Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Information Square Special Exhibition "Scientific Study of Ninja"
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Information Square Special Exhibition "Scientific Study of Ninja"
Dates: April 1st to July 20th, 2015
Today, "NINJA" has become an international term known throughout the world and one of the representative cultures of Japan, thanks to the influence of manga and anime. On the contrary to the popularity, however, the reality of the "real Ninja" as the historical existence has never been a subject of academic research in the past, making their existence even more enigmatic.
Upon being selected for the recipient of the special expenditure (for improvement of regional contribution function) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for the fiscal year of 2014, Mie University has started to address the project titled, "Construction of a Human-friendly Recycling Society Utilizing the Wisdom of 'Ninja' - Transmitting the Fruits of Ninja Studies through Arts and Science Integration-". In cooperation with the City of Iga, the birthplace of Ninja, the project aims to revitalize the Iga region through applying the fruits of studies to industrial development, as well as to transmit the Japan's original Ninja culture to the world through implementing lectures both domestically and internationally.
For this special exhibition, parts of the research outcomes were presented from three different prospective: "Humanities Studies", "Science" and "Ninja", in addition to explanation for this project and the Iga region
【Examples of Displayed Items】
◯Exhibition Panels
・Purpose of Ninja Studies, Explanation for the Iga Region, Presentation of Research Outcomes
・Life-size photo panel of the "last Ninja", Mr. KAWAKAMI Jin-ichi (Specially-appointed Professor for Social Corporation)
◯Exhibitions of Actual Artifacts
・Ninja Tools: "Yatate (arrow container)", "Amigase (braided straw hat)", "Kusuriire (medicine container)" and "Kaginawa (rope with grappling hook)"
・Ninja's preserved food, "Hyoromaru", made according to the direction in the historical document, exhibited along with its ingredients
・Partial transcription of the old Ninja text book titled, "Mansenshukai," made accessible for free viewing.
◯Movies
・Presentations of the movies recording the past lectures, demonstrations and symposiums related to Ninja, both domestic and international, hosted by Mr. KAWAKAMI Jin-ichi.
Alongside the exhibition, "Ninja/Ninjutsu Study Lecture at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology" was held at the lounge area of the MECSST Information Square, on Friday, May 22nd.
In his lecture titled "Reality of Ninja", Professor YAMADA Yuji provided his explanation on the types of activities Ninja participated during the Warring States period, based on historical facts.
Mr. HISAMATSU Makoto (Vice-president of the Iga Research Center of Mie University) gave a lecture titled "Decoding Ninja Food from Academic Prospective - Contemplation on Portable Ration of Ninja". He presented the results of the component analysis on Ninja's portable ration known as "Hyoromaru", along with the expected effects from eating it. Tasting of "Hyoromaru" was also provided.
"Introduction to Ninja Training" by KAWAKAMI Jin-ichi (Specially-appointed Professor for Social Corporation): Mr. KAWAKAMI explained the contents of and mental preparation required for the Ninja training as well as the Ninja skills that have been inherited, based on his own experience. He also demonstrated a technique called "Nukiashi-sashiashi", which is the walking method to move quietly and without falling even in the dark.