Talk:Ninja/Archive 1

This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Ethnicity?

"A common misconception is that ninja are only japanese. In fact, equivalents existed in East Asian cultures; China, Korea, and Japan. Ninja are, in fact, their own ethnicity." However, its has been decided that no one gives a flying rat's ass, as Pirates PWN ninjas.

How is this true? Sure, ninja commonly originate in clans and are group based, but they're still of asian decent, to call it ethnicity is... well... ignorant. Of Ninja decent, sure, but not ethnicity.

Think about it, are Knights or soldiers or hunter-gatherers in Africa their own ethnicity? No, they're the ethnicity of their people, not their family occupation.

As such, I'm satirically altering it to atleast make it funny.

If you feel like altering it otherwise, make sure it's atleast not a retarded statement.

Until then, let me restate it in simplist terms. Ninja is an ethnicity akin to Jew. Meaning that it's not. You can be of Jewish decent, or Armenian, Russian, so on and so forth, but that is not your ethnicity, otherwise I, personally, would have five ethnicities to my name.

Ethnicity is not the same as Ethnic Background.

Excellent point. Not ever guerilla fighter or espionage agent is a ninja. There are things like cultural and historic background,etc, to take into account as well. Dessydes 17:17, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Hey! In fact, the ninja's have some like their own ethnicity. They (and other similar groups in China, who are NOT ninja) were a counterculture in Japan, with communities with a lot more strong crossbreeding with aynu's (japanese natives, in difference with majority of Korean origin), an own buddhism version, and an own group of social values and institutions. The western knights were fighters who live in the same community than the nurse and the peasant; in a ninja village, all were ninjas, and the ninjutsu trained ones were knowed as "shinobi".

No No NO NO!!! ninja is the holiwood term for the practicer of ninjutsu, or the togakure ryu, i have train in this art for 18 years and i am ninja, i however am not japanse, ninjutsu can be learned by very few people because or your mental assumption that you have to be japanese, ninjutsu was developed from all over the worl and slow came together in japan during the fedual times, any one with the drive to learn can be ninja.

Well... I have train ninjutsu some years too, but, you must difference between the historic term for "ninja" and any philosophic concept you have about it. The ninja were a way of life that obviously isn't possibble today, and make sense in an especific historical context.

You know, this entire debate, while well worded (snicker, snicker), is irrelevant to the point of ninjas. You people sure know a whole lot about ninjitsu and togakure ryu, but if you had studied anything about ninja, or more correctly shinobi history, you would know, that the word ninjitsu did not arise until several hundred years after the last real ninja ever lived. Its a crap word, and invtented term for an invented form of martial arts. Being a secretive lot, no ninja ever recorded their practices of martial arts or anything in enough detail for anyone to study it definitively today. The term (I'm sure) more certainly spawned from the proper word, ninpo, which is the word ninjas used for their skills, but it was not exclusive to their martial arts. Ninjitsu is a widely overused, and invented word which did not surface until the late 20th century. Ninpo is the word ninjas or shinobis actually used to refer to all of their wide-range of skills, not just martial arts. None of these skills were ever recorded in enough detail to be studied intimately, anything you people think you're studying did not come from real ninjas but was most likely a seperately practiced form martial arts which was incorrectly labeled ninjitsu (something that never existed during the time of ninjas). Ninjas do not exist today. Sorry. ManofRenown87 01:13, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Splinter Cell

The main character's superior officer refers to him directly as a "ninja" in the first installment of this game series. --66.0.121.196 22:01, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

So?Toxic Ninja 03:18, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

So, Sam Fisher is a ninja. I think that's what this dude was trying to say. And if he's not included in the pop-culture section he should be, because Splinter Cell was an awesome game. Obviously I'm trying to be funny. But on the negative side of things, Lambert could have just been joking when he called Sam a ninja. Besides, I don't think a former Army Colonel would know much about Sam's past in that regard. If you read the Splinter Cell books, Sam actually practices the Israeli martial arts known as Krav Mega, and nothing is mentioned about ninjitsu, or more correctly, ninpo. ManofRenown87 01:01, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Looks like the big problem here is that a lot of folks claiming "citation" of modern ninja don't seem to realize that since it's popularization in western culture, "ninja" is more a figure of speech than a referent to the historical figures this article is trying to capture. That coupled with the people who keep buying into the "unknowable mystery" of the ninja makes this whole project difficult.

Concerning the Peter Nepstad link

In Nepstad's article, it says that the two kanji characters for shinobi-no-monoo are pronounced nin-sha in Mandarin, nin meaning concealment and sha meaning person.

I'm Chinese myself, and am self-studying Japanese and studying ninja for school. However, I don't know pinyin, as I'm Taiwanese.

The pronounciation of the first character is close, but would be better sound-translated as ren, with the second rising tone. It also does not mean concealment, but means endurance. This can be double-checked at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninjutsu.

The translation of the second character is accurate, meaning person. However, the pronounciation is not sha, but something more like zuh with the third tone, represented by a hook.

I'm going to add an etymology section. If a mainland China person would come and correct my pinyin, it would be most appreciated.

P.S. I've changed all the "ninjas" to "ninja". In Japanese, the plural form of nouns are the same as the singular.

Actually, I don't know if the pinyin is correct. I'll get one of my mailand friends to fix it.

You know, that makes sense, because you said it is translated as "endurance" rather than "concealment". so the first guy was wrong but it still works, because either way ninja, or shinobi means "one who endures" or "one who is concealed". ManofRenown87 01:04, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm not expert, so I'm not going to correct the page, but to me this page seems very biased. It is written in such a way that claims that Ninja's 'abilities' are exagerated or fictional. While this belief is common in the modern western supposedly scientific mindset, it is not the only belief. The ninja's did have quite a bit of spiritual training, and these abilities are believed by many to be real. This page really needs to be cleaned up to make it clear that this stuff being mythical is a common belief, but not the only belief. Neither side can claim with any knowledge to have the truth.

Actually, the side that says the mythical claims were indeed mythical can, and most likely does, have the truth. Just because folklore claimed that they were able to "fly" or whatever doesn't mean that they were able to. If it can be verifiably proven that they did fly (for example), or even that someone now is able to fly using ninja techniques, then it may lend some credence to the claim. However, as there is no proof whatsoever that any of their mythical abilities had any more base in fact than exaggeration and misattributation, it should stay firmly in the "myth" section. Let's not have any more hogwash about peoples' mystical abilities being real just because some people believe in them. With no proof, claims are all that they are.DesertFly3 08:26, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Ninja, like Bushido and Samurai, followed their own special code of conduct called Ninpo.

Something's wrong with this sentence. It's pretty vague about the relationship between Samurai and Ninja, and implies that Bushido is another class of warrior. It should clearly state (not verbatim) that Samurai are to Bushido as Ninja are to Ninpo. DryGrain 21:44, 23 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Ninpo is no way like bushido, it is more like budo than bushido. Dessydes 17:23, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Apparently 203.45.155.14 has got it in for this page and related pages. See my comment on Talk:Ninjutsu. He's been at it for the last few days. Tim Starling 01:27 Nov 13, 2002 (UTC)

I've put his/her favourite pages on my watchlist, and will be keeping an eye out for him/her. This isn't something I know a heck of a lot about though, so I'm probably not the best person for the job. If you're listening in, by the way, anonymous editor, and you do have a genuine gripe with this and related pages, then explaining them here on this talk page or on Talk:Ninjutsu might help us to understand what you're trying to achieve - that way we may be able to improve the article. If you just remove content without explanation, on the other hand, it will just be put back. --Camembert

This needs integrating -- there are contradictory statements throughout the article. Simmmm, would you consider editing the original text instead of contradicting it with "The truth:"? If it's the truth, the original shouldn't be there at all! And if someone disagrees with your facts then the discussion can be had on this page until we get an agreed text. Mswake 11:43 Feb 3, 2003 (UTC)

Just like to say I agree with his "truth" in this case; ninja did have their own code of honor. I don't agree that they were spies, they were also used as assassins, and on occasion as elite soldiers in field battle. There were also ranks but I really shouldn't go into that. Not that I remember the names of the ranks in Japanese. - Nocturnal

Well, it's all a bit vague, isn't it - there weren't many records kept. The most common thread I've seen were that the people who became ninjas were immigrants from China, who lived separately from the Japanese, who were barely, if at all, tolerated, who needed to develop their arts to avoid invasion from far greater forces, which lead to them becoming in demand as both spies and assassins. -- Jim Regan 03:37, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)

