转自：http://jandan.net/2012/11/24/ninjas-extinction.html

在日本，幕府和武士的时代已经过去了，不过即使是在现在，仍然有少数忍者存在。他们是间谍活动和秘密暗杀行动中的杰出人物。忍者的忍术通过血缘进行沿袭——不过现在的忍者，可能是最后一批忍者了。

在日本，忍者们被贵族武士阶级所雇佣。他们的工作就是窃取情报，实施间谍活动，破坏活动以及暗杀任务。他们的夜行服能够包裹全身除了眼睛以外几乎所有部位，这让他们在黑夜中几乎是隐形的——直到他们出击时。

他们使用的武器有“手里剑”（即飞镖，Syuriken），“吹矢”（Fukiya blowpipe），撒菱（Makibisi）等，大部分都即安静又致命。

除了上述的暗器，忍者们也是著名的剑客。并且他们的武器不单单被用于刺杀敌人，还被用于辅助忍者攀爬高墙，或者溜进贵族的城堡进行监视等。

忍者所执行的任务绝大多数都是秘密行动，所以历史上并没有很多关于忍者活动的详细记载。他们的武器和忍术等都是从上一代以口述等方式传给下一代指定的人。

但是过少的记载同时也给予了电影制片商，作家和漫画家极大的想象空间。

好莱坞电影，比如1981年的《忍者潜入》和1985年的《美国忍者》都将忍者描述为一种“超级人类”，比如他们能够直接在水面上行走，或者在眨眼之间就消失在空气中。

“这是不可能的。因为不管忍者受了多少训练，他们始终是人，”被誉为是最后一个忍者大师的川上仁一（Jinichi Kawakami）在甲贺流忍者博物馆说。

然而，忍者们的确会借助一些特殊的漂浮物来帮助他们在水面上也能保持站立的姿态。

川上是第21位甲贺流忍者部落的首领。他从6岁开始学习忍术，师从石田（Masazo Ishida）。

“我以为那只是玩游戏，我完全没意识到自己在学习忍术，”川上仁一说。“我甚至曾经以为石田老师想把我培养成一个小偷，因为他在教我怎么悄无声息地走路，和怎么闯入别人的家宅。”

关于忍者的5个不实传言：
忍术是武术的一种：实际上，搏斗是忍者们最后的手段——他们是被训练通过秘密行动和策略来打败敌人的不对，而向对手“亮剑”无疑使忍术中最低级的一种行为。
忍者能隐身：他们并不能像电影里面那样凭空消失，不过他们所接受的训练中包括使用炸药，烟雾弹等来转移敌人注意力并趁机快速逃走的方法。
忍者都着黑衣：忍者的衣服都被设计得很轻便，并且在黑暗中难以被发现——但是黑玉色，或者黑而过于光滑的衣物会在月光下发亮而暴露目标，所以忍者的衣物中最常用的颜色是深海军蓝。
忍者会飞：忍者的移动安静而迅速。他们有独特的呼吸技巧能在短时间内安静地摄入更多的氧气。不过他们是人类，当然不会飞了。
忍者能在水面行走：中情局的情报称他们使用“水上专用鞋”——鞋体由木桶与圆形的木板组成，鞋靠竹制成的桨来推动。不过它的有效性让人怀疑。
以上内容由忍者博物馆提供。

川上所擅长的忍术还有制作炸药和毒药。

“现在我依然可以用手中的草药来制作毒药。虽然这些毒药并不致命，但足以令被下毒的人惊慌失措，以为他们被感染了急性的传染病，”川上说。

18岁时，川上从甲贺流忍者部落继承了上古的卷轴（@keep_beating:...他们也有老卷么...）。

由父亲将忍术传授给儿子的做法非常常见，另外忍者部落也会收养一些孩子。

直到江户时代，才出现了关于忍者活动的简短文献。

“他们并不是像电影里面一样是全职杀手，”川上说，“实际上，他们也是有日常工作的，因为光做忍者这一行都不够糊口。”

有种说法是，古时候有很多忍者的日常工作就是务农，后者是街边的小贩。因为这样的工作隐蔽性大，也很利于他们侦查。

“我们相信在江户时期，一些忍者上升到了武士阶级，”川上说，“在德川幕府的时代，人们被划分成四个阶级：武士，农民，工匠以及商人。”

当谈到21世纪的忍者时，川上告诉我们他是一名工程师。在和别人无异的西装下，他看起来也和其他日本的商人，工程师没有区别。

至于本文的标题“最后的忍者”，它指的不是“最后一名忍者”而是“最后一批忍者”——川上并不是一个人。今年已80岁高龄的初美正明（Masaaki Hatsumi）是另一个忍者流派的首领——户隐流（Togakure clan）。

