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What was Being a Ninja Really Like
A relatively common trope today is that of the noble and honorable
Samurai warrior opposed by their shadowy brother from another mother,
the mystical and morally corrupt, black garbed assassin warrior known as
the ninja.
These fabled shadow warriors of Japanese history have been a staple of
modern pop culture since around the 1960s when super-spy James Bond
encountered them on a trip to Japan in You Only Live Twice. Prior to
this, ninjas were something few people outside of their homeland were
aware of. This has contributed to the real-world history of the ninja
and their origins being rather chock full of admittedly awesome myths
and legends, all surrounding them like a thick, shadowy fog.
Something we feel the ninjas of history would feel proud of. Afterall,
hiding and remaining unseen is sort of their whole deal… And, indeed,
even in their time, they seemed to like to play up some of the stories
that arose around what they were capable of and how they did what they
did.
This all brings us to the topic of today- just who were the ninja and
what did they actually get up to in reality?
To begin with, in a nutshell the ninja were elite, mercenary spies that
also doubled as a type of swiss army knife of special forces, skilled in
everything from sabotage, espionage, ambush, arson, assasination, to
there is even evidence that they were highly trained in first aid and
use of various medicines.
As historian Yamada Yüji notes, “You need to know the topography of the
enemy’s position, the condition of his food supplies, the structure of
his castle. It was the job of the shinobi [ninja] to obtain this kind of
crucial information. They would infiltrate the enemy domain and
ascertain the lay of the land…and create chaos through acts of sabotage
and arson.”
On that note, debunking our first ninja myth, there’s no historical
record of them dressing in the stereotypical ninja outfits we all know
and love today. Because the thing was, wearing such garb would be one
heck of a way for them to stand out in many types of missions.
As such, ninjas mostly seem to have worn the garb of everything from
monk to farmer to servant- whatever a particular mission required,
rather than any set uniform.
We’ll have some examples of them doing just this later on, but for now,
ninjas so commonly wearing the clothing of farmers and the like even
gave rise to the idea for a time that they were mostly simple farmers
who simply took money for spying. While there certainly were individuals
who did just that, when talking actual ninjas as we think of them, they
were anything but simple, and there are even nobles who were samurai
who are known to have been trained up in ninjitsu. More on this later.
But for now, let’s look at the origin of the ninja.
Authors: Karl Smallwood and Daven Hiskey
Host: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Caden Nielsen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
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A relatively common trope today is that of the noble and honorable
Samurai warrior opposed by their shadowy brother from another mother,
the mystical and morally corrupt, black garbed assassin warrior known as
the ninja.
These fabled shadow warriors of Japanese history have been a staple of
modern pop culture since around the 1960s when super-spy James Bond
encountered them on a trip to Japan in You Only Live Twice. Prior to
this, ninjas were something few people outside of their homeland were
aware of. This has contributed to the real-world history of the ninja
and their origins being rather chock full of admittedly awesome myths
and legends, all surrounding them like a thick, shadowy fog.
Something we feel the ninjas of history would feel proud of. Afterall,
hiding and remaining unseen is sort of their whole deal… And, indeed,
even in their time, they seemed to like to play up some of the stories
that arose around what they were capable of and how they did what they
did.
This all brings us to the topic of today- just who were the ninja and
what did they actually get up to in reality?
To begin with, in a nutshell the ninja were elite, mercenary spies that
also doubled as a type of swiss army knife of special forces, skilled in
everything from sabotage, espionage, ambush, arson, assasination, to
there is even evidence that they were highly trained in first aid and
use of various medicines.
As historian Yamada Yüji notes, “You need to know the topography of the
enemy’s position, the condition of his food supplies, the structure of
his castle. It was the job of the shinobi [ninja] to obtain this kind of
crucial information. They would infiltrate the enemy domain and
ascertain the lay of the land…and create chaos through acts of sabotage
and arson.”
On that note, debunking our first ninja myth, there’s no historical
record of them dressing in the stereotypical ninja outfits we all know
and love today. Because the thing was, wearing such garb would be one
heck of a way for them to stand out in many types of missions.
As such, ninjas mostly seem to have worn the garb of everything from
monk to farmer to servant- whatever a particular mission required,
rather than any set uniform.
We’ll have some examples of them doing just this later on, but for now,
ninjas so commonly wearing the clothing of farmers and the like even
gave rise to the idea for a time that they were mostly simple farmers
who simply took money for spying. While there certainly were individuals
who did just that, when talking actual ninjas as we think of them, they
were anything but simple, and there are even nobles who were samurai
who are known to have been trained up in ninjitsu. More on this later.
But for now, let’s look at the origin of the ninja.
Authors: Karl Smallwood and Daven Hiskey
Host: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Caden Nielsen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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