N is for ...

N is for Neeenja! I am a ninja! haHA! No, really, I am. I've got photographic proof. :)

When I was in Tokyo, I thought it would be a waste to go to Japan and never get on a shinkansen (bullet train) at least once. But I didn't want to go to somewhere large like Kyoto or Osaka where I would want to spend another two months! I just wanted a day trip, so I planned one out to Koka ... otherwise known as the Middle of Nowhere, Japan. :) In my pre-trip research, I found that Koka was the home of one of the two main styles of ninjutsu, and that now they had a ninja village recreation for visitors (a Japanese Colonial Williamsburg, basically). My trip was pretty long too: three hours out to Kyoto on the shinkansen (that's 230 miles away from Tokyo), then a few more legs on conventional trains to get me out to Koka Station, then a phone call to get a bus pick-up from the station. It was pretty risky, as I couldn't really read the signs and I wouldn't have been able to ask for help. I had grown used to the Tokyo station names, but now I was outside of my comfort zone. Oddly enough, I didn't have a panic moment until on my way home, and that was just a small one.


The first thing you saw was in the train station: huge, life-sized murals on the walls of the station.





Once at the village, it was pretty clear to see why this ninja village was out in the country, hidden in the mountain jungle: Ninja is enveloped in secrecy; whole families devoted their lives to the study of the techniques of assassination and espionage. Therefore, as a ninja, you don't want your home base to be easily found, since then your enemies would come find you (duh). Also, ninjas were very technologically advanced. The museum part of the village had rows of different styles of throwing stars (shuriken) and hidden blades, chemical powder mixtures for medicine and espionage, scaling ladders, and secret codes. You don't want your rival ninja clans finding and using your gadgets against you!

Was Stan Lee a ninja fan when he created Wolverine?

Walking up the trail to the Ninja House, you pass the Shinobi Shrine (picture above, on left) and the monument for Sarutobi Sasuke (on right). The Shinobi Shrine is dedicated to all the fallen, nameless ninja of years past. Ninja did not fight for fame and glory, or even recognition; their work was done in secret. To be recognized as a ninja meant you had been seen, and that was to fail your mission. The Shinobi Shrine also has the largest wooden statue of Daikokuten, one of the seven gods of prosperity. The Sasuke monument, however, is dedicated to a famous fictional ninja from the region. A little bit of tourism in with the culture. :)

The main part of the tour is the ninja house, an actual ninja house belonging to the Fujibayashi ninja family. It was disassembled and transplanted in Koka in 1842, and is pretty plain looking until you are shown all the trap doors and secret rooms.

Escape hatch to the attic, escape tunnel disguised as a well outside, and escape hatch underneath the hearth fire itself!

You could also test your skills as a ninja at the Mizugumo Water Spider Pond, Castle-Scaling Wall, and Shuriken Throwing Range. One website called the pond, where you try to walk on water like a ninja, useful for "only anime-like amusement" as the ninja crossed bodies of water completely differently: you'd think to stand on the wood disks and try to walk, but ninjas sat on them, partially submerged, and kicked with their legs. Apparently fun times for all, as you try to walk across the pond on the wobbly disks.

All photos are mine, but Photoguide helped me out with the captions and fun facts, since I couldn't read most of the signs while I was there.