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Thread: February 22 is NINJA DAY!

  1. #16
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    For all my ninjas out there - HAPPY NINJA DAY!

    Stay hidden.

    Japan marks Ninja Day with new tourism drive to promote feudal ninja cultures
    (Back row, from left) Mr Jinichi Kawakami, Mr Hiroshi Mizohata, and Dr Yuji Yamada launch the Ninja Nippon Project, alongside members of ninja performance troupe Ashura: (from left) Tomonosuke, Mio, and Masanosuke. [/URL]
    (Back row, from left) Mr Jinichi Kawakami, Mr Hiroshi Mizohata, and Dr Yuji Yamada launch the Ninja Nippon Project, alongside members of ninja performance troupe Ashura: (from left) Tomonosuke, Mio, and Masanosuke. ST PHOTO:
    PUBLISHED 6 HOURS AGO
    Walter Sim Japan Correspondent

    TOKYO - The stealth ninja spies of Japan's past are making a very public comeback, with the country tapping on its rich tradition in a tourism push ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

    The Ninja Nippon Project was launched on Wednesday (Feb 22), a date that is known colloquially as Ninja Day as it reads 'ni, ni, ni' in Japanese.

    The project to promote feudal-era martial arts masters and assassins will include new initiatives such as a ninja academy, ninja museum, and tours to areas steeped in ninja history.

    These sites include Ueda in Nagano prefecture, Koka in Shiga prefecture, Ureshino in Saga prefecture, Odawara in Kanagawa prefecture and Iga in Mie prefecture.

    The project comes under the Japan Ninja Council (JNC), which is led by 11 prefectural governors, and has the support of the Japan National Tourism Organisation.

    "The ninja embodied the traditional Japanese spirit, culture and sense of values such as peace, loyalty, technique, intelligence, diligence and endurance," the council's vice-chairman Hiroshi Mizohata told a news conference.

    "This is known not only in Japan, but has spread all around the world through anime and films."

    In the pipeline is a ninja museum to be launched in Tokyo next year, in collaboration with a ninja museum called Igaryu in Iga city that draws over 200,000 visitors a year - 15 per cent of them from overseas.

    There will also be "circular tours" that go for breadth, allowing tourists to visit multiple regions over a week to experience the varying traditions in each prefecture, and 'stay tours' that promises depth, in which visitors stay in one area for one week.

    A ninja academy will also be launched under the watchful eye of Mr Jinichi Kawakami, who is widely known as Japan's "last ninja" and the only heir to the ninjutsu school of martial arts techniques used for espionage.

    Also on board the academy is Dr Yuji Yamada, who researches ninja traditions as a humanities don at Mie University.

    The academy aims to nurture "ninja ambassadors" who can spread ninja culture around the world.

    Mr Kawakami, who is the 21st head of the Ban clan of secret ninjas with a history of 500 years, said: "Ninjutsu is composed of various different elements; there's the fighting element and there're also survival techniques and so on. The many different aspects appeal to people all over the world."

    The academy, however, faces limitations in passing down the full set of original ninjutsu skills.

    "When you talk about learning ninjutsu, the original, actual traditional techniques can no longer be learnt. I myself have learnt them, but those are impossible to pass on," Mr Kawakami said. "What we hope to offer, from now on, are opportunities to gain a partial understanding of the various elements that make up ninjutsu."

    He said "the original ninjas themselves were known as shinobi, and these original shinobi no longer exist."

    "What we aim to do is to move from the traditional shinobi to the modern-day ninja," he added.

    While Mr Kawakami did not elaborate on the reasons, he had said in prior interviews that he decided to let the art die with him because ninjas are anachronistic. He reportedly said: "We can't try out murder or poisons. Even if we can follow the instructions to make a poison, we can't try it out."

    The Ninja Nippon Project will also tie up with private businesses to launch official merchandise that is certified with the JNC logo.

    On Wednesday, the council also launched an origami set that is available for purchase online at https://ninja-official.com/?lang=en.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
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    Happy NINJA DAY 2018!

    I posted about this on our Ninjas! thread yesterday, but now see the relevance, given that today is Ninja Day in Japan. Shame they missed that point in their coverage. We didn't. We're good ninjas.


    A group of lawmakers from ruling Liberal Democratic Party pose for a photo, after a meeting to promote ninja-related culture and tourism in Japan on Wednesday at the Diet building in Tokyo. | KYODO
    NATIONAL

    Lawmakers from Japan’s ruling LDP form ninja promotion group

    JIJI

    FEB 22, 2018

    Lawmakers of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party held a meeting Thursday to mark the establishment of a group aimed at promoting the glamour of ninjas around the world.

    The lawmakers’ group will support the Japan Ninja Council, which includes municipalities with ninja links such as the city of Iga in Mie Prefecture and the city of Koka in the neighboring prefecture of Shiga. The group intends to promote ninja-related tourism and regional revitalization.

    To establish the ninja brand, the group is considering popularizing ninja movies and manga as well as opening a ninja museum. Through these efforts, the group hopes to boost the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

    Keiji Furuya, chairman of the House of Representatives Rules and Administration Committee and head of the lawmakers’ group, told attendees at the meeting on Thursday that ninja and manga are very popular among foreigners.

    “We hope to spread the amazing (ninja) culture and want people in the world to enjoy it,” he said.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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