It's the perfect cover.
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(April 18, 2010)
Is this just a joke?
ReplyDeleteI do recall that Paul Johnson the Historian believes that Ninjas did, in fact, not exist and that most of what we believe about Samurai is made up after the fact.
Paul Johnson claims that there is exactly one credible dated document that mentions Bushido and nobody knows what was meant by the reference.
The theory is that Nationalistic Japanese leaders made up a mythic past to infuse the national consciousness with a noble heritage.
I recall someone on a radio show expounding these theories and a Japanese woman called up very upset, insistent that both Ninja did exist and that Samurai were everything the legends say. What could the guest say? "I'm sorry maam, but you've been lied to by a multi-generational conspiracy."
Jordan Henderson,
ReplyDeleteAbout 9/10 of this post is a joke.
Ninjas really did exist, just as "secret agents" exist today.
*Stories* about ninjas, in which they have supernatural powers, not so much.
I think a contemporary parallel might the contrast between Agent 007 James Bond movies and the real MI6. ;)