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www.iganinja.jp

http://gojapan.about.com/cs/chuburegion4/a/ninja.htm

http://www.geocities.com/azuchiwind/iga.htm

http://www.warriorquest.com/historicalties.html

Tensho Iga No Ran was a battle in the Iga region that had a lot to do with Ninja Koga is also one of the areas where ninjas lived.

I was always told there was no such thing as Koga ninja at all anymore. No schools or nothing. Some even say Koga was totally made up. is this true?

ok maybe i can clear some of this up for you. i train under the to-shin do school led my stephen k. hayes. personal student to the grandmaster masaaki hatsumi. the ninja were hated by many of the samurai so most document were distroyed. there have been reports of both groups though. iga near present day tokyo, and koga near hokkaido. there are document supporting other groups though such as the kuki family who were actually pirates to start out with. they later became ninja and developed the kukishenden ryu style. if there are any other questions please feel free to ask me.

The Ninja weren't always used as spies and terrorists, They were mostly just a sect of highly trained martial artists until about the Edo period when the governement hired them due to their elite skills.

Hattori Hanzo

Hattori Hanzō (服部半蔵), also known as Masanari and as Masashige, was the son of a certain Hattori Yasunaga. Born a vassal of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan, Hanzo, who would earn the nickname Devil Hanzō, served Tokugawa Ieyasu loyally and usefully. His nickname was not only to pay homage to his skills but also to distinguish him from another Tokugawa ninja, Watanabe Hanzō. Hattori, who fought his first battle at the age of 16, went on to serve at the battles of Anegawa (1570) and Mikatagahara (1572), but his most valuable contribution came in 1582, following Oda Nobunaga's death.

At that time, Ieyasu and his retainers had been staying near Osaka and learned of the assassination only just in time to avoid being detained by Akechi Mitsuhide's troops. But they were not safe yet. Mikawa was still a long way away, and Akechi's men would be combing the roads for them. At this point, Hanzō suggested that they take a route through Iga Province, as he had ties with the samurai there. In addition, Ieyasu had sheltered survivors from Nobunaga's bloody invasion of that province in 1580 and those who knew of this would certainly be well disposed to offer assistance. Honda Tadakatsu sent Hanzō on ahead, and, as hoped, the Iga men agreed not only to guide them along back roads, but also to provide them with an escort. At length, Ieyasu and his band returned to Mikawa safely. The same could not be said for Anayama Beisetsu, a recent Tokugawa addition who had insisted on taking a different route.

Hanzō was succeded by his son, Masanari, who would be given the title Iwami-no-Kami and whose men would act as the guards of Edo Castle. Hanzō's reputation as a ninja leader who commanded a 200-man strong unit of Iga men has grown to legendary proportions.

To this day, artifacts of Hanzo's legacy remain; the Hanzo-mon subway line in Tokyo is named after him.

Detailed biography of Hattori Hanzo
Hanzō in Fiction

Hattori Hanzō is very widely depicted in games as an especially powerful and important ninja. In Kill Bill he appears as the maker of the best swords in the world.

In addition, Hanzō frequently appears in jidaigeki. Actor Shin'ichi (Sonny) Chiba played the role in the television series Kage no Gundan. Many films, specials and series on the life and times of Tokugawa Ieyasu depict the events detailed above. He is also featured prominently in SNK Playmore's video game series: Samurai Shodown.

Not realy what any one should know but why not.
http://ninjustice.blogspot.com/2005/12/famous-ninja-assassinations.html

History

Because ninja rarely left anything in writing or boasted of their achievements, the history of the ninja is mostly apocryphal and blatantly legendary, so the great majority of stories circulating about them are difficult to prove.

Historical examples of ninja are said to include Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who employed surprise as a major weapon in his victories. He is said in a popular folktale to have been educated by a tengu to learn tactics and became a ninja.

One of the earliest roots of ninja, Togakure Ryū, reportedly originated in the late Heian Period. Iga and Kōga are two of the most famous ninja styles, and are often pitted against each other in fiction. Some also say that they were allies and worked together in mutual defense pacts. Both of these claim that they originated in the Heian period.

Only a few records remain from the Kamakura period. Kusunoki Masashige used tactics against enemies that remotely resemble ninja tactics. From the Muromachi period there are even fewer records. Both of these times were generally peaceful, and many battles had tournament-like aspects that prevented surprise attacks. Somewhere in these time periods, bushido began to form as the proper and honorable way a samurai must follow. It would be well into the Edo period that bushido was finally formalized.

In the Sengoku Period, also known as the Warring States period, ninja supposedly flourished. Almost all famous daimyō are said by modern ninja schools to have had ninja, or a ninja-like group under his control and they served as eyes and ears. Some daimyō were reportedly ninja themselves. The clan of Sanada, the most famous member being Sanada Yukimura, was reportedly a ninja clan. This is attributed to the successful defense of their castle with approximately 3,000 soldiers against an overwhelming force of 50,000 led by Tokugawa Hidetada. Their tactics, which are said to have included splitting their house in two, one each supporting Toyotomi and Tokugawa in order to survive no matter which side finally won, has been the subject of much legendary discussion. Later, they would come to be called Sanada Jū Yushi, lit. Ten heroes under Sanada, in tales where they used ninja skills to defeat everything but their jealous wives (who were, of course, ninja themselves).