This link looks to be the best researched article around on the topic - among other things, it attributes the costume associated with ninjas as being an invention of kabuki. -- Jim Regan 03:49, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)

This link better illustrate or rather, the only external link seemed have been written by someone with a wildest imagination who never spent time reading books. I'll get back to this after I finished writing another article. Revth 15:03, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Am I mistaken in thinking the plural of ninja is also "ninja"? - Nocturnal

I guess so. Japanese language has no basic plural rule. When absolutely needed, ninja would be plurarized to "ninja-tachi" in Japanese. tachi can be used on other Japanese nouns that describe a person like "samurai" and "sensei". Theoretically, it could be "ninjas" if you follow general rules for making a plural form in English. Revth 15:03, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Is it just me, or does this wiki entry seem like a joke... im going to make some changes to make it seem a little more ... I dont know if professional is the word, but maybe more relevant

-- Catskul

The last paragraph of this article is basically a see-also to an article that doesn't exist (although something like it probably should). -- Jmabel 17:35, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

I'll see what I can do with that. There's some in the article already. Meelar 17:37, 21 May 2004 (UTC)

Whisper to me, please stop reverting this page to add misleading and redundant information against the wishes of all other users who contribute to Japan-related articles who have joined the discussion. Exploding Boy 12:15, May 22, 2004 (UTC)

Erm. Ninjin, not "ninjas". Also, when they say "exaggerated abilities",they're not talking about "ninjas can kill someone with their bare hands with one hit" , which is probably true, they're talking about "a ninja can kill 100 people in 10 seconds" kind of stuff. Like Chuck Norris Facts. 69.135.180.37 15:47, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Ninja and nunchaku

The entry for Ninja contains the following:

Contrary to popular belief, nunchaku were never used by the ninja, or indeed any mainland Japanese traditional martial art.

However, the entry for nunchaku claims:

The most common martial arts to use nunchaku are the Japanese martial arts such as some forms of karate,

and talks about nunchaku in relation to Japan. Which is it?

Nunchaku is a weapon used in Okinawan style of martial art, namely karate, and Okinawa is some several hundred kilometers away from the mainland Japan. Until Meiji-era, Okinawa was an independent country called "Ryukyu" and none of the samurai or ninja had ever had a chance to see or learn karate. So both facts are true as they are. Revth 14:31, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)

In the martial art of Karate, they do not use Nunchaku, nor any other weapon. Karate means 'empty hand'. I have studied both Shorin Ryu Karate and Okinawa Tae Karate, two main styles of karate, and neither use nunchaku, nor any other weapon. TheLotusNinja 14:32, 23 Jul 2006

Then they are probably referring to Kobujutsu which is Karate, but with weapons such as sai, kama, tonfa and nunchaku. Highlandlord 09:28, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

About this; many ninja clans were from Ryukyu, like Gikan-Ryu and Kumogakure-Ryu. They probably used nunchaku. The most knowed clans, Igla, Koga, Gyokko, etc., probably not.

Meaning of "ninja"

The author and a poster to this discussion page has made an error on the translation of the first character. While "enduring" is a proper meaning, it is not the one intended here. The proper meaning is "hidden". I have verified this with native Japanese speakers and also looked this up in the "Nelson Japanese-English Reader's Dictionary" pp.395 1993 37th printing. Historically this is because Ninja were considered "non-people"; they had no identity. If I do not see a correction made or an answer to this new information made in a week, I will correct the article with the permission of any interested party. [unsigned comment from anonymous user at 68.5.251.35]

I changed it to "concealed", which has the same meaning as "hidden". You are correct in that it doesn't mean "enduring", though that could be applied as well given the stories surrounding the ninja. :-) --nihon 08:56, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I accept your interpretation, although it is not "on the mark". The actual meaning does not have a clean translation to English. I would offer that "non-person" is very close, however. I base this on what I know about Japanese history (My minor in college was Asian studies) and discussion with many of my close japanese friends (I am still a student of the culture and the language). I would very much like to see other opinions on this topic.

[unsigned comment from anonymous user at 65.216.122.126]

I don't think the kanji "忍" has the literal meaning of "concealed" at all; "non" is even more unlikely. However, a homophone, "隠", does mean "concealed". Since "enduring person" is obviously wrong (as I can verify with my dictionary, but my level of Japanese is too low to understand the explanation given), may I propose that the word "ninja" does not have a literal meaning, but is rather a pun on words with a hidden meaning?—Gniw (Wing) 19:07, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Whether or not you think "忍" has a literal meaning of "concealed" is beside the point. It does, however, have that meaning. You can check any kanji dictionary out there, including WWWJDIC (which is conveniently online), and you'll see that "忍" has meanings including: "endure; bear; put up with; conceal; secrete; spy; sneak". In the case of the word 忍者, the word literally means "concealed person" or "hidden person", as well as "spy" (which is actually one of the jobs they traditionally held).

You are correct in that "隠" means "conceal; hide; cover", but it is not said "nin", but rather "in" or "on". --nihon 03:52, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I was not even opposing the statement that "ninja" means "concealed person", and if you read my comments you should know that I have read the dictionary. And my dictionary disagrees with your statement. I will unwatch this article and stop bothering with it then.—Gniw (Wing) 03:57, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I was confused, then, by your statement, "I don't think the kanji "忍" has the literal meaning of "concealed" at all." I took this to mean that you didn't think the character meant "concealed", and therefore 忍者 didn't mean "concealed person". Can you see how I could be confused by the apparent contradiction? I posted this on your talk page, too, since you said you were unwatching the article simply because you disagreed. --nihon 04:12, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

If I may butt in: the operative word, regardless of what kanji is used, is shinobu, which in this case probably means less "endure", let alone "hide" or "conceal", than it does "sneak (around)" or "use stealth." In my experience, it's a bad idea to seek the etymologies of Japanese words—whether they are native ones like shinobu or Sino-Japanese ones like ninja—by dissecting their orthography. And with Sino-Japanese words, any Chinese meaning or pronunciation is usually only of passing interest unless it is directly related to how the word is used in Japanese. I'm sure you're familiar with Japanese words like リフォーム (to remodel, as a house) and アルバイト (part-time job, derived from Arbeit, German for work); what makes you think the same sort of distortion of original meaning did not take place with many Chinese words adopted into Japanese? The doesn't even address the phenomenon of pseudo-Sino-Japanese words (such as ninja might be) that the Japanese invented.

Besides what any kanji dictionaries might say about the meaning of 忍, what evidence do you have to offer from etymological sources that indicate that 忍者 means "concealed person"? For ninja, one of my dictionaries says 「敵方（てきかた）に忍び入り（しのびいり）、様子(ようす)をさぐるなどするもの」(someone who sneaks into/infiltrates enemy territory to do things like reconnoiter). The main thing that ninja did was sneak around. Notice the "など" to cover for activities such as assassination, which were probably secondary. Have fun, but keep in factual... Jim_Lockhart 06:51, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

As I could not find a proper place to put this, it has come to my attention that modern ninja aren't ninja at all. That ninjas came from people being hidden in dark clothes in japanese plays, that the original meaning was "hidden" and that they weren't stealth assassins or anything like that but more a spy. Zanduar 21:28, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

I am not sure about the specific etymology of the word, though to be ninja meant more than just being a practictioner of steathly arts or mobility. Ninja were also keepers of a hidden knowledge, an esoteric art, that viewed the world whollistically rather than divisive. Ninja practice a form of Mahayana Buddhism, that teaches the world has both microcosmic origins as well as macrocosimic origins. To be a ninja, one must vibrate perfectly between both worlds, thus becoming invisible or removed from the karmic effects. Ninja have a saying, "Do nothing that doesn't fit into the totality of things." Ninja rarely killed, because to do so left to many kamric ties to event for the ninja to be comfortable with.

