Who Is Fujibayashi Yasutake (Fujibayashi Samuji)?
Compiler of the ninja manual Bansenshukai
Fujibayashi Yasutake was a man of Iga in the early Edo period who compiled the ninja manual Bansenshukai. Said to descend from the Fujibayashi family of Iga, he gathered the teachings and techniques handed down in Iga and Koga and wrote the book's preface in 1676. Few details of his life are known.
He serves as the narrator throughout this manga. As he works on his book, he guides readers through the Magari campaign that made ninja famous, the ninja's mental discipline of Seishin, or "the right mind," and the Fuma night raids. He stays out of the night battles, appearing at the beginning and end of each story.
The title Bansenshukai is said to express the idea of gathering many ninja teachings into one, just as the waters of countless rivers flow together into the sea. A defining feature of the book is that it does not stop at technique: it first teaches the mindset of the person who uses those skills.
Episodes featuring this character4
NEWEpisode 1
The One Night That Created the NinjaThe Battle of Magari (Koga Ninja Night Raid)
On the night a shogun's army tens of thousands strong closes in on a mountain village, Genta, a timid young man of Koga whose only gift is his sharp hearing, holds his breath beneath the floor of the enemy camp. "We don't kill them. We just never let them sleep." By lamplight, an old writer begins the tale of the night that first made the shinobi famous.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
The Gold Was Open. No One Was Watching.Seishin (Bansenshukai)
Yoichi, a young Iga shinobi, wants his family to make it through the winter. On the night of his first infiltration, he finds himself alone in an empty room with an open box of gold. This is a story about seishin, the "true heart," the rule a real ninja book put on its very first page.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 3
Summon the Seven-Foot Ninja With FangsFuma Kotaro
With the vast Takeda army camped across the river and a decision due by dawn, young commander Hojo Ujinao summons the Fuma, men his retainers sneer at as common thieves. Out of the dark steps a man over seven feet tall, with four fangs and a voice said to carry for miles.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 4
No Swords Drawn. An Army Fell.The Fuma Night Raids at Kisegawa
Night after rainy night, Fuma Kotaro's ninja cross the river, set horses loose, light fires, and raise war cries. They never draw a single sword, yet the great Takeda army crumbles. On the final night, a young soldier driven mad by fear turns his blade on the man who looked out for him. Then, bare-handed, he steps between comrades about to cut each other down.
20 pages