Momochi Tamba, Ninja of Iga
One Of The Greatest Iga Ninja
Momochi Tamba was one of the top three Iga Ryu ninja, believed to be of Jonin rank in a commanding position, very highly trained and skilled in the arts. The only ninja said to equal or better him were the other Jonin ranked Fujibayashi Nagato and Hattori Yasunaga, father of Hattori Hanzo. The Momochi were a branch of the Hattori clan. The Hattori had temporarily left Iga to accept a position with the Matsudaira (Tokugawa) clan. In his place, Fujibayashi took over the Northern Iga ninja group, while Momochi Tamba took leadership of the Southern Iga groups. Each man had about 200~300 ninja below him.
Momochi wasn’t well known until the time of the Tensho Iga no Ran, a rebellion and battle that took place around 1581. There was barely any record of the man at all, everything was kept secret. He was born in either 1512, 1518 or 1525, was apparently a master with both the spear and the sword. His name may have also been Sandayu. Even the ninja working below him had no idea who he was. In fact, the man led a number of lives in order to maintain his secret. Momochi had three homes, one in Iga, another in Nabari, and a third in Nara. In each home, he maintained a separate family too.
In mid to late 1579, Oda Nobunaga’s son, Oda Nobukatsu Lord of Ise, coveted Iga Province as well as Ise, and launched an unsuccessful attack that was repelled by the guerilla tactics of the warriors of Iga. The second attack, better remembered as THE Tensho Iga no Ran happened two years later in 1581. Nobunaga would again send his son to attack Iga, leading to the war. This time, 42,000 Oda troops were sent to quell the 90,000 Iga defenders.
The Oda troops surrounded the small province of Iga. 10,000 men under Oda Nobukatsu entered via the Aoyama Pass, 12,000 samurai under the command of Niwa Nagahide and Takigawa Nobusumi entered from Tsuge, Hori Hidemasa led 2,300 men from Tarao, Gamo Ujisato and Wakisaka Yasuharu led a joint force of 7,000 from Tamataki, Another 7,000 approached from Hase under Asano Nagamasa, and 3,700 samurai led by Tsutsui Junkei made their move from Kasama. The Oda forces used one of Nobunaga’s favored psychological shock tactics as they advanced; burning and destroying shrines, temples and castles along the way.
Momochi Tamba was believed to have been in Nabari at Kashiwara Castle with about 700 ninja when the Oda forces attacked and took the castle on October 8, 1581. Momochi Tamba was most probably killed in the fighting, as he was never heard from again (although there were rumors he escaped and lived out his years as a farmer in Kii Province). The castle garrison surrendered, bringing the war to an end.
A third Tenshu Iga Rebellion would occur in 1582, following the death of Nobunaga, but was a small skirmish and had little influence.
The old Momochi Tamba ninja training grounds were said to have been located in the vicinity of Marugata Pond, near Iga City’s Eiho-Ji Temple. About 10km east of the current Iga Ueno castle is the remains of Momochi Fortress, a small castle said to have been owned by Momochi Tamba, and a memorial stone to one of the greatest Iga Ninja.
The Momochi clan home remains standing to this day in the Iga area, but the descendants of the famous warrior refuse to allow visitors to their home and very rarely speak to the public, preferring to maintain their privacy — like the ninja of old.
Nice sharp photos Chris. Are they all phone pics?
Speaking of Ninja, how many episodes of “Ninja Truth” did you film?