As kids, loads of us used to pretend to be ninjas with our friends. That desire to be a highly skilled fighter with amazing skills landed several of us in martial arts classes, but most of us never got to actually realize that childhood dream of actually becoming a ninja. Well now it’s officially possible to become a real, certified ninja in Japan…sort of, anyway.
As Kotaku reports, the Koga-ryu school of ninjutsu will be offering a certification ninja test on October 22. The test will be held take the prospective ninjas about thirty minutes, and it will allow the test-takers to show their knowledge of the Koga-ryu school. If you get at least 60% of the answers correct (or are able to increase your score by accuracy in throwing a shuriken), you’ll earn your official certification.
Unfortunately, this won’t be a way for you or I to become real ninjas. If you check out the original At Press article or head to the Imashiga website advertising the test, you’ll see that this is really more of a fun event for kids hosted by the Koga City Tourism Association. The test is designed for fifth graders (regardless of nationality) at beginning levels of training, and ninja cosplay is encouraged. And don’t worry, if you don’t have your own ninja costume, they’ll rent some out to the first 100 people to inquire.
Still, the event sounds like a ton of fun. It’s limited to 200 people, and is commemorating the “Warring States Period,” when the Koga ninjas played a valuable role. Kids who attend will not only get to take the test, but will be given a lesson on throwing a shuriken. All attendees will be able to learn about real ninjas of the past, and see a ninja demonstration by the traditional ninja group Black Party (Kuroda). The event will be held at the Jodo Shrine Omotoyama Zojoji in Tokyo. So I guess the only real question is: how quickly can we all book our flights to Tokyo?
Does this sound like fun to you? Have you ever attended an event like this? Tell us about it in the comments!
Image credits: Imashiga
