"The ninja or samurai myth" Topic

"The initial step to understand is that the term ninja is a term for a position and is not representative of a social status nor does it have connotations of social placement. A ninja is a man undertaking a job and who is trained in a particular set of skills, his social rank does not come into play and applicants of ninjutsu can be taken from any level. This being said, one has to remember that the majority of the Japanese population were not samurai and large sections of armies were in fact taken from the peasant class to form Ashigaru, or foot soldiers. This means that social status was not a factor in training the ninja and that any man could be taken from any social class and trained, dependent on circumstance and requirements. Therefore, the primary unknown factor in the search for the ninja is that an unknown number came from both Ashigaru and samurai class – and all that can be said is that ninja came from both classes. Remembering that social movement was considerably easier in the Sengoku Period (15th and 16th centuries) it was not too difficult for a peasant to achieve status as a mercenary and we must not become trapped in the modern connotations that arise with the term "peasant". Vast swaths of armies and fighters were based in the peasant class and come under the banner of foot soldiers; however, some of these men were promoted and did in fact help shape Japanese history. Further to this, some ninjutsu lines were contained within families and passed down through the bloodline or to a relevant candidate in the family, but family connection was not a requirement for shinobi training as is commonly believed…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Shinobi were simply paid informants and spies, not the martial arts ninjas of modern movies. They are more like paid snitches used by police, or informants used in Soviet-era Europe.

While shinobi did come from every class, the Samurai looked down on them as dishonorable (probably since most were from theowest classes).

I am highly qualified to answer these questions as I once went to a Ninjitsu class

Eastern cultures place more value in story telling than they do on actual facts, so we should enjoy the stories for what they are

Anyone who seriously wants to comment on Ninjas and Samurais would have to provide references

Otherwise, just have fun with the whole thing

Now where did I put those Ninja figures ? Never seem to be able to find them, you would think they were hiding somewhere

John

Eastern cultures place more value in story telling than they do on actual facts……

Lol!

@ jwebster-
Very true, as it is the essence of the stories that have value, rather than the hard facts.
Oh, and if you were actually able to find those figures, then they wouldn't really be ninja, would they?