CLAN

The Rise of Koku Shinobi Clan

Sengoku period (Warring States period of Japanese history, approx. 1467-1568 CE)

A shinobi clan peacefully residing in Koka village in Omi province began to amass military power by the end of the Muromachi Period.

The Rokkaku Clan who used the Kannonji Castle as their base gradually ignored the authority of the Ashikaga shogunate that commands it. A sign of early rebellion, General Yoshihisa Ashikaga brought with him an army of warlords and samurai to stomp out the uprising of the shinobi clan to set an example.

Thus, the war between the Ashikaga and Rokkaku ensued. As the shogunate's capability to military combat is deemed superior, the head of the Rokkaku clan, Masayori, and his son, Takayori we're forced to flee the Kannonji Castle and head back to Koka Castle to continue the revolt.

The Koka Castle fell when Ashikaga moved his base at Anshiyonji, in Kurita District. A village directly opposite Koka, making the attack easy for their army to subdue the shinobi clan. Yet, the Rokkaku duo skillfully averted being captured and retreated to the nearby mountains to plan for their next assault.

Using their geographic knowledge of the location, the Rokkaku clan used guerilla tactics to effortlessly assassinate Ashikaga's men. The war between the shogunate and the shinobi lasted for three years until General Yoshihisa Ashikaga died in battle under Takayori Rokkaku's hands at the mountain.

Glorified by their perseverance for defeating the great Ashikaga shogunate, the shinobi clan of Koka continued their plan to gather military strength under Takayori Rokkaku as its chief.

The Koka village consisted of 53 families, acting as one group were headed by the three Shingeno (High) families, the Mochizuki (Full Moon), Nezu (Shadow), and Umino (From the sea). All of them bowed to serve the Rokkaku shinobi clan and support their ideal to make formidable warriors.

The Rokkaku clan's secret for their strength and great ninjutsu skill came from their yokai (demon) blood. Takayori was a hanyo, born from the demon fox queen and a human father, Masayori. He planned to make great shinobi warriors like himself by siring a child to each of the 53 families at Koka village.

Lured by power and prestige, the Shingeno Families who stood as councilman for the people of the village agreed to their chief's proposal. Takayori Rokkaku started to father one child every year to a healthy woman selected by their household.

The 53 families of the Koka village are listed below based on the name of each Takayori Rokkaku's offspring and age.

KIA - killed in action

DFB - died from birth

Yamanaka, Ichiro (deceased - KIA)

Nezu, Toshiaki (deceased - KIA)

Minobe, Saburo (deceased - KIA)

Kurosawa, Ayumi (deceased - KIA)

Tongu, Masaki (deceased - KIA)

Ono, Nori (deceased - KIA)

Iwamuro, Hiroshi (deceased - KIA)

Akutagawa, Yukio (deceased - KIA)

Oki, Yoshito (deceased - KIA)

Saji, Yoshio (deceased - KIA)

Jinbo, Rin ( 21 years old)

Ogawara, Dai ( 21 years old)

Umino, Amara (18 years old)

Ueno, Fumiko ( 15 years old)

Wada, Hiroki (14 years old)

Takamine, Taro (13 years old)

Ukai, Satoshi (12 years old)

Uchitaka, Sora (11 years old)

Ban, Takeo (10 years old)

Koizumi, Tsuneo (9 years old)

Kuraji, Hisashi (8 years old)

Natsumi, Shinji (7 years old)

Sugitani, Yasushi (6 years old)

Hari, Yasuo (5 years old)

Ogawa, Nobuyuki (4 years old)

Okubo, Akihiko (3 years old)

Ueda, Masahiro (2 years old)

Noda, Takashi (1-year-old)

Iwane, Hideki (newborn)

Shinjo, (pregnant)

Aoki, — (DFB)

Miyajima, — (DFB)

Sugiyama, —( DFB)

Katsuragi, — (DFB)

Mikumo, — (DFB)

Mochizuki

Makimura

Hatta

Nakano

Kaminoyama

Kouzan

Morita

Gika

Tori

Hirako

Tarao

Tsuchiyama

Yamakami

Aeba

Nagano

Nakayama

Ikeda

Taki

[Legend of Takayori Rokkaku]

A young Masayori Rokkaku went to Kyoto with his family to meet his future wife. On their way to the house of the woman, they came across an imperial blockade. 10,000 men were sent by the emperor Toba to find Tamamo no Mae, the Kitsune. 

According to the Shinto priests who the emperor consulted after being severely ill for years, Tamamo no Mae cursed the emperor to shorten his life to become an empress herself. After escaping the palace, she was haunted by Kyoto and other provinces. Every woman who was suspected to be Tamamo no Mae, who is capable of changing her image was beheaded or burned by the emperor's men.

Masayori Rokkaku and his parents were at the house of his future wife when the imperial soldiers came and started a fire. Unfortunately, his parents were not able to escape the burning home and she was left to marry his fiance who he took home to Koka after their marriage.

Unknown to Masayori, his wife was the real Kitsune (fox spirit) that the emperor was looking for. He found out the truth after their child, Takayori was born. Fearing that the emperor will find out about her wife, Masayori let Tamamo no Mae flee to Nasu, where she was caught by a soldier and beheaded to present to the emperor.

The young Takayori demonstrated his exceptional strength and agility in ninjutsu, surpassing all his masters at a young age. He begins to explore dark arts after becoming a master himself. News of the great dark arts ninjutsu teacher emerges from Koka to Iga, prompting others to join his shinobi clan. Seeing how his group grew, Takayori started his plan to separate the Koka village from the Shogunate control. 

General Yoshihisa Ashikaga heard the uproar and went from Kyoto to Omi province himself. With his own eyes, he witnessed Takayori Rokkaku defeat hundreds of his Samurai warriors alone. When he started his campaign to stop the rebellion, he called upon his entire army to defeat the Rokkaku clan. From that day, Takayori's path to heroism began.

π - π - π - π

[REFERENCES]

*Ninja - were a type of warrior who specialized in unconventional warfare such as infiltration, sabotage, and assassination during the age of the samurai. Another way of calling them is "shinobi", meaning "those who act in stealth"

*Tamamo-no-Mae - is a legendary figure in Japanese mythology. One of the stories explaining the legend comes from Muromachi period genre fiction called otogizōshi. In the otogizōshi Tamamo-no-Mae was a courtesan under the Japanese Emperor Konoe (who reigned from 1142 through 1155).

*Shogunate (Japanese the bakufu or shōgunshoku, the government of the shogun, or hereditary military dictator, of Japan from 1192 to 1867) - The term shogun appeared in various titles given to military commanders commissioned for the imperial government's 8th- and 9th-century. The highest warrior rank, seii taishōgun ("barbarian-quelling generalissimo"), was first attained by Sakanoue Tamuramaro, and the title (abbreviated as shogun) was later applied to all shogunate leaders. 

*Ashikaga shogunate (Ashikaga bakufu, 1336–1573), also known as the Muromachi shogunate (Muromachi bakufu), was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1338 to 1573.

*The Koka Ninja Clan -  consisted of 53 families with one head family and many subordinates. This organization was called "Gunchu Sou" and the ninja families all acted together as a single group. As for the Iga clan, there were a lot of schools like lone wolves. The most famous among them was Hattori(Hattori Hanzo).