Ninja have been written about and depicted in various media, including novels, film, comic books and animation, proving a to be a popular topic. Focusing on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Yamada will guide us through the actual historical nature of the ninja and reveal the contents of their secretly transmitted documents.

Professor Yūji Yamada is a specialist in medieval Japanese cultural history and serves on the Faculty of Humanities, Law and Economics at Mie University, Japan. He earned his Ph.D. in history from Tsukuba University. His research focuses on the history of vengeful spirits, strange phenomena, Ise shrine, and ninja studies. His most recent publications include The Spirit of Ninja: A Study of the Global Ninja Craze (2015).

This lecture will be presented in Japanese, with English interpretation.