猿飛佐助 Sarutobi Sasuke (Page 167-176) from the chapter 忍術ばなし Ninjutsu-banashi (Tales of Ninjutsu) of the book 忍術 Ninjutsu by 足立卷— Adachi Kenichi.
Who Wrote It?
When it comes to ninjutsu, everyone immediately thinks of 猿飛佐助 Sarutobi Sasuke, but during my travels through Iga and Kōga, I was unable to find him.
A Kōga ninjutsu researcher had this to say:
“About ten years ago, I heard he was born in Kibukawa Town Somaka, so I rushed there and investigated thoroughly, but found no clues. The Kōga Moon family hails from the province and has a kinship with the Sanada family, so I believe Sasuke might be from the Moon family. However, since ‘Sarutobi’ is likely a nickname derived from agile movements, without knowing his real name, it’s impossible to pinpoint his true identity.”
Upon visiting Iga, another researcher remarked:
“There’s a ninja named Kinuzaru from Kamitajii mentioned in the 「万川集海 Bansenshū-kai」 (Collection of Ten Thousand Rivers), and I think that’s him. His real name was Totsuki Sasuke, and he was called that because he skillfully used monkeys. During the Tenshō Iga Disturbance, when the ninja organization was destroyed, this Shingon sect follower fled to Mount Kōya and was likely employed by Sanada Yukimura.”
Then, I flipped through a prewar encyclopedia. “A heroic ninja featured in kōdan storytelling. Son of the ronin Sagio Satadaiyu of the Morimori family, he learned techniques from 戸沢白雲斎 Tozawa Hakunsai in the mountains of Torii Pass. At fifteen, he served Yukimura, changing his name to Sarutobi Sasuke Yukichi. After three years of travel, he scouted military conditions across various regions, compared skills with other warriors, formed alliances, performed miracles everywhere to intimidate lords, and perished with the Toyotomi fate during the fall of Osaka” (Toyama House Great Encyclopedia).
“The first generation, originally named Yukichi, son of Washio Satadaiyu. Learned ninjutsu from Tozawa Hakunsai. Discovered by Sanada Yukimura during a hunt, he received the Sarutobi surname and became an official, achieving merit by attacking Numata Castle. Died in battle following Kenshin at Mount Tenmu. The second generation, originally Ibe Takehide, a retainer of the Ōmi Saito clan, infiltrated Kōshu Sōgen’s castle, was captured by the first Sasuke and became his retainer. The second followed Sanada Yukimura and died in the Summer Campaign” (Heibonsha Great Dictionary).
However, another ninjutsu expert responded to a question in a weekly magazine two years ago:
“Sarutobi Sasuke was born in Taishō 6 (1917). In Taishō 6, there was an Enomoto Library where a sixteen-year-old boy wrote it based on imagination. Tachikawa Bunko bought it for a five-yen manuscript fee. The following year, Taishō 7, Kirigakure Saizō was born.”
I was greatly surprised inwardly, especially by the notion of a sixteen-year-old’s imagination, which felt like a shock. So, I redirected my travels to Osaka, visiting libraries, secondhand bookstores, collectors, and local historians round and round. Yet, I couldn’t find a single copy of the Enomoto Library or 立川文庫 Tachikawa Bunko.
I sought out Kyokudō Nanryō, an elder of Osaka kōdan storytelling.
“Tachikawa Bunko? All burned in the air raids. Sarutobi Sasuke, huh? That was a creation by Tamada Gyokushūsai. A complete fabrication. Kirigakure Saizō appears in the 「難波戦記 Nanba Senki」 (Nanba War Chronicles), but… that hit the mark, so Tachikawa told Gyokushūsai—’When you die, I’ll erect a statue for you, a ninja user.’ Then Gyokushūsai replied, ‘Then leave it to Sarutobi,’ doing the kuji cuts. But within two months, Gyokushūsai died of cholera. No statue was ever built.”
This story was also highly entertaining. I became desperate to read 立川文庫 Tachikawa Bunko’s 『猿飛佐助 Sarutobi Sasuke』. Yet, I still couldn’t obtain a single copy. Though it was a matter of about forty years ago, I was astonished that the history of Osaka kōdan, and even the groundbreaking event of Sarutobi Sasuke’s birth, is already fading. Like the social history of Kōga and Iga, or perhaps even more so, Osaka’s divine history and kōdan legacy are shrouded in dense mist.
Learning of Kubota Michio, a kōdan book collector in Atami City, I traveled to Atami.
Holding the Tachikawa Bunko edition of Sarutobi Sasuke for the first time there, I felt the excitement of a boy who had found a treasure.
猿飛佐助 Sarutobi Sasuke (Page 167-176) from the book 忍術 Ninjutsu by 足立卷— Adachi Kenichi.
足立卷— Adachi Kenichi (1913 – August 14, 1985)
He was born in Tokyo in 1913. His father died suddenly shortly after his birth, and his mother remarried shortly thereafter, leaving him to be raised by his grandparents. After his grandfather’s death, he was taken in by his maternal uncle, Kobe, at the age of nine. He lived in Kobe for the rest of his life.
He attended Kwansei Gakuin Junior High School and then Jingu Kogakkan University, graduating in 1938. After teaching and military service, he worked for the Shin-Osaka Shimbun until 1956. In 1975, he received the 20th Minister of Education’s Art Encouragement Prize for Yachimata, a critical biography of Motoori Shuntei, a blind poet and Japanese linguist from the Edo period.
After graduating from Osaka University of Arts, he taught at Kobe Women’s University. In 1982, he received the 30th Japan Essayist Club Award for Nijimetsuki (Record of Rainbows) (Asahi Shimbun), an autobiography centered on his grandfather and father.
忍術 Ninjutsu by 足立卷— Adachi Kenichi.
First Edition Printed : December 1957 by Shimozuka Yasusaburō
257 pages