Ninja in Kabuki Plays (summary)
Lecturer: Norika Inamoto
There are many differences between the Ninja as the virtual image the modern-day people fantasize and as the real image of them as the actual historical figure from the Warring States period. This report intends to elucidate the origin of difference, focusing on Ninja characters that appear in Kabuki scripts written in modern times as the clue. Since the "modern times" here means the period directly after the Warring States period when Ninja was most active, images of them depicted in Kabuki plays could be closer to the reality than that of today. Moreover, it is possible that, the later in the "modern times" it gets, the closer the image could get to toady's.
As the result of investigation, the earlier plays contained many Ninja characters who would steal treasures or execute assassination, whereas the later it gets the roles of Ninja characters diversified to include activities such as espionage. Moreover, Ninja started to use so-called Shinobino Jutsu, or Ninja skills that appeared to be some sort of magic and/or martial arts in later plays. This can be taken as the changes in the images of Ninja caused by the passage of time. On the other hand, Ninja as thieves or assassins continued to appear in many Kyogen (comic play) even after the appearance of Ninja characters that played other roles. It indicates the consistent image of Ninja that also existed regardless of the passage of time.