History of the Ninjato

Few records remain of these legendary ninja swords. It’s popularly believed that this could be due to the nature of the ninjato as a shinobi weapon.

In other words, it makes sense that there aren’t many records because the ninjas probably made sure that no one would discover them.

It is believed that the ninjato would have been the predominant sword of the ninjas when performing secret missions in feudal Japan. The ninjato would have had the advantage of requiring less movement when attacking; instead of making a cut, it can be used to stab.

The Ninjato was not carried on the back

The ninja is popularly presented as a weapon that is carried on the back. This is something that is often seen in movies and other modern adaptations. However, there are reasons why this would have been extremely inconvenient.

For example, it would be much more difficult for a ninja to draw his sword if he carried it on his back. Given a case of urgency, any samurai would have an advantage over the ninja-especially thanks to the ability to draw and strike in a single movement offered by the katana.

On the other hand, had the ninja been carried on his back, the ninja would not be able to roll on the ground.  Rolling on the ground is not only a useful technique for sneaking, but also for falling from heights. Rolling on the ground allows you to redirect the impact of the fall and thus avoid damaging your legs.

If they had carried the ninjato on their back, the ninja would not have been able to roll when falling from high places, which would result in many more warriors with broken ankles.

The Saya of the Ninjato

Considering the variety of gadgets that the ninjas had at their disposal when performing secret missions, it seems logical that the ninjato’s Saya had hidden advantages.

One of the most interesting theories about the ninjato’s Saya is that it could have been used as a snorkel.  This would imply that the Saya could have been used on missions that required crossing a lake or hiding under a surface of water for an extended period of time.

In such cases, the ninja would use his Saya to breathe from underwater, surviving a long period of time without being discovered, perhaps even days!

Another possibility is that the sayas would have been used to hide a variety of powders and gadgets.

This makes special sense when we consider that many ninjatos do not have a custom-made Saya. Many times these ninjatos have sheaths that are larger than their blade— which, in fact, make them look like a katana.

In all that space remaining in the Saya, they could have kept special powders, objects to throw on the ground in the event of a chase, poisons, and more. Depending on the nature of the mission, the objects that the ninja would carry hidden in his Saya would change.

Ninjato and Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu is known as the ninja martial art. Many Japanese martial arts schools are dedicated to keeping it alive today; with thousands of practitioners around the world.

It has become so popular that it is even possible that there is at least one school of Ninjutsu in your city or state, wherever you are reading this.

There are several schools of Ninjutsu. Each displays its own techniques and presents reasons why they are considered to be faithful representatives of traditional Ninjutsu.

However, it is worth noting that most of the Ninjutsu techniques we know today are recreations based on the few evidence that survived from the time and the deductions that can be made by taking inspiration from the rest of the Japanese martial arts.

Although we do not know for sure what the techniques used in Ninjutsu really were, we can estimate that they must not have been very different from those practiced today by this variety of modern schools.

Use of Powders and Shurikens

As we mentioned above, one of the main advantages of the ninjato is its speed when it comes to stabbing. However, being smaller than the conventional katana, it could be difficult when it comes to a face-to-face confrontation.

For this reason, ninjas used to accompany the use of the ninjato with other useful gadgets when fighting opponents with greater range.

For example, in a face-to-face confrontation a ninja could choose to throw dust in the opponent’s face. Not ordinary powder, but a special mixture intended to irritate the opponent’s eyes and nostrils— something like mustard gas from feudal Japan.

With this, the opponent would be blinded and the ninja, despite having a smaller sword, would be able to eliminate or reduce his opponent without problems.

Another variant to shorten distances with an opponent is to use the well-known ninja stars.