初美正明同样还是国际武术组织“武神馆”（Bujinkan）的创始人，武神馆在全球有超过300,000名学员。

“（学员）包括来自全球各地的军人和警务人员，”初美正明在自己的道场内告诉记者。道场位于日本千叶市所管辖的野田镇。

野田镇地方并不大，你或许不会想到在这里会有这么多外国人。然而在这个仅能放下48个榻榻米垫的道场内，挤满了醉心于武术的学员们。初美正明所教授的武术动作并不激烈，有的时候会用上武器，不过大多数时候都是徒手搏斗。

西方世界的忍者产物：
《忍者神龟》：几只基因变异的乌龟以下水道为家。他们的名字全都是文艺复兴时期的艺术家。他们武艺高强，他们的师父是一只来自日本的超级忍者大老鼠。不得不承认《忍者神龟》曾经风靡全球，相关的产品不仅有漫画书，还有动画片，玩具和游戏。

除了教授学生之外，武神馆还为诸多武打电影提供武术指导，包括《007之雷霆谷》。

虽然来自不同的流派，川上和初美仍然在很多方面团结一致，比如他们两人都决定不会再任命该流派的下一任掌门。

“在内战时期和江户时代，忍者的间谍和暗杀能力就已经逐渐被弃用了，”川上解释道，“现在我们有枪，互联网和更强大的生化产品，忍术在当今这个时代已经没有用处了。”

因此，川上决定停止招收门徒，他现在在日本三重大学教忍者历史这门课程。

除了不再招收学生以外，他也决定不再任命下一任继承者。

“我现有的学生将还会继续练习一些忍术技巧，不过我们已经没有这种能够继承和兴旺门派的人了。”川上说。

忍者不会被遗忘。不过这些曾经精通间谍，暗杀和武术的高手带给我们的印象却大多来自动画，电影和电脑游戏，甚至是观光景点。

忍者博物馆现在吸引着来自全球的旅游者。在博物馆里有一个叫“阿修罗”的表演团队，他们每天会在特定时段向游客表演一个小时的忍术。不过不像过去的忍术，现在出现在表演中的忍术十分刺激和喧闹。

Japan's ninjas heading for extinction

By Mariko Oi BBC News, Japan Tools of a dying art

Graphic showing weapons and tools used by a ninja

Japan's era of shoguns and samurai is long over, but the country does have one, or maybe two, surviving ninjas. Experts in the dark arts of espionage and silent assassination, ninjas passed skills from father to son - but today's say they will be the last.

Japan's ninjas were all about mystery. Hired by noble samurai warriors to spy, sabotage and kill, their dark outfits usually covered everything but their eyes, leaving them virtually invisible in shadow - until they struck.

Using weapons such as shuriken, a sharpened star-shaped projectile, and the fukiya blowpipe, they were silent but deadly.

Ninjas were also famed swordsmen. They used their weapons not just to kill but to help them climb stone walls, to sneak into a castle or observe their enemies.

Most of their missions were secret so there are very few official documents detailing their activities. Their tools and methods were passed down for generations by word of mouth.

This has allowed filmmakers, novelists and comic artists to use their wild imagination.

Hollywood movies such as Enter the Ninja and American Ninja portray them as superhumans who could run on water or disappear in the blink of an eye.

"That is impossible because no matter how much you train, ninjas were people," laughs Jinichi Kawakami, Japan's last ninja grandmaster, according to the Iga-ryu ninja museum.

Five nearly-true ninja myths

A demonstration of a ninja using water shoes

Ninjutsu is a martial art: In fact, fighting was a last resort - ninjas were skilled in espionage and defeating foes using intelligence, while swinging a sword was deemed a lower art
Ninjas could disappear: They couldn't vanish as they do in the movies, but being skilled with explosives, they could make smoke bombs to momentarily misdirect the gaze, then flit away
They wore black: Ninja clothing was made to be light and hard to see in the dark - but jet-black would cause the form to stand out in moonlight, so a dark navy blue dye was usually used
Ninjas could fly: They moved quietly and swiftly, thanks to breathing techniques which increased oxygen intake, but kept their feet on the ground
And walk on water: CIA intelligence says they used "water shoes" - circular wooden boards or buckets - and a bamboo paddle for propulsion, but doubt remains over their effectiveness

Source: Iga-Ryu Ninja Museum

However, ninjas did apparently have floats that enabled them move across water in a standing position.