Yes I have heard it said that the origins of ninjitsu lie in Buddhism. Dessydes 17:34, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm also not sure where to place what I have to say nor do I immediately have at my disposal all the texts necessary to properly edit the article without retribution from the readers. I've studied martial arts, mostly philosophically, for nearly 25 years. The ninja are extremely difficult to study, however there are some inaccuracies here. Ninja were not born directly from feudalism but really from anti-feudalism (peasants). It wasn't until the decline of feudalism did the feudal lords hire ninjas to perform acts of espionage and assassination. The movement was born from peasants who sought ways to protect themselves from the Samurai and foreign invaders. They used what they had at their disposal for weapons. Their art, "Ninjutsu", isn't really a style of martial arts at all but more a very specific system of techniques, non-stylized, to inflict the maximum damage possible with as few strikes and as little time as possible. Ninjutsu is not even really a term that is used much anymore. A more contemporary albeit ancient term to better describe, and still used today, is Taijutsu. Peak concepts in the system are the ability to use stealth, both unseen and unheard, weapons, devastating strikes and kicks, superhuman balance, and espionage (although espionage, for obvious reasons, is not emphasized in today's dojos). It is a very practical martial art to study since it emphasizes protecting oneself in the real world and is usually non-competetive unlike the other arts. It is true that the ninja rarely killed, but if they had to, a well skilled ninja could kill with one silent blow. This is known as Dim Mak or "death touch". This move in and of itself is not a single technique, but again a whole system of fatal or disabling techniques within a sub-category of ninjutsu. The techniques can't really be practiced today on living people because it has been proven more than once that they can be extremely injurious even to the point of immediate death. With all this said there is plenty of time to edit the article to as near perfection as possible from all of us. The term is very controversial and it's difficult to agree on things but there are many givens of history that can't be overlooked.

About the meaning of "ninja", I can say that "endure" have an important place, at least from from the perspective of the ninpo: the kanji character for nin have a sign for "heart" under a sign for "blade". This is supposed to mean, according to the Bujinkan Soke Hatsumi, "Even when the blade its over my heart, I will prevail".

Ninja garb

Along these lines, did they wear black pajamas or not? The article says "Most of the time, a ninja did not[...]dress in an all black suit." Next sentence says they rarely did so, and further down it says they never did: "In actual practice, ninja did not wear the commonly depicted all black suit." Tgroch 09:44, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

The classical ninja Pajyamas, or so I understand it, is in fact, Kabuki Stagehand Wear, derived from a need to make persons playing the role of Ninja in Kabuki theatre more or less invisible.

As far as I understand, thus, they never wore anything like it, ever. Am I mistaken here, or is the article's statement about dark green suits et al really accurate?...

My understanding is that indeed it did result from the stagehand wear, not so much for the actual concealment value, but to take advantage of the tacit understanding that a stagehand so attired was considered to be invisible. Therefore, the "ninja" clad similarly would be considered invisible. One of those things which would be very nifty if true. Fuzzy 21:53, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I agree. From what I understand about the origins of the ninja, the black outfit is in fact borrowed from kabuki theater when the modern "movie" ninja was born. in fact, they did not wear it at all.

Just want to emphasize the comparitive logic of the above origin of the stereotypical ninja garb, that japanese theatre created the stereotype of the completely black-garbed ninja in its plays, because there were some patently rediculous edits that implied the connection might be that some real ninja actually infiltrated a theatre dressed as a stagehand in order to gain access to daimyo in the audience, and THAT created the stereotype. Tchalvak 18:58, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Merging content from Ninja in western fiction

Hi, I've merged some content from Ninja in western fiction according to the VfD results there. I've merged the extra content in the Ninja in fiction section. --Death phoenix 00:58, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Ninja Ranks

Is the jounin/chunin/genin info in this article under Culture of Ninja for real? What's the source? I don't believe this is common knowledge, and it sounds suspiciously like some made up detail from Naruto.

I was wondering that myself, too, but it seems that at least Stephen K. Hayes mentions those ranks in his book Ninja: Spirit of the Shadow Warrior (1980). —Noldis 19:10:53, 2005-08-02 (UTC)

I suspect that's where it's from. It is common for skills to be organized into three groups, ge (beginning techniques), chu (middle techniques), and jo (advanced techniques), and for each to be mastered before moving on. I've never, ever heard anyone be called jounin, chunin, or genin though. --Fri Oct 14 18:05:57 UTC

I agree. I have been training in the art of ninzukaijutsu almost a decade and my comrades and I have never stumbled apon such ranks. I honestly would believe it to be from Naruto. --Sýn B. Tues March 26 2006 09:10:53

For what it's worth, issue seven of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic has Leonardo refer to Splinter as "Jonin". According to the official website, www.ninjaturtles.com, this issue was printed May 1986. The Wiki entry on Naruto has the original run as starting in 1999. Now, of course, TMNT is also fictional, though American fiction, but I think this proves that at least one of the ranks given in Naruto predates Naruto. I make no claim as to the validity of the ranks in true history. -sntint@yahoo.com

Your right about ge chu and jos' meaning, but 'nin' means: 1) endurance, perseverance, forbearance 2) stealth, secretiveness, concealment; also shinobi. So combining 'nin' whit ge, chu or jo gives the the three ninja ranks, Genin (Operative), Chunin (Organisers) and Jonin (General, Master, etc.) I hope that this may have answered your questions. If you would like to talk to me about ninja ranks, feel free to e-mail me. Crazy_j_1515@yahoo.com

All of this sounds like naruto bullshit.Toxic Ninja 03:32, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Iv studied in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. This ranks are true.

The TicK???

Ninja play an important role in the first major story arc of the hilarious The Tick comic book. This should be included...

I disagree. As much as I may like the tick (SPOON!) if we were to include a reference as esoteric as this, we would be somewhat obliged to include jsut about every ninja reference ever made. Shaggorama 12:44, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

modern ninja?

Yes, there are modern ninja, but it is not commonly know, do to the fact that most government around the world would force us to disband.

that really sounds like bullshido to me.

in Africa...

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

in the U.S.A.

[7] [8] [9]

Main clans:

Ninja Buddy Ninja clan
super duper Ninja clan

I agree. African rebels don't class as 'ninja'. Seriphyn 18:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Vandalism

User 209.86.9.45 vandalised Ninja between 20:24 and 20:48 (UTC), 8 August 2005 (NINJA TURTLES LIKE PIZZA!!! OMG!!! LOL!!!) --Taejo 20:51, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

Traveling Poet

The author(s) of the article mention that the view of a travelling poet is dismissed by nearly all historians, yet is still included in the article. Why?

-- To provide all sides of an argument, and allow the reader to reach their own conclusion. That's the proper way to go about any sort of historical interpretation.

Factuality of article

I know quite a bit about ninjas, and this article is not really factually correct. An example: in the beginning it says the two common weapons for ninjas. One of them is NOT a shiruken. Shirukens were used as distractions (they are shiny and a ninja would throw them to the side of an enemy to confuse him with a flying object) and almost never used as a weapon.

-- While there's no doubt in my mind that Shuriken are not deadly enough to kill someone, or even physically incapacitate them with any frequency, and the implication is thus that they are useful and were used as a distraction more than as a killing tool, how does that make them not weapons? If I throw a rock at you, it's probably not going to kill you, but I'm still using it as a weapon. I'd love it if there were some sourced referrence to the use of Shuriken not as killing weapons but as distracting weapons, but it still seems like calling them "not weapons" just 'cause it'd be nearly impossible to kill someone with them doesn't make sense. ---Tchalvak.

Shuriken

Ninja would use shuriken as more of a psychological weapon, throwing glancing blows that would cut instead of aiming for vitals. This would let the person on the recieving end of the shuriken think he or she is being attacked by an invisible swordsman. Nothing's worse than an invisible swordsman!

It also depends on the type of shuriken, Bo Shuriken for example, (they can also be classified and 'needles') are used for throwing at vitals, however the size of star shuriken can also be used to kill, if it is large it would be simple to kill someone with, however a small shuriken would be used to keep an opponent at bay. Also, it would be very hard to 'glance' someone with a shuriken, since they rotate at a 270 degree angle while flying through the air, as true as this statement can be, it is also hard to believe.

