- [Micaela] In the last video, we visited
Odawara City in Kanagawa prefecture
to step into the world of Japanese ninja.
First, at Odawara Castle, we learned
that ninjas were not actually
violent assassins but clever spies
enlisted to spy on clans during the Sengoku period,
a time when Japan was broken up into small territories
at war with each other, and if that wasn't
surprising enough, I made a startling discovery
about the ninja's appearance as well.
Actual ninjas were actually more known
to blend into society by dressing really normally
so that they wouldn't stand out.
I wouldn't be a very good ninja
if everyone around me could look at me
and tell that I'm a ninja.
Okay, so if ninjas didn't dress in all black
running around, throwing stars
and assassinating their enemies, what did they do?
I headed to Nagano prefecture to find some answers.
So today, we're at the Ueda Castle remains,
in Nagano prefecture, and we're going to learn
about the history that this area has
with the mythical ninjas.
The Ueda Castle ruins are a monumental part
of Japanese history, especially during
the Sengoku period when it belonged
to the famous Sanada clan.
Despite its small size, it is considered
on of the strongest castles in Japan
during the Sengoku period, thanks to its clever
architecture and confusing layout.
It survived two major sieges,
first defeating an attack of 7,000 enemy soldiers
with only 2,000 soldiers of their own.
Both of these stories are inspiring tales
of the underdog beating the odds,
and it is said that this could not have been possible
without intense strategizing including
the use of Japanese spies, ninjas,
to gather information and foresee oncoming enemy attacks.
So it's possible that this is evidence
that they had an escape route here in the castle,
and they think that this is what the ninjas used
to get in and out without being noticed.
After visiting the castle, we decided to take a walk
down Yanagimachi Street, another remnant
of Japan's historical past.
These days, this picturesque area
has even been used as a set for movies.
The thing I love most about walking
down these streets is that it smells like wood.
Like it kind of has this wooden, old smell,
but it's like a nice smell, like a fragrant wood smell.
Sana, how nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, Sana, how old are you?
Wow, seven?
So by now I think you're familiar with
every prefecture in Japan having its own specialty food,
and one of the foods that is special
in Nagano prefecture is soba.
There's tons of soba shops around here,
we've seen a few already today
and we decided that it would be the perfect place
to drop in and have lunch at.
At this soba restaurant, Onishi,
they're famous for using several different types of soba,
including sprouted grains, adding more nutritional value
to their meals than regular soba.
So because ninjas were such a secret species,
it has been really really hard
for historians to separate fact from fiction,
a lot of the information they can gather
from ninjas are from fictional old stories
and they kind of piece together information
that lines up with other information
from other authors or historians
during that time to figure out what actually happened.
So there's a lot of hearsay and there's a lot of unsurety,
mystery surrounding what ninjas actually did.
Ah.
Ah!
At the Ikenami Shotaro Sanada Taiheiki Kan,
an exhibition hall dedicated to a series of books
based on the Sengoku period, they even have
an entire section of the exhibition
dedicated to findings about the ninja.
We're about to enter a ninja cave.
It's actually very cool in here, very dark and cool.
Oh.
There's like animal noises.
In order to collect data on their targets,
they would disguise themselves as pharmacists,
peddlers, entertainers, farmers, anything
to get them to blend into their target society undetected.
Their missions would often take days,
and they would sometimes stake out hiding spots
in the homes of their targets,
this required patience and tons of self control
as one false move or sound could blow their cover entirely.
A ninja's training would revolve around
being swift, quiet, inconspicuous,
and most importantly, not leaving a trace
of their presence behind.
Hai.
So now we're heading up the winding road
into the mountains to a place that has
been historically linked to a ninja training ground
for the Sanada clan, which was the clan
that founded the castle where we just visited.
It's all connected.
It's all connected, and it's all starting
to make sense, which is really exciting.
Kakuma Keikoku, or the Kakuma Valley is said to be
the training ground of Sarutobi Sasuke
and his fellow Sanada ninjas.
At the entrance of the valley lies a single ryokan,
built around a natural iron-based hot spring,
it is said that this too was once used
by the Sanada ninja clan.
Oh my goodness.
(laughs) I did not bring the right boots for this.
I didn't realize we would be climbing up
icy death stairs but it is what it is.
There better be some real ninjas up there.
If I go up there and there's not a single ninja,
I'm gonna feel ripped off.
I did it.
We did it.
Although I doubt they had stairs
back in the Sengoku period, if this is really the place
where ninjas would train,
I can kind of understand how running up and down
these hills would increase their endurance.
There are said to be many caves in the Kakuma area,
but the one that houses the cave goddess,
Iwaya Kannon, is the biggest in the valley.
In the past, these areas were used
as mini-residences for those living in the mountains
but now it is home to spirits instead.
So we've heard stories, we've seen the costumes,
we've learned about fact and fiction,
but to actually come all the way up
into the mountains and walk that steep flight of stairs
and see this giant rock with a giant shrine inside it,
and actually be here and experience this
with my own two eyes and ears and runny nose,
it does start to feel like maybe
ninjas did exist after all, that they were really
as cool as we make them out to be,
even if they didn't look exactly the way
that we make them out to be.
To be honest, when I started this project,
I didn't know much about ninjas at all,
and I feel like now I'm really starting to get
actually genuinely interested as I learn more.
I'm really excited, the more I learn,
the more interested I am, and I can't wait
to find out more in Saga.
Oh the things I do,
the things the cameraman makes me do,
dress up like a ninja,
fight children,
play in the snow.
Next time, we're ditching the snow
and heading back to Kyushu
to Saga's ninja village to try to figure out
why Japan still celebrates the media-portrayed
image of a ninja even if it isn't factually correct.
Sound interesting?
Then make sure you stick around for part three.
It took a very long time,
but I made it down.
I can't actually believe I went up there, seriously.
These are not snow boots.
These are heels, I'm wearing heel boots.
Not waterproof, and I went up the stairs.
I could be a ninja after all.