Overview

Fujita Seiko (藤田西湖, 1899–1965) was a Japanese martial artist, researcher, author, lecturer, and public demonstrator whose work encompassed ninjutsu, classical martial traditions, physical training, and the investigation of extraordinary physical and mental practices. He was widely known during his lifetime through books, magazine and newspaper articles, lectures, radio appearances, demonstrations, and his extensive research into Japanese martial culture. Fujita also used the name Fujita Isamu (藤田勇), while Fujita Yūji (藤田勇治) appears as his legal recorded name.

Fujita described himself as the fourteenth-generation inheritor of Kōga-ryū Wada-ha ninjutsu. Rather than presenting ninjutsu simply as mysterious or supernatural techniques, much of his published work emphasized practical knowledge, observation, strategy, physical and mental training, adaptability, and the intelligent use of one's surroundings. His publications form an important body of twentieth-century Japanese writing on ninjutsu and the martial arts.

Fujita's activities extended well beyond ninjutsu. He researched and practiced numerous martial and physical disciplines, investigated claims involving unusual human abilities, collected historical martial-arts material, and maintained relationships with other important martial artists and researchers of his era. During the prewar, wartime, and postwar periods he continued to write, lecture, demonstrate, and preserve material relating to Japanese martial traditions. His surviving books, articles, photographs, correspondence, and research collection remain important primary resources for studying both Fujita himself and the development of modern ninjutsu literature.