- [Micaela] Historically they went by many different names,

Monomi, Kusa, Rappa, Nokizaru or Shinobi,

But the most popular term to use when referring

to Feudal Japan's famous spies, is ninja.

In pop culture and fiction, ninja take on the image

of being skilled assassins, dressed in black,

moving swiftly through the night

with almost mythical skills and powers.

But how much of that is actually true?

The Japan Ninja Council is a national team

dedicated to preserving the fact and fiction of ninja,

and translating it into modern terms

for the current day and age.

With their guidance, I traveled across Japan

to speak with experts and determine the truth

behind Japanese history's most mysterious beings.

My first stop is Odawara City,

located in the southwest of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Historically, this area was once home to the clan

that ruled all of the Kanto region

during the Sengoku period.

But these days, it's a quiet seaside city,

and fresh fish are brought into the harbor every day,

making it a great spot to grab some seafood.

So we're here at Sakana Cuisine Ryo,

and I think I'm gonna grab lunch here.

(speaking Japanese)

I just love the colors and the way that

this bowl has been decorated.

It's very, very pleasant to look at.

Fish oil's really, really healthy for you

and you can tell by looking at the cuts of the meat

that these are very oily cuts, which is a good thing.

You're gonna absorb all types of nutrients.

Look how thick that is.

Okay, here we go.

Oh my gosh, it's so good.

So in Odawara the seafood is really good

and that lunch was amazing, but there's another thing

that Odawara is especially known for

and that's Kamaboko which are fish cakes.

So now we're here at the Kamaboko Museum

and we're gonna learn how to make

these famous Odawara Kamaboko fish cakes.

I can never resist an opportunity to work with food

and at the Kamaboko Museum you can join public group lessons

and have the hands on experience of scraping and sculpting

and molding your very own original fish cake.

It's actually a lot harder than it looks.

(speaking Japanese)

It doesn't look bad.

I though it was gonna be a disaster

but it actually looks like food which is,

I'm impressed.

It's very, very chewy and very, very sweet.

And there's something really cool

about being able to make it yourself.

'Cause one you've made it yourself,

you feel like it tastes like pride.

It tastes like fish and pride.

After exploring modern-day Odawara city

and eating a ton of food,

I'm ready to go back in time and learn more

about its history and its connection to ninja.

So today we are in Kanagawa Prefecture at Odawara Castle,

which is one of the closest places in proximity to Tokyo

where you can explore authentic ninja history and culture.

This castle used to belong to the Hojo Clan

and the Fuma ninja were the ninja that served the Hojo Clan.

So if this was the White House,

the ninja would be like the CIA.

Odawara Castle has been reformed and is now a museum

with a collection of historical relics on display.

Here, you can learn about the famous Hojo Clan,

one of the most powerful clans

during the Sengoku period in Japan.

The Sengoku period was a time in which

Japan was divided amongst different rulers

who fought to conquer each other's territories.

It was during this time that leaders

would send expertly trained spies, known today as ninja,

to spy on rival clans.

The problem today though,

is that ninja were often so secretive about their craft,

that they didn't leave much of a paper trail.

Inside these books that were written years and years ago,

are stories about the Fuma Ninja.

Nobody can say for sure if they really did exist

or what is fact and fiction

but relying on the things of the past,

we can assume that they did exist in some shape or form.

We're really lucky with the weather today

and from the fifth floor of the castle

there is a lookout point

and you can see the ocean,

you can see the mountains, you can see the city

and on a day like today, it's just very, very lovely.

The hard evidence backing ninjas historically may be scarce,

but that doesn't stop Japan

from celebrating these mysterious heroes anyway.

The gift shop here stocks ninja novelty items, nunchaku,

and even very legitimate looking shuriken.

They're actually really heavy and I think that these

could actually hurt someone if you throw them.

Like, these are real weapons.

Yikes.

So, everyone's dressed up.

So one of the big attractions at Odawara Castle

is that you can dress up as a samurai or a ninja

and take photos and learn about the culture,

it's a very immersive experience,

so we're gonna check that out today.

(speaking Japanese)

I have to protect my people.

I have to protect my Hojo.

Where are my Hojos at!

(panting)

(upbeat techno music)

This is a really fun photo opportunity

for tourists and families, especially with kids,

but personally, I can't help but feel like

running around a castle dressed in all black like a ninja

is the whitest thing I've done in a long time.

So I figure that since I am now

finally dressed up as a ninja,

I might as well do all the ninja-y things here

and one of those things you can do at Odawara Castle

is practice shooting shuriken at a target,

which is really, really cool.

(laughing)

So, while media and pop culture portray the ninja

as a solid black figure that's super sneaky

and runs around in the night,

actual ninjas were actually more known

to blend in with society by dressing really normally

so that they wouldn't stand out.

I wouldn't be a very good ninja if everyone around me

could look at me and tell that I'm a ninja.

The often overlooked truth about ninjas

is that their main job was not to assassinate

or attack others.

To do so would blow their cover.

It was simply to collect information in rival clans.

That is why it was important for ninjas

to blend in, not stand out.

They would dress as merchants, farmers, peddlers,

and would assimilate into society undetected.

A good ninja would never let on that they were a ninja.

Although I had fun pretending to be

a ninja at Odawara Castle,

it left me wanting to know more

about how this super secret society

really lived during feudal Japan,

and so we headed north to Nagano Prefecture,

home of the Sanada Clan, to learn more

about how the ninja survived during the Sengoku era.

All that and more, next time.

Thanks for watching this video.

I know it's a little different from what I usually make,

but ninjas being such a prominent figure

in Japanese media and pop culture, I figured this would be

really, really interesting to explore.

Do you have any information about ninjas that I should know?

Let me know in the comments.