WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Far East, Close Up: The Ninja

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

“Far East, Close Up” provides Westerners a front-row seat to the customs, cultures and everyday life in East Asia. Created and hosted by Emma Wiermann.EP 5 "The Ninja": Today we talk about the history of the ninja.

I'm Emma Wehrman, welcoming you to Far East Close Up, where we provide Westerners a front row seat to the customs, cultures, and everyday life in East Asia. Today, we talk about the history of the ninja. Ninjas were covert agents in feudal Japan known for espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination. The word for ninja in Japanese is Shinobi. Shinobi were trained to ninjitsu, which is the art of stealth. And they were most prominently used during the Sengoku period from 1466. to 1600, as this was a time of much civil war and social upheaval in Japan.

While the ninja was characterized by stealth and adaptability, he did not achieve this with a black suit. Instead, he dressed like monks or peasants to blend in. Though ninjas of history no longer exist, there are still modern-day practitioners of ninjitsu, who choose to study martial arts, stealth, and espionage techniques. I'm Emma Weirman, and this has been Far East, close-up. On Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM.