Japan's era of shoguns and samurai is long over, but the country does have one, or maybe two, surviving ninjas. Experts in the dark arts of espionage and silent assassination, ninjas passed skills from father to son - but today's say they will be the last.



Japan's ninjas were all about mystery. Hired by noble samurai warriors to spy, sabotage and kill, their dark outfits usually covered everything but their eyes, leaving them virtually invisible in shadow - until they struck.

Using weapons such as shuriken, a sharpened star-shaped projectile, and the fukiya blowpipe, they were silent but deadly.

Ninjas were also famed swordsmen. They used their weapons not just to kill but to help them climb stone walls, to sneak into a castle or observe their enemies.

Most of their missions were secret so there are very few official documents detailing their activities. Their tools and methods were passed down for generations by word of mouth.


This has allowed filmmakers, novelists and comic artists to use their wild imagination.

Hollywood movies such as Enter the Ninja and American Ninja portray them as superhumans who could run on water or disappear in the blink of an eye.

"That is impossible because no matter how much you train, ninjas were people," laughs Jinichi Kawakami, Japan's last ninja grandmaster, according to the Iga-ryu ninja museum.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20135674

Ayyah. Me I want to become a Ninja o! My first target would be my annoying Landlord

....

Dark colours...
It's not the way artists protray them as.
And their weapons.....

Ramcie: Ayyah. Me I want to become a Ninja o! My first target would be my annoying Landlord

Me too! i wish I could be adopted by a Ninja clan.

firestar: ....

Dark colours...
It's not the way artists protray them as.
And their weapons.....

Well artists tend to elaborate/exaggerate quite a bit.

Lord_Reed:
Well artists tend to elaborate/exaggerate quite a bit.

...a bit?
Those shuriken for example, multiple that size several times over and imagine a ninja wielding that!

Although, their exaggerated protrayal makes them even more intriguing along with a make-believe story-line.

Thats's sad, although I thought they were long gone lol. I want to be Samurai. Abunai!!!!