Ninjas Headed For Extinction

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

So I guess the Ninja way of life is about to vanish in a puff of smoke. It may well glide silently into obsolescence, creeping out of Japan's culture without a sound.

This makes me sad, you guys. Ninjas, both of the teenage mutant turtle, and the human kind are on their way out.

Please add a summary of the linked article in the OP.

I kinda skimmed the article, but I'm not sure whether it's supposed to put more emphasis on the weapons and tools or on ninjutsu as a discipline.

If the former, I think Technology Marches On applies.

I thought ninjas had officially been destroyed centuries ago?

That's what they wanted you to believe!

I'll be honest, I was totally expecting an Onion article when I saw the thread title.

Huh.

edited 14th Dec '12 4:22:27 PM by dRoy

Same here.

Ninja more ore less died out professionally with the transition to the Meiji Restoration. I understand this article is being a little tongue-in-cheek, but its premise is misleading because it makes it sound as if ninja have been operating as agents of actual feudal lords up until a few years ago.

And yes, the whole "ninjas = plural" thing is a pet peeve of mine. You don't say "samurais", so don't say "ninjas". And yeah, yeah, languages evolve despite prescriptivism and all that jazz, yada yada. You can tell I'm not in a debating mood.

Aside from ninjutsu being a system of fighting techniques, a lot of people in the ninjutsu community use it as a form of cultural preservation much like kyudo or the tea ceremony. Nothing to go crazy about.

edited 23rd Nov '12 1:47:19 PM by Aprilla

The only people who could ever have eradicated the Ninja outright were the Tokugawa Shogunate. And they did do a really good job of butchering those clans that weren't allied to them after the Battle of Sekigahara. The rest, those clans that were allied? They were far too useful. Think of them not so much as mere assassins, but as intelligence operatives. Sort of like the CIA only they did work domestically. They may not have been called Ninja as such, but that was more like what happened to the KGB after the fall of communism - no matter what title they took, whether it was FSB or SVR, everyone still calls them KGB or Chekists.

Same with the Ninja. Their official title may have been the Oniwabanshū - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oniwabansh%C5%AB - but they were still Ninja. And everyone was still shit scared of them.

x2 and x4 I thought this thread would be about Pirates.

edited 23rd Nov '12 4:06:09 PM by Reflextion

What the article says, basically, is that the heads of the two surviving ninja clans have decided not to appoint successors and thus have chosen to let the traditions die out. Not that they have actually worked as ninja for a long time. They do, however, teach their martial techniques to students; it's the ninja clan way of life that they have decided to end.

Which is horribly sad, but then again, entire cultures, ethnicities, and ways of life have died out through history, many of which we'll never ever know of. I hope the masters spend a lot of time with historians and biographers so a record can be kept.

The article says that one of them teaches classes on it, so there's a good chance it is.

I can understand their decision. Not a lot of call for assassins anymore (at least that's the hope). Relegating the ninja clan to the history books and letting it die with dignity was probably the best thing they could have done.

One thing to keep in mind is that Ninja were less assassins and more covert agent in general. They did intelligence operations which did sometimes entail assassinations.

It sounds like they have elected to end the cultural practices that survived the Meji restoration in general. The role of ninja has long since been eclipsed by modern intelligence agencies and special forces units.

TIL that there are two ninjas left in the world and one is an engineer.

The only thing left, I guess, is to leave something to actually fill the history books with.

Ninja's will never be eradicated as long as the media portrays them.

Besides, there has to be a website which has Ninja techniques and training.

There are very likely similar resources online for karate, aikido, etc. But given that it's a very physical discipline, you're never going to be able to substitute for a physical teacher in a physical training area.

All the ninja have died out. Sure. That's just what they want us to think, so we'll let our guard down.

The Ninja aren't dying... They've just gone into hiding again.

They now amuse themselves by posting your thoughts just before you do on online message boards.

I am sure someone will keep the culture alive through various means just not likely in the same context these to Clan leaders had. As for information from the internet...yeah not really going to do anything effective.

There are still some folks who apparently practice, study, and record the traditions and culture in general. It will survive through recrods and anyone willing to practice it.

Yep, the first hand information will go in that these are the last of the original practioners, but I'm completely certain that there are others who independently live according to the ways of the ninja, doing everything that is necessary to be considered true practitioners. None of the original samurai families presumably still function as such, but it's perfectly possible to learn all of their arts, such as bushido, even despite that.