Shurikens

Well, I'll have to agree and disagree with some of you anonymous people. I agree that the shuriken was one of the ninja's two main weapons, that's just a historical fact, ninjas were more known and feared for throwing weapons than anyone else during their period of history, and could have possibly invented the practice in Asia. While I agree that the Bo shuriken could certainly be used to kill, and that shurikens were used both as a distraction and as weapons (except I think needles is a bit of a kind word to describe the Bo shuriken, heavy spike, or something with a little more oomf would work better). You need to understand, ninjas were sort of like the world's first recorded special forces units. They were often undercover, in disguise, or (as depicted in popular culture) concealed entirely, and usually grossly outnumbered. So the weapons they carried needed to be light (so they could carry a lot of them), and dangerous enough to kill or seriously maim a man. And, yes, they could definitely kill people with shurikens. Why would they carry them just to distract people? That's ridiculous, they're outnumbered 100 to 1, its kill or be killed. It's not an issue of whether you could glance someone with a shuriken or not, its an issue of whether a ninja could hit a dude in the leg just to slow him down, or in the eye socket to kill him. Ninjas could, its what they did, its what they trained to do, though, I doubt we could today. Also, if you're thinking shurikens as in 'ninja-stars' probably didn't exist during the time of real ninjas. Here's why. Like you said, it would be difficult to graze someone with an object spinning at 270 degree intervals. That is a common misconception. Shurikens, specifically Bo shurikens were not designed to be spinning as they flew through the air, they were single-tipped spikes. Single tipped means they were designed to fly in a straight line, like an arrow or a dart, and hit their target dead on. How is that possible? You might ask. Because, unlike an arrow, shurikens would only be used at distances of about 10 or 15 yards. Ninja stars are modern-invented "shurikens" designed so you could throw them in spinning intervals and still hit your target. But shurikenjistu, practiced by the real shinobis and ninjas was an art, because they threw their bos and kunais in straght, unspinning shots at their targets. But why use the shuriken at such a short distance? Because the ninja's other main weapon, a wakizashi, would not fare as well against a soldier with a katana or a yari. Yes, they used wakizashi, not a katana or some fictional sword called a ninjato, but most likely a wakizashi, because it was light, could be concealed better and also because they could carry a wakizashi in a katana saya, and trick their opponents into thinking it would take them longer to draw their katana, when they really had a wakizashi, allowing them to draw and attack much faster, and with more surprise. Anyway, if a guy is running at you with a sword or a spear, and all you have is a short sword, well, he's running right at you, so wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to throw a spike into his chest than try to parry his spear with your short sword? What's he going to do block the shuriken with his katana? Please. *Splat* ManofRenown87 01:48, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Photo

The photo represents a Korean martial-artist. And as this discussion notes, the all black outfits are from dramatizations of ninja, and not true ninja. Perhaps a change of caption, or a removal of the pic?

I agree, like get a pic from a ukiyo-e or something like that.

The current photo is of Ashida Kim, who has been rather thoroughly debunked. Why not just use one of the montages with Hatsumi-san? Zuiram 00:40, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Current Ninjitsu and Old Ninjitsu

I mean, my Kendo master explained us that Modern Ninjitsu lost a lot of it's essnce and that Ninjitsu was a secret art and was not supposed to be teached outside the ninjitsu circle and after the ninjas that learnt the secret arts started to disappear, Ninjitsu disappeared and a different one appeared, but doesn't rensemble the old secret ninjitsu. Is this true? Is ninjitsu a lot different than old times?--Vodka Martini, Shaken Not Stirred 19:07, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

Go ask an old secret ninjitsu practitioner. --Spook` 13:46, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

On a more serious note, the reason for the existance of the Genbukan and Jinenkan organizations is that their respective founders felt that the Bujinkan had lost its essence. As for the "secret" arts, by which I assume you refer to the covert ops stuff, it wasn't really all that secret, as it quite simply belongs to a different era- it just isn't useful today. Zuiram 00:43, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Ninja Ninja Ninja (version of Badger Badger Badger)

The video "Holy Shit! Ninjas!" (linked to from the ninja page) contains, among other things, a scene that is obviously based on "Badger Badger Badger", featuring guitar-playing ninjas. Does anyone know if there is a complete "Ninja Ninja Ninja" parody? If so, please add link to it. SpectrumDT 00:09, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Template

Check out the ninja template i made here

Clealy, sir, the article should mention the single most important fact about this subject: the purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people, and ninjas fight ALL THE TIME.

Weird new additions to the article

Check them out here. Is there any reference material supporting these edits? --nihon 08:06, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

Shuriken

Reference the entry on shuriken "Ninja would use shuriken as more of a psychological weapon, throwing glancing blows that would cut instead of aiming for vitals"

This part of the statement is pretty much what I was taught which was that Shuriken (sharpened wheel washer's etc.) were usually left out in the rain or wet and left so they become rusty - In medieval Japan there was no cure for Tetanus so a 'nick' from a rusty shuriken was sometimes all that was needed to effectively assassinate a person in the long run.

If it took two weeks for the person to become infected and die then all the better, the Ninja would have long made his exit by then.

Tetanus has nothing to do with rust, and a shallow wound wouldn't become anaerobic, so the victim wouldn't get Tetanus even if the ninja had dipped the thing in animal dung. No offense intended, but practically everything in the article and talk page alike seems to be original research. There aren't more than a handful of citations, either. 82.166.53.176 18:43, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Shit if I was chasing a ninja through the woods and I saw a half dozen razer sharp disks fly at me I would hit the floor and shit my pants. If that isn't psycological (and biological if you DO shit your pants) then I don't know what is.Toxic Ninja 03:29, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

No offense, but once again, ninjas did not throw spinning round disks. They either threw Bo-shurikens (heavy spikes), or kunai respectively and historically. Kunai were flat, triangular garden tools with a small handle on the end (which resembled modern cement scrapers). Kunai would be carried by ninjas because they could disguise themselves as a traveling gardener or farmer or something like that and still carry a sharpened kunai without getting a second glance from anyone. These would usually replace a wakizashi or tanto on deep undercover assignments. And if need be, the ninja would throw them at an oncoming assailant. Bo-shurikens on the other hand were carried in large numbers, because they were very easy to conceal. And if the ninja needed to take on multiple enemies, he'd have enough to fight them off and make his escape. But they were thrown in a straight and balanced unspinning manner, not in 270 degree rotations. That is what made shurikenjitsu an art. A spinning throw was more likely considered a failure. ManofRenown87 02:14, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

BIG problem with the article.

Ninja fans of all age, I have to say I do not like this article. It should be completely redone and EVERYONE must read serious articles on the subject this time instead of watching the ninja turtles and browsing the net. I'm ready to help and learn more on the subject but for now this page has NO credibility in my opinion. Bragador 18:06, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

I concur--at least with the fact that the external links need some serious revision. The vast majority of them are popular ninja parodies, and that's not at all what the article is about. We need some real sites that pertain to ninjas factually, not just humorous sites that relate to them. Honestly, I don't know enough about ninjas to agree/disagree with the accusation that this page has no credibility, but I'm open to the possibility. authraw 21:06, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

As I pointed out elsewhere, the person to talk to about this is the guy running [www.ninpo.org this] site. Research into the history of the Ninja is his main subject, and teaching medieval Japanese history at the Tokyo University History dept. should make him fairly qualified and credible. His site contains a wealth of information about the subject, generally backed up with citations (unfortunately for us mostly in Japanese). Zuiram 00:50, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Uh, no. Based on your user contributions, adding the 'primary sources' tag seems to be a bit of a hobby for you. That tag was not added based on consensus arrived at here on the talk page, nor was it added by an admin. It shouldn't be there, and there is no need to insult the people who have worked on it in the past with that "ninja turtles" nonsense. The vast majority of this page is thoroughly connected and referenced with materials within the topic field and is not substantively different from any other article of its kind. I've removed the two sections that are exceptions to that, namely the Ninja / Samurai sections and the Modern Ninja Are Fake section. Neither of those are sourced or referenced with anything more specific than "Some people think..." Those should be allowed to stand until they have ground to stand on. Gorilla Jones 18:55, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I'll agree that this article is not substantially different than a large bulk of wikipedia articles. That is not to its credit, though. Zuiram 00:50, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

So because my hobby on wikipedia is to push people to be more professionnal I am at fault ? Don't forget that the very existence of the ninjas is a very controversial topic. No tangible proof exist so this might as well be an article about a fairy tale. Bragador 13:17, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

I also concur with Bragador, so now you've got three who think this article is written on flimsy sources and contains a lot of dodgy material that needs to be either substantiated (with primary or as-near primary as possible) or removed. I'm approaching this from linguistic, common-sense-on-the-ground, and editorial perspectives.

The "definition" of ninja, for instance, is an exercise in amateur etymology by someone with fairly shallow experience in Japanese making judgments on the basis of English glosses rather than Japanese semantics; other material is, even from the standpoint of someone with little specialized knowledge of ninja, is fanciful at best; and the quality of the writing, while not poor, is sub-standard for an encyclopedia. My original intent was to give this article a good copyedit for stylistic problems, but on reading it I decided against spending time on it until, first, the factual issues could be worked out.

