Known Associates: Zenki (red, male oni) Goki (green, female oni)
Hobbies: Collecting medicinal herbs Housebreaking ogres
Preferred Technique: The Kujaku-o (Peakock King) mantra
Clan Affiliation: His own bad-ass self
Existence: Confirmed
The Man
A mountain man who was more of a mystic than a fighter, En no Ozunu would have scratched his head in confusion if asked if he was a ninja. (Not least of all because it would be many centuries before the word was actually used.) Yet a deep connection exists nonetheless. He is the legendary founder of the religion of Shugendo—a fusion of native Japanese mountain worship and Buddhism, inflected with Taoist and cosmological teachings from China. The yamabushi, as its practitioners are known, were a tough crew of self-reliant alpine survivalists and martial artists. They treated mountains as sacred ground, and first taught the ninja many of their tricks. In turn the ninja venerated En no Ozunu as an honored ancestor, akin to their patron saint.
He was born with a horn growing from his skull, a flower clutched in his hand, and the ability to hold conversations even as a newborn. Long years spent meditating deep in the mountains earned him the nickname En no Gyoja, or “En the Ascetic.”
The charismatic holy man eschewed formal ordination, choosing instead to practice and espouse his new brand of religion on Mount Katsuragi in Nara. His iconoclastic example and growing number of followers represented a direct threat to the emperor’s authority. Before long, he was falsely accused of treason and exiled to a distant island for three years.
In exile, En no Ozunu took to climbing and meditating atop Mt. Fuji, a trek considered so arduous that it is often said “he who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man; he who climbs it twice is a fool.” Apparently climbing it more than a thousand times grants one supernatural powers, for his perfection of a magical mantra called “The Peacock King” on its slopes turned the already talented En no Ozunu into something more than human. (Did we mention that he accomplished this feat while officially confined to the remote island of Oshima, many miles removed from the foot of the mountain?)
Packed with peacock power and blessed with the ability to flit about the skies on clouds, Ozunu now began splitting his time between heaven and Earth. Not a bad gig if you can swing it, but man, what a commute!
The Moment of Glory
It’s hard to pick a single shining moment from the life of a super-shaman. Was it the first time he walked on water? When he realized he could subsist on nothing but mist and air? The time he transformed himself into a tiger? Certainly his most famous triumph involves a pair of oni, or ogres, known as Zenki and Goki.
Like a monster Bonnie and Clyde, Zenki and Goki were a couple that terrorized the residents of a mountain range near Nara. Until En no Ozunu showed up, that is, invoking the power of a Buddhist deity to stun them into submission. He then captured their five infant offspring and hid them in a large cauldron to convince the demon couple their children were dead. Recognizing their sense of loss as the exact same sort of distress felt by their victims, Zenki and Goki pledged to renounce their evil ways and assist En no Ozunu in his future endeavors. He took them up on their offer, reunited the family, and the oni couple remained loyal associates for many years.
The End
When you’re talking about a man with connections to some literal “higher-ups,” life’s end is just another beginning. Some say En no Ozunu achieved enlightenment and walked across the ocean to China in 701. Others say he took to the skies, accompanied by his mother, in a Buddhist alms bowl. Whatever the case, he is now considered a Sennin, or Great Immortal, who is still out there, somewhere, watching over the yamabushi for as long as they walk the earth.
Trivia
DOJO OF THE GODS
In the centuries after his death, the yamabushi established an elaborate training facility on a Koga mountain called Hando-san, where En no Ozunu is believed to have once dwelled. Ninja visited the area to learn the use of herbs and minerals, weather patterns, and camouflage strategies from the warrior monks.
HARD-HEADED IMMORTAL
Legend has it that a series of attempts were made to assassinate En no Ozunu, but the blades of the axes inevitably shattered harmlessly upon coming into contact with his head.
THE RING
En no Ozunu makes a brief appearance in Koji Suzuki’s best-selling J-Horror novel The Ring, in which it is suggested that he is the spiritual father of Sadako.
ABOUT ASCETICS
“Ascetic,” by the way, is the term applied to those who isolate themselves from humanity, utilizing severe physical training, such as fasting or praying beneath the hammering onslaught of a freezing mountain waterfall, to enhance their spiritual focus.
MINAMOTO NO YOSHITSUNE
NINJA RIVALS
1185 A.D.
Name: MINAMOTO NO YOSHITSUNE
源義経
Birth/Death: 1159-1189
Occupation: General
Cause of Death: Seppuku
A.K.A.: Ushiwakamaru Just “Yoshitsune” Hougan (Title bestowed by Emperor)
Known Associates: Benkei (see below).
Preferred Technique: Swordplay
Clan Affiliation: Minamoto
Existence: Confirmed
The Man
The quintessential bishonen (“beautiful boy”) of Japanese literature, Yoshitsune’s exquisite balance of looks, valor, and skill made him a prototype for generations of androgynous Japanese heroes. Dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse didn’t hurt, either.*
Yoshitsune—then known as Ushiwakamaru—was born during a civil war called the Heiji Rebellion. His father was slain on the battlefield, his older brother sentenced to death, and his mother captured as a concubine by the leader of the victorious Taira clan, all while he was still an infant. At the age of seven (eleven according to some sources) Yoshitsune was banished to Kurama-dera Temple, deep in the mountains of Kyoto, with the idea that he would spend the rest of his life as a cloistered monk.
Things didn’t exactly play out that way. Quickly tiring of religious study, Yoshitsune spent the next decade training body and soul in the martial arts. Popular legend has it he learned
