Ninja Town- Lost Heritage, or Rightfully Buried Blemish?

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go to a little place called “Ninja Mura”. That means “Ninja Town” for those who don't speak Japanese. This place must had been quite something in the olden days of the early 1990’s, but is now nothing more than a hollow shell of what it once was. For me, it was a dream come true. I like abandoned places, I like Japanese themed stuff, and I love ninjas. I think I was a ninja at least two or three times for Halloween growing up. Thanks to the local Army-Navy surplus store, I didn’t have to travel the orient to be one; it only cost $30 and a parent’s permission. I think any guy in my age group could say that he saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles growing up and can remember how hot a topic it was when we learned Vanilla Ice was going to make a cameo in the sequel.

Unlike the fleeting fame of the Ninja Turtles or even the slightly more prolonged fame of Vanilla Ice, everyone has enjoyed the idea and concept of ninjas over the ages. The appeal of the ninja is timeless: like a 1990 Romanée-Conti La Tache’s perfect articulation of aroma and flavor, Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince’s insight into “everyday politics” which was preeminent in leading primatologists to help coin the phrase “Machiavellian Intelligence”, Marcel Duchamp’s The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even and its profound insight into male and female desires that inexplicably force suffering on the other, and (most notably) Coheed and Cambria’s newest album: Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume I whose prog-rock sounds and avant-garde concepts unfortunately just end up making it sound like their last album: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3.

What was I saying? Oh yes, ninjas rock. They have inspired comics, video games, toys, costumes and youth of all ages around the world. I suppose they might be seen as somewhat of a blemish on Japan’s history but, if someone makes a cute theme park about them and makes sure the ninjas are depicted as fun loving colorful midgets with heads that look slightly like squids, people are sure to forget about all the actual murders that occurred.

Thus was the case until the early 1990’s, when I’m guessing Ninja Mura closed its doors. It is connected to an adjacent place called Rekishi-no-machi (History Town) that is now being fixed up as an antiques village. As a side note, I bought a camera at this antiques place that I managed to break within 24 hours (scroll down for more details). Yet, Ninja Town stays abandoned. Strewn about are the various games of chance, tabi slippers, faded admission tickets, partially dismembered mannequins, and rope climbing courses that resemble an ewok village. Gone are the real ninjas, with a mangy dog as the only guardian of the various buildings. Gone are the spectators whom would rise to thunderous applauds for the conclusion of what I can only imagine would be a spectacular display of “ninja theater”.

Yes, all that remains are the memories… and the nostalgia for what once was the inaccurate and romanticized depiction of a now obsolete culture of assassins. Enjoy the pictures.



























See more pictures of Ninja Town HERE