Japan Is Hiring Ninjas for Tourism

Good news for those of you who didn’t get any kind of definitive result on those mind-numbing career aptitude tests they gave you in high school. You can tell your school counselor to suck it because you’re going to be a ninja.

Japan’s Aichi prefecture is hiring six full-time ninjas in an effort to boost tourism. Specifically, “war lord tourism.” According to the job ad, anyone over the age of 18 may apply. Sounds like a decent way to make $1,600.

The job requirements? Physical fitness and acrobatic skills. While the original ninjas (like, the 15th century ones) were Japanese mercenaries who dabbled in “irregular warfare,” espionage and assassination, these tourism-boosting ninjas will probably be doing a lot of PR work. Duties will include appearing on radio and television segments and participating in stage performances. No actual combat is required, but the selected applicants will be trained in back flips and sword “fighting.”

Candidates must “enjoy being under the spotlight even though he or she is a secretive ninja,”
according to Satoshi Adachi, a representative from the prefecture’s tourism promotion unit.
Ninjas will perform in English on occasion, so Japanese language skills aren’t even required.
However, applicants must be familiar with the country’s history and tourism.

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Why the sudden interest in boosting war lord tourism? Prime Minister Shinz? Abe has pledged to increase the country’s tourism before the Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Games, so prefectures have been hoping to capitalize on foreigners’ obsession with ninjas. Aichi’s neighboring prefecture Mie is home to a successful Ninja Museum where visitors are wowed by acrobatic performances based on myths about the ancient warriors. However, Aichi is definitely going to get its 15 minutes of fame with this whole “hiring a ninja” stunt.

You’d better hit the gym and start that application — the deadline is March 22nd.

Tom is a travel writer, part-time hitchhiker, and he’s currently trying to imitate Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but with more sunscreen and jorts.