Impressions
Koshikoro from Musashi-Family
Nowadays, I feel the world is getting closer through SMS and Facebook.
I also have an account with my Ninja-name at a SNS and I get lots of messages every day from people all over the world who show me my photos in ninja costumes. From messages such as "Teach me ninjutsu!", "I love Hattori!! etc., I'm deeply moved by how much ninja are loved in the world. Having attended lectures this semester, I was especially interested in the one titled "Ninja, through foreigner's eye", which mainly due to these messages. Each student had a good chance to think about the reason why and due to which points ninja have become popular in the world, and maybe more, about the existence of ninja now and then. I guess that every single member found him/herself more attracted to ninja than before. Various aspects about Ninja, such as its historical background, its culture etc., impressed me so much and I really look forward to having more opportunities to learn.
Normally I don't have any chance to attend lectures. I appreciate it even more that I could attend this course and it was a great pleasure for me to study and share our interests and knowledges with the students, as well. The circle of ninja fans and their activities is getting wider and wider. When it comes to studies on ninja, from an academic point of view, I think that Mie University takes up the most important roll. I really hope that Mie University can offer these courses about Ninja-gaku for the coming semesters and I thank all of the relative members for offering this great course.
Sen from Musashi-Family
I've attended lectures 2 to 5. Previously, there was only one method for me to learn about Shinobi, namely through the books written about ninja which were based on historical literatures. But having attended this course, I'm really surprised and impressed because I learned that there are various ways to approach Ninjutsu and ninja.
I think most of the people associate a stereotype with the word "ninja", like a typical tricky spy-similar to characters from manga or movies even though they were quite different from the real one. I want to learn what real "Shinobi" is and also want others to know about it.
Therefore I appreciate the fact that through the lectures I could recognize that researching the reasons why people had these kinds of images of ninja, which in itself was a lesson for me. Now I understand that the stereotype is also a part of the culture around ninja. During this course I could learn about the Shinobi from a historical, geological and literal perspective, and also what aspects of a ninja's character can be attractive for foreigners. That knowledge in itself can help me introduce the real Japanese Shinobi to the world. Thanks so much. I was informed that we will learn about the Shinobi in more detail in the coming semester, so I'm really looking forward to participating the lectures.
