
Japan's ninjas heading for extinction - bitcartel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20135674
======
jesskah
Maybe they are lying about not having successors. If I were a sneaky ninja,
that's what I would do, have a secret heir.

~~~
lextori
That makes a disturbing amount of sense. What would the need to ninja be in
modern times though?

~~~
sliverstorm
Ninja are fundamentally political tools. As long as we have politics, someone
will be interested in their services, I am sure.

~~~
praptak
Not really, unless you broaden the definition of a ninja to everyone who does
sabotage, for example those who sank the Rainbow Warrior on behalf of the
French government:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior>

So, sabotage and assasination - yes, but more modern techniques replaced those
of ninja.

~~~
hef19898
For me it's not as much the tools used (since the techniques of seaking around
places should still be the same) but the mindset behind. So maybe there's no
demand for classical ninjas now. For Ninjas using Ninjutsu skills and modern
tools at the same time, I think there is as much demand today as ever (on a
international scope, in Japan I can't tell).

------
bitcartel
Reminded me of one the best games on the C64...
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Ninja>

------
coopdog
Minor correction on the article, it's been said that they actually seldom wore
all black, as that would make you particularly conspicuous. It's more likely
they wore an appropriate costume that would allow them to 'hide in plain site'
if needed

~~~
daeken
Indeed. What's really interesting is that the convention of wearing black is
thought to have come from bunraku theater, where the stagehands wore black and
were "invisible" by convention.

~~~
kqr2
For an example of modern day "puppetry" on Japanese TV.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYWvygAbolM>

------
noonespecial
Nothing but Pirate propaganda.

------
migrantgeek
Those guys aren’t ninjas and they aren’t dying out. Blackwater has hired lots
of ninjas.

A ninja is just some dude who gets paid money to get dirty using the best tech
and skills available at the time. If they had Glocks in the 15th century
ninjas would have been popping caps in Samurai ass. They threw metal stars and
swung swords because that’s all they had.

The BBC must have been really desperate to report on some anachronistic pajama
wearing idiots.

~~~
samstave
Well...

False. There are a lot of nuances and factors to the definition of a "ninja" -
the historical use of the skills of ninja as a political/insurgent tool of
subterfuge and assassination is one aspect.

However for those involved in bujinkan for a long time - it is about mastery
of movement.

The principles of movement taught by bujinkan are lightyears ahead of what you
see in most martial arts. They are also subtle ad complex and easily confused.

BJJ is the modern Tae Kwon Do - the McMartial Art of our time.

There is a lot more to Bujinkan than comparing it to mercenaries.

Bujinkan teaches you how to actually be a better and more complete Human. It
is much more than what the surface history teaches.

(I have been in Bujinkan for 20 years)

~~~
iallison
I agree with samstave. I have been practicing Bujinkan for over 15 years. It
is more about body awareness and economy of motion than learning how to hurt
someone in multiple ways. There will always be the Ashida Kim's of the world.

Bujinkan is also not just about Ninjutsu. It is actually a collection of 9
different martial arts ryūha under one school. Only 3 of the ryūha are
considered Ninjutsu or Ninpō ryūha. Of the other 6 ryūha some were of samurai
family origins.

In Bujinkan there are those tend to focus on the whole ninja aspect and they
don't tend to last too long. Then there are those who start out interested in
the ninja aspect of the martial art and find an amazing system that has a
whole lot more to offer than black Gis and tabi shoes.

~~~
saraid216
I'd be interested in learning more from an armchair. Any suggestions? I'm
pretty familiar with martial art philosophy in general, so it's more the
specifics that I'm interested in.

~~~
ylem
You could read some of Hatsumi's books, or Jack Hoban's...

------
emmelaich
See the 15th episode of <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Weapon> for a
little more on Masaaki Hatsumi

~~~
hosh
That episode of Human Weapons was really funny to watch. It was even funnier
watching my friends roll their eyes in disgust.

The two dudes tried to bust in on a training session, swaggering in, and
didn't know how dumb they were being. They got passed on to someone else who
was amused by all of this. And obviously did not have enough footage to do
what they wanted, so they had to backfill it with nonsense.

You're better off tracking down Chris Crudelli's _Mind, Body, Kick-Ass Moves_.
Hatsumi liked him enough to personally play with and terrorize him.

------
tokenadult
I like the sidebar to the submitted article, "Western ninja-inspired
nonsense." Popular culture references to Japanese _ninja_ are not likely to be
accurate descriptions of _ninja_ technique. I first read about _ninja_ ( 忍者 )
in the very interesting book _Asian Fighting Arts_

[http://www.amazon.com/Asian-Fighting-Arts-Donn-
Draeger/dp/08...](http://www.amazon.com/Asian-Fighting-Arts-Donn-
Draeger/dp/0870110799)

in the 1970s. I think the Western sources have always exaggerated the most
glamorous aspects of traditional Japanese culture and neglected the day-by-day
realities.

~~~
hosh
Oh yeah. Draeger ... Heheh.

------
traeblain
Or that's what they want you to think...

------
jiggy2011
I thought that ninjas were a myth?

------
jakeonthemove
I thought they were peasants who armed themselves instead of some well trained
assassins...

~~~
arjn
Yes that is my understanding of their history. Peasants who were being hassled
by the Samurai and so developed these skills for defense. Later they moved on
to doing jobs for hire.

~~~
maaku
Myth, unfortunately (for it does make a good story). There were many different
clans in a certain mountainous region of Japan that we retroactively classify
as "ninja". Many of them were, in fact, samurai. Other individuals from that
region didn't have claim to familial titles that would make them samurai, but
offered their services in combat and were often rewarded with land grants in
return, making them samurai.

You see, "samurai" was just a word for the gentrified upper class at the time.
It wasn't until later, after unification that a caste system came into
existence and "samurai" became associated with special clothing, top knots,
and the right to wear (but not use) swords.

[Source: I was a Japanese language & history major at one time, and studied a
number of years in the Bujinkan.]

EDIT: Okay, partial myth. Peasants who armed themselves fought for hire does
describe the humble origins of some schools. It was the "peasants hustled by
the samurai" part I was responding to as a myth.

------
loceng
Bullshit. They're just getting better at hiding.

------
TommyDANGerous
I prefer to be a Samurai over a Ninja.

------
IgorP
Finally, an article about _real_ ninjas. :)

~~~
waterlesscloud
If they are having trouble finding work, perhaps they should learn Ruby.

~~~
w1ntermute
Well, they'd better hope they're _rockstar_ ninjas if they want to get a job.

~~~
contingencies
_(skype disappearing ninja icon)_

------
hugbox
On the plus side, pirates are still going strong.

~~~
meaty
Lol I actually spilled my tea :)

------
marshray
Aww poor ninjas. It must totally suck to, you know, die like that.

------
chris_mahan
My wife is Japanese, and her first name is Yumi. I'll just leave it at that.

~~~
basugasubaku
Her name doesn't necessarily mean "bow", though. "Yumi" is a reading of many
first names, like 裕美 (something like "full of beauty") or 由美, which are more
common than 弓 (bow).

~~~
chris_mahan
I know. I was being silly.

