’Ninja Temple / Myoritsu-ji’, which we showed you last time. Although it is called a ninja temple, it has nothing to do with actual ninjas, but was named after the gimmicky building in which ninjas seem to live.
So there are no real ‘ninja houses’ in Japan?There are several in various parts of the country. However, it should be steeled that many of them are quite touristy rather than authentic.(^_^;)
Famous historical ninja villages are the Iga region of Mie Prefecture (Iga Ninja) and the Kouga region of Shiga Prefecture (Kouga Ninja). The Fooma clan in Kanagawa Prefecture is also well known, but the legendary element is strong and its actual existence is not well known.
Incidentally, ‘Japanese ninjas’ are popular abroad, but the fact that their real appearance is quite different from what we see in films and animations is becoming quite well-known today.
They were spies, not official samurai, so they wielded few swords and used no kung fu. Booom! and they do not use smoke magic either.
They were not weaponless, but they carried a knife-shaped tool called a “苦無 / Kunai”. It was more often used as a multi-purpose tool, such as for breaking into buildings, than for combat.
A spy’s main duty is to keep a low profile. When he has to fight, he has already failed his mission, and “忍者 / ninja” means ‘lurker’.
This style makes you stand out. I would rather see you. (^_^;)
As the ninja were originally a strongly regional group, they would contract with national lords and others in other regions to go out to work (espionage). Some of them lived as ordinary people for decades in faraway places and sent information steadily. (This is called ‘grass / 草 / Kusa’.)
In times of war, they sometimes undertook surprise raids and assassinations, but it seems to have been a generally low-key job.
Now, enough of the wild stories.
Here’s another piece of folklore about the founding of Myoritsu-ji.
This is the story of how one woman’s wish led to the renovation of Myoritsu-ji.
The woman’s name was「Asa-hime / 夙姫*」. She was married to Maeda Narunaga, the 12th head of the Kaga Maeda family, who was the axis of the previous story. The story is about the 12th generation, so it is about 200 years after the previous story.
（* Real name: Takatsukasa Takako）
She was a beautiful and talented person, and she and her husband Narinaga got on well together, but she had one problem. She and her husband were unable to have children.
The official-concubine had children born to them, so there was no problem with inheritance*. However, it was very sad for her that she could not have children as a woman. （*Lords of this period often had more than one wife to deal with succession issues.）
What made ‘Asa-hime’ even lonelier was her separation from her husband.
For this, it is necessary to know the samurai system of the time.
During the Edo period, Japan was divided into nearly 300 clans, which were governed by the Edo shogunate, and the lords of each clan were obliged to go to Edo in any case. In particular, the lords of clans with great national power, such as the Kaga clan, had to spend much of their lives in Edo.
Maeda Narinaga also left her estate and lived in a private residence she built in Edo. In other words, ‘Asa-hime’, who married into the Kaga Maeda family, also married into the Edo estate rather than into the Kaga country.
However, within two years of their marriage, a major fire broke out in Kaga Province and Narinaga had to return home alone to deal with it.
（The couple were not allowed to return home by the Edo Shogunate.）
Maeda Narinaga
Narinaga also returned to Japan and was busy rebuilding her estate, and eventually became too ill to return to her Edo residence, so they finally spent less and less time together as a couple. Sixteen years after returning home alone, Narinaga died in Kanazawa. Of the 18 years of marriage, they spent less than three years together…
After the death of her husband Narinaga, ‘Asa-hime’ changed her name to ‘Shinryu-in’. (In the samurai society of the time, it was customary to change names at major milestones in life.)
When her stepson ‘Nariyasu（斉泰）’ succeeded to the lordship, ‘Shinryu-in = Asa-hime’ was finally allowed to return to the Kaga domain. This was also the first time she had entered the Kaga domain since her marriage.
For the 13th head of the family ‘Nariyasu’, ‘Shinryu-in’ was his mother without blood, but he knew she had lived a lonely life. So he built her a house next to Kenrokuen Garden where she could live in peace.
‘Shinryu-in’ was already approaching old age at the time.
She had finally found a place where she could settle down and live, but she still felt lonely living the rest of her life without her blood relatives.
What helped her to cope with this loneliness was her religious beliefs and paying homage to the temple.
Myoritsu-ji was a temple of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, which Shinryu-in had long been a devout follower of. While laying hands and praying in the temple hall here, Shinryu-in was able to forget all his troubles.
However, there was one problem here.
The religious sect that the ‘Shinryu-in’ believed in was different from that of the Kaga Maeda family.
Although she has retired from the front line of public office, ‘Shinryu-in’ is still the former lord’s wife and will be accompanied to the temple by a reasonable number of attendants.
It was difficult, even from a worldly external point of view, to make repeated visits to temples of a different sect from the main family in a big public way.
I finally found a place where I could be at peace… Will ‘Shinryu-in’ have to live lonely days again?
The ‘Shinryu-in’ had a depressed, but this problem took a sudden turn one day. The ‘Myoritsu-ji’ was destroyed by fire from a small misfire.
Fortunately, no-one was injured, but the temple had to be rebuilt from scratch.
‘Shinryu-in’ offered to pay for the majority of the rebuilding costs out of his own pocket to Myoritsu-ji. In return, he offered to rebuild the temple in a structure that would allow him and his attendants to stay discreetly in the temple.
The Myoritsu-ji side was also pleased with this offer.
The Shinryu-in were grateful patrons for the temple, and it was convenient for them to be able to accommodate the Shinryu-in without fear of being seen by the public…
From images in old documents.
The temple thus reconstructed is known as Myoritsu-ji, which has survived to the present day. The story goes that a number of hidden rooms were built so that Shinryu-in and his attendants could relax undetected, thus creating a complex structure…
However, the authenticity of this folklore is somewhat low, and the story is said to have been adapted from some theatrical performance. The previous tradition of building for military purposes is more plausible.
However, it is true that ‘Shinryu-in / Asa-hime’ had no children and had a lonely life away from her husband, and this story may have been created to comfort her…
Myoritsu-ji is known by the catchy nickname ‘Ninja Temple’, but the truth is shrouded in intriguing mystery. If you have the chance to visit Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, drop in. You may discover something new.
［Note: Viewing is by appointment only. Photography is not permitted inside the hall.]