Historically speaking, was it possible to be both a samurai and a ninja at the same time?

Question

I've heard that some, besides their duties as a samurai, also secretly acted as ninjas in service to their lords... is that true?

Answer 1

It is possible, but it is a contradiction. A Samaria believed in honor in victory and defeat, thus killing someone in the shadows would be a contradiction to the code.

Answer 2

No. The samurai were part of the aristocracy while the ninja were part of the underworld and marginalized.

In Japan you spent your whole life since birth to be a samurai and you spent your whole life since birth to be a ninja. All the samurai came from samurai families and could prove their lineage with documentation. The ninja sometimes had similar documentation but only within ninja families.

Don't forget that Samurai lords would sometimes contract the ninjas as spies, so the samurai knew the difference between a real samurai and a poser. You really wouldn't want to be caught pretending to be a samurai.

Answer 3

Yes. While the Samurai were of a higher class, some who became Ronin, fled into the wilderness of Japan. The ninja in the Iga and Koga provinces, needed a way to protect themselves ( they were just farmers and what not), the Ronin would pass on their training, and the ninja also learned from the Shugendo (warrior monks). When in battle the ninja used unconventional techniques and weapons to win.

Hanzo Hattori, was a Samurai, and a high-ranking Iga Ryu Ninja, and helped the Shogun Tokugawa out of rough spot. Tokugawa was so impressed that he made Hattori, the head of his secret police, which consisted of Iga (and possibly Koga) ninja, when not working on assignment for the Shogun they roamed the castle grounds working as gardners or whatever other skills they had.

Answer 4

they are one in the same, each with it's separate path but one in the same. Like Catholics and Protestants. A Ninja serves his master as does a Samurai. Usually a Samurai defends ones person or castle while a Ninja is espionage and attack oriented.
A Ninja has the theory of deception to overcome as a Samurai has direct Honor. A Ninja will retreat to fight another day, a Samurai would continue to his death. Both based in honor, just that as a defender the Samurais way is better, and as an aggressor the Ninjas.
And they have been both used with great success and still are regardless of name or organization.
A Marine is a form of Samurai
A Navy Seal a Ninja
This is the easiest modern day way to explain the concept of Ninja and Samurai
Marines are a part of the Navy as are the Seals
Just a Marine will be expendable in practice and is taught to do so if need be. US Marines are a great example of ancient Samurai Courage and Discipline.
A Seal is taught survival, espionage and counter espionage, , amoungst many other things. Both are under the Department of the Navy
as a Ninja and Samurai were under their Shogun or Master.
As far as family only entrance to Ninja studies, not true. To be a Master Ninja or Clan Director so to speak would take lineage as they were under a family named tradition and to be part of that very family carried alot of weight as it still does today regardless of style. Look at the Senior Gracie he is not a good fighter anymore, but still respected as more. It is the family name.
Ninjas were as Samurai etc, people choosing a path or born into it, either being capable of being a Warrior in either path regardless of namesake.

Answer 5

I don't know if we got that info from the same source but I watched on the history channel a documentary that said Ninjas & Samurai were one in the same. However since I love world history and Martial Arts history I can honestly say that no the were not. Samurai were like the 'knights' of Japan who served warlords and the Shogun. Ninjas lived as outcasts of society in the mountains and were 'assasins for hire'. They are total opposites from eachother. It has been 'documented' in history that when a ninja infiltrated a castle he was dressed as a gardener and little by little he eventually got to his target. There is no evidence that a ninja ever dressed up like a samurai. Also Ninjas could be women (who would use sex as a weapon) but women couldn't be samurai.

Answer 6

Samurai have an prolonged history in provider, and without this they became Ronin or Rouge, via fact the call implys to serve. Nagashima the way of the Samurai is an incredible thank you to study with regard to the classic samurai. lookup Steven Hayes as he has alot of actual Ninja understanding. a real and funky fact with regard to the classic Ninja is they stored the corrupt officals in line as you in no way knew in the event that they might come knocking. in case you will possibly want to work out some extremely modern Samurai skills lookup Shim Gum Do , that's Korean - yet is Monk Sword play based in Samurai custom and talents stated as Gum Do way of the sword. Very Cool stuff, and you will stay there for a small cost and grow to be an marvelous swordsman in a quick time. that's in backyard Grove, little Saigon area. have faith me the sword skills are dazzling. The hand obtainable, nicely that's ok. i admire submission varieties extra advantageous than boxing, yet that's merely me.

Answer 7

Yes, Hattori Hanzo was a retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu and what would be considered a "ninja". Samurai is a social class, ninja is a job. So if your lord tells you that you are his assassin/spy then that's what you are. If your lord tells you that you are to be his accountant, then you would be a samurai accountant. Bushido doesn't really enter into it because ninja were a Sengoku era phenomenon, and Bushido wasn't codified until much later. Fact and fiction have been mixed up for a long time when it comes to "ninja".

Answer 8

To add to the above, it was thought that some Samurai were the first few ninja. There is book detailing this, the name escapes me. Here is the thought, they walk into an enemy lords house, walking with purpose, tell the guards there is a distrurbance then attack once inside. They use deception to get to the heart of the matter. They have not disobeyd Bushido code (which was written after the Samurai were established), they were acting inline by avenging their lord.
As far as honor goes, there is a lot more freedom than is being given. If you were not a samurai (class in society) you were beneath them. Feel free to site anything to counter me.

Answer 9

probably. Ninjas were notorious for being able to best a samurai, and ninjas did conceal themselves by taking on various jobs and lifestyles.

So it is likely that ninjas may have disguised themselves as samurai, and hence be a samurai.

I don't think a samurai can become a ninja; ninjas become ninjas through family lineage.

The lord would still hire the ninja, as many did, and probably asked them to pose as samurai.

Answer 10

A Samurai would never work as a Ninja; it was contrary to everything the Samurai believed and held dear. A Ronin on the other hand might have worked as a Ninja, but again that is unlikely.

Answer 11

Not only is it likely, it is probable. Everyone I have read is reading your question wrong. Since ninja and samurai were enemies, ninja learned the way of the samurai so as to learn how to defeat them. Therefore, the ninja also had knowledge and skill of the samurai. Now, since the ninjas' primary objective was spying, they would sometimes have to become a samurai in order to get information from them and their lord in order to bring that information back to his or her own ninja clan.