Pathways of a Hidden Lineage

What is the Hidden Lineage?

The Hidden Lineage, in simple terms, is what I call the once secret oral tradition on the history of ninpō
as detailed by Takamatsu Toshitsugu, the grandson of the last shinobi master of the Toda clan. In this
oral tradition of the “Hidden Lineage” Takamatsu names his grandfather as Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu,
but in my previous book, “Hidden Lineage – The Ninja of the Toda Clan”, I explained that Toda’s
historical identity is Toda Hisajirō, the Shogun’s falconry master, leader of the shogunate “Torimi” secret
agents and master-instructor of swordsmanship at the prestigious Kobusho samurai training academy.
For various reasons, after the fall of the Shogunate and the takeover by the Imperial forces in the 1860’s,
master Toda needed to lie low and change his identity. His grandson and pupil, Takamatsu, was
honoring Toda’s desire to remain in the shadows by keeping his real identity a secret.

In the early to mid-1900’s Takamatsu Toshitsugu decided to go public with his grandfather’s secret art
and traditions of ninjutsu as until that time they had only been handed down within his family in secret
for hundreds of years. Times had changed, the world had changed, and Takamatsu felt that people were
ready to understand the mysterious and greatly misunderstood martial art of stealth and invisibility. All
while keeping his grandfather’s historical identity concealed. With the permission of 34 th headmaster of
the Togakure Ryu, Hatsumi Masaaki, I was the first person to reveal Toda’s true name in 2017 after
discovering the connections that lead to this discovery.

In a nutshell, what I have termed the “Hidden Lineage”, is the history of ninjutsu and its legends from
their earliest origins to the present day as inherited by the shinobi or “ninja” families of the Togakure
clan in Iga and Nara. It is not clear, and it is not always historical. It is a mixture of Magic, myth, history,
and legend.

Origins of the Hidden Lineage

In the middle of the 3rd century of the common era Japan was known as “Wakoku” (倭国) and ruled by a
shaman-queen known as Himiko. She led the country using a type of sorcery known as “kidō” (鬼道). To
most this name implies a lot of negative images as when it is directly translated it means "the
devil’s/demon’s path”. But this name is quite biased, “kidō” was essentially a native-born school of
sorcery of the Japanese islands with a political system in place that did not conform to Confucian values.
The native religious beliefs of Himiko’s time were labeled as a “demonic path” by the incoming
“civilized” immigrants from the mainland, who held those practices in discontent.

One of the most spiritually powerful implements used in “kidō” was the bronze mirror, an implement
brought over from the continent in even more remote times, most likely at the same time as rice
cultivation was introduced from China. Japanese historians generally deduce that those ancient groups
of people must have brought with them the practice of worshiping a rice god or gods. This was the
“Inari” deity (稲荷神), and when it arrived at ancient Japan, it was combined with the native deity of
grain (穀物神). Today, even in modern Japan, mirrors and rice are still the most basic representation of
Shinto deities. Eventually, along with the arrival of Sendō (methods of training to become a hermit, with
a focus on Chinese Nei Dan techniques), Taoism, Yin-Yang theory and Buddhism, foreign forms of
sorcery were introduced into Japan.

Later, in the year 622 CE, Shotoku Taishi, the son of Emperor Yōmei and renown politician that served
Empress Suiko during the Asuka period (538~710 CE) died at the temple he himself had founded in Nara,
Ikaruganomia ( 斑 鳩 宮 ). It is around this same time in Japanese history where we begin to see the
recorded activities of a Buddhist monk named Hōdō ( 法道 ) in the Harima no Kuni region (today’s Hyogo
prefecture area).

According to the legends, during the late 6th century CE and the early 7th, Hōdō made his way from his
homeland in India through China and the proto-Korean kingdom of Baekje before finally arriving to
Japan. The legends go on to say that when Hōdō arrived on Japan’s shores, the Buddhist deity Gozu
Tennō ( 牛 頭 天 王 ) accompanied him and was then later enshrined with great ceremony at Hiromine
Shrine in Himeiji and Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto.

