Ninjas in popular culture


Ninjas are historically known as Japanese spies, assassins, or thieves who formed their own caste outside the usual feudal divisions of lords, and samurai serfs. They are often used as stock characters in Japanese and world popular culture.

History

The ninja first entered popular culture in the Edo period. In modern Japan, ninjas are a national myth that stems from folk tales and continues through modern day popular culture. Though many Japanese warriors performed amazing feats, there is no evidence that any of them were supernatural. Some of folk tales are based on historical figures, such as a daimyō challenging a ninja to prove his worth by stealing his pillow or weapon while he slept.
Ninja-themed international media franchises include the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Naruto manga and anime series.

Legendary abilities

or supernatural powers were sometimes associated with the ninja. Such powers include flight, invisibility, shapeshifting, the ability to "split" into multiple bodies, the summoning of animals, and control over the five classical elements. These notions stemmed from popular imagination regarding the ninja's mysterious status, as well as romantic ideas found in later Japanese art during the Edo period. Magical powers were sometimes rooted in the ninja's own efforts to disseminate fanciful information. For example, Nakagawa Shoshujin, the 17th-century founder of Nakagawa-ryū, or martial art style, claimed in his own writings that he had the ability to transform into birds and animals.
Perceived control over the elements may be grounded in real tactics, which were categorized by association with forces of nature. For example, the practice of starting fires in order to cover a ninja's trail falls under katon-no-jutsu.
'' seal, which allows him to transform into a giant rat. Woodblock print on paper. Kunisada, 1857.
The ninja's adaption of kites in espionage and warfare is another subject of legends. Accounts exist of ninjas being lifted into the air by kites, where they flew over hostile terrain and descended into or dropped bombs on enemy territory. Kites were indeed used in Japanese warfare, but mostly for the purpose of sending messages and relaying signals. Turnbull suggests that kites lifting a man into midair might have been technically feasible, but states that the use of kites to form a human "hang glider" falls squarely in the realm of fantasy.

Kuji-kiri

Kuji-kiri is an esoteric religious practice which, when performed with an array of specified hand "seals", or gestures, was meant to allow the ninja to interact with the spirit world and allow them to perform superhuman feats.
The kuji is a concept originating from Taoism, where it was a string of nine words used in charms and incantations. In China, this tradition mixed with Buddhist beliefs, assigning each of the nine words to a Buddhist deity. The kuji may have arrived in Japan via Buddhism,8-11rp|13rp|24–27rp|24–25rp|31–33rp|31Citation needed|date=March 2019

1998 East Java ninja scare

The 1998 East Java ninja scare was an outbreak of mass hysteria in East Java, Indonesia, in which the local population believed they were being targeted by sorcerers known as ninja, who were blamed for mysterious killings of religious leaders by assassins dressed in black. As many as 150-300 “sorcerers” were killed between February and October, with the most deaths occurring between August and September.

Armed groups

Several real life paramilitary, police and militia groups use the names "Ninja" or "Ninjas":
According to Indeed.com, there was a 7,000-percent increase in the number of job listings with the word "ninja" from 2006 to 2012. A former Russian soldier who committed robberies in Italy in black attire and a bow was called a "Russian ninja" by the BBC. The video-game series Tenchu was adapted for the Japanese stage. In 2006, Miss Japan Kurara Chibana appeared in a ninja-samurai costume for the Miss Universe competition. Goth Ninja, a type of Japanese street fashion, became popular in 2009.
In information technology, "cyber ninja" are sophisticated counter-hackers.

Business

, the annual ninja festival in Iga in the former province of Iga, has had ninja-inspired performances, competitions and opportunities to practice ninja skills since 1964.

Attractions

Other ninja attractions in Japan include the Koga Ninja Village and Kogaryu Ninjutsu Yashiki in Koga-gun, Shiga Prefecture, the Togakushi Ninja Village for children, the Togakushi Ninpo Museum and Karakuri Yashiki in Togakushi, Nagano, the Edo Wonderland theme park in Nikkō, Tochigi and the restaurants Men no Sato and Ninja Akasaka in Tokyo and Ninja Kyoto in Kyoto.

Examples

Anime and manga

The following stories contain a ninja character, but are not ninja-themed:

Games

Video games

In addition to video games, several game-development companies use "ninja" in their name: Ninja Studio, Ninja Theory, Ninjaforce, NinjaKiwi, and Team Ninja. In massively multiplayer online role-playing games, "ninja", "loot ninja" or "ninja looter" pejoratively describes a player who has stolen something from another player.

Traditional games

Novels

Ninja-themed novels include:

Series