A Real Ninja Manuscript!

Students of ninjutsu may have heard of the Bansenshukai, a historical ninjutsu book dating from the mid-17th century. The Bansenshukai was itself based on an earlier work called Kanrinseiyo, which was known by name but no longer existed.

At least, until it was announced in June 2022 that a manuscript of Kanrinseiyo’s second volume had been discovered in Koka City in the Shiga Prefecture, which is famous for its ninja heritage.

Ben K’s article in Japan Today includes some great photos of the manuscript and some details about what’s written. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like there are any plans to publish the manuscript, which will be displayed at the Kokaryu Real Ninja-kan tourist information center.

It’s not often that a piece of ninja history is unearthed like this, so this is a fun bit of news!