Hollywood has portrayed them as deadly assassins clad from head to toe in black garb except for narrow slits revealing their dark, intense eyes. Ninjas on the big screen possess superhuman powers like flight and invisibility, while carrying an array of deadly weapons like darts, knives, and the iconic throwing stars. That's what Hollywood does.
In real life from the 15th to the 17th centuries, ninjas were covert agents that did the dirty work for seemingly upstanding samurai lords. They spied, sabotaged, and killed. They also hid in plain sight by disguising themselves as civilians. Ninjas practiced ninjitsu, a form of martial arts which drew elements from nature like force, speed, and precision. Sadly, since ninjas don't exist in modern times, these skills may have been lost forever.
As luck would have it, the legacy that is ninja may still live on. Jinichi Kawakami is a 63-year-old former engineer who is being touted as Japan's last ninja. He is the 21st head of the Ban clan, which is a line of ninjas with a 500-year history. From the age of six to 18, Kawakami was trained as a ninja without knowing it. He honed his physical and mental skills, studied chemicals, weather, and psychology, and practiced espionage and guerrilla warfare. What's more, he had to endure heat, cold, pain, and hunger to prove that he could survive anything. When he turned 19, he inherited the title of master as well as special weapons and secret scrolls. Kawakami is currently researching the history of ninjas in addition to teaching ninjitsu, which means that this last ninja might not really be the final one.
1. How are Hollywood ninjas different from real ones?
(A) Hollywood ninjas disguise themselves as civilians.
(B) Real-life ninjas have the power to fly.
(C) Hollywood ninjas have a great sense of humor.
(D) Real-life ninjas don't dress all in black.
2. According to the article, what is something ninjas did NOT do?
(A) Murdered their enemies.
(B) Battled samurais.
(C) Posed as normal people.
(D) Used things formed in nature in their martial arts.
3. What does touted in the final paragraph mean?
(A) Pulled.
(B) Guided.
(C) Proclaimed.
(D) Teased.
4. What does the final sentence in the article mean?
(A) Since Kawakami is teaching the ways of the ninja, he may not be the last one.
(B) There's no doubt that Kawakami is the last of the ninjas.
(C) No one will ever be as good of a ninja as Kawakami.
(D) Kawakami has befriended a tribe of ninjas in northern Japan. |
