How Japan’s Ninja Province Defied Nobunaga

For generations, the mountain province of Iga lived without a great lord. Its local warriors governed themselves, fortified their homes, infiltrated castles and sold their military skills across a fractured Japan. Then Oda Nobunaga began putting the country back together. In 1579, Iga crushed an invasion led by Nobunaga’s son. Two years later, the Oda returned in overwhelming force. This is the story of Iga’s warrior society, the Tenshō Iga War, and how its survivors entered Tokugawa service and became part of the history remembered as the Iga ninja. Tokyo Crow tells cinematic stories from Japanese history, culture and folklore. Watch next: 47 Ronin: The True Story of Japan’s Most Famous Revenge CHAPTERS 0:00 The castle-takers of Iga 1:38 A province without a lord 3:38 The warrior league 4:24 Selling military skills 6:07 Shinobi at war 8:01 Nobunaga breaks the balance 11:02 Nobukatsu’s failed invasion 13:27 The war returns 14:13 The invasion of 1581 18:44 Survivors and Hattori Hanzō SOURCES & ATTRIBUTIONS Audio — Freesound (adapted by trimming, pitch/rate changes, filtering, reverb, level adjustment and placement as applicable): “TAIKO DRUM 001.wav” — sandyrb — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/82712/ “Big drums.Distant.Long tail.Attack variations x6” — newlocknew — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/608932/ “Brush Writing SFX” — runirasmussen — CC BY 3.0 — https://freesound.org/s/178445/ “Footsteps on gravel” — Joozz — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/531952/ “Cloth Flaps” — Sauron974 — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/188733/ “luffy_fire3.wav” — luffy — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/17298/ “Ambient battle noise: swords and shouting” — pfranzen — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/192072/ “Dropping Coins” — 1histori — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/412906/ “leather rustle 6” — sgossner — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/209403/ “Armor_clanking_sounds_part_2” — Artninja — CC BY 4.0 — https://freesound.org/s/733951/ Wikimedia Commons photographs (cropped/scaled/graded; camera movement added where applicable). CC BY-SA adaptations retain their respective licenses: “福地城空堀.JPG” — 小池 隆 — CC BY 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Akame 48 Waterfalls-Ninaidaki.JPG” — KENPEI — CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “140412-1651 Ueno Park, Iga” — carloshonda — CC BY 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Scenery from Otogi pass, Iga 01” — Motokoka — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Naganotouge.jpg” — houzyouhideyosi — CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “笠置山” — shikabane taro — CC BY 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Honzon of Kasagidera.jpg” — Wikiwikiyarou — CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Nakasu-ohashi bridge, Sazukawa.jpg” — Syanarion62 — CC BY 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Konpon Daito, Koyasan” — Andrea Schaffer — CC BY 2.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Hanzomon from Chidori-ga-fuchi park” — MAKIKO OMOKAWA — CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... “Goou-houin talisman of Kumano Nachi-jinja shrine” — Bachstelze — CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Aburahi jinja main hall — Motokoka — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Maps & documents: 出典：国土地理院（標高タイルを加工して作成） — https://maps.gsi.go.jp/development/ic... 岡山大学図書館所蔵（池田家文庫『信長記』巻第十四、太田牛一自筆） — https://ousar.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/ike... 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション — https://dl.ndl.go.jp/ Iga City 文化財一覧 — CC BY 4.0; site dots are schematic. Licenses: CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... #JapanHistory #Ninja #OdaNobunaga