What is a Ninja?

Ninjas have long been a popular theme in Kabuki, novels, and movies, and are well known and of interest to people of all ages, not just in Japan but also overseas.

Since the latter half of the 20th century, "Ninja" has been made into movies and its name has been widely known, especially in North America, but the anime "NARUTO" based on ninjas gained explosive popularity, greatly changing the image of ninjas up until that point and spreading to modern young people. The ninjas in "NARUTO" are quite dramatized... or rather, they are completely different (lol), but what kind of people were real ninjas?

Ninjas, who were active from the Kamakura period to the Edo period, especially during the Sengoku period, were called by various names depending on the region, including "Shinobi," but they were first called "ninjas" in novels from the 1950s. Furthermore, until about a decade ago, the ancient documents that recorded them were not often made public, and they were hardly studied academically. However, in 2011, Mie University invited Jinichi Kawakami, honorary chairman of the Iga-ryu Ninja Museum, who is said to be the last living ninja, to give a lecture on ninjas, and this led to research on ninjas being started by researchers in many fields.

Ninjas were a real profession, and they received a salary for serving feudal lords and feudal lords. Their role was to engage in so-called espionage and information manipulation, and although they engaged in sabotage and surprise attacks to accomplish this, their purpose was not to fight. Their role was to collect information, remember it in detail, and pass it on to their master, so they had to survive and return even if they encountered a crisis. They had to investigate when and where they could get hold of important secrets from the enemy camp, how to sneak in and collect them, and, even if they were found and their lives were threatened, they had to escape, all on their own.

To do that, you need not only calm judgment and agile, high athletic ability, but also mental strength and patience to overcome thirst, hunger, excretion and sleepiness to hide without making a sound even in a place like an attic or under a floorboard with only a single wooden board, and to keep quiet and watch the other person without making even the slightest sound, let alone a slight cough. It's an unimaginable situation. You also need knowledge to deal with injuries and rashes that may occur by chance, and stomach pains and diarrhea caused by tension.

In other words, ninjas are said to have unwavering mental strength and calm judgment, exceptional athletic ability and memory, as well as the quick thinking and ability to skillfully impersonate anyone in order to fool their enemies or confuse them with false information, and even to have knowledge of pharmacology to manage one's physical condition, and astronomy; and they do not exist in the movies, but in Japan a long time ago.

Ninja Meal

They also learned how to use tools to infiltrate without leaving a trace, cross water, dive underwater, and scale high walls, and they used ninjutsu as a means of self-defense, training their bodies on a daily basis.
But how did they control their mental and physical states to withstand considerable pressure and stress, and how did they replenish their energy and nutrients at unpredictable times and places?

Although ninjas were said to have been professionals, when they were not on duty they lived as farmers. It is said that they usually ate grains, vegetables, and other things that they could find in the fields, but they also ate wild plants and wild herbs, as well as insects, reptiles, frogs, and other amphibians to get protein. They are said to have been particularly fond of soybeans and soy products such as tofu and miso, sesame seeds, brown rice, pickled plums, and small fish. Although they ate simple food, they ate it in a very balanced way, taking into consideration their muscles and physical condition, in preparation for their missions. They also kept thorough stockpiles in case they could not harvest or obtain crops due to the weather that year or unforeseen circumstances. All methods for long-term preservation of each ingredient were researched and passed down. This was so that they could be in good physical and mental condition whenever they were ordered to go on a mission.

So, what about during a mission? First of all, they needed to be light. If they were heavy, they couldn't climb or jump to high places, quickly turn away from enemy attacks, or run silently at super speed. Even if they were to carry out activities that lasted for days, they would have had to wear light clothing, so at most they could only carry a small amount of food and the minimum weapons to protect themselves from the enemy. They needed a considerable amount of calories to use their bodies, so how did they get them during a mission?

It had to be tiny enough to be easy to carry around, last a long time, and be functional...that's how Ninja Meal was conceived.
They understood the natural efficacy of animals and plants and made the most of it. Recent research has shown that an incredible number of types and amounts of herbal medicines are used, and they are full of amazing wisdom, such as the depth of knowledge and long-term storage, that were developed and passed down in secret during this time.

Source of power [Hyourougan]

It is made by boiling Korean ginseng, pearl barley seeds, lotus seeds, non-glutinous rice, Chinese yam, cinnamon bark, etc., adding rock sugar liquid, boiling it down, drying it repeatedly with wind and heat, and rolling it into balls. It is said to be sweet and delicious, although it is made from different regions and taste preferences, such as non-glutinous rice, glutinous rice, buckwheat flour, sesame seeds, and black beans.
This hyoryo pill is not only for the purpose of nutrition, recovery from fatigue, and maintaining health, but also has a relaxing effect to calm the mind. It also tastes good due to the cinnamon and sugar.

Koga Ninja Recommendation [Kikatsugan]

It is made by boiling ginseng and licorice in sake, adding saxifrage, Chinese yam, barley seeds, and glutinous rice, leaving it overnight, and then forming it into dumplings. Because it contains a lot of ginseng, it smells like medicine and isn't very tasty. However, it is said that if you take three pills a day, your heart will never weaken, and it has the effect of adjusting the balance of carbohydrates and lipids, which are necessary energy sources for the body, in the body, so it is more like a medicine than a food.

For thirst [Suikatsugan]

There are various recipes, including Ophiopogon tschonoskii, pine bark, tea, persimmon leaves, peach leaves, ginger, and Japanese mint, but these are lightly boiled with sugar and a small amount of water, mixed with umeboshi pulp, rolled into balls, and then dried for long-term storage. The key is the umeboshi, whose sour taste stimulates saliva production when drunk. Drinking saliva is said to be a common idea in modern military forces, and is said to be better than drinking a lot of water in terms of maintaining the body's moisture level. Also, coughing will give away any hiding spots. It also helps with a feeling of discomfort in the throat.

It is thought that they probably carried several of these on their missions, each measuring 2 to 4 cm in diameter and weighing 20 to 40 g.
It is said that ninjas ran 40 ri (about 160 km) in a day. Since these portable foods alone were not enough energy for such a body, it is thought that they ate normal meals when not hiding, but there are not many records of this.

Even in the olden days, feudal lords in the Sengoku period were troubled by the issue of food supplies for their soldiers rather than military strength. It is said that Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen found value in these "Hyoryomaru" and made good use of them, but there are not many records left about the existence of ninjas or the strategies and soldiers of those times, as they were all top secret.

Recently, a candy manufacturer released a gummy candy called "Ninja Meshi."
Apparently this ninja is based on the Hyoryo-gan, but the ingredients are completely different... So why did the word "ninja" come out in this era? Some people may wonder, but in recent years, due to global issues, we have had to live in isolation from the people around us, and climate change has made it difficult to eat the foods we used to be able to eat. We need to learn to stock up on food on a regular basis, but it would be nice to have a superfood that can improve your health and relieve stress with just one bite!
Mie University, which specializes in ninja research, is also working on a project called "Creating a people-friendly, circular society that utilizes the wisdom of the ninja - disseminating the results of integrated humanities and science ninja research to the world."
I'd love to know more about ninja wisdom!


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Author: himiko