Japan’s First Crowdfunding Campaign for the Launch of Ninja Online Academy

Despite that Ninja characters and images are loved by millions of Ninja fans globally, they are not representative of the real Ninjas. The true philosophy of the Ninja is to win without fighting – which is a bit surprising to most fans. To promote the real Ninja Arts and Culture, Japan Ninja Council is planning to launch the first world-wide crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter this April for the first Ninja online academy in Ninja’s history.

Japan Ninja Council, founded in 2015, is the first and only official association to promote the genuine Ninja culture and pass on the traditional Ninja culture to the next generation, with a joint effort of Japanese government partners, including Cabinet Office and Agency for Cultural Affairs. It also partners with Mie University International Ninja Research Center (see this CNN article) to issue degrees in Ninja studies and collaborate with International Ninja Research Association to promote Ninja studies.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the council launched its first digital channel Nindo Channel on Youtube last year. The channel is lectured by Jinichi Kawakami sensei (Master in Japanese word), who is the most famous Ninja in the world (details explained here) and an authority in one of the oldest Ninja schools in Japan. The content provides introductory NINDO learning, including basic self-protect skills and survival skills in the wild.

This channel embarked on a revolution in Ninja history. The Youtube channel has acquired over 10,000 subscribers organically and its most viewed video has reached over 45,000 views. The interest in learning about Ninja is obvious. (See comments from the channel below)

“It’s rare to see a historical one like this and seeing it in practice is a nice touch other than just talking about it.” – ShinKyuubi

“Ancient arts really help the body and mind develop. I mean, he’s 70 now but he moves around like he’s 28. Really amazing.” – Isaiah Cheezy

“If [the Grandmaster] opened a ninja school I’d pay him to learn this mystic art.” – Jane Appleseed

The channel proves the fact that people from all over the world including USA, Brazil, India, and Indonesia are keen to learn “genuine ninja lessons taught by genuine Ninja.” The mysterious and intriguing Ninja culture has been disclosed after a long history of secrecy within the closed Ninja community in Japan. As Kawakami Sensei passionately states:

“I haven’t taught Ninja skills comprehensively until now but especially after I started Nindo Channel on Youtube, I realize that many people across the different regions want to learn the Art of Ninja, which is useful even in modern times.”

The success of the Youtube Nindo channel, along with the passion from fans and sensei, inspired the Japan Ninja Council to launch Kickstarter campaign for the first time in the Ninja history. The council wants to launch a Ninja Online Academy to provide an e-learning platform for all fans to learn about the real Ninja arts and culture, which aim at enhancing people’s health, both physically and spiritually.

One of its most important missions of the Ninja Academy is to certificate an official Ninja license “NINDO” to those who will be trained at certain levels on Ninjutsu. (*NINDO license is the only official Ninja license certificate system managed by Japan Ninja Council). NINDO is separated into two majors; Yo-nin (theoretical and spiritual side) and In-nin (physical and practical side).

In the Yo-nin course, you will learn about the history of Ninja and the spiritual intelligence skills such as meditation, art of listening and observing. In the In-nin course, you learn about the practical skills of Ninja, such as ways of walking and self-defence skills from Dojo teachers. Depending on your proficiency, you will be issued with a certificate at different levels, from Genin, Ninja to Master of Ninja (10 Dan).

Kawakami Sensei states that

“Through this Ninja Academy, NINDO, you will learn genuine and traditional ninja skills from our experts. I warmly welcome you to join our crowdfunding project and look forward to teaching you on the platform.”

Meanwhile, the council is also launching a NINDO Ambassador program to promote the Ninja Academy. Ideal candidates are those who desire to be Ninja and are excited about bringing the NINDO to the world. The finalist will be sponsored to work at the council in Japan and will receive other benefits such as free NINDO training and fair compensation. There will be more details on the website.

The Kickstarter campaign will be launched with full details in mid-April. You can also receive the information by pre-registering your email address at the official NINDO Platform.

So, are you ready to learn from the most famous Ninja in the world and become the next Ninja?