Ninjatō

Common card · No. 286004

The ninjatō (忍者刀), ninjaken (忍者剣), or shinobigatana (忍刀) is alleged to be the preferred weapon of the shinobi of feudal Japan. It is portrayed by modern ninjutsu practitioners (including Masaaki Hatsumi and Stephen K. Hayes) as the weapon of the ninja and features prominently in popular culture. 20th-century examples of this sword are displayed at the Koka Ninja Village Museum in Kōka, Shiga, at the Gifu Castle Archives Museum in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan and at the Ninja Museum of Igaryu, established in the mid-1960s. Historically, there is no evidence for the existence of this "katana-like short sword legendarily used by ninja" before the 20th century. Instead, the designs demonstrated by alleged replicas may be based on the design of wakizashi or chokutō swords or the swords associated with ashigaru—common infantrymen with no "ninja" aspects.

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