In the Japanese history, a ninja (忍者, ninja^?) was someone specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. The written history of Japan begins with brief references in the 1st century AD Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of Chinese historical texts War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units The methods used by ninja included assassination, espionage, and a variety of martial arts. AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for Combat.

Their exact origins are still unknown. Their roles may have included sabotage, espionage, scouting and assassination missions as a way to destabilize and cause social chaos in enemy territory or against an opposing ruler, perhaps in the service of their feudal rulers (daimyo, shogun), or an underground ninja organization waging guerilla warfare. Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy oppressor or employer through subversion obstruction disruption and/or destruction Reconnaissance (also scouting) is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings is a military rank and historical title in Japan. The Japanese word for "general" it is made up of two Kanji words sho, meaning "commander" Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Historical period of origin 3 Historical organization 4 Historical garb, technique, and image 5 Associated equipment 5.1 Specialized weapons and tactics 6 In popular culture 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

Etymology

Ninja is the on'yomi reading of the two kanji 忍者 used to write shinobi-no-mono (忍の者), which is the native Japanese word for people who practice ninjutsu (忍術, sometimes erroneously transliterated as ninjitsu). are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with Hiragana (ひらがな 平仮名 Katakana is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities sometimes used interchangeably with the term is the Martial art, Strategy, and Tactics of Unconventional warfare and Guerilla warfare practiced Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice The term shinobi (historically sino₂bi₂ written with the Man'yōgana 志能備), has been traced as far back as the late 8th century when Heguri Uji no Iratsume wrote a poem^[1][2] to Ōtomo no Yakamochi. Old Japanese is the old stage of the Japanese language. The stage in and before Nara period is called. is an ancient Writing system which employs Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. The 8th century is the period from 701 to 800 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. (c 718 &ndash October 5, 785) was a Japanese statesman and waka poet in the Nara period. The underlying connotation of shinobi (忍) means "to steal away" and—by extension—"to forbear," hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (者, likewise pronounced sha or ja) means a "person. "

The word ninja became popular in the post-World War II culture. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The nin of ninjutsu is the same as that in ninja, whereas jutsu (術) means skill or art, so ninjutsu means "the skill of going unperceived" or "the art of stealth"; hence, ninja and shinobi-no-mono (as well as shinobi) may be translated as "one skilled in the art of stealth and almost being unseen. " Similarly, the pre-war word ninjutsu-zukai means "one who uses the art of remaining unperceived. "

Other terms which may be used include oniwaban (お庭番 "one in the garden"), suppa, rappa, mitsumono, kusa (草 grass) and Iga-mono ("one from Iga"). The Oniwabanshū (お庭番衆 was a group of Ninja and Onmitsu established by the 8th Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, who was considered

In English language, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese language's lack of grammatical number, or the regular English plural ninjas. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States In linguistics grammatical number is a Grammatical category of nouns pronouns and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions (such as "one" ^[3]

Historical period of origin

The ninja use of stealth tactics against better-armed enemy samurai does not mean that they were limited to espionage and undercover work: that is simply where their actions most notably differed from the more accepted tactics of samurai. is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. Their weapons and tactics were partially derived from the need to conceal or defend themselves quickly from samurai, which can be seen from the similarities between many of their weapons and various sickles and threshing tools used at the time. A sickle is a hand-held Agricultural Tool with a curved Blade typically used for harvesting grain crop or cutting grass for Hay. ^[4]

Ninja as a group first began to be written about in 15th century feudal Japan as martial organizations predominately in the regions of Iga and Koga of central Japan, though the practice of guerrilla warfare and undercover espionage operations goes back much further. was an old province of Japan in the area that is today western Mie Prefecture. is a city located in the southern part of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc

At this time, the conflicts between the clans of daimyo that controlled small regions of land had established guerrilla warfare and assassination as a valuable alternative to frontal assault. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings Since Bushido, the Samurai Code, forbade such tactics as dishonorable, a daimyo could not expect his own troops to perform the tasks required; thus, he had to buy or broker the assistance of ninja to perform selective strikes, espionage, assassination, and infiltration of enemy strongholds.

There are a few people and groups of people regarded as having been potential historical ninja from approximately the same time period. It is rumored that some of the higher-ranking daimyos and shoguns were in fact ninja, and exploited their role as ninja-hunters to deflect suspicion and obscure their participation in the 'dishonorable' ninja methods and training.

