{"id":7030,"date":"2026-06-19T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7030"},"modified":"2026-06-19T08:00:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T15:00:47","slug":"japanese-ninja-certification-exam-attracts-131-candidates-from-japan-and-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7030","title":{"rendered":"Japanese ninja certification exam attracts 131 candidates from Japan and abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-736161\" src=\"https:\/\/soranews24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/Ninja-certification-test-japan-Koka-Shiga-ninjutsu-shuriken-exam-news.jpg?w=640\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><span>Shadow warrior test includes a written exam, with marks given for shuriken throwing and ninja attire.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>On 14 June, <strong>131 aspiring modern-day ninjas descended on Koka City in Shiga Prefecture<\/strong> to test their ninja prowess by taking <strong>a special ninja certification tes<\/strong>t. Known as the Koka-ryu Ninja Certification, with \u201cKoka-ryu\u201d meaning \u201cKoka School\u201d, the exam is divided into three levels \u2013 beginner, intermediate, and advanced \u2013 and includes written questions as well as marks for<strong> shuriken throwing<\/strong> and <strong>ninja attire<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>For the 18th iteration of the exam this year, participants came from across Japan and even overseas, including <strong>Singapore<\/strong> and <strong>Hong Kong<\/strong>. With ages ranging from <strong>9 to 76<\/strong>, there were <strong>93<\/strong> beginner-level candidates, <strong>28<\/strong> intermediate, and <strong>10<\/strong> advanced candidates, all of whom diligently worked through each stage of the test.<\/p>\n<p>While all three test levels consist of a written exam, beginner-level test takers were given extra points for wearing a ninja costume, and also took a shuriken-throwing test.<\/p>\n<p>\u25bc Some of the day\u2019s activities can be seen in this report.<\/p>\n\n<p>Intermediate candidates faced a more advanced written test, requiring a deeper understanding of Koka ninja history and traditions, and for the advanced level, participants submitted a separate written report in addition to taking the exam. As the Koka Ninja Research Association who runs the test hasn\u2019t revealed details of the submission method, we have to assume that\u00a0it didn\u2019t involve <strong>an actual ninja scroll<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>When asked what prompted them to take the exam, many attendees expressed a long-held interest in ninja culture and Koka itself, which is revered by enthusiasts for being the birthplace of ninjutsu. The Koga clan who lived in the area over 500 years ago were known for their elite shadow warrior skills, and it\u2019s a culture that the Koka Ninja Research Association aims to keep alive by holding the test every year.<\/p>\n<p>Judging by the test results, with the pass rate for beginners being 90 percent, intermediate 70 percent, and advanced 55 percent, it\u2019s a culture that is steadily being kept alive, and if Japan ever needs to call on a team of modern-day shadow warriors, they now have a pool of people to pick from.<\/p>\n<p><em><\/em><em>Sources: <a href=\"https:\/\/newsdig.tbs.co.jp\/articles\/mbs\/2743862?display=1&amp;mwplay=1\">TBS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.web.nhk\/newsweb\/na\/nb-2060020928\">NHK<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chunichi.co.jp\/article\/1267401\">Chunichi<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atpress.ne.jp\/news\/140677\">@Press<\/a> via <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.co.jp\/articles\/88807151c61e8496e677b29267d0c39952a95d09\">Yahoo! News Japan<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<em>Featured image: @Press<\/em><em><br \/>\n\u25cf Want to hear about SoraNews24\u2019s latest articles as soon as they\u2019re published? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RocketNews24En\">Follow us on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RocketNews24En\">Twitter<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shadow warrior test includes a written exam, with marks given for shuriken throwing and ninja attire. On 14 June, 131 aspiring modern-day ninjas descended on Koka City in Shiga Prefecture&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}