Kunoichi (Japanese:くノ一, also くのいち or クノイチ) is a Japanese term for "female" (女,onna).[1][2] In popular culture, it is often used for femaleninja or practitioner ofninjutsu (ninpo). The term was largely popularized by novelistFutaro Yamada in his novelNinpō Hakkenden (忍法八犬伝) in 1964.[1]
Although kunoichi have appeared in numerous creative works, including novels, TV-dramas, movies, andmanga,Mie University historians have concluded that there are no historical records of female ninja performing reconnaissance and subversive activities in the same manner as their male counterparts. However, the late 17th century ninja handbookBansenshukai describes a technique calledkunoichi-no-jutsu (くノ一の術, "theninjutsu of a female") in which a female is used for infiltration and information-gathering, whichSeiko Fujita considered evidence of female ninja activity.
The term is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the threestrokes in the Japanesekanji character for "woman" (女,onna) in the followingstroke order:
The word "kunoichi" was not used frequently in theEdo period. This is probably because in this era, the kanji letter "女" was not written inregular script but usually incursive script, and the cursive script of "女" cannot be decomposed into "く", "ノ", and "一".[1]
Recent research by Mie University historians Yūji Yamada, Katsuya Yoshimaru, and others indicates that there are no historical records of the existence of female ninja who conducted reconnaissance and subversive activities in the same manner as their male counterparts.[1][2] According to Yoshimaru, kunoichi came to mean "female ninja" in the creative works largely due to the influence ofFutaro Yamada'sNinpōchō series.[1]During the Edo period, kunoichi was used as a cant term to refer to a woman and had no meaning for a female ninja. However, the term has very few examples of usage, most likely because the writing style at the time was not composed of the three strokes attributed to kunoichi.[1]
The eighth volume of the ninja handbookBansenshukai written in 1676 describesKunoichi-no-jutsu (くノ一の術, theninjutsu of a woman), which can be interpreted as "a technique to utilize a woman".[1] TheBansenshukai compiles the knowledge of the ninja clans in the regions ofIga andKōka. According to this document, the main function of the kunoichi was espionage, finding functions in enemy house services, to gather knowledge, gain trust or listen to conversations.[3] This "technique to utilize a woman" was employed for infiltration purposes when it was difficult for a man to infiltrate.[1][3] There is a technique in which a kunoichi uses a double-bottomed wooden chest to infiltrate a person into a building by telling the wife of the house that she is retrieving a wooden chest. Both of these techniques however are described as "techniques through the usage of a woman",[1] and while Seiko Fujita considers these techniques to be evidence of female ninja,[3] Yoshimaru and Yamada consider 'female ninja' not to have existed as such.[1]
Another early mention of kunoichi exists in the poem compilationEnshūsenkuzuke by Waki Enshū from 1680, and was used to refer toSei Shōnagon, a female poet.[1]
Iga FC Kunoichi, a women's football club which is based in the city of Iga, takes its name from the term.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)