NEWSWORTHY
Airport and railway staff do their duties darkly on ni ni ni 'Ninja Day' in central Japan
Staff at Chubu airport donned ninja attire and a railway station ceremonially named itself "Ninja City Station" on Friday to celebrate "Ninja Day" in central Japan. Feb. 22 was designated Ninja Day by the Japan Anniversary Association at the request of the cities of Koka, ...
Ninja-clad petitioners 'sneak' into Abe's office seeking help with tourism promotion
Ninja-clad petitioners "sneaked" into the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday to ask for help in promoting ninja culture as a tourism draw in the run-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "Even though you're all wearing such bright ...
Iga, known for its ninja, looks to draw foreign tourists by turning castle town into a hotel site
The Mie Prefecture city of Iga, the origin of one of Japan's most famous ninja clans, plans to open the growing number of vacant homes in its castle town to tourists. Under the "castle town hotel" project, the Iga Municipal Government will renovate traditional Japanese ...
Pop-up ninja booth gives tourists a virtual reality experience at Nagoya's Chubu airport
Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture has set up a booth inside its international arrivals lobby that will allow tourists to experience being a ninja through virtual reality. The booth, which opened Thursday and will be in operation until Dec. 14, is aimed at ...
Wannabe ninja swamp Japan town with job inquiries after viral mix-up
The city of Iga, in Mie Prefecture, has been left fighting off wannabe ninja after a news report on local labor shortages that suggested it wanted to hire the traditional assassins went viral. Iga was featured in a report by American radio station NPR this ...
Covert cabs: Yokohama taxi company employs 'ninja' drivers to chauffeur customers
As visitors from overseas flock to Japan, companies in the tourism industry are finding creative ways to tap a classic, stealthy image of the country. From ninja classes to shows and museums, the public and private sectors are promoting attractions related to the popular covert ...
Mie University ties up with local cake shop to reproduce stress-relieving ninja snacks
Mie University in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, and Mon Pactole, a cake shop in Nabari in the prefecture, have jointly developed cookies inspired by preserved snacks that ninja are believed to have eaten to relieve stress. "We hope people will enjoy the deliciously revived modern-day ninja ...
International ninja research group founded in Mie Prefecture in Japan
An international academic society designed to promote research on the ninja was established last week in the city known as the home of the traditional covert warrior agents: Iga in Mie Prefecture. Some 200 researchers from countries including Japan, South Korea, China and Britain attended ...
Japanese security firm finds success with guards dressed as ninja
A security firm in a city known as the birthplace of a prominent ninja school is enjoying success by providing guards dressed as the medieval warriors and assassins. SCC Co., in Koka, first tried to tap the city's growing fame for ninja tourism in 2016, ...
Mie University graduate school to include ninja studies in entrance exam
A graduate school of Mie University has decided to introduce ninja studies as one of the subjects for its entrance exam starting in February next year. Successful applicants for the graduate school can receive academic lessons about ninja studies and write a master's thesis on ...
An annual ninja test from Shiga Prefecture will be held at a Tokyo temple for the first time this October, putting the town of Koka, home to a famous clan of the shadowy feudal warriors, in the tourism spotlight. Zojoji Temple, the temple of the ...
A state-run university and a municipal government in Mie Prefecture are trying to dig deeper into the lives and history of the ninja, the warriors and mercenaries of feudal Japan, with academic and scientific approaches. Mie University and the city of Iga, the birthplace of ...
