Ninja Attack!. Hiroko Yoda

      1487 A.D.

      Name: MOCHIZUKI IZUMO NO KAMI

      望月出雲守

      Birth–Death: Unknown-1490s?

      Occupation: Chunin (Ninja Commander)

      Cause of Death: Unknown

      Gender: Male

      Known Associates: Rokkaku Takayori

      Preferred Techniques: Kameroku-no-ho (“Turtling”)

      Kasumi-no-ho (Smoke attacks)

      Clan Affiliation: Koga

      Existence: Confirmed

      “THE IGA CLAN HAS HATTORI; THE KOGA CLAN HAS MOCHIZUKI.”

      -Old Ninja Saying

      The Man

      A master strategist with the soul of a magician, Mochizuki Izumo no Kami (literally, “Mochizuki Izumo the Protector”) ruled the Koga ninja clan at a crucial moment in its history. And while he may not have been teenaged or mutant, he most definitely was a ninja turtle.

      Mochizuki, who claimed to be a descendant of the mythical founder of the clan, Koga Saburo, was born and raised in Koga, one of two major birthplaces of ninja tactics. Located in hilly, rugged terrain adjacent to Japan’s then-capital of Kyoto, the valleys of the Koga region were home to dozens and dozens of “hidden villages” whose isolated inhabitants had long developed their own brand of guerilla tactics. By the time of Mochizuki’s command, the Koga clan had distinguished themselves as a formal ninja collective similar to their sometime partners, sometime rivals in neighboring Iga.

      They were unlike the fiercely independent people of Iga, however, in one regard: they had a treaty with another neighboring clan, the warlord-led Rokkaku. The agreement guaranteed that as long as Koga regional affairs were left to the Koga clan, they would provide shelter and manpower should the Rokkaku ever come under attack.

      History’s first major ninja-led guerilla warfare campaign involves Mochizuki honoring his clan’s hereditary promise.

      The Moment of Glory

      The story begins in 1487, with the Rokkaku castle in ruins and its fleeing forces taking their agreed refuge in the hills of Koga. Hot in pursuit is the Shogun Ashikaga, at the head of some twenty-five thousand troops on a campaign to wipe the Rokkaku clan off the map. Things were heating up for a serious battle royale. But as Ashikaga crossed the border into Koga territory, he met only with a deafening silence.

      Centuries before a band of rag-tag colonials dissed the Redcoats of the mighty British army with hit-and-run tactics, Mochizuki’s ninja were about to wreak havoc on Ashikaga’s troops from camouflaged positions, communicating troop strengths and positions with hoots and calls based on those of monkeys, deer, and other local animals.

      Holding the Rokkaku regular forces in reserve, Mochizuki carefully dispatched his ninja throughout the area’s hills and forests so they could quickly strike when the opportunity warranted. Ashikaga patrols often failed to return to camp, or limped back, slashed to ribbons, with stories of terror in the trees. On occasion entire contingents were wiped out. This wasn’t how samurai battles were supposed to work, undoubtedly fumed Lord Ashikaga. His disciplined but conventionally trained forces were completely unable to cope with the ferocious appearances and sudden withdrawals of what Mochizuki called his kameroku-no-ho—the “six-turtle strategy” of using the mountains to shield his ninja like the impenetrable carapace of the reptile.

      Mochizuki proved that a small contingent of well-trained ninja could keep huge numbers of troops at bay. But he wasn’t through. When Ashikaga moved into a fortified compound in the northeastern part of Koga territory, Mochizuki licked his lips at the bigger challenge.

      One snowy December evening, the ninja leader personally led a daring nighttime raid into the fortress. Night offensives were a risky business, and this night’s weather made it even harder to distinguish friend from foe. Yet Mochizuki and his ninja led sixteen hundred of Rokkaku’s men into the compound and out again without losing a single man to “friendly fire.”

      To determine the best day to launch his final assault, Mochizuki had used a contraption involving a feather placed atop an upended teacup as a makeshift barometer. When the device predicted that a snowstorm would soon descend upon the area, he knew the night had come to attack. To further conceal their approach, he utilized a smokescreen concocted of gunpowder and other chemicals to reduce the already low visibility to the absolute minimum.

      His men also used a secret system of code words to identify each other without visual contact, allowing Mochizuki to up the terror level inside the fortress with his personal forte: firecrackers, explosives, and noroshi smoke bombs. When the sun rose on the handful of stunned survivors the next day, the fortress lay in smoking ruins, and Ashikaga lay mortally wounded by a ninja spear. He succumbed shortly thereafter at the age of 25.

      News of Ashikaga’s failure to rout Rokkaku’s forces in spite of his superior numbers and tactical position rocked the country and firmly established the Koga reputation as total badasses. Japanese warfare would never be the same.

      Trivia

      Home Court Advantage

      Mochizuki Izumo no Kami’s personal residence was outfitted, James Bond style, with a variety of ingenious systems intended to tilt the odds against potential intruders. Residences of this sort are called karakuri yashiki (literally, “gimmicked mansions”), and include concealed floor spaces, retracting ladders, a double wall structure allowing movement around rooms without passing through them, and more. Beautifully restored, it stands in its original location in Shiga prefecture, and is actually open to visitors.

      For more information, visit: http://www.kouka-ninjya.com/

      DEMOCRATIC NINJA

      The fifty-three families of Koga ruled their clan by democratic consensus--a rarity in Japan (or anywhere else, for

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