As an ascetic master of spiritual practices, he secluded himself with devout rigor on the cliffy
mountainous crag known as Kumoga-Iwa ( 雲ヶ岩 ) on Mt. Rokkō, here, Hōdō is supposed to have been
visited by another Buddhist deity, Bishamonten, riding on purple clouds in the sky and that is what
inspired Hōdō to build Tamon-ji Temple in Hyōgo Prefecture. In the traditional stories told, Hōdō would
often fly through the air with food and money in a treasured begging bowl made of iron and offer
assistance to those in need. This earned him the nicknames Hihatsu no Hōdō ( 飛 鉢 の 法 道 ) meaning
"Flying Bowl Hōdō" and Kūhatsu Sennin (空鉢仙人 ) or the "Empty Bowl Sage", because he always gave
away whatever he had in his bowl.

In one version of the story, while flying with this bowl, Hōdō landed upon a wooden boat carrying rice
across a river. The rice was tax money that had been collected for the lord for use of the land. Hōdō
asked the tax collector for a bowl of rice but was refused. In return, as Hōdō flew away, and as he did so
the bags of rice also started to rise into the air with him. Immediately humbled, the tax collector begged
Hōdō for forgiveness and sincerely apologized for being so selfish and cold. Promising to provide Hōdō
with a bowl of rice Hōdō gave the bags back.

Tradition holds that around the year before the above mentioned Shotoku Taishi died, Hōdō had a son
named Muka. At the age of six the boy became a pupil of his father and by the time he was twelve years
old he had earned his place among six other followers to be sent to the old kingdoms of the Korean
peninsula, mainland China and then finally on to India to further their spiritual training and
understanding.

Few factual details or documents about Hōdō and his son remain but there is a record that states that at
the time of the death of the prince of Kudara 1, Muka was two years old, placing his birth around 582 CE.
Twenty years later another record shows that Hōdō, and 6 other monks appear at Ichijō-ji Temple on
Mt. Hokke in modern day Kasai City. They then moved on to settle at Mt. Tanjō where there was a very
large settlement of foreign people from the Korean Kudara kingdom. When Hōdō arrived the Kudara
people received him with great honor and respect and made him their Chief (族長). The Kudara people all
anxiously waited for Hōdō’s son, Muka, to return to Japan to teach and spread the recently acquired
1
Kudara (百濟 18 BCE – 660 CE) is the Japanese name for Baekje, a kingdom located in southwestern
Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla.
Buddhist teachings and other knowledge, including military science, from overseas. But unfortunately,
there is no record of his return. The legends say that he eventually became a great Sage and ascended to
heaven while still in human form.

But what does this have to do with the Hidden Lineage?

During the time of Shotoku Taishi (approximately 574 to 622 CE), ninjutsu had not yet been fully
developed as an independent school of thought or military science. It had always been a subset or part
of a larger system of military strategy known as Bugei ( 武芸 ), Gunpo ( 軍法 ) or Heiho ( 兵法 ) and was very
closely associated with magic. It will still be a few hundred years before the first ryū or “style/school” of
ninjutsu would be formed as an independent specialization, starting with the Asuka ( 飛鳥 ) and Hakuun
(白雲) schools of the Nara and Iga regions.

The reason I bring up Hōdō in my discussion on the origins of the Hidden Lineage is that he and his six
attending monks, two Indian and four Chinese, were said to have been in possession of the Rikuto
manuscript as passed down by Zhang Ryo. Due to its underground resistance and guerrilla warfare
theme, this was a document that later became one of the foundation stones of the “ninjutsutsukai” or
the first true ninja. More than just monks these men were magicians ( 呪 術 者 ) with large amounts of
training in both Chinese and Indian methods of military science, spiritual practices and medicinal
knowledge.

It is generally thought that Kobo Daishi (Kukai), a Japanese monk, was the first carrier to bring the Seven
Military Classics from China to Japan in the 9 th century. But it is also known that some of the knowledge
made it to Japan much further back in time due to the prolific amount of information going back and
forth between the educated people of the mainland and the elite ruling families of Japan, even if it was
incomplete and in pieces.