I support Bragador's insertion of the "primary sources" tag precisely because there has been no consensus here on the problems of this article. It's time to move away from pure enthusiasm and towards enthusiasm tempered by factual reporting. Best regards, Jim_Lockhart 03:52, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

This article is absolutely terrible. It's filled with contradictions and the whole thing reads like it was written for somebody's junior high class project. This thing needs to be scrapped and started from scratch. I agree that the it needs to be redone, and all of the ridiculous reference to fictional works need to be removed. They have nothing to do with the subject matter other than being someone's personal favorites. This article is crap, and that's being kind. Freshyill 15:29, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

While I agree that the article needs rewriting, I disagree with the assumption that the section on fictional works should be wiped out. The concept of the ninja itself is at least 90% fictional, and much -- if not all -- of what we know today as "the ninja" has been derived from its portrayal in fiction throughout the years, and, in Western society, the last three decades in particular. Talking about ninja without mentioning things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be like describing a car without mentioning the tires. An article about ninja should not just be about what ninja really historically were; it should -- indeed, must -- be about what our assumptions and ideas are about the ninja today. And that must include fiction. Aeonite 07:35, 14 March 2006 (PT)

This is an article that has, dishearteningly, become worse over time. By and large, it has devolved into semi-coherent junk. Maybe I'm wrong - compare the present version to a version from several months ago (or from when the drive-by "BIG problem" was declared) and see if you think otherwise. I agree that a start-from-scratch would probably be the best thing for it. Gorilla Jones 06:59, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

I concur with Gorilla Jones. The article is slowly going to pot. The poor quality of its information might also be the reason for the almost daily vandalism. Jim_Lockhart 08:57, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

No, the reason for the vandalism was, is and will continue to be Real Ultimate Power. Aeonite 08:27, 17 March 2006 (PT)

Second the start-from-scratch proposal. Salvaging this would be harder than simply rewriting it. Ideally with reliable citations and a clearer distinction between fact, speculation, and fiction. 82.166.53.176 18:51, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Thirded the start-from-scratch proposal. Zuiram 00:50, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Starting from scratch or not starting from scratch isn't going to solve the problem in the long term. I think that the problem is that the fictional concept of a ninja and the historical information about ninja (incomplete and steeped in myth though it might be) bleed into each-other too much in this article as users come and go and add their own interpretation. Getting rid of the fictional aspects of ninja entirely will just make people come back and continually, gradually sneak them in. Until there are are clearly defined and seperated sections for the fiction and the historical stuff (including the stories and mythology told during that time) then the article is always going to be bleeding history with contemporary fiction.Tchalvak 19:24, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Sure, I'd vote for a seperate article on the portrayal of Ninja in fiction. Zuiram 00:50, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm up for a re-write, or, at best, a re-organization of the information. Perhaps while leaving the "Ninja in Poplar Culture" section alone, we could separate the information in the sections now labeled as historical now and replace it with a section stirctly based on history as best as we can tell (how ninja and samurai are not mutually exclusive) and perhaps a "ninja history from popular culture". I'm personally new to the Wikipedia editing process but I am willing to try and work through a re-write. Drew "Suiko" 22:43, 06 October 2006 (UTC)

false information

In the first paragraph where it says that ninja were actualy samurai is false. They were enemies and at war for many generations till samurai decided to hire a few rogues to do there dirty work. This information can be found in books written by Massaki Hatsumi and Stephan K. Hayes, 2 of the worlds leading scholars on the sublect. (wrong)

This is untrue, Stephen K. Hayes mistranslated a book my Massaki Hatsumi, All historical evidence points to ninja being samurai. hayes has since retracted that statement.

It appears that there is a large dispute over this fact--what is the standard wikipedia procedure for disputes of this nature? authraw 23:10, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Oh, I highly doubt that. Ninja and samurai weren't mutually exclusive by any means. Yes, it's conceivable that a samurai turned ronin could become a ninja, but not the other way around. Given mentality of the samurai mind as defined by bushido ninja were often seen as among the dregs and outcasts of society. I'll have to read Massaki Hatsumi's work. Shadowrun 05:42, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Ninjas and Samurai were neither the same nor enemies. The media portrays ninjas as evil assasins who kill everybody, and the samurai try to protect the people they kill. Thats not true at all. Ninjas were family based clans, who were meirly spys. They were allies with the samurai. It is impossible to think that they are the same, because ninja studied Bujinkan and samurai studied Shindenkan Budo. They are two completely different styles of martial arts.

Please could people also note what is widely accepted to be the most comprehensive book on the subject of Ninja, ninjutsu and Ninpo: "Ninpo Secrets" by Tanemura Shoto. As it was written mainly from the teachings Takamatsu Toshitsugu (popularly known as the last true ninja) I think it is fair to say that both Genbukan and Bujinkan students would agree with me on this. I do not mean to generalise or offend anyone but I think it is fair to say that this book contains information which should be the majority of this article.

That, and the work by shihan Tosen, who is a 7th dan student of soke Tanemura. He has spent a lot of time researching the topic, and works at the Tokyo uni's history dept, where he teaches Japanese history as the only foreign member of the staff. Those two sources combined would provide a fairly detailed and accurate picture with references. Unfortunately, I don't currently have access to the book, so someone else would have to do that part. There does seem to be significant agreement among long-time students of either group that this book is, from an academic perspective, the best single source.

The article as it stands is a "fine blend" of possible facts and obvious fiction, but I don't want to get into any edit wars over it without any consensus.

I'd also like to point out that there *has* been overlap between the ninja and samurai, although not an extensive amount of it. Anyone subscribing to the idea that either group conformed strictly to a stereotype, particularly bushido, might as well watch fantasy movies for an idea of the feudal system and chivalry in Europe. Bushido, like the code of chivalry, was formalized long after it had, in effect, passed out of use, by a romantic who never lived it. Romantic as it may seem to some that every single samurai out there would restrict himself to the limits of bushido, rather than embracing a more pragmatic approach of taking what works and using it, this notion can be safely dismissed.

Anyway, enough ranting from me. Zuiram 23:51, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Encyclopaedia article or comic book?

The insertion of so much admittedly legendary material as fact isn't really on here at Wikipedia. I've cleaned up some of it, but even the sources cited are suspect. The modern "ninja" authors want to sell their books after all. --Fire Star 07:22, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

As long as there's a clean division, the only encyclopedic thing to do is to give an accurate overview of ninja in both history and fiction. Both aspects are too prominent to omit (the former mostly because it originated the latter). At present, the article doesn't seem to distinguish between one and the other. I concur on the point of the sources, though. 82.166.53.176 18:46, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

try this link and learn something

http://www.n-i-n.com/Masaaki_Hatsumi.html

Ninjutsu styles (changes of 2006.1.20)

The previous naming of this section called ninjutsu styles "teaching styles," a misnomer. Though in a practical sense today, this may seem a trivial semantic difference, but it shouldn't be to a purist: the styles address here are schools of the ninjutsu art, not methods of how the ninjutsu art is taught. I hope to have clarified this with my change.

Further, the opening paragraph said that these ryu were sorted by "current prefectures," even though the second item on the list was not a prefecture, but a section of Tokyo (Akihabara); I've attempted to address this, but fear another inaccuracy may also be involved: Could someone with specific knowledge of the ryu check the accuracy of the Akihabara = Akiba-ryū association? Best regards, Jim_Lockhart 04:29, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Fujita Seiko

Is this section going to be built upon or expanded? I'm going to remove it for now on the basis that it serves absolutely no purpose to the main article in its current form. If it's meant to remain, then it should at least contain complete and citable information. I'm probably in the wrong in doing/suggesting this without a concensus, but it just sticks out like a sore thumb. Shadowrun 05:17, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Try this search. It should give you a fair bit of information.

Also, a quick Google elsewhere turns up this site.

Apparently, there are claims made that he was the 14th Soke of Koga-ryu Wada-ha, and that he did not pass on this legacy. Regardless of the veracity of the claims, a mention of him belongs in an encyclopaedic text on the subject, although leaving the "Wada-ha" bit out can be useful to limit the number of bullshido con jobs that try to claim instruction from him.

He has demonstrated several extraordinary feats in the past, that have been documented, from what I have read, but it also appears that these are instead Yamabushi-related. Zuiram 00:01, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Ninja outside of western fiction

There is barely any mention of ninja's effect on non-western cultures. [10]

The reference to specific ninja weapons seems a bit out of place in the introduction.

