にほんブログ村
What do you know about Ninja? You may have an image that they are heroes using special skills in movies or animes.
Ninja is quite popular not only in Japan but also all over the world. Some of them even wants to go to Japan to have special trainings of ninja.
Ninja has a lot of different schools. And one of the most well known schools came from Mie Prefecture. That is Iga-Ninja.
Iga, the Hometown of Ninja
Iga area in Mie Prefecture is surrounded by mountains. Therefore, it looks like a hidden village.
This area used to be a territory of Todaiji Temple of Nara. However, there were some groups against the dominance and because of them Iga had no rulers for a while. They had improved their unique battle methods.
In the age of civil wars, Iga was attacked by Oda Nobunaga’s second son, Nobukatsu’s army. However, warriors in Iga had utilized the geological conditions and beaten them using their guerrilla tactics.
It is believed that those unique skilled forces are the origin of ninjas.
Although the Oda’s army had an overwhelming number of troops, Iga’s force confused them. Therefore, the value of Iga-Ninja school was appreciated. They were hired by feudal lords of all areas in Japan, and showed their high skills in espionage.
This is how Iga-Ninja spread nationwide and it became the most famous Ninja School.
Let’s learn about Iga-Ninja
If you have a chance to visit Iga City, you will want to learn about Iga-Ninja, won’t you?
Iga is the hometown of ninja, so you can see their history and take knowledges of them.
Ninja Museum of Igaryu
You should visit Ninja Museum of Igaryu if you would like to know about them.
You can enter a ninja house and see some trick mechanism such as Donden-Gaeshi (turning wall). You can also see the exhibitions of ninja clothes, tools, and weapons. And ninja goods are available at a souvenir shop.
You can enjoy throwing shuri-ken (throwing knife) or join the ninja show. However, those services are partially reined in order to prevent covid-19 infection.
Before you visit there, please check the link below.
Ninja Show Schedule
You can be Ninja!?
Ninja is really interesting.
If you visit Iga City, would you like to be a nijna?
There is a good news for you.
Actually, you can become a ninja.
Ninja Henshin Dokoro (Ninja Transformation Spot)
There are several shops that provide ninja costumes for tourists in Iga City. They are called Ninja Henshin Dokoro, which means ninja transformation spot.
Service fees depend on shops, but mostly 1,000 JPY per head.
The service is partially limited due to covid-19 at the moment. Therefore it is advised to check if they offer those services.
One of them, Danjiri Museum provides ninja costume service only on weekends and holidays in June. They will start daily service from August.
For more details, please check IGA Official Travel Guide website.
IGA Official Travel Guide
Conclusion
Ninja existed in the history but we never learn about them in schools.
So why don’t you visit Iga, the hometown of ninja, and learn about it?
And if you walk around the town wearing ninja costume, it will be your special experience in Japan.
Please enjoy being ninja!
にほんブログ村
Marumie Editor