According to historical novel author and the 1959 recipient of Kodansha Publishing’s honorable mention
award,2 Moriyama Yū, in his book Ninja no Keifu, the ascetic Hōdō and his attending monks were in
possession of the Rikutō, Sun Tzu’s text the “Art of War” and the esoteric Mikkyo Buddhist sutras known
as the “Kujyaku Myo-Ō Kei”. These treasured texts later came to have a great influence on the
development of the military science of the Yamabushi ( 山 伏 兵 法 ) and what the author called “Gyoja
Ninpo” (行者忍法), a type of proto-ninjutsu, within the clans of Izumo. As Harima no Kuni (the province
that was ruled by the Izumo tribe) was so close to the Korean peninsula and the Chinese mainland, the
early inception of these manuscripts changed the future of the clan’s network of yamabushi and
Shugenja ascetic monks and spurred the development of ninjutsu as an independent school of military
science.

Later, in the 7th century AD, Hōdō’s successor in the ancient ways, mountain worship and esoteric
Buddhism (zōmitsu) was En no Gyōja. He is said to have acquired supernatural powers that enabled him
to control demons and fly freely through the air, and…, wary of monks with supernatural powers, the

2
『講談倶楽部』 佳作賞 昭和 34 年/1959 年 12 月号掲載
court immediately ordered an imperial edict known as the "Taiho Ritsuryo". It was issued in the first
year of the Taiho Era (701 AD) and came immediately after En no Gyōja had been arrested and exiled by
the court to a remote island of Izu. In a section of the edict titled "the orders of Priests and Nuns", there
were laws forbidding the "bewitchment of peasants" and the "healing of illnesses” through sorcery and
shamanism. This means that sorcery was already so widespread in 7th century Japan that it was
necessary to issue a ban against its practice.

The ascetic practice of "Shūgendō", which claims En no Gyōja as its founder, originated from these
ancient mountain beliefs, and is a combination of esoteric Buddhism, native Shintoism, Yin Yang theory,
and the belief in the local deities of the villagers and mountain people. It includes an understanding of
natural science and pharmacological knowledge.

Even though it cannot be said that Shūgendō is directly related to sorcery, magic, ninjutsu, or the Tengu
legends, there is no doubt that they had a close relationship with each other as we will see over the next
few chapters. To begin with, Esoteric Buddhism, which is a major part of Shūgendō, is a religion in which
the truth of the universe, or Dainichi Buddha, is sensed through mystical experiences obtained as a
result of severe training. Shūgenja perform “goma” fire rituals, make magical hand-seals, and chant
mantras and incantations. In other words, they use their physical body, physical strength, language, and
spirit to communicate and interact with the universe and make that power their own. With this power,
they try to save all sentient beings and attempt to attain enlightenment during their lifetime.

Shūgendō, a form of asceticism in which the practitioner risks life and death for a spiritual experience by
entering deep into the mountains for severe training in a spiritual atmosphere nurtured by the unique
mountainous climate of Japan. The process of obtaining these spiritual experiences through “shugyō” or
“spiritual training” involves a variety of practical practices. The most known is “Fudō Goma”, which is a
prayer to Fudo Myō-Ō by burning a fire. This practice has been used in Japan since ancient times mainly
to pray for victory in battles and to dispel evil spirits and demons.

In Shūgendō, not only are there ways for a spiritual experience but there are also numerous rituals and
methods to obtain divine powers and supernatural abilities, including the “Daigensuihō” (大元帥法),
one of the great methods (of magic spells) in Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, and the “Kujyakumyō-Ō Hō”
(孔雀明王法) or “Peacock King” method practiced by En no Gyōja. It is said that the methods are so
numerous that there is a huge number of secret methods that ordinary Buddhist monks do not even
know exist.

Among these secret methods are the "Dakinitenhō" (ダキニ天法) and the "Atago no hō" (愛宕の法),
which were suppressed by the Shogunate in the Edo period (1603-1868) because of their use of spirit
foxes for divination and spells. Another one of these bewitching practices that is core to the history of
the Hidden Lineage is the "Iizuna-no-Hō" (飯縄の法), which uses the legendary "kuda” spirit-fox (管狐).
This method was developed at Mount Iizuna (1,917 meters), a peak in the Togakushi massif in northern
Nagano Prefecture. Here the Iizuna “kami” or “Iizuna Shinto god” manifested at the same time as
"Iizuna-no-Hō” and was naturally worshipped by its practitioners.