Tokugawa Ieyasu was claimed to have used ninja, controlling both Iga and Koga in unifying Japan and ultimately rising to the rank of Shogun. In his dramatic escape through the mountainous landscape of Nara after Oda's assassination, Iga ninja led by Hattori Hanzō allegedly helped Ieyasu escape, gaining his favor. The last battle where ninja reportedly fought is in the Siege of Shimabara under the Tokugawa shogunate. As the shogunate became stable, ninja were effectively unemployed. Some were said to have become Oniwabanshū, a semi-secret group of bodyguards and intelligence officers who worked tending gardens of the Edo castle and eavesdropping on the daimyō. A purported ninja master Fujibayashi Sabuji wrote Bansenshukai (万川集海) as a collection of ninja knowledge. Yet the stories go that most knowledge was still passed on through oral tradition and training, as most ninja believed that their services would soon be needed again. The peace of the Edo period continued for over 200 years.

In the Edo period, ninja became popular heroes in books and plays. Many mythical ninja powers such as becoming invisible, jumping over tall fences, casting spells and calling up a giant toad larger than a human were all invented in these fictitious accounts of ninja. Ninja did not correct these misconceptions and some may have even written these stories themselves to increase their value should their services be needed. One of the lesser known contributions made by ninja is their involvement in furthering the research of fireworks as a result of their development of pyrotechnic weaponry.

Few traces of Ninjutsu remain in Japan today, such as the Koka-ryu Ninjutsu Yashiki (Koka-ruy Nijutsu Palace) in Shiga, near Kyoto, which is mostly geared toward children, the Togakushi Chibikko Ninja-Mura (Kid's Togakushi Ninja-village), which is little more than an amusement park, and the The Iga-ryu Ninja Museum, which features the most comprehensive understanding of Ninjutsu.

Because ninja rarely left anything in writing or boasted of their achievements, the history of the ninja is mostly apocryphal and blatantly legendary, so the great majority of stories circulating about them are difficult to prove.

Historical examples of ninja are said to include Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who employed surprise as a major weapon in his victories. He is said in a popular folktale to have been educated by a tengu to learn tactics and became a ninja.

One of the earliest roots of ninja, Togakure Ryū, reportedly originated in the late Heian Period. Iga and Kōga are two of the most famous ninja styles, and are often pitted against each other in fiction. Some also say that they were allies and worked together in mutual defense pacts. Both of these claim that they originated in the Heian period.

Only a few records remain from the Kamakura period. Kusunoki Masashige used tactics against enemies that remotely resemble ninja tactics. From the Muromachi period there are even fewer records. Both of these times were generally peaceful, and many battles had tournament-like aspects that prevented surprise attacks. Somewhere in these time periods, bushido began to form as the proper and honorable way a samurai must follow. It would be well into the Edo period that bushido was finally formalized.

In the Sengoku Period, also known as the Warring States period, ninja supposedly flourished. Almost all famous daimyō are said by modern ninja schools to have had ninja, or a ninja-like group under his control and they served as eyes and ears. Some daimyō were reportedly ninja themselves. The clan of Sanada, the most famous member being Sanada Yukimura, was reportedly a ninja clan. This is attributed to the successful defense of their castle with approximately 3,000 soldiers against an overwhelming force of 50,000 led by Tokugawa Hidetada. Their tactics, which are said to have included splitting their house in two, one each supporting Toyotomi and Tokugawa in order to survive no matter which side finally won, has been the subject of much legendary discussion. Later, they would come to be called Sanada Jū Yushi, lit. Ten heroes under Sanada, in tales where they used ninja skills to defeat everything but their jealous wives (who were, of course, ninja themselves).

Tokugawa Ieyasu was claimed to have used ninja, controlling both Iga and Koga in unifying Japan and ultimately rising to the rank of Shogun. In his dramatic escape through the mountainous landscape of Nara after Oda's assassination, Iga ninja led by Hattori Hanzō allegedly helped Ieyasu escape, gaining his favor. The last battle where ninja reportedly fought is in the Siege of Shimabara under the Tokugawa shogunate. As the shogunate became stable, ninja were effectively unemployed. Some were said to have become Oniwabanshū, a semi-secret group of bodyguards and intelligence officers who worked tending gardens of the Edo castle and eavesdropping on the daimyō. A purported ninja master Fujibayashi Sabuji wrote Bansenshukai (万川集海) as a collection of ninja knowledge. Yet the stories go that most knowledge was still passed on through oral tradition and training, as most ninja believed that their services would soon be needed again. The peace of the Edo period continued for over 200 years.

In the Edo period, ninja became popular heroes in books and plays. Many mythical ninja powers such as becoming invisible, jumping over tall fences, casting spells and calling up a giant toad larger than a human were all invented in these fictitious accounts of ninja. Ninja did not correct these misconceptions and some may have even written these stories themselves to increase their value should their services be needed. One of the lesser known contributions made by ninja is their involvement in furthering the research of fireworks as a result of their development of pyrotechnic weaponry.

Few traces of Ninjutsu remain in Japan today, such as the Koka-ryu Ninjutsu Yashiki (Koka-ruy Nijutsu Palace) in Shiga, near Kyoto, which is mostly geared toward children, the Togakushi Chibikko Ninja-Mura (Kid's Togakushi Ninja-village), which is little more than an amusement park, and the The Iga-ryu Ninja Museum, which features the most comprehensive understanding of Ninjutsu.