The dual missions of most ninja included gaining information and spreading disinformation. To this day, the word “ninja” in Japan stirs up connotations of “spies” and “espionage,” and with good reason. But the essential point remained “fitting in.” Of course, some also dressed as workers, merchants, and monks, depending on where they needed to fit in-economically, socially, and geographically. Why? Because ninja strongholds predominated in rural areas. Your average ninja probably looked a lot more like a farmer with a kusari-gama (sickle with chain attachment) than anything out of a King Fu movie. In fact, one of the greatest weapons a ninja employed was blending in. Ninja dressed and chose weapons according to their missions. They needed to appear inconspicuous and move about the countryside freely, without raising alarm. The function and mission of each ninja proved different, not unlike contemporary CIA agents.

Ninja needed to blend in with the masses, which meant not looking like ninja. What Do Farmers and Ninja Have in Common? A Lot! Here’s why everything we know about ninja is wrong. While Hollywood has done an excellent job of filling our heads with the iconic image of ebony-clad, sword-wielding ninjas, this couldn’t be further from the truth. What does the word “ninja” conjure up? Nimble guys and gals dressed in black with only their assassin-trained eyes showing? Samurai swords and throwing stars comprising the deadly arsenal they carried?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but in this weekly column, Ripley’s puts those delusions to the test, turning your world upside down, because you can’t always…Believe It! In today’s world many misconceptions have been perpetuated-becoming modern day “facts”-when, in reality, myths and hearsay have taken over.

Photoninja