"Iizuna-no-Hō” is said to be a type of sorcery, a school of ninjutsu, and even a form of magic that greatly
utilizes the mysterious "kuda” spirit-fox and harnesses its power. It is inseparable from the Iizuna faith
that enshrines the Iizuna “kami”, and the legends of Tengu. In ancient texts such as the "Konjaku
Monogatari Shu, Vol. 20", a collection of tales from the first half of the twelfth century CE, and in the
"Uji Shiki Monogatari", it was already written that there were practitioners of sorcery that worshipped
Tengu in the Shinano area. These texts were written more than a hundred years before the appearance
of the Iizuna deity, so it was really no surprise that a school of sorcery known as "Iizuna-no-Hō"
developed out of the Mt. Iizuna and Mt. Togakushi region.

The Tengu of Togakushi Mountain

As I am sure many Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu practitioners are already aware, the "Tengu" (天狗) or
"heavenly dogs" are creatures with supernatural powers. They can often be heard about in Japanese
folklore, depicted in art, featured in theater, described in literature, and interwoven into the island
nation's spiritual mythology. Although "Tengu" are usually thought of a type of monster or spirit demon
they were still often worshipped as Shinto gods.

On the mainland, the original image of the "Tengu" was that of a dog-like goblin, (天狗 “tian gou” in
Chinese), but in Japan they took on an image more like that of a bird. Therefore, the Japanese version of
the "Tengu" portrayed in early art and literature looks more like a cross breed between a human and a
bird. In the oldest references and portrayals in Japan they were shown with bird feet and beaks, but
over time the image slowly changed into a more human likeness with an enormously enlarged and long
nose. This long-nosed depiction is the most recognized "Tengu" image today in modern Japan.

Like the superstitions and beliefs of the mainland peoples, Japanese Buddhists held that the "Tengu"
were destructive demons and omens of impending war. In this sense they share many similarities to the
concept of European goblins. But as the generations passed, this wicked image transmuted into a more
"naughty and nice" one. This change is believed to be due to the Buddhists finally accepting the more
popular image, held by the commoners, of the "Tengu" as natural guardians of the mountains and
forests. The general belief of the common people was that “Tengu” could bring both fortune or
misfortune depending on their mood that day towards any humans trespassing in their territory.

In Japanese culture, the "Tengu" are strongly analogous with the hermetic and ascetic practices of
Shūgendō, and therefore, in the world of art, they are nearly always shown in the traditional attire of a
yamabushi, the practitioners of Shūgendō.

Togakushi Mountain’s nearby neighbor, Mt. Iizuna, is the original home of Iizuna Saburōbō (飯縄三郎
坊), one of the most famous “Tengu” in all of Japan. The local legend of the region says that the Tengu
Saburōbō, during a times of famine, went from village to village saving the starving people by giving
them an “edible sand”. He was so popular and well known in the Middle Ages that the name Iizuna
Saburōbō appears in the famous Noh theatre drama "Kurama Tengu" from the fifteenth century, about
the childhood life of the samurai hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

It is interesting to note that the “edible sand” that Saburōbō is said to have given out to those in need is
something based on reality. The name "Mount Iizuna" (飯縄山) comes from "Iizuna,"(飯砂) meaning
“edible sand”, and refers to "tengunomugimeshi" (天狗之麦飯) a complex of form of microorganisms
such as fungi and algae found locally in the Shinshu region even today. It used to grow on Mt. Iizuna but
is now said to be extinct there.
Another Tengu connected to Togakushi Mountain, the homeland of Togakure Ryū ninjutsu, is Akihasan
Sanshakubō (三尺坊), a famous “Tengu” who is said to have been the leader of the Tōtōmi tengu clan,
but his true historical identity was that of a high level shūgenja that was born and raised in Togakushi
village. According to Shūyōji tradition, he went to the Zaogongen Temple in Echizen to train in
Shūgendō. At 26 years old he became a Daiajyari (大阿闍梨) or the head of religious teachings at the
temple and took on the name of Sanshakubō (三尺坊). At 27 years of age, in the caves of Togakushi
Mountain, he was trained in the secret method known as Fudō Sanmi (不動三昧) and then transformed
himself into Garuda, a divine creature with a human torso and birdlike head found in Japanese Buddhist
epics. Very similar to the image of a “Tengu”.