I think saying that some people believe that ninja are the first special forces is kind of redundant. It has now been well established that there have been people trained in areas of spying and espionage in both asian and western culture for centuries. It's kind of redundant and I don't think any historian truly believes this any-longer. I don't know it sounds a bit biased to refer to this claim.

multimedia

we need a good photo of an asian in a bad ninja costume thumbs-upping the camera --Froth 03:42, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

A photo of a very young Naruto fan at the local con in Shanghai. Or a photo from a cos-play event. Will those do? If not, maybe a product photo from the Iga Ninja Museum Product Catalog will work. --Kakurady 07:16, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

It looks like that their online shop is down. Nevertheless you can find a lot about ninja there... --Kakurady 07:26, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Wait. You want that ninja doing "thumbs-up" in front of the camera. D'oh! Blame my reading skills.--Kakurady 07:32, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Ninja in Fiction

If references to Ninja as they are portrayed in fiction are going to be used, specifically references to them in Western culture, some effort needs to be me made to make a more comprehensive list. The lack of any references to novels is especially glaring. If for no other reason than representations of Ninja in many novels tend to be far less exagerated and mythical. For instance, the ninja raid on the Toranaga section of Osaka Castle in James Clavell's Shogun_(novel). --Shifty Jim 21:45, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

-- Mmm, I have to remember to read that, it's been a while since I last read it. Maybe when I do, I'll remember to put some referrences up here. 'cause I agree, Shogun would be a more interesting referrence than most of the stuff that deals with ninja (invariably in a modern context) these days. ~~ Tchalvak.

Ninja pictures

We need some pictures of ninjas on the page. The pirate article has 5 pictures, and this kind of disparity is simply unacceptable. So would one of the dedicated wikipedians please dress up as a ninja (or better yet, if you're a real ninja), and take a picture of yourself, then post it here. That would be nice. =) Dept of Alchemy 00:09, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I don't know about the Bujinkan, but members of the Genbukan are forbidden from "showing off" in such a manner without approval from the Hombu dojo, to avoid further misrepresentation of the art. You can certainly find some old pictures of both Hatsumi-san and Tanemura-san in "shinobigi" on the net, though. Zuiram 00:56, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Its because pirates are loud and smelly, you can sense one from 20 miles away, easily enough time to get a camera. Ninjas never make any noise so taking a picture of a ninja is as hard as jumping to the moon.Toxic Ninja 03:26, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Big Brother Ninjas.

On the Australian series of BigBrother there are Ninjas. im not all that great at wiki editing, so maybe someone else could add some info, below ive added some things that I know about the Ninjas on bigbrother.

On the Australian series of Big Brother there are people that resemble ninjas, they are showen the most often as cameramen during Friday Night Live/Games(FNL). They were first reffered to as ninjas in season 5 by the host of Friday Night Live. during one of the early episodes of season 6 FNL Big Brother reffered to "masked assistants" as ninjas.

The Ninjas on bigbrother have since been used for comedy, such as FNLs "Ninja, tip of the week." in which ninjas give funny ways of improving your lifestyle, such as drilling a hole in your refriderator to make sure the light goes out.

The ninjas are also used for demonstrating prizes (aka, props from FNL).

During FNL the ninjas are usally dressed up in somthing with relavance to what the ninjas do, a ninja who is serveing food will have a chefs hat.

--Syp3r 12:48, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Ninja suit

"There is no evidence that the ninja dressed in all-black suits; this lack of evidence is probably due to the stealth and cunning of individual Ninja, which was perhaps enhanced by the wearing of an all-black suit. Indeed, the best and most camoflaged Ninja would be least likely to exist in the historical record. "

I'm sorry, but this is one of the stupidest things I've read on wikipedia. The lack of evidence of ninjas in all-black suits is taken as evidence of the effectiveness of such a suit? Yeah, and there are aliens controlling the world, and there aren't any records of them, probably because they can turn themselves invisible and travel in time. Keppa 07:33, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I believe that the more logical conclusion about traditional ninja outfits is made with reference to the Kabuki theater descriptions. In addition, though I've got no good links at the moment, though I do have personal experience with this mistake (ahem), wearing an all black suit can commonly make you "too dark" at night, and you'll show up against either the dark blue sky or greener ground.

- Yeah, there's little that will make you stand out more than wearing all black (a more muted grey is better), especially anyone within a mile of you has a light-source. Or the moon is out. Or there are stars out. etc etc.

major rewrite needed

there are a number of problems with this article. most obviously, there is no mention of Scott Morris.

Video Games section

The video games section at the bottom of this article is ridiculously overinclusive. I've gone through and pruned it out a bit, but I'm going very light on it. Someone who does this more often could probably make better judgements.

What about SEGA's Shinobi?

Stephen Turnbull's research on the ninja

At first I wasn't sure about his credibility as an historian, but according to the article here on Wikipedia, Turnbull is "recognized as one of the world's foremost military historians of the medieval and modern periods." Well, that will have to do.

His work includes a title named "Ninja: The True Story of Japan's Secret Warrior Cult" (Firebird Books, 1991, ISBN 1853141097) and I'm surprised to notice that so far *no one* has mentioned this interesting piece of work — surely it would be a valuable source for citation and should not be neglected.

Bragador wrote earlier that "No tangible proof exist so this might as well be an article about a fairy tale."

Documented historic events do not suffice as such? For example, Turnbulls writes that some Japanese chroniclers refer to supposedly hired mercenaries from Iga and Koga who seem to have mostly infiltrated castles and set fires — then again, as for their being black-clad assassins and expert martial artists, there seems to be little proof.

(One of the earliest pictures to show a spy in black ninja clothing dates back to circa 1800 AD — however, as pondered above, the black outfit for "invisible men" could have well been derived from the kabuki theatre.)

Moreover, according to Turnbull, "the earliest written reference which associates ninja with Iga or Koga occurs in the supplement to the Nochi Kagami, the annals of the Muromachi bakufu. In one particular section, as quoted by Sugiyama, we read: 'Concerning ninja, they were said to be from Iga and Koga, and went freely into enemy castles in secret. They observed hidden things, and were taken as being allies. In the Western Lands (i.e. China) they were called saisaku. Strategists called them kagimono-hiki.'" (Also, in some occurrences they were simply referred to as "Iga-shū" and "Koga-shū," Turnbull translating the affix into "band" or "unit.")

Enough with the ranting, my point is this: If someone is actually interested in making the article more historically accurate and thereby helping to maintain the Wikipedia quality standards and whatnot, I suggest reading Turnbull's research on the subject. Methinks it might provide a proper basis for the article. —Noldis 21:49, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Hmm.. Tell me more if you have time. Use my Talk Page. Dessydes 17:13, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Ninja in Video Games

I was just curious as to why that part was changed. A few of the old parts there were done by me (The Shinobi and Samurai Shodown sections). I personally saw nothing wrong with it. I only recently noticed the change and was wondering why it was done.

Edit: As of my posting this the "new" Video Games section has fallen in to disrepair, it is completely unorganized and also now nearly as over-inclusive as it was before it was cut down to a vague reference to MMORPG and the general existence of Ninja in Video Games (There may have been some mention of Ninja Gaiden in there). Regardless, it has gotten out of hand and I highly suggest reverting it back to the way it was before that edit. DarkTechnomancer 00:23, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

There should be something about ninjas from Korea.

while surfing the web, I read about elite korean warriors who specialized in spying and espionage. These warriors were known as sulsa.

check it out http://www.hwarangdo.com/Magazines/knights.htm

http://www.hwarangdo.com/Magazines/sulsa.htm

They're not ninjas though, but I will try to look into it. Write me on Talk Page. Dessydes 17:14, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Ok, let's clean this article up.

It's a mess. It's almost inevitable that it would be a mess, but we should still do something about it, even if we have to practically cut it back down to a stub in the process. Let's start out with a list of the most glaring problems and go from there:

Self-references. In numerous parts, the article instructs users to read such-and-such a part of this article or warns them that this article might not be reliable because yadda yadda. These are technically not what the no-self-reference policy is about, since they refer to the article and not Wikipedia, but they break up the flow and generally read unprofessionally.
Similarly, statements of how the the "true ninja is unknowable, man, because it's, like, secret and in another language!" don't make any sense. We have articles about the CIA, about Al-Qaeda, about terrorist organizations from hundreds of years ago that were far more secretive and low-profile, with far fewer sources available. We have articles about entire civilizations that left no written record and whose language has been forgotten entirely. If we can't find a reliable source on something, we shouldn't have it in the article; we can quote reliable sources on what certain scholars say without making our own statements if we have to, but we shouldn't have any of our own speculation anywhere in the article, so commenting on our own reliablity ought to be moot.
Likewise, speculation has to go. All of it. We could probably start by placing tags on every unsourced statement of sufficently dubious merit anywhere in the article, and a few days later go ahead and remove them. Unless sources are found, this is going to leave the article fairly empty, because most of it seems to be statements with no source, but we need to prune things back to a decent starting point if this article is going to improve.
Things like "ninjas 'may have' X" or "another idea to put forth..." are probably original research, and will have to be removed unless a particular published scholar supporting them can be found to cite as a source. This is an encyclopedia article, not an essay.
The "ninja in fiction" section belongs inside the "ninja in popular culture" section, which seems to have its own article... that would mean that most of the "ninja in fiction" section probably belongs in that article.

