History of Ninjutsu: Uesugi Ninja

上杉忍者 Uesugi Ninja (Page 110-111) from the book Bessho Rekishi Dokuhon Vol. 72 – Shinobi no Mono 132-nin Data File. Written by 千坂精一 Chizaka Seiichi (Writer).

▽ Uesugi Ninja – The 担猿 Tan’en had their base in the mountains from 越後 Echigo to 信濃 Shinano

The battles of the chaotic 戦国乱世 Sengoku Ransei (Warring States period 1467–1603 CE), where warlords contended, were fierce elimination-style contests fought until a victor emerged, so to survive and advance, it was an absolute requirement to quickly and accurately grasp the rapidly shifting state of the realm and take the initiative.

Therefore, powerful warlords called 戦国大名 Sengoku Daimyō sharpened their attention to the internal affairs of the 室町幕府 Muromachi Bakufu and the movements of neighboring provinces, dispatching ninjas to various regions to collect information. In other words, just as in the modern competitive world, one investigates the overall strength of opponents or the condition of individual players in advance, devising strategies to exploit 弱点 Jakuten (weaknesses) before entering a match, it was an era prioritizing information.

The ninja groups utilized for this information gathering were called 乱波 Rappa by 北条 Hōjō, 透波 Suppā by 武田 Takeda, and 担猿 Tan’en by 上杉 Uesugi.

While 乱波 Rappa and 透波 Suppā are often heard, 担猿 Tan’en is unparalleled, likely a unique designation of Uesugi.

However, it was not named by Uesugi. When or by whom it was named is unknown, but it is said to have been named in reverence for 軒轅黄帝 Kengen Kōtei (2697–2597 BCE), an ancient Chinese emperor considered the founder of ninjutsu, using a Japanese reading.

This ninja group called 担猿 Tan’en had their base in the mountains from 越後 Echigo to 信濃 Shinano.
Ninjas infiltrated deep into enemy territory to scout conditions, reported sequentially, continued covert surveillance, and once an anomaly occurred, immediately returned with 韋駄天走り Idaten-bashiri (Idaten speed) to urgently report, which was their main role, so Tan’en was a fitting name for ninjas reminiscent of monkeys agilely running through mountains and fields.

担猿はまさに山野を軽快に走り回る猿を彷彿させる忍者に相応しい呼称であった。 Literal Translation: 担猿 Tan’en was a fitting name for ninjas reminiscent of monkeys agilely running through mountains and fields.

However, ninja groups were, after all, shadow legions, and their exploits remained in legend, not recorded in historical facts. Ninjas were a pitiful group buried in the pages of history.

In the “上杉史料 Uesugi Shiryō,” it is only written that enemy conditions were reported “with 使介 Shikai (messengers),” and there is no mention at all of who these messengers were.

However, from the circumstances of that time, there seems to be an indication that the Tan’en group was utilized, so in a novel, one might introduce fictional characters to embellish with imagination, but here, we will describe it mixing historical facts with speculation.

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