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A ninja (Japanese: 忍者; [ɲiꜜɲdʑa]) or shinobi (Japanese: 忍び; ) was a covert agent, mercenary, or guerrilla warfare expert in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration , ambush , reconnaissance , espionage, deception , and later bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts , including ninjutsu ...
The ninja used their art to ensure their survival in a time of violent political turmoil. Ninjutsu included methods of gathering information and techniques of non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection. Ninjutsu involved training in disguise, escape, concealment, archery, and medicine. Skills relating to espionage and assassination were highly ...
By the mid-1960s, there were numerous popular ninja-themed media produced in Japan and it became popular for Japanese children to wear ninja costumes. [10] During this second boom, some of the Japanese ninja-themed media were exported to several international markets such as Australia and Italy, but did not reach North America. [8]
The ninja of the Iga-ryū was also divided into different "classes" and ranks, based solely on the ninja's skill level. This hierarchy was simplified in the writings of the mid-20th-century author Heishichiro Okuse, who labeled them into three general categories: "jonin (upper ninja)", "chūnin (middle ninja)", and "genin (lower ninja)".
Shinobu (しのぶ) is a Japanese verb meaning "recall" (偲ぶ) or "stealth/endure" (忍ぶ).It is a Japanese given name used by either sex. Shinobu is also the dictionary form of shinobi, which can be combined with mono (者) to make shinobi no mono (忍びの者), an alternative name of ninja.
Historically, there is no evidence for the existence of this "katana-like short sword legendarily used by ninja" before the 20th century. [12] Instead, the designs demonstrated by alleged replicas may be based on the design of wakizashi or chokutō swords or the swords associated with ashigaru—common infantrymen with no "ninja" aspects. [1]
Kunoichi (Japanese: くノ一, also くのいち or クノイチ) is a Japanese term for "woman" (女, onna). [1] [2] In popular culture, it is often used for female ninja or practitioner of ninjutsu (ninpo). The term was largely popularized by novelist Futaro Yamada in his novel Ninpō Hakkenden (忍法八犬伝) in 1964. [1]
Sarutobi Sasuke's image has been very influential in ninja fiction, in which he is usually portrayed as a young boy. The character was immortalized in contemporary Japanese culture by the popular Tachikawa Bunko (Pocket Books) children's literature between 1911 and 1925, [10] [11] as well as in Sarutobi Sasuke, one of the more famous gag manga by Shigeru Sugiura from the 1950s (followed by ...