Japan is suffering from a ninja shortage amid huge demand from foreign tourists

Martial arts masters say new recruits are just not up to scratch

Japan's legendary ninjas are famous for their stealth and were said to possess a supernatural gift for invisibility.

But now martial arts experts are concerned they might be disappearing in real life, as practitioners of the ancient "ninjutsu" say there is a major talent shortage.

As tourism to Japan has grown, there has been an increasing demand to see the iconic warriors perform “ninja shows” to crowds - but martial arts squads are struggling to find candidates who are up to scratch.

Takatsugu Aoki, the manager of a martial arts squad in the city of Nayoga in the south of the country, told the Asahi newspaper: “With the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan on the increase, the value of ninja as tourism content has increased.

“There are more employment choices, while ninja shows across the country have become popular. I feel there is a ninja shortage.”

A dying art: Modern recruits do not have the necessary skills in unarmed combat and espionage iStock

Those who do put themselves forwards, he said, lack the basic skills needed. This usually means being trained in unarmed combat, acrobatics, concealment and first aid while also being able to use throwing stars and fight with swords.

Invisibility and walking on water, despite the folklore, are not part of the job description.

Although they have developed a reputation as fearsome warriors over the centuries, ninjas were primarily concerned with espionage during their heyday in feudal Japan.

Ninjas prided themselves first and foremost on their skills in spying and their endurance – violence was supposedly seen as a last resort.

But they were traditionally skilled in using weapons such as shuriken, known as throwing stars in the West, and the fukiya blowpipe which was usually filled with a poisoned dart.

They first emerged as mercenaries in the 15th century during an era of civil war known as the Warring States period and were recruited to act as spies, raiders, assassins or even terrorists.

Disdained by general society, which was based on a strict hierarchy with the elite samurai class at the top, they soon formed into guilds with their own sets of rules and ranks.

These guilds had different types of ninjas, or shinobi, assigned to specific tasks and they often controlled their own individual territories.

(Source: Independent)

Japan's last ninja: Engineer, 63, who can hear a needle drop in the next room and kill from 20 paces

Masters in the dark arts of espionage and silent assassination, they are rarely seen and never heard... until they strike.

Employed by samurai warlords to spy, sabotage and kill, they are relics of an ancient code that have all but died out in the modern age.

All but one. As the 21st head of the Ban clan, a dynasty of secret spies that can trace its history back some 500 years, 63-year-old engineer Jinichi Kawakami is Japan's last ninja.

He is trained to hear a needle drop in the next room, to disappear in a cloud of smoke or to cut a victim's throat from 20 paces with nothing more than a two-inch 'death star'.

'I think I'm called (the last ninja) as there is probably no other person who learned all the skills that were directly handed down from ninja masters over the last five centuries,' he said. 'Ninjas proper no longer exist.'

But Kawakami has decided to let the art die with him because ninjas 'just don't fit with modern day', adding: 'We can’t try out murder or poisons. Even if we can follow the instructions to make a poison, we can’t try it out.'

An engineer by trade, Kawakami started practicing the art of Ninjutsu at the age of six before he began training under the gruelling regime of Buddhist master Masazo Ishida.

To improve his concentration, he would spend hours staring into the flame of a candle until he felt he was inside it.

To hone his hearing he would practice listening to a needle being dropped onto a wooden floor in the next room.

He climbed walls, jumped from heights and learned how to mix chemicals to cause explosions and smoke.

He was also trained to withstand extreme heat and cold as well as go for days without food or water.

'The training was all tough and painful. It wasn't fun but I didn't think much why I was doing it. Training was made to be part of my life,' he said.

And at the age of 19, he inherited his master's title along with a cache of secret scrolls and ancient tools.

But he says the art of the ninja lies in the power of surprise, never brute force or outward strength and is about exploiting weaknesses to outfox larger, more powerful opponents while distracting their attention to get the upper hand.

And, he says, the ability to hide in the most unlikely of places is a ninja's greatest weapon.

'If you throw a toothpick, people will look that way, giving you the chance to flee, he adds. 'We also have a saying that it is possible to escape death by perching on your enemy's eyelashes; it means you are so close that he cannot see you.'

Kawakami now runs the Iga-ryu Ninja Museum, in Iga, 220 miles southwest of Tokyo and recently began a research job at the state-run Mie University, where he is studying the history of ninjas.

He says he has decided not to take on an apprentice to pass on the legacy, making him the last in the line of Ban clan ninjas.

Ninjas, also known as shinobi, have been feared and revered throughout history for their talents as assassins, scouts and spies.

They are mainly noted for their use of stealth and deception but also for their amazing powers of endurance.

Ninjutsu can be translated as ‘Art of Stealth' but also means ‘Art of Enduring' and the ninjas themselves were noted for being able to walk long distances without stopping, jump over seven feet and dislocate their joints to escape from small spaces.

But they are not only ruthless killers as depicted in so many Hollywood movies.

In fact, ninjas considered the art of espionage far greater than that of fighting which was always a last resort - ninjas were skilled in spying and defeating foes using intelligence, while swinging a sword was deemed a lower art.

But if necessary, they had to be experts with weapons such as shuriken, a sharpened star-shaped projectile, and the fukiya blowpipe, usually filled with a poison dart.

And they were also skilled at making both poisons and medicines.

THE ART OF STEALTH: HOW NINJAS WERE REVERED THROUGH HISTORY AS ASSASSINS, SCOUTS AND SPIES:
Ninjas, also known as shinobi, have been feared and revered throughout history for their talents as assassins, scouts and spies.

They are mainly noted for their use of stealth, their dark outfits usually covering everything but their eyes, leaving them virtually invisible in shadow, until they struck.

But they were also known for their amazing powers of endurance.

Ninjutsu can be translated as ‘Art of Stealth' but also means ‘Art of Enduring'.

The ninjas themselves were noted for being able to walk long distances without stopping, jump over seven feet and dislocate their joints to escape from small spaces.

But they were not only ruthless killers as depicted in so many Hollywood movies.

In fact, ninjas considered the art of espionage far greater than that of fighting which was always a last resort - ninjas were skilled in spying and defeating foes using intelligence, while swinging a sword was deemed a lower art.

And they were also skilled at making poisons as well as potions and medicines.

(Source: Daily Mail)