Bansenshukai; Yonin – 陽忍上
BANSENSHUKAI VOL #4
(taken from Anshu Christa Jacobson private collection)
“YONIN”
There is yojutsu and injutsu in ninjutsu.
YONIN (yojutsu / yoninjutsu) is infiltration when in plain view of the people, so you are dressed like them and moving in and out of the crowd. This is where the Shinobi Nanabake (ninja disguise) was used. Many say that Yonin is only done during the day and that is wrong. You can use this tactics day or night. Yoninjutsu; is for the very highly skilled ninja.
INNIN (Injutsu / Inninjutsu) is infiltration when you are not in plain view, you are staying in the shadows, not in the area of people at all, climbing on roof tops, staying in the shadows, staying in the rafters of the house to gather information, in this situation, your goal is to stay out of complete site of everyone, stay in the shadows and carry out the mission, this infiltration tactic is called Innin. Inninjutsu; is primarily used for the lower ranking ninja.
Yojutsu — could be any kind of infiltration in plain view of the enemy, so the use of disguise to move through the crowd is a essential (i.e., shinobi nanabake, yamabushi, komuso, performers, fortune tellers, etc).
Injutsu — is when the infiltration and information gathering is done completely unnoticed and in the shadows. So the classical black outfit, would be of use in this situation. For example, entering the enemy territory at night and hiding in the bushes during the day while observing the enemy’s movements.
If you look at the 2nd row from the right you will see:
YO (陽) NIN (忍) JO (上)
YO (陽) Means; Positive or Light. Hence the training of Yo-jutsu being done in plain view —
NIN (忍) In this case means Shinobi, or in modern term “Stealing in” —
JO (上) Means; Top, Above, Upper. So this where the idea of this type of training being done by upper level shinobi comes from. —
If you look at the 5th row from the right, a little over half way down you see:
Shinobi (忍) Iri (入)
This (忍入) is giving detail to the entering methods of the Shinobi, in many schools called “Shinobi-iri”
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The lesson today comes from my own personal collection and study of these documents. All students know that one of the major documents that we use here at the school in reference to ninjutsu is the Bansenshukai. I hope that this helps with all of your training! Take Care, Be Safe and Good luck in your Journey of Budo!
Anshu Christa Jacobson
21st Soke of the Tomo Ryu Tradition
Headmistress of the Budo Ryu – School of the Warrior Way
Founder of the Budo Ryu Online University
Owner of the Ninjutsu Super Store
Chief Editor of the Shinobi no Mono Magazine
Founder of the Ninjutsu International Federation
Professional Model and Artist
Anshu Christa Jacobson 