Turnbull, Stephen Ninja. Unmasking the Myth

The ninja is a well-known phenomenon in Japanese military culture, a fighter who is widely regarded as the worlds greatest exponent of secret warfare. He infiltrates castles, gathers vital intelligence and wields a deadly knife in the dark. His easily recognisable image is that of a secret agent or assassin who dresses all in black, possesses almost magical martial powers, and is capable of extraordinary feats of daring. He sells his skills on a mercenary basis and when in action his unique abilities include confusing his enemies by making mystical hand gestures or by sending sharp iron stars spinning towards them.
That is the popular view, but it is much exaggerated, as this exciting new book explains. This is a revealing, fascinating and authoritative study of Japans famous secret warriors. Unlike all previous books on the subject the author, who is an expert in the subject, does not take the ninja for granted. Instead he examines the entire phenomenon in a critical manner, ranging from accounts of undercover operations during the age of Japans civil wars to the modern emergence of the superman ninja as a comic book character. The popular ninja image is shown to be the result of several influences that were combined to create the worlds greatest secret warrior. Many well-known features of the ninja tradition such as the black clothes and the iron stars are shown to be complete inventions. One important feature of the book is the use of original Japanese sources, many of which have never been translated before. As well as unknown accounts of castle attacks, assassinations and espionage they include the last great ninja manual, which reveals the spiritual and religious ideals that were believed to lie behind the ninjas arts. The book concludes with a detailed investigation of the ninja in popular culture up to the present day including movies, cartoons and theme parks.

The author exposes many well-known features of the ninja tradition, such as the black clothing or the iron throwing stars, as complete inventions. An important feature of the book is the use of original Japanese sources, many of which have never been translated. The book concludes with a detailed examination of the ninja in popular culture to the present day, including films, cartoons and theme parks.