There are other problems, but those are the most glaring... since the changes required are likely to be somewhat drastic, I thought I'd post on talk first and see what people thought. --Aquillion 01:41, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

I totally agree, but I'm no fan of the "XXX in Popular [whatever]" sections so my judgement is biased.

It would be awesome if the Wikipedia article about Ninjas were rigorous and useful; there's very little on the web about Ninjas which can be relied on. (Unless you trust sources like "Real Ultimate Power" or some random dojo's website claiming to teach the True Ninja Secrets.)

I hope you realize that the RUP website is humorously intended? :P Zuiram 00:21, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

As I have pointed out before, www.ninpo.org is probably as close as you will get to "rigorous and useful" at the moment. First and foremost because he actually comes up with a definition of the term in the beginning of his article.

In fact, the main problem with this article, is that there is no clear definition of "ninja", because of the confusion of terms that have been applied to certain concepts, and the confusion of concepts arbitrarily labelled as "ninja" with varying popularity.

Wikipedia deals with such ambiguity in other articles by starting out with a clear definition of what the page will be dealing with, and relegating other interpretations to other pages. It would be very useful if we could come up with a consensus on what concept this article should actually cover, as there is not, and probably never has been, a one-to-one mutual mapping between the world "ninja" and any real-world concept.

Personally, I rather like the idea of either going with the definition that shihan Tosen used in his article (with a seperate "In Popular Culture" page), or limiting the article exclusively to the popular depiction of the ninja (with a seperate "Premodern Japanese Covert Warfare" article).

Zuiram 00:21, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Even though Ninjas have a major existence in pop culture and fiction, I believe the subject can and should be discussed in a serious, meaningful way. It's entirely possible they never "really" existed, there doesn't appear to be much evidence for them either way; but a short article stating this is a million times more useful than a whole lot of dubious or useless information with no citable references.

Unfortunately, most contributors won't be able to write anything meaningful about the subject; it's easier to keep stuffing more padding in the "Ninjas in Popular Culture" section, writing about some minor GI Joe character dressed up as a Ninja in episode 242. Making sure the article sticks to known facts will be a real challenge.

Delete! Delete! Delete! 12.103.251.203 10:09, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The way it reads right now, I'm okay with delete.

Also correctly, the majority of contributors can't write anything meaningful on the subject, both because they lack any experience with the derived martial arts, japanese history, covert operations, or even the japanese language (including the ability to understand primary sources, or even the ability to understand the extreme level of ambiguity in the japanese language once the original context is lost).

I'd suggest parties that feel they can make a substantial contribution to this article, particularly with regards to sourced materials, drop by my talk page so we can try to get a consensus about how we can make a coordinated effort to improve this article.

Also, I'd like to point out that there is a goldmine of information on this topic (and also about Japanese Martial Arts) at the e-budo forums, provided you can sift away the garbage, as many people there have devoted significant time to an academic understanding of these topics. While this presumably won't suffice to source any controversial statement of fact on Wikipedia, it should be sufficient to source some information.

Zuiram 00:21, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

The intro

Ok, piece by piece:

"Verifying information about ninja is a very difficult task."

This statement essentially comes down to a peacock term, making ninjas sound all mystical and secret. In truth, as I note above, they are no more difficult to verify than thousands of other subjects on Wikipedia; there have been huge amounts of reliable sources written about them. There have been many other articles about subjects related to "silent killing and espionage" written throughout wikipedia, many with far fewer authoritative sources available than this. In any case, all of this dumbfounded navel-gazing about how mystical and unknowable the subject simply doesn't make for an encyclopedic tone. Likewise, claiming that the entire article is speculation and that 'true ninjas are unknowable' is poppycock. Most of the other things I deleted were similar peacock terms about how magically special and un-disprovable (?!) ninjas are, so I won't go over it in detail.

"...with ninja, this is further compounded by the specific circumstances of its occurrence in distant lands using a different language..."

Distant from where? Different from what language? Wikipedia is supposed to reflect a universal viewpoint; saying a subject is distant from some unspecified country makes no sense. (What, exactly, is someone reading this article from a computer in Japan supposed to think?) Readers can at least presume that the contributor who noted the 'different language' bit was wowed by the fact that they were writing about a subject from a country that didn't speak English, but that covers the majority of the countries in the world and, therefore, a significant chunk of the subjects on Wikipedia... it simply isn't something worth noting.

"There are a few less secrective ninja. For example, the competitive american fighter Scott Morris was exposed as a ninja by John McCarthy, the announcer at UFC 2, who stated 'we don't know much about him, because he is a ninja.'"

An announcer's showboating (note: peacock term) doesn't belong anywhere in the article, never mind in the very intro itself. Although it is true that Scott Morris is described as a practitioner of Ninjutsu, that is just being used to refer to a style of martial arts... when the announcer called him a 'ninja', he was joking around for the audience's entertainment.

--Aquillion 00:37, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

lets face it, no one 'owns' the meaning of 'ninja.' The truths about what 'ninja' means in 2006 (archetype, metaphor, stock character, comic relief) are inconsistent with your japanophiliac dreams. But you have my sympathy. --Ghetteaux 11:08, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

The current lead is absolutely awful. Rather than define who they were, who they worked for, etc., the lead is that they are used ironically in plays? And as far as it goes, Ghetteaux, he was apparently trying to take out anything that mystifies the ninja image... not exactly something that a Japanophile would do. Anyway, I fixed your links and capitalization. Dekimasu 13:48, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment from mainspace

I moved this comment off of the article... Luna Santin 13:17, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I would like to point out a contradiction, the paragraph describing 'ninja boots' or 'jika tabi' has a link to to an article for the 'jika tabi' which specifies that they were not, indeed, used by ninja. --168.224.1.14

Actually, I've seen at least one picture (from the early days of photography) depicting what is supposed to be ninja guarding a gate. They wear tabi.

Several descriptions indicate that fisherman's clothing was a common disguise for ninja, which makes sense, as one often-described tactic of information gathering was simply listening to gossip in a village, or even settling down there for extended "surveillance". Such clothes definitely include the split-toe sandal, at least in muddy areas.

Of course, to claim that it was part of some kind of dress code or uniform would probably be absurd, but these kinds are not exactly uncommon. Calling them "ninja boots" is rather silly, though. Zuiram 00:30, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Renaming of sections

I have renamed the sections IAW WP:MOS#Headings, namely: Wording

Capitalize the first letter only of the first word and of any proper nouns in a heading, and leave all of the other letters in lowercase. Use "Rules and regulations", not "Rules and Regulations".
Avoid unnecessary words or redundancy in headings: avoid "a/an/the", pronouns, repeating the article title, and so on.

Moved Ninjutsu from here over to the talk page of the Ninjutsu article

Subject says it all. The Ninjutsu thing goes into a lot of detail that doesn't seem to have anything backing it up, or even any articles to support it, and is rather irrelevant to the core ninja article, besides. I wouldn't presume to insert it into Ninjutsu, but put it in the talk page there to see if anyone can make any sense out of it. Tchalvak 08:52, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Modern Organization of ninjutsu teachers

In an effort to seperate out the past from the present from the fiction, I split the "ninja organization" section into "past" and "fiction" until someone shows initiative to source it to prove the extra stuff anything other than fiction (and unsourced fiction at that). I'd also love to see some referrence to how present-day ninjutsu teachers organize things (for a "present" section), but I suspect that that organization, lacking the large group that makes a hierarchy of some kind necessary, probably pretty much is made up of "student" and "teacher". I could just make that section and fill it only with a link to somewhere in ninjutsu saying "here, look at this to understand the modern hierarchy of ninjutsu practitioners" but that wouldn't make for a strong section. Maybe, for now, I'll just put that at the end of the "past" section.

The "ninjutsu" part of the art isn't generally taught anymore, except for historical purposes.

However, the legitimate martial arts lineages that claim a ninjutsu-related heritage, essentially the Bujinkan, Genbukan and Jinenkan are organized pretty much like any modern japanese martial arts school. One Soke, a few menkyo kaiden, a few/lot (depending on organization) dan-level students, and some/tons (depending on organization) kyu-level students, with a curriculum that tends to be organized with regard to structured learning of practical topics, rather than the preservation of a particular ryu-ha.

Hope this helps. I can provide more details for Genbukan, but for me to do so for the others would be inappropriate. Zuiram 00:37, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Recent film involving ninja

A really good movie involving ninja is SHINOBI Heart Under Blade. I highly recomend it to anyone who loves ninja and isn't afraid of subtitles.

