Ninjas, Japan’s shadow warriors, have been a pop-culture staple for generations. The legend of the ninjas has become so overblown, that some have gone so far to suggest that they never truly existed. But that is just what the ninjas want us to believe! The ninjas were very real, and they played a pivotal role in Japan’s “warring states period”. Nevertheless, separating ninja-fact from ninja-fiction continues to be a tall order. Listen and find out how medieval water noodles, puppet emperors, toilet warriors, and Seb’s horrific pronunciation of Japanese names all fit into the story!

Works Cited

Draeger, Donn F., and Robert W. Smith. Asian Fighting Arts. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1969. Print.

Man, John. Ninja: 1,000 Years of the Shadow Warrior. New York: William Morrow, 2013. Print.

Sadler, A. L. The Maker of Modern Japan: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle, 1978. Print.

Turnbull, Stephen R. Ninja: The True Story of Japan’s Secret Warrior Cult. Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom: Firebird, 1991. Print.

Yamada, Fūtarō, and Geoff Sant. The Kouga Ninja Scrolls. New York: Del Rey, 2006. Print.

Zoughari, Kacem. The Ninja: Ancient Shadow Warriors of Japan. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Pub., 2010. Print.