Kawakami is the 21st head of the Ban family, one of 53 that made up the Koka ninja clan. He started learning ninjutsu (ninja techniques) when he was six, from his master, Masazo Ishida.

"I thought we were just playing and didn't think I was learning ninjutsu," he says.

"I even wondered if he was training me to be a thief because he taught me how to walk quietly and how to break into a house."

Other skills that he mastered include making explosives and mixing medicines.

"I can still mix some herbs to create poison which doesn't necessarily kill but can make one believe that they have a contagious disease," he says.

Kawakami inherited the clan's ancient scrolls when he was 18.

While it was common for these skills to be passed down from father to son, many young men were also adopted into the ninja clans.

There were at least 49 of these but Mr Kawakami's Koka clan and the neighbouring Iga clan remain two of the most famous thanks to their work for powerful feudal lords such as Ieyasu Tokugawa - who united Japan after centuries of civil wars when he won the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

It is during the Tokugawa era - known as Edo - when official documents make brief references to ninjas' activities.

"They weren't just killers like some people believe from the movies," says Kawakami.

In fact, they had day jobs. "Because you cannot make a living being a ninja," he laughs.

There are many theories about these day jobs. Some ninjas are believed to have been farmers, and others pedlars who used their day jobs to spy.

"We believe some became samurai during the Edo period," says Kawakami. "They had to be categorised under the four caste classes set by the Tokugawa government: warrior, farmers, artisan and merchants."

As for the 21st Century ninja, Kawakami is a trained engineer. In his suit, he looks like any other Japanese businessman.

The title of "Japan's last ninja", however, may not be his alone. Eighty-year-old Masaaki Hatsumi says he is the leader of another surviving ninja clan - the Togakure clan.

Hatsumi is the founder of an international martial arts organisation called Bujinkan, with more than 300,000 trainees worldwide.

"They include military and police personnel abroad," he tells me at one of his training halls, known as dojo, in the town of Noda in Chiba prefecture.

It is a small town and not a place you would expect to see many foreigners. But the dojo, big enough for 48 tatami mats, is full of trainees who are glued to every move that Hatsumi makes. His actions are not big, occasionally with some weapons, but mainly barehanded.

Hatsumi explains to his pupils how those small moves can be used to take enemies out.

Western ninja-inspired nonsense

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: This comic-book sewer-dwelling quartet evolved into talking, pizza-eating humanoids named after Italian artists - they inspired a toy craze, film and video game
American Ninja: 1985 film with Michael Dudikoff as GI Joe Armstrong, whose platoon is killed by ninjas in the Philippines - when they kidnap the colonel's daughter he saves her thanks to his own extraordinary ninjutsu skills
Mortal Kombat: Arcade and console series so gory it prompted the US to adopt age-ratings for games - characters had "special moves", like Sub-Zero's ability to generate ice to freeze opponents

Paul Harper from the UK is one of many dedicated followers. For a quarter of a century, he has been coming to Hatsumi for a few weeks of lessons every year.

"Back in the early 80s, there were various martial art magazines and I was studying Karate at the time and I came across some articles about Bujinkan," he says.

"This looked much more complex and a complete form of martial arts where all facets were covered so I wanted to expand my experience."

Harper says his master's ninja heritage interested him at the start but "when you come to understand how the training and techniques of Bujinkan work, the ninja heritage became much less important".

Hatsumi's reputation doesn't stop there. He has contributed to countless films as a martial arts adviser, including the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, and continues to practise ninja techniques.

Both Kawakami and Hatsumi are united on one point. Neither will appoint anyone to take over as the next ninja grandmaster.

"In the age of civil wars or during the Edo period, ninjas' abilities to spy and kill, or mix medicine may have been useful," Kawakami says.

"But we now have guns, the internet and much better medicines, so the art of ninjutsu has no place in the modern age."

As a result, he has decided not to take a protege. He simply teaches ninja history part-time at Mie University.

Despite having so many pupils, Mr Hatsumi, too, has decided not to select an heir.

A demonstration of ninja fighting techniques

"My students will continue to practice some of the techniques that were used by ninjas, but [a person] must be destined to succeed the clan." There is no such person, he says.

The ninjas will not be forgotten. But the once-feared secret assassins are now remembered chiefly through fictional characters in cartoons, movies and computer games, or as a tourist attractions.

The museum in the city of Iga welcomes visitors from across the world where a trained group, called Ashura, entertains them with an hourly performance of ninja tricks.

Unlike the silent art of ninjutsu, the shows that school children and foreign visitors watch today are loud and exciting. The mystery has gone even before the last ninja has died.