Tradition says that after becoming Garuda he rode on the back of a white spirit-fox around the domains
and finally landed at Mt. Akiha in 809 CE. When he arrived there for the first time a large toad appeared
with the characters for “Akiha” (秋葉) mysteriously floating on its back. From this apparition he named
the mountain “Akiha” or “Autumn Leaf”. It is important to point out here that the Togakushi region has
a tradition of toad magic including the use of its oils as a hallucinogenic. You can find many stories about
the warrior magician from Togakushi named Jiraiya who indirectly uses this form of magic.

A preserved document titled “A List of Famous Shinano Buddhist Monks” 『信濃名僧略伝集』 states
that Sanshakubō trained at Mt. Togakushi during the Eikan Era (983-984 CE). Looking at the history of
Japan, we can see an increase of shūgenja activities began after the middle of the Heian Period (794-
1185 CE), and the Tengu traditions began to spread after the Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE). I can
easily imagine the general history of Akihasan as follows; sometime, during the middle of the Heian
Period, a Shūgenja named Sanshakubō came from Togakushi village to Akihasan and developed the new
temple. Later, in the Kamakura Period, his great achievements were celebrated, and he became deified
as a Tengu.

One important point I would like to mention about Sanshakubō is that legends say that he, and several
other Tengu, taught Minamoto Yoshitsune swordsmanship and military strategy in secret at Kurama
Temple when he was being held captive by the rival Taira clan. According to Takamatsu, these Tengu
were actually shūgenja leaders teaching Minamoto Yoshitsune the art we call in the Bujinkan, Gyokko
Ryu Happobikenjutsu (玉虎流八法秘剣術).

In addition, Mt. Iizuna was also the home to Sennichi Buzen and Sennichi Jirodayu, who are said to be
the originators and founders of Iizuna-no-Hō and their "Twenty Secret Methods of Iizuna". Their original
names were Itō Tadanawa, the lord of Hagino Castle, and his son Morinawa. This father and son team
are often referred to collectively as "Sennichi Dayu" and due to their spiritual accomplishments, they too
later the joined the ranks of the Tengu.

The main shrine of Iizuna is located on the southern peak of the mountain next to the summit. It is said
to have originated around the year 270 CE, when Emperor Ōjin enshrined the heavenly deity Ōto
Michinaka. The first person to have a vision of Dainichi Nyorai on Mt. Iizuna was Gakumon Gyōja who
entered the mountain in 848 CE, close to 600 years later. Legends say that after praying for seven days
in a rocky cave on the southern peak of Mount Iizuna, Gakumon Gyōja threw a “dokko” style vajra, a
ritual weapon symbolizing the properties of diamonds (indestructibility) and thunderbolts (irresistible
force) and it flew across the sky piercing the rocky peak of Mount Togakushi, which faces Mount Iizuna.
Upon striking the mountain it is said it emitted a great light.

Then he traveled to Mt. Togakushi to teach the Lotus Sutra. While there he sealed the local deity of Mt.
Togakushi in a cave, a nine-headed, one-tailed demon (later the story changed to a nine-headed dragon)
that breathed poison. This was the formal Buddhist “opening” of the mountain. The nine-headed dragon
is still worshipped today at Togakushi Shrine as the local god of wind and water.

It is said that Gakumon Gyōja’s tomb is located at Mt. Iwatono in Sakakita, Nagano Prefecture, one days
walk south of Togakushi Mountain, but In the Zenkōji Temple chronicles (顕光寺流記) the last words
written about this ascetic are that "Finally, he ascended into the void, so there was no burial grave”.

After Gakumon Gyōja opened the mountain, the image of Iizuna Saburōbō Tengu blended with that of
the Shūgendō ascetics, and Saburōbō became responsible for the protection of Buddhist law and the
protector of the mountain. Most importantly, he was at the same time worshipped as a god of sorcery.

At the Togakushi Hōkō Shrine, one of the treasured statues of Kachigun Jizō, the main deity of the
shrine, is seen accompanied by a Tengu. I find this interesting because the accepted interpretation of
this is that the Togakushi deity has the Tengu, Iizuna Saburōbō, as his guardian spirit.

As we can see, there are many theories about the origins of the deity of Iizuna. In the "Brief Chronicles
of Iizunasan Daimyojin in Suiuchi-gun, Shinano Province", the deity is said to be a manifestation of
Dainichi Nyorai, but he is also said to be Fudo Myō-ō, Jizō Bōsatsu, Kachigun Jizō (aka Atago Daigongen),
and Japan’s first god of "fire prevention".