Though typically classified as assassins, many of the ninja were warriors in all senses. In Stephen K. Hayes's book, Mystic Arts of the Ninja, Master Troicuk (pronounced troycock), one of the most well-known ninja, is depicted in armor similar to that of a samurai. Stephen K Hayes (born September 9, 1949 in Delaware) is a martial arts teacher and author of over fifteen books Hayes also says that those who ended up recording the history of the ninja were typically those within positions of power in the military dictatorships, and that students of history should realize that the history of the ninja was kept by observers writing about their activities as seen from the outside.

"Ninjutsu did not come into being as a specific well defined art in the first place, and many centuries passed before ninjutsu was established as an independent system of knowledge in its own right. sometimes used interchangeably with the term is the Martial art, Strategy, and Tactics of Unconventional warfare and Guerilla warfare practiced Ninjutsu developed as a highly illegal counter culture to the ruling samurai elite, and for this reason alone, the origins of the art were shrouded by centuries of mystery, concealment, and deliberate confusion of history. "^[5]

A similar account is given by Hayes: "The predecessors of Japan's ninja were so-called rebels favoring Buddhism who fled into the mountains near Kyoto as early as the 7th century A. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices (IPA /kʲoːto / is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. D. to escape religious persecution and death at the hands of imperial forces. "^[6]

Historical organization

In their history, ninja groups were small and structured around families and villages, later developing a more martial hierarchy that was able to mesh more closely with that of samurai and the daimyo. These certain ninjutsu trained groups were set in these villages for protection against raiders and robbers.

"Ninja museums" in Japan declare women to have been ninjas as well. A female ninja may be kunoichi (くノ一); the characters are derived from the strokes that make up the kanji for female (女). Kunoichi (くノ一 is the term for a female Ninja or practitioner of Ninpo. They were sometimes depicted as spies who learned the secrets of an enemy by seduction; though it's just as likely they were employed as household servants, putting them in a position to overhear potentially valuable information.

As a martial organization, ninja would have had many rules, and keeping secret the ninja's clan and the daimyo who gave them their orders would have been one of the most important ones.

For modern hierarchy in ninjutsu, see Ninjutsu. sometimes used interchangeably with the term is the Martial art, Strategy, and Tactics of Unconventional warfare and Guerilla warfare practiced

Historical garb, technique, and image

There is no evidence that historical ninja limited themselves to all-black suits. In modern times, camouflage based upon dark colors such as dark red and dark blue is known to give better concealment at night. Camouflage is a method of cryptic or concealing coloration that allows an otherwise visible Organism Some cloaks may have been reversible: dark colored on the outside for concealment during the night, and white colored on the inside for concealment in the snow. Some ninja may have worn the same armor or clothing as samurai or Japanese peasants.

The stereotypical ninja that continually wears easily identifiable black outfits (shinobi shozoku) comes from the Kabuki theater. The Shinobi shozoku is a type of dark-coloured Keikogi clothing traditionally worn by practitioners of the Japanese Martial art of Ninjutsu is a form of traditional Japanese theatre. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate Make-up worn by some of its performers [1] 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 that willing suspension of disbelief, ninja characters also came to be portrayed in the theater as wearing similar all-black suits. Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is an aesthetic theory intended to characterize people's relationships to art This either implied to the audience that 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.

Ninja boots (jika-tabi), like much of the rest of Japanese footwear from the time, have a split-toe design that improves gripping and wall/rope climbing. Jika-Tabi (地下足袋 " Tabi that contact the ground" are a type of heavy-duty footwear worn in Japan They are soft enough to be virtually silent. Ninja also attached special spikes to the bottoms of the boots called ashiko.

The actual head covering suggested by Sōke Masaaki Hatsumi (in his book The Way of the Ninja: Secret Techniques) utilizes what is referred to as sanjaku-tenugui, (three-foot cloths). Masaaki Hatsumi (初見良昭 Hatsumi Masaaki, born December 2, 1931) is the founder and current Soke, or It involves the tying of two three-foot cloths around the head in such a way as to make the mask flexible in configuration but securely bound. Some wear a long robe, most of the time dark blue (紺色 kon'iro) for stealth.

Associated equipment

The assassination, espionage, and infiltration tasks of the ninja led to the development of specialized technology in concealable weapons and infiltration tools.

Specialized weapons and tactics

Ninja also employed a variety of weapons and tricks using gunpowder. Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Smoke bombs and firecrackers were widely used to aid an escape or create a diversion for an attack. A smoke bomb is a Firework designed to produce Smoke upon ignition They used timed fuses to delay explosions. Ōzutsu (cannons) they constructed could be used to launch fiery sparks as well as projectiles at a target. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural Small "bombs" called metsubushi (目潰し, "eye closers") were filled with sand and sometimes metal dust. This sand would be carried in bamboo segments or in hollowed eggs and thrown at someone, the shell would crack, and the assailant would be blinded. Even land mines were constructed that used a mechanical fuse or a lit, oil-soaked string. Secrets of making desirable mixes of gunpowder were strictly guarded in many ninja clans.

