Ninja

Ninja (??) or shinobi (??) (literally, "one who endures") were agents of espionage in feudal Japan. Some modern practitioners of budo ninjutsu argue that ninja were used primarily as spies, not assassins. It is popularly believed that the ancient ninja were peasants, forbidden under law from studying the samurai swordplay techniques because of feudal Japan's caste structure. Others contend that many ninja were also samurai, operating as spies in the service of their daimyo. The latter is more likely as there aren't any records of peasant ninja, while there are many samurai families who are recorded as being ninja. Contrary to popular belief, bushido didn't in fact stop samurai from being ninja.

Culture of Ninja

A ninja organization would be headed by a jōnin (上忍) literally high ninja. Under jōnin would be several chūnin (中忍) lit. middle ninja. Under chūnin would be several genin (下忍) lit. low ninja. Upon receiving a mission from daimyō, the jōnin would use the chūnin to select necessary personnel from among the genin. Some ninja groups would be smaller and may have been less structured. Other groups may have been structured more like an army and the leader may instead have been called shō or general.

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While ninja are often depicted as male, females were sometimes, but rarely ninja as well. A female ninja may be called kunoichi (くノ一); the characters are supposedly derived from the strokes that make up the kanji for woman (女). Though sometimes depicted as experienced prostitutes who learned the secrets of an enemy by seduction, they rarely used that method. Most prostitutes in medieval Japan were in brothels and few would take their chance with a freelance prostitute; in many places, it was illegal to do so.

Related Topics:
Kanji - Prostitute - Brothels

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The ninpō (忍法) lit. "methods of ninja", refers to various skills used by ninja, but mostly supernatural and fictional.

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Ninja had many rules and the most important rule is of keeping the secret of ninja themselves and of the daimyō who gave them the order. The severest crime is leaving a ninja family without authorization and never coming back. He or she would be called nukenin (抜け忍) and his or her family members would be tasked to bring him back, dead or alive.

Related Topics:
Daimyō - Nukenin

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