A Japanese man has become the first person in the world to hold a master’s degree in Ninja studies, after completing a graduate course that included learning basic martial arts and how to surreptitiously climb mountains.
A Japanese becomes the first person in the world to obtain a master's degree in Ninja arts!
Citing CNN, Junichi Mitsuhashi, 45, spent two years studying the history, traditions, and techniques of ninja fighting - the mysterious secret agents of feudal Japan - at Mie University in the country.
Ninja fighters were known for their secrecy and high levels of combat skill, and they were professors of espionage, sabotage, assassination, and guerrilla warfare dating back to at least the fourteenth century. However, Mitsuhashi said that the ninjas are also independent farmers, and he moved to the mountainous Iga Prefecture, 220 miles from the Japanese capital, Tokyo, to better understand how they lived.
He said: “Iga is the region where the Ninja lived. The climate of this region has created a favorable nature for the Ninja.
Mitsuhashi is growing his own rice and vegetables in Iga, where he runs a local inn. He also teaches martial arts and ninjutsu - the art of ninja - in his dojo.
The Master's degree course started in 2018, a year after Mie University established the International Ninja Research Center at Iga - the first in the world devoted to Ninja studies. Aside from history, students also learn traditional fighting and survival skills, including basic martial arts and how to traverse mountain areas while not being detected.
Ninja Professor of Studies Yuji Yamada said that Mitsuhashi was a "dedicated student". "He literally devotes his life to a ninja."
Mitsuhashi, who wants a Ph.D. in Ninja studies, said that the course taught him about the present, as well as the past. "Living independently for your own survival and prosperity is important for modern Japan," he said. “The world for each of us is not global, but local. The era of globalization is over. ”
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