Ninja Merchandise

Shhhh! This entry does not exist. You may think you are reading it, but you are not. There was a ninja here earlier (we think) but no one knows if he’s still here or not because a ninja’s special skill is blending in with his (or her) surroundings so there just might be one hiding behind one of these letters - you never know!

Back in feudal Japan, a ninja, or shinobi, was a covert warrior specialising in secret missions, espionage, assassinations and other kinds of dark and dirty business. These specialist techniques are known as “ninjutsu” and require extensive training to master. Some examples of ninja techniques include: Hitsuke - the use of fire as a distraction; Tanuki-gakure - climbing a tree and camouflaging one’s self within the foliage; Ukigusa-gakure - throwing duckweed over water to disguise movement; and Uzura-gakure - curling into a ball and remaining motionless like a stone. Ninjas - they think of everything!

Ninja are pretty inventive in their equipment too, making sure to be equipped with grappling hooks, ropes, collapsible ladders and the classic kunai which could be used to hack a foothold in a wall. Of course they’re well armed too with katanas, bows and arrows, the kusarigama chain and sickle, and of course the shuriken throwing star, just in case the whole stealth thing doesn’t work out.

Ninjas were most common during the Sengoku or Warring States periods with the Iga and Koga regions being famous for ninja families, but sadly today there don’t appear to be many ninjas around (but then perhaps that’s just what they want us to think). However, their spirit lives on in ninja-inspired media like the classic Naruto, and you can even experience something of ninja life by travelling to one of Japan’s Ninja Villages to learn a little about life in feudal times!