As the very first student in Japan, a 45-year-old completes an official degree in ninja science. The University of Mie has been offering a few places since 2018. But if you want to be registered, you have to meet certain requirements.
For the first time, a university in Japan awarded an official degree for studying ninja. 45-year-old Genichi Mitsuhashi spent two years studying ninja science at the university in the central Japanese city of Mie, the cradle of fighters in ancient Japan. “I learned that the ninja worked as farmers in the morning and practiced martial arts in the evening,” he told AFP.
During his studies, Mitsuhashi not only dealt with the history of the fighters, but also had to perform practical tasks. Among other things, he grew vegetables and trained martial arts techniques. He had practiced this before and also taught the combat technique of the ninja.
Mitsuhashi’s teachers praise the trained restaurateur’s eagerness: “I didn’t expect him to be so committed,” said history professor Yuji Yamada, who heads the ninja study center. According to him, the university now receives many inquiries from abroad. “But I have to emphasize one thing: this is about teaching, not about becoming a ninja,” he added.
At the University of Mie, three students are accepted every year to study ninja. To enroll, anyone interested must take an examination of Japanese history and take a reading test with historical ninja documents. The region around the university is considered the historical cradle of the ninja fighters who were used as mercenaries and spies in ancient Japan. In addition to their martial arts, they were also known for their special secrecy and camouflage techniques. In 2017, the University of Mie set up the world’s first research center dedicated to the ninja sciences. The official graduate program was launched a year later.
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