![]() Japanese stagehands are frequently in full view on the stage, but the audience was meant to ignore them and thus they are considered "invisible" by the audience. ![]() The "classic" black ninja costume is, in fact, the outfit worn by stagehands in traditional Japanese theatre. Among many other things, a good ninja always knew where his sanjaku tenugui was. Plainly put, while a stereotypical ninja would jump around on rooftops in ridiculous clothing, a real ninja most likely would simply infiltrate the household staff and poison a meal. Ninjas were also quite skilled with a variety of tools, such as the multipurpose kunai. One of the most popular Sengoku-era historians, Stephen Turnbull, has also written a dissertation refuting his own previously published work on ninja, bolstering the theory that a lot of what we know about (real-life, historical) ninja may also be based on legend and unreliable sources. All of the most famous historical figures known today as ninja were also samurai, specializing in guerilla tactics and espionage aside from the usual skills samurai were known for. More recent research indicates that ninja as even well-learnt historians thought of them may not have existed at all. Ninjas were mainly deployed for espionage, sabotage, and sometimes assassination. A popular myth states that ninjas came from lower classes (at least compared to the samurai) and they were often hired to do the dirty deeds honorable samurai would not do, but in reality ninjas were usually samurai, or in rare cases, mercenaries hired by samurai. Superior knowledge of survival skills, a lot of actual stealth, poisons, assassination techniques and unorthodox tactics (added to the fact that the ninjas actively encouraged the spread of rumors of their magical abilities) were the most important though. Their "invisibility" was part psychological in cause - by dressing as a peasant, they were ignored and dismissed, or never even noticed at all, by the upper classes, a useful thing despite the oft fierce travel restrictions on the lower classes. ![]() While ninjas did indeed exist, their reputation for invisibility and infiltration more likely stemmed from their willingness to dress as members of a lower social class when no one in the nobility of Japan would consider doing such a thing. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |