Ninja Experience in Kyoto (Family & Kid Friendly)

A Brief History of the Ninja

The ninjas, also called shinobi, were covert agents, spies, and mercenaries during the feudal periods in Japan in the 15th century and as early as the 12th century. They were tasked to perform espionage, surprise attacks, and undercover warfare which was deemed beneath the honor of the samurai, the ruling class at the time.

The ninjas, unlike the samurai, were normally common folk or farmers by day who were hired as mercenaries and spies at night. The lack of records of their origins along with their undercover work gained the ninjas a reputation of being mysterious enough that rumors believed that they possessed supernatural powers and abilities. Folklores along with popular media even portray the ninjas as being able to fly, become invisible, walk on water, shapeshift, and even be able to control the elements of nature.

The existing records of the ninjas were only passed down through generations, and any historical records are extremely rare! Ninjas were typically born into the tradition, carrying on the secrets and missions of their predecessors.

Their training starts from childhood, similar to the samurai. However, the samurai follow the Bushido code of honor while the ninjas did not have any such thing.

There were two clans, the Iga and Koga clans in the modern-day Mie Prefecture that had entire villages dedicated to training professional ninjas. They were so good at what they do that the great Oda Nobunaga marked the Iga clan as a threat and almost completely wiped the area.

A famous ninja, Hattori Hanzo, was one of the ninjas from the Iga clan who survived and became a bodyguard for Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Some Fast Facts about the Ninja

• The only way to become a ninja was to be born in Iga or Koga clans.
• Ninjas could tell the time by just looking at a cat’s eyes.
• Ninjas used the fukiya or blowgun tubes as snorkels when they have to hide in the rivers or lakes
• Recovered ninja manuals focused on avoiding detection and how to escape if captured. Most ninja skills and training were passed down from generation to generation and started at an early age.
• Ninjas had vegetarian diets to avoid having body odor.
• Some parts of ninja education consist of physical training, martial arts, climbing techniques, and castle infiltration.
• Rumors and folklore believe that ninjas could walk on water!