Correct plural

Is it "ninja " or "ninjas"? - The 4th Snake 19:13, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I would say "ninja" myself. Japanese nouns don't inherently reflect number (though you can add '-tachi' to pluralize...that might just be for people.) So ten samurai bought two katana each from six Jedi, for the price of three deer and two fish apiece.

Of course, this is absolutely the least-worrisome bit about this absurdly speculative page. --GenkiNeko 20:57, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

There is no such thing as a correct plural, look at Goose-Geese and Moose-Moose. Thats why I say a happy flock of Meese and an army of Ninjas.Toxic Ninja 03:22, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

The Black Ninja

A certain historical footnote is the black ninja who created ninja. Controversy surrounds the meaning of the school. A person as the Zen master advisor was truly involved as the ninja's companion, a social friend.

In comparison to the historical Black Watches of the Scottish Highlands, the black school of ninja is similar. A mythology surrounds the effect of the ninja. In fact Socrates’ was guilty of promoting the black school of the spiritual ninja in effect. Equating the black schools.

Historically a certain Zen master pirate is thought to have existed, forming the Black Watch aboard his ship.

A literal spirit was to have walked with the master. The central issue in contemporary psychology is the meaning of the hypnotic trance. For about 10% of the people in such a trance there is a completed spirit or subconscious state, making a total memory lost for this period.

The Freudian superego expression is then the black ninja, the Black Watchmen, the Zen Master's pirate ship, and the spirit warrior of Socrates. All are equatable psychologically.

When the myth of hypnosis is the meaning of 10% as compared to the 90% the true school is found. Black ninja exist. A true memory loss may occur with some patients. A literal blackout occurs while the Freudian superego expresses.

A superego has reflexs far superior to the normal person, making the basis for the mythology. The reflexes are literally animal fast. The movment is very well understood by black masters and to train the student the eye of the opponent is the sighted object. A sight area of the opponent is used so the they never really see the whole ninja strike. A litteral peripheral vision strike angle is trained, forming the basis for the myth.

killing the audience ?

This either implied to the audience that the ninja were also invisible, or simply made the audience unable to tell a ninja from the many prop handlers until the ninja distinguished himself from the others in the play by attacking, either as part of the script, or assassinating an audience member.

i really dont get that Tyriel 15:05, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

commercial extlink cleanup

Could someone clean up the commercial extlinks in this article. They are too spammy. 67.117.130.181 06:26, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Awful

This is by far the worst article I have ever read on wikipedia. It appears to have been written by 12-15 year old boys. The first paragraph has a totally irrelevant bit of useless information at the end about some professional wrestler.

Agree. But why dont you help them? Sspecter 19:27, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Ninjas X stealth commandos

It would be nice if someone put a section comparing ninjas and stealth agents nowadays. I think it would take off the ninja myth a little, and show how stealth missions was used and still is used. Sspecter 19:26, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Naruto

I sudjust that anything about naruto be removed, because anyone who knows anything about ninja would agree that he is nothing like a ninja (eg. being very loud and obnactios, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit). P.S. Don't say anything stupid like "he's a ninja, and you suck, believe it!" --Uber Cuber

Ninja don't flip out and kill people, nor do they often run their own video blogs, yet the term "ninja" is nevertheless associated with such things anyway. Naruto is variant ninja fantasy, is encyclopedic and is worth mentioning in this context, dattebayo. –Gunslinger47 00:42, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Naruto is a poor example of a ninja and ninja history. The japanese making a comic/manga that misleads people into thinking that's how ninjas were is like an american making a widely popular book about during the american revolutoin, Abe Lincoln fought in it and had magical powers (and an annoying catchphrase).--Uber Cuber

Anyone who is mislead into thinking Naruto is historically representative is not likely going to live long; likely to be tragically run down on a crosswalk due to the highly ambiguous "WALK"/"DON'T WALK" distinction commonly utilized at intersections. –Gunslinger47 22:13, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Naruto... seriously... ManofRenown87 02:25, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Well, naruto sucks!

Summaries extraneous in video games section

This section is far too long and the video game summaries do not add to the subject matter and are frankly utterly ridiculous. I propose these summaries are removed or moved elsewhere. This section should be two paragraphs maximum. MIDR 03:41, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

Should be shortened to a bullet list I guess or just cut it in half because it really is overkill by now Tyriel 08:55, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

records are scanty, speculation is rampant

Secrecy, stealth, and assassination lead to two potential inaccuracies: 1) many true ninja facts are not recorded; and 2) many writings about ninja are not supported by facts.

This diagram was removed, but I think it has merit because the ninja's lifestyle and methods made it so no one really knows much about them at all. I think we should include it in the article.

Venn diagrams are easy ways to illustrate the difficulty of knowing the ninja's true situation.

Are any of you on this ninjipedia ninjas? If you were, a true ninja would not admit it. Therefour, perhaps it was the same in olden times. Ninja would deliberately confuse and perpetrate to be regular people, while at the same time assassinating victims and escaping without being detected.

So, who knows what color ninja suit the ninja wore? And who can say that Ninja did not use the numchucks?

--Ghetteaux 20:33, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry, Ghetteaux, you're buying far too much into the mythology of the "ancient mystery of the ninja". As does the whole tone of the article's lede:

Verifying information about ninja is a very difficult task. The secrecy in the organization and operations makes any related subject difficult to verify; with ninja, this is further compounded by the specific circumstances of its occurrence in distant lands using a different language, and the myth arisen around them. This compounded difficulty in verification is made nearly impossible by the stealthy lifestyle and multitude of dispatched victims of the ninja. Dead men tell no tales, and, as such, there are very few records of these shuriken-wielding silent killers.

This is romantic mystery clouding efforts of people to use actual historic documentation in this version of the article in place of the "they're so secretive, they can not be known" garbage that preceded it. I don't know who wrote this intro, but let's go point by point through how off-base these claims of mystery are.

"The secrecy in the organization and operations makes any relatd subject difficult to verify". So did ninjas only work for other ninjas against ninjas? The only way ninja could be as air tightly secretive as this claim makes would be if they were completely insular, and thereby relevent to the rest of the world. But they are not.
"this is further compounded by the specific circumstances of its occurrence in distant lands using a foreign language". This is orientalist fantasy b.s. Right, no one in the English speaking world has any handle on the Japanese language, history, or culture. This claim makes Japan such an exotic other I'd say it borders on racism. With the benefit of the doubt, at best it's an immature claim made by someone who thinks ninja are fascinating, so wants to help with the article, but has no real knowledge on the subject matter. It's also ignorant to the very global nature of wikipedia. You don't have "distant lands" with a global enterprise.
"This compounded difficulty in verification is made nearly impossible by the stealthy lifestyle and multitude of dispatched victims of the ninja." More mythic b.s. bordering on "ninjas flip out and kill mass murder style". Multitudes? Really? If there actually was a holocaust perpetrated by ninjas, why were they doing it? And don't give me the "protecting secrecy line." Any enterprise employed for stealthy information gathering and discrete violence/assassination knows it's best to do so with a minimum of bloodshed. Ninja are a product of a culture with a history and politics, so the phenomena will be tied to that history and politics. As is, you might as well claim ninjas are elves, and aliens, or vampires or something.
"Dead men tell no tales, and, as such, there are very few records of these shuriken-wielding silent killers." This is drama disguised as a reasoned apology. What it really says, is that ninjas, like most phenomena embedded within a cultural history unfamiliar to an English speaking audience, are probably best left to the few with creditable knowledge of the phenomena; but this article will likely be marred by the idiocy of people who want to maintain popular perception derived from fantasy.

Venn diagram that. Or go to the pop culture article where these fantasy epistemic claims will be more welcome.

--68.163.3.219 18:06, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Here, I attempt to "[v]enn diagram that," as you have asked. Please let me know if this is what you had in mind. Thank you. --Ghetteaux 22:30, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Did you finish your chapter on set theory, before you put the intro to logic book down, thinking you had it all figured out. Your Venn diagrams are worthless unless you can calculate the population of each set, and thus come up with a likely proportional intersection value. In other words, your reasoning, which I'm hoping is in jest, is too vague to be of any value to the debate you're trying to settle. Without a thorough understanding of set values, your diagrams about as useful as a dartboard.--141.152.236.135 05:36, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the guidance, 141.152.236.135; I have populated the sets by my best estimatation of what 68.163.3.219 communicated. please see the updated diagramme. Thank you. --Ghetteaux 12:54, 25 December 2006 (UTC)