Other forms of trickery were said to be used for escaping and combat. Ashiaro are wooden pads attached to the ninja's tabi (thick socks with a separate "toe" for bigger toe; used with sandals). are traditional Japanese Socks Ankle high and with a separation between the big toe and other toes they are worn by both men and women with Zori, geta The ashiaro would be carved to look like an animal's paw, or a child's foot, allowing the ninja to leave tracks that most likely would not be noticed.

Also a small ring worn on a ninja's finger called a shobo would be used for hand-to-hand combat. A shobo is a weapon similar to the Emei piercer of China which was used by the Ninja of Japan for striking Pressure points on an opponent The shobo (or as known in many styles of ninjutsu, the shabo) would have a small notch of wood used to hit assailant's pressure points for sharp pain, sometimes causing temporary paralysis. A pressure point in the field of Martial arts represents an area on the human body that when contacted produces significant pain or some other effect A suntetsu is very similar to a shobo. The is a Japanese concealed weaponA Suntetsu is a metal rod/spike about 6 inches in length with a ring attached to it It could be a small oval shaped piece of wood affixed to the finger by a small strap. The suntetsu would be held against a finger (mostly middle) on the palm-side and when the hand was thrust at an opponent using the longer piece of wood to target pressure points such as the solar plexus. The celiac plexus (also known as the solar plexus) is a complex network of nerves (a Plexus) located in the abdomen

Ninja also used special short swords called ninjato, or shinobigatana. The, also known as or, is the most common name for the reputed sword a Ninja would have carried Ninjato are smaller than katana but larger than wakizashi. A is a type of Japanese sword ( nihontō) and often is called a "samurai sword The (meaning "side arm" is a traditional Japanese sword with a Shōtō blade between 30 and 60 cm (12 and 24 inches with an average of 50 cm (20 inches The ninjato was often more of a utilitarian tool than a weapon, not having the complex heat treatment of a usual weapon. Another version of the ninja sword was the shikoro ken (saw sword). The shikoro ken was said to be used to gain entry into buildings, and could also have a double use by cutting (or slashing in this case) opponents. The shuriken is a weapon that was essentially created from popular culture. It was almost never used by actual ninjas.

Many Ninja disgused themselves as farmers so that there weapons (The Kama) could be used as weapons and farming implements, There shurikens were also coated with poison so that when In direct combat with another the Ninja could throw the shuriken and the injury would seem minor but if left untreated (Depending on the Strength of the Poison) it could be fatal.

In popular culture

Main article: Ninja in popular culture

Ninja appear in both Japanese and Western fiction. Ninja are common Stock characters in both Japanese and international Popular culture. The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings Depictions range from realistic to the fantastically exaggerated.

• The hit franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) originally was intended to satirize the characterizations of ninja in the Western comics, primarily drawing on the fictionalized representations created by Frank Miller in the Marvel Universe comics. Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American Writer, Artist and Film director best known for his dark The Marvel Universe is the fictional Shared universe where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place

• Ninja anime franchise Naruto is an international hit of the 2000s. (anime in Japanese, is an ongoing Japanese Manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto with an Anime adaptation

• Many sources, including books, television, movies, and websites portray ninja in non-factual ways, often for humor or entertainment.

• More popular western fictional ninja have appeared in the popular 1980's ninja-oriented films of Japanese actor and martial artist Sho Kosugi, the American Ninja series, and the TMNT franchise, among others. Sho Kosugi, born is a Japanese martial artist with training in Ninjutsu who gained popularity as an Actor during the 1980s usually playing American Ninja is a Ninja Action film produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus 's Cannon Films.

• Ninja frequently appear in videogames, where they have gained as strong a following among gamers as they have among movie-goers.

Notes

1. ^ Takagi, Man'yōshū poem #3940; page 191
2. ^ Satake, Man'yōshū poem #3940; page 108
3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. is the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime in the Nara or early Heian periods The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's is the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime in the Nara or early Heian periods The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English ; American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language ( AHD) is an American Dictionary of the English language published by ; Dictionary. com Unabridged (v 1. 1).
4. ^ 'Ninja?' What is this 'Ninja?'; last accessed May 28, 2008
5. ^ The Historical Ninja (PDF); last accessed May 28, 2008
6. ^ Ninjutsu: The Art of Invisibility (Google Books); last accessed May 28, 2008

References

External links

• Iga Ninja Museum
• How Ninja Work at How Stuff Works
• History of the concept of the Ninja, especially in theatre
• Primary Ninja weapons

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