Another 'Last Ninja' from Japan

**cualltaigh** · Posted On: 8/19/2012 4:23pm

Oh when oh when will it end?

Japan's 'last ninja' reveals his training secrets

A 63-YEAR-old former engineer may not fit the typical image of a dark-clad assassin with deadly weapons who can disappear into a cloud of smoke. But Jinichi Kawakami is reputedly Japan's last ninja.

As the 21st head of the Ban clan, a line of ninjas that can trace its history back some 500 years, Kawakami is considered by some to be the last living guardian of Japan's secret spies.

"I think I'm called (the last ninja) as there is probably no other person who learned all the skills that were directly" handed down from ninja masters over the last five centuries, he said.

"Ninjas proper no longer exist," he said as he demonstrated the tools and techniques used in espionage and sabotage by men fighting for their samurai lords in the feudal Japan of yesteryear.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/worl...-1226453681202

**doofaloofa** · Posted On: 8/19/2012 5:44pm

Click image for larger version.

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looking good for 63

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 8/19/2012 10:17pm

"I think I'm called (the last ninja) as there is probably no other person who learned all the skills that were directly" handed down from ninja masters over the last five centuries, he said.

He thinks; he is obviously confused and likely delusional.

"Ninjas proper no longer exist"

He got one right.

Mr Kawakami first encountered the secretive world of ninjas at the age of just six, but has only vague memories of first meeting his master, Masazo Ishida, a man who dressed as a Buddhist monk.

Did Ninja Masters ever dress as Buddhist Monks, Really? Maybe it was part of the disguise for infiltration.

"I kept practising without knowing what I was actually doing. It was much later that I realised I was practising ninjutsu."

I wonder how he concluded that it was Ninjitsu (Ninjutsu).

"For concentration, I looked at the wick of a candle until I got the feeling that I was actually inside it. I also practised hearing the sound of a needle dropping on the floor," he said.

I can buy focus exercises, but how do you 'practice' hearing something?

Just before he turned 19, he inherited the master's title, along with secret scrolls and special tools.

Another 19 year old master, complete with scrolls (Hatsumi was much older when he inherited his bullshit).

There will be no 22nd head of the Ban clan because Mr Kawakami has decided not to take on any more apprentices.

The scary part is, if this bozo were to open a school, it would be full of posers within a week.

"Ninjas just don't fit in the modern day,"

He nailed another point.

How do these people just pop up on the radar and start proclaiming themselves Ninja Masters; perhaps he recently get released from a mental institution??

**TheMightyMcClaw** · Posted On: 8/19/2012 10:39pm

Well, regarding the buddhist monk thing, it still makes more sense than dressing as a Kabuki stage hand like all the other ninjas do.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 8/19/2012 10:47pm

Originally Posted by TheMightyMcClaw

Well, regarding the buddhist monk thing, it still makes more sense than dressing as a Kabuki stage hand like all the other ninjas do.

That (Kabuki stage hands) is the way I understand the Ninjer costume originated; always heard that anyway. It is plausible that the Ninjer would want to 'blend in' and not look out-of-place, so a Buddhist Monk would work, if there were a Temple or Mission.

If Ludlum's character, Jason Bourne were a real person, he would be a Ninja. The soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines trained as special operations are as close as we come to Ninja, but these 'Masters' are coming out of the woodwork.
If a young man wants to be a Ninja, he should join the military and try to qualify for SOC.

**dflanmod** · Posted On: 8/19/2012 11:04pm

A nija equalls badassery without real sacrifice which is why they appeal to the poser.

Yes Spec operations soldiers could be considered modern day ninjas but with a 75 to 90 percent attrition rate what's a poser gonna do?

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 8/19/2012 11:12pm

Originally Posted by dflanmod

A nija equalls badassery without real sacrifice which is why they appeal to the poser.

Yes Spec operations soldiers could be considered modern day ninjas but with a 75 to 90 percent attrition rate what's a poser gonna do?

Valid points, indeed.

**ermghoti** · Posted On: 8/20/2012 9:57am

I'll give the guy some credit. He acknowledges, but doesn't accept the "last ninja" title, and rejects most of the bujshit we've come to expect from ninjers. He basically says there are no ninjas left, haven't been for recorded memory, and he learned dribs and drabs about stealth, avoidance, poisoning and exploding. Sounds about right. Mostly.