Ninja is a Japanese word that means “a person skilled in stealth” (secret action). During the 1700’s, the Japanese more commonly used the word shinobi, meaning “a person of stealth.” Both words describe spies , scouts , infiltrators, and others who use stealthy methods for paramilitary purposes. A paramilitary warrior is one who uses unconventional warfare and is not a member of the official armed forces of a country.
Shinobi and ninja used methods and techniques based on the philosophy of ninpo. Ninpo means “universal law of perseverance and endurance.” This was an acknowledgment that spies, scouts, and infiltrators did not operate by the same rules as samurai and their retainers (servants). Rather, they did whatever was necessary to succeed in whatever effort they were pursuing. Samurai were the warrior class in Japan. For instance, samurai fought on prearranged battlefields with swords and flags that helped to identify them, but shinobi attacked from ambush, with knives, throwing discs, and other discreet weapons. Similarly, the code of the samurai called for the warrior to die with honor, but the ethical codes of the shinobi allowed one to slink away to hide in the rafters or bushes if necessary. In this way, shinobi turned the traditional samurai code upside down.
Ninja have often been featured in Japanese puppet plays, theatrical productions, and woodblock prints. In these settings, the ninja were dressed in black to inform viewers that other people in the scene could not see the ninja. More recently, ninja have appeared in novels, films, anime, and video games. Anime is a distinct style of animation that developed in Japan. In these settings, ninja are usually portrayed as black-clad martial art experts.
Martial art schools teaching ninjutsu (stealth methods) started appearing outside Japan during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The techniques taught in modern ninjutsu schools are similar to the techniques and methods taught in other schools of Japanese martial art. This has prompted debate in academic circles concerning how much the modern martial art of ninjutsu owes to historic ninpo, and how much it owes instead to the popular imagination.
