A Japanese city has been left fighting off wannabe ninjas after a news report on local labor shortages that suggested it wanted to hire the traditional assassins went viral.
The western city of Iga was featured in a report by the US-based National Public Radio (NPR) this month about Japan’s depopulation and labor shortage problems.
The report said Iga was trying to capitalize on its history as home to ninjas by building a new museum focused on the warriors, but was struggling to hire staff, including ninja performers.
Photo: AFP
NPR said ninja performers in Japan could earn anywhere between US$23,000 to US$85,000 a year, but a number of copycat reports by other media or viral sites went with less nuanced headlines, such as: “This town in Japan will pay you an US$85,000 salary to train as a ninja.”
As of yesterday, at least 115 aspiring assassins had contacted the city and its local tourism association, puzzled Iga officials said.
Would-be warriors from at least 14 countries had been in touch, they added.
“Iga didn’t put out information about ‘a lack of ninjas in Iga’ or the ‘annual income of ninjas,’ that is currently reported by some news sites on the Internet,” the city said on its Web site.
In a statement issued in Japanese, English and three other languages, the city tried to squelch the hopes of applicants, adding: “Please be careful about fake news.”
“We are just puzzled,” city official Motoyoshi Shimai said.
“So far, neither the city nor ninja performing groups here have any plans to recruit ninja performers,” he said.
The official said the city’s mayor had expressed “surprise at how big the impact of the word ninja is.”
However, the viral mix-up could end up being a boon for Iga, which might not be hiring ninjas, but is hoping its association with the feudal fighters will draw more tourists.
It already hosts one ninja museum, boasting a house rigged with hidden ladders, false doors and an underfloor sword box.
Visitors can watch a ninja performance or rent ninja costumes. They can also join a one-day ninja training program — just do not ask about job openings.
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