How Japan’s ninjas get their kicks: as a tourist gimmick
Commercialisation of the ancient martial art means origami weapons and the launch of a ‘ninja academy’
FOR a samurai-era ninja in Japan, a day’s work might have included covert espionage, high-flying acrobatics and perhaps even the assassination of a feudal enemy. But now the country has handed its modern ninjas a more pedestrian task: to woo tourists.
The Japan Ninja Council, a government-backed organisation of scholars, tourism groups and businesses, yesterday launched an academy to train people in the martial art, and a new museum in Tokyo devoted to ninja, set to open in 2018.
“The art of ninja is made up of various elements, such as combat, survival techniques and astronomy,” Jinichi Kawakami, known as “the last ninja” and a master of the Koga ninja school, told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
“We hope this will appeal to people all over the world.”
The council, set up in 2015, has created an official logo for certified products and movies to nurture what it called the “ninja business”, and it hopes to educate “ninja ambassadors” to promote the culture globally.
The first certified product is an origami, or folding paper, for messages shaped like a shuriken, the star-shaped bladed weapons thrown by ninjas.
Hiroshi Mizohata, council vice president, who heads the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau, shrugged off questions about commercialising tradition.
Dressed in a black ninja outfit, he stressed that ninja fun is good for business and potentially part of the government’s “Cool Japan” campaign, leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The council put on a ninja-inspired martial-arts demonstration, in which a muscular actor used rope to ward off, choke and disarm an attacker, and a woman dressed in a mini-ninja outfit did flips to recorded rock music. Historically, ninjas were hired by samurai to spy on enemies – hence their appearance in movies, eavesdropping from attics and somersaulting escapes from rooftops. Iga and Koga clan ninjas were reputed to be the greatest exponents.
According to the council, ninjas can stare at a burning candle without blinking, frequently massage their ears to stay nimble and never gain weight above 60kg (9 stone 4lb). Their diligence and perseverance, as well as their humble acceptance of anonymity, are integral parts of Japanese culture and should become a pillar export, the council argues.
Mr Kawakami acknowledged that ninja training was hard to pass down today, and said that was why he was known as the last “real” ninja. But ninjas had much to offer spiritually, such as the meditative focus they muster when they clasp their hands in concentration in their trademark pose.
“It is also about respect to our ancestors,” Mr Kawakami said.
‘The art of ninja is made up of various elements such as combat, survival and astronomy’