Compress the above firmly into a bamboo tube and shave the outer skin of the bamboo cylinder. Bore a hole in to the bamboo and tie it onto a ship with wire.

To store this before use, put it into a bamboo cylinder and insert powdered
Azuki
beans into the cylinder. However, if it is exposed to the air, then the fire will not last long. There is an oral tradition for this.

An Alternative Recipe for the Above

However, this one is ignited directly instead of using
Tsukegi
lighting taper

Construct this as described in the previous tool, however, this version should be ignited directly [instead of with a taper]. Also, it is less waterproof than the previous one; however, it can be used around water [but with care].

Put the above into a cylinder and ignite it. It is advisable to wrap paper around this with moxa and with a small amount of saltpetre mixed in.

The Greater Torch, which is a torch to be used during a night battle

Chop
Konara
oak wood into two, soak it in water for fourteen or fifteen days and then dry it in the sun. Decoct an amount of saltpetre in water at length and apply the decoction to the wood. After applying all of the decoction onto the wood, you should then dry it in the shade. When it is completely dried, cut it into pieces of the length of one
Shaku
two
Sun
, or one
Shaku
eight
Sun
or even as long as three
Shaku
. Put the pieces together and construct a tool with a circumference of about one
Shaku
two
Sun
and secure it with wire, then wrap it in paper and apply resin. Then use
Yoho
elm wood on the end [as a handle].

The
Donohi
194
Body Warmer

Charred Fruit of the Chinaberry

Charred stems of
Polygonum longisetum

Ground tea

Grind the above in powder and knead it with unrefined sake until it solidifies. Ram it firmly into a bamboo cylinder so that it forms a bar of charcoal and so that you can cut it in to sections ready for use. Bury this in the ash [beneath] a hearth for three days without igniting the tool [but allowing it to dry roast]. To carry the
Donohi
, you should char the leaves of Japanese cedar and make an ash of them, and put the
Donohi
solid bar in to this ash of cedar, and then put all the contents inside a bamboo cylinder. The cylinder should be made like a hand basket [i.e., with a handle] and should be attached to your waist.

Shields

Fix the leather of a buffalo onto a board with lacquer and smooth the leather with a hot iron. The board should have a double layer of smoothed leather fixed onto the shield with glue. When fitting the leather to the shield, grind the ash and powder
195
of a blacksmith’s bellows into fine powder and mix it with lacquer and apply it to the shield 100 times. The shield should be six or seven
Bu
thick and capable of defending against muskets.

How to decoct
Nibear mitsukurii
‘fish skin’
196
for the above purpose

Use the skin of the face and head of a boar with all of the hair removed, then add
Kadsu
roots and knead it whilst warming in a vessel in hot water. A thin piece of deer skin can also be used.

How to Seal and Oil the Surface Skin of a Life Jacket

Decoct
Perilla
oil for up to three or four days, to test if it is ready put pieces of straw in the oil and see if they become crooked like
Suegi
. Then scoop up one
Sho
of the oil and mix well with six
Momme
of lacquer and apply the mixture [to the life jacket]. After that, apply normal and undiluted lacquer.