Murai lives in Iga, a city 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Tokyo and known to many Japanese as one of the traditional home towns of the ninja, the mysterious spies that slid through the streets of ancient Japan. But Murai sees his grandfather’s sneaky and effective weapons and matchlock muskets as solid proof that he was indeed a ninja fighter. Some ninja experts doubt Murai’s assertion because the silent assassins usually operated in secrecy and never revealed their true identity, even to their families. He was also good at hypnotism,” recalls 55-year-old Motoharu Murai, who says he the grandson of the ninja fighter pictured in the photo. You can sit and relax at the walls of Iga Ueno and notice the surrounding of the city of Iga.“My grandfather never lay down to sleep, he always slept sitting in a chair as if he was on the lookout. Entry is charged at 5US$ and you get to learn about the history of Iga Ueno. The original castle was destroyed in the 17th century, however, the castle has been reconstructed in 1935 which you’d notice it today. The castle is entirely made of wood and, interestingly, there was no use of concrete. You can visit the museum which is charged around 7US$ and the show charges are around 4US$, the show lasts one and half hour and is a worth to visit show when you take the tour of the museum.Īlong with the museum, you can visit Iga Castle which is huge, the castle walls are around 30m high. This guided tour will explain this and also more facts about the Ninjas of how they can predict the weather, how they are trained to notice the star movements etc. Also, there is a city tour which you can undertake where you can get to notice how the Ninja’s hid their weaponry in various nooks and corners of the house and that can go unnoticed, also the many escape routes that they have created in the homes which makes it easier to escape when they are invaded. You can get to know many more things of how the Ninja’s used to deceive intruders with their tactics, their daily practice and how they trained their body which was always prepared for any attack. In the exhibition hall, you can notice the weaponry, tools, costumes and gadgets that the ninja’s used to do before and what they use currently.Ī stage is present here where ninja shows are conducted, here you can get to notice the skills of a ninja and they use real weapons which are splendid, you can notice how they throw the ninja stars (shuriken). Visitors can get a tour of the museum, the residence is ordinary from the outside however once you enter you can get to know how complex the residence of Ninja is. Iga Ueno is located near Kyoto, a mere 2-hour drive from the Kyoto city you can visit this city to explore the culture and history.Ī small but beautiful Iga Ninja Museum which consists of Ninja residence, exhibition hall and a stage where you can get to notice Ninja Shows.
Iga ninja village full#
The museum is full of history of the Ninja’s, information about Ninjas and many more details of the art of Ninja here at Ninja Museum at Iga Ueno. Also, you can visit the city to explore Iga Castle. The city is revered and is one of the visited schools as there is a Ninja Museum present here. One of the leading schools of the art of Ninja is located here, it was a part of Ueno city. Iga Ueno is known for its school of Ninja. A part of Mie Prefecture, Iga was named after the former name of Iga province. Iga City was formed in the year 2004 along with the merger of surrounding towns, villages and the city of Ueno. They used covert methods of waging warfare which did not honour and is hated among Samurais. A Ninja was a covert agent in feudal Japan. In Japanese culture, Ninja holds a special place.