What is a Ninja???

The short version of the origin of the Ninja, retold many times in books and on film, goes something like this:

The Ninja arts originated in ancient China, then traveled to Japan during the Tang Dynasty. The Japanese developed the Ninja arts to the utmost, creating deadly assassins, who can enter any place undetected and strike when least expected.

Which unfortunately seems to be complete nonsense. So we have to go back, and look into the history books, to see just what they're talking about in the passage above, and not only that to see what a more fact-based history of the Ninja might look like.

And before we do that, we need to define some terms. Just what is a ninja, anyway? The word itself derives from the Japanese Shinobi-no-mono, which is written with two kanji characters that can also be pronounced as nin-sha, if the Chinese pronunciation is used instead. The first character, nin, suggests concealment, while the second, sha, means person. Ninja: a person who hides his presence. In Japanese, the word is applied to a person who does covert, military operations.

We cannot leave the term with such a broad definition, though, else the CIA, the FBI, and the marines could all be considered ninjas. And though I'm sure there are many marines who would like to believe that they are, I'm afraid it just isn't so. When speaking of the Ninja, then, we also imply that they are a secret organization, fraternity, or clan, whose skills and knowledge have been passed down in secrecy from generation to generation.

In sum, to be considered a ninja, as we understand it through popular entertainment and modern ninjutsu masters, a ninja must:

1. practice the art of concealment
2. engage in covert military operations
3. belong to a secret fraternity of ninja
4. wear black, and lots of it.

Ninjas Are Rad

Everyone wants to be a ninja!

Here you can see the widely accepted timeline of ninja history, some may find it silly... PSSH!!!

Ninja Timeline

AWESOME NINJA TESTIMONIAL

Testimonial:

Ninjas can kill anyone they want! Ninjas cut off heads ALL the time and don't even think twice about it. These guys are so crazy and awesome that they flip out ALL the time. I heard that there was this ninja who was eating at a diner. And when some dude dropped a spoon the ninja killed the whole town. My friend Mark said that he saw a ninja totally uppercut some kid just because the kid opened a window.

And that's what I call REAL Ultimate Power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don't believe that ninjas have REAL Ultimate Power you better get a life right now or they will chop your head off!!! It's an easy choice, if you ask me.

Ninjas are sooooooooooo sweet that I want to crap my pants. I can't believe it sometimes, but I feel it inside my heart. These guys are totally awesome and that's a fact. Ninjas are fast, smooth, cool, strong, powerful, and sweet. I can't wait to start yoga next year. I love ninjas with all of my body (including my pee pee)

Prince Yamato of Japan is often considered the first ninja, although he didn't adopt the stealthy tactics.

Ninja's Organization

Ninja's, at first, were structured around friends and family in more tightly woven circles, later in their history they became structured more like samurai and developed a martial hierarchy. Although most believe that their were only male ninjas, Japanese ninja museums claim there to have been female ninjas as well. These female ninjas were often times spies who gained the enemy's trust and learned their secrets through seduction.

Ninjas in Pop-Culture

Ninjas appear frequently in modern culture such as books, movies, video games, and television.

These sources often portray ninja in non-factual ways for humor or entertainment

Depictions range from realistic

to the fantastically exaggerated

Ninja's Appearance

The stereotypical ninja that continually wears easily identifiable black outfits comes from the kabuki theater. Prop handlers would dress in black and move props around on the stage. The audience would obviously see the prop handlers, but would pretend they were invisible. Building on suspension of disbelief, ninja characters also came to be portrayed in the theatre as wearing similar all-black suits. This either implied to the audience the ninja were also invisible, or simply made the audience unable to tell a ninja character from many prop handlers until the ninja character distinguished himself from the other stagehands with a scripted attack or assassination.