Natori Masazumi

名取正澄

The Author of the Shōninki — An Early Edo-Period Military Scholar Who Served the Kishū Domain

Era

Early Edo Period

Lifespan

?-1708

Associated Sword Tradition

Shin-Kusunoki-ryū (Natori-ryū) military science — Masazumi studied under Kusunoki Masatoki and others and founded the Shin-Kusunoki-ryū (Natori-ryū). The *Shōninki* is thought to have been transmitted to disciples as part of this military science, and there was no independent ninjutsu school called Kishū-ryū.

Description

The Author of the Shōninki

Natori Masazumi (common name Sanjūrō, pen name Issui; birth year unknown) was an early Edo-period military scholar who served the Kishū Domain. The Shōninki, said to have been written in 1681 (Enpō 9), is counted as one of the three great ninjutsu treatises, along with the Bansenshūkai and the Shinobi Hiden. The Shōninki consists of three volumes and explains the shinobi rokugu (six tools of the shinobi), the portable equipment of the shinobi, and seven kinds of disguise suited to infiltration. No original text has been found, and several manuscript copies have been transmitted; it is believed to have been taught to disciples as part of Natori-ryū military science.

Military Scholar of the Kishū Domain

Masazumi was summoned into the service of the Kishū Domain in 1654 (Jōō 3), where he served as military instructor to the domain lord Tokugawa Yorinobu. After studying under Kusunoki Masatoki and others, he founded the Shin-Kusunoki-ryū (Natori-ryū), which was subsequently passed down by hereditary succession. From 1687 (Jōkyō 4), he lived in confinement in Ōno village in Ito District, and he died of illness in 1708 (Hōei 5).