SANADA NINJA
Ueda City
Nagano Prefecture, Ueda City
Home of Sanada Ninjas
Sanada ninjas have served as “Mitsumono”
(a group of ninjas organized by Takeda Shingen) since the reign of Takeda Shingen.
They focused on ninja training.
It has been said that there were over 1,000 ninjas in Shinshu (current Nagano Prefecture)
and Joshu (current Gunma Prefecture) back then.
After Takeda Shingen’s death, they served under the Sanada clan and played an active role.
With 52 Shugendo-related temples, Agatsuma (current Gunma Prefecture)
was a sacred land for those who practiced Shugendo.
Contrary to Iga and Koka ninjas who did not serve under anyone
and worked as a group of freelance soldiers,
ninjas of the Shinano (current Nagano Prefecture) and Kozuke (current Gunma Prefecture)
served under warlords.
ACCESS
Nagano Prefecture
About 4 hours total
TrainAbout 1h 20m
ShinkansenAbout 2h 40m
UEDA CASTLE/
SANADA MASAYUKI
After the fall of the Takeda clan, Sanada Masayuki became an independent lord. The Ueda Castle was built by Masayuki on flat ground. In the two Battles of Ueda, Masayuki defeated Tokunaga Ieyasu’s army. Later, because he was part of the western army in the Battle of Sekigahara, he lost his standing. However, his eldest son, Sanada Nobuyuki, was part of the eastern army, so the Sanada territories, including Ueda, were given to Nobuyuki. But the Ueda Castle was destroyed.
SARUTOBI-IWA
A large, four-kilometer long valley in Sanada-no-Sato, “Kakuma Valley,” is a home to breathtakingly overwhelming sheer cliffs as well as numerous oddly shaped rocks and beautiful sceneries. The legend has it that Sarutobi Sasuke trained himself to obtain agility by hopping from one big rock to another. There is a place where Sarutobi Sasuke and Sanada Yukimura first met nearby the valley. It is said that Yukimura was amazed by the superhuman physical abilities of Sasuke, and led him to become his retainer then and there.
Sanada Ten Braves
Mid-Edo Period (around 1690-1780) war tales and picture books as well as Tachikawa Bunko paperback book series published in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) Eras became popular and stayed that way. “Sanada Ten Braves” is a collective term for the ten brave men who served under a feudal warlord Sanada Yukimura in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600) and showed military prowess (Sarutobi Sasuke, Kirigakure Saizo, Miyoshi Seikai Nyudo, Miyoshi Isa Nyudo, Anayama Kosuke, Yuri Kamanosuke, Unno Rokuro, Nezu Jinpachi, Mochizuki Rokuro, and Kakei Juzo).
Well-known Sanada Ninjas
IDEURA MORIKIYO
He was a retainer of Sanada Masayuki and the leader of the Koshu Suppa (Mitsumono). There is an anecdote about going to infiltrate an enemy castle. Morikiyo is said to have snuck in first to confirm the accuracy of his subordinate’s report.
Karasawa Genba
The legend has it that he did Shugendo training in the vicinity of Nakanojo Town in Agatsuma, was skilled in “Tobi Roppo” (techniques to leap in six directions), and could jump up 1.8 meters, jump forward 3.6 meters, and jump down 12 meters without making a sound when he landed.
Yokoya Sakon
He was from Yokotani Village of the Kozuke Province (current Matsuya, Higashi-Agatsuma Town), a ninja based in Gangasawa Castle, which is located in the same place. He was an aide to the Sanada clan, and played an active role in the battle fought over the Iwabitsu Castle. It is said that Sarutobi Sasuke was modeled after him.
NEZU SHINPEI
Leader of the Ninja group serving two generations of Sanada lords, Yukitaka and Masayuki. The Nezu family is the head of Koyo-ryu Ninjutsu, and this school of Ninjutsu was said to later form Nezu-ryu Kunoichi, a female Ninja group.