If you happened to find yourself in feudal Japan,

如果你剛好在封建時期的日本，

you were less likely to come across a ninja battling a giant snake with the assistance of his summoned toad,

你不太有可能遇到一個忍者用它召喚出來的蛤蟆在跟一條巨大的蛇打鬥，

than you were to come across a seemingly regular looking peasant wearing something like this.

反而可能是遇見了一個普通衣著的農民穿著類似這樣的衣服。

Because that's what ninjas did, they tried blend in, and nothing says 'I'm not blending in' more than battling a giant snake with a massive summoned toad.

因為那是忍者的工作，他們試著隱藏自己，而沒有什麼比召喚巨大的蛤蟆和大蛇戰鬥更容易被識破的了

In contrast to their more honor bound counterparts, the samurai, ninja, or shinobi as they were

和受尊敬且與地方有較深連結的武士相反，忍者，或是常被稱為甲賀忍者

often called, were a loosely defined group multi-function mercenaries and covert agents

的他們是被定義為多功能的傭兵，並且常常身處隱蔽的角落

whose duties included: espionage, infiltration, sabotage, assassination and in on rare occasions, open combat.

他們的職責有：間諜活動、滲透、暗中破壞、暗殺，或是在少有的情況下正面戰鬥。

The Sengoku Period was an era of almost constant war in Japan filled with social upheaval, political intrigue and where the shinobi most likely originated.

戰國時代是在日本發生過最多戰爭的紀元，充滿著世局動盪和政治陰謀，也似乎是忍者起源的一個時代。

I say 'most likely' because historians are still a bit unclear on this

我說“似乎”是因為史家對此仍然不太確定，

and some people believe shinobi were sneaking around Japan almost 200 years before the Sengoku Period.

有些人相信忍者在日本的戰國時代前200年就開始潛藏了。

It turns out.. It's actually pretty tough to trace the history of a group of people whose job it was not to be traced.

要追溯這群以不留下痕跡為職業的人的歷史其實是很困難的。

Becoming a ninja was tough; first of all, you had to be born into it. And all the training you had to go through.

要變成一名忍者是艱難的，首先，你要出生在那裏，還有許多訓練你需要通過。

In addition to the standard repertoire of martial arts, survival skills, and scouting techniques,

除了要達到所有技能包括武術、生存技能、偵查技巧之外，

you were expected to be proficient in poisons, explosives, medicine

你還要精通下毒、爆破、醫藥

and have an in-depth knowledge of various professions so that you could disappear into the civilian population if the need arose.

並深入了解各職業的知識才能在必要的時候融入市民。

On top of that, long distance runs, climbing, stealth walking and stealth swimming were musts for a mid-15th century ninja.

除此之外，長途奔馳、攀爬無聲的移動和潛泳都是15世紀中期忍者必要技能

The ninja were sneaky, and not always honorable. Dressing as the enemy to cause confusion,

忍者很狡詐而且並不被尊重。他們扮裝成敵人造成混亂。

and even firing upon the backs of friendly troops causing them to charge backward and

甚至對友軍開火讓他們撤退。

facilitate a retreat were not below the ninja. Diverting the enemy with fire, hiding in trees

用火藥讓敵軍轉移、藏在樹叢裡

disguised among the foliage, scattering plant life over the water to conceal movement and

用葉子掩護著、在水上撒下樹葉來隱藏動作並

curling up in a ball to imitate a rock were all among the techniques

在不動的時候蜷曲成一團像石頭一樣都是

employed by the ninja to carry out their clandestine tasks.

忍者在實行秘密任務時會使用的技能

In addition to disguising themselves among the civilian population, ninja also used a wide variety of tools and weapons:

除了隱藏他們自己成市民之外，忍者也用

hand claws, climbing cleats, climbing hooks, concealed cane swords, caltrops, throwing darts, chain and sickle weapons and the list goes on!

工具像是：手爪、爬繩、繩鉤、隱藏的細刀、攔路釘、飛鏢、鉤子、鐵鍊和鐮刀還有更多的清單！

Pretty much since their inception. Ninja have been all over pop culture and there have been quite a few mystical abilities attributed to them.

幾乎是當他們一出現，忍者便遍及了流行文化而且被認為有些神秘的能力。

Flight, invisibility, shapeshifting and the ability to split into multiple bodies are sometimes claimed as skills possessed by the ninja.

飛行、隱形、變身和分身術有時候被宣成為忍者的技能。

One Nakagawa Shoshujin claimed in writing that he had the ability to change into birds and other animals.

一位 Nakagawa Shoshujin 在作品中宣稱他有變成鳥或其他動物的能力

While these skills were probably not part of the ninjutsu training, it's easy to see how the ninja techniques inspired

不包含在忍術的訓練裡。我們可以明顯發現忍術是怎麼來自

by elements of nature could lead to pretty fantastic storytelling.

這些自然生活裡的奇幻故事元素。在沒有許多忍者的活動蹤跡下

But all that glitz aside, there's actually quite a bit of historical haze and legend surrounding the ninja

但是除了這些浮華的事物之物，的確有一些關於忍者的模糊歷史和傳說存在著，

, and you know what, that just means that they were pretty darn good at doing their jobs.

而且你知道嗎，這代表他們真的非常盡職，

After all, you never really know the truth about a ninja

畢竟，你永遠都不會知道關於他們的真相

until it's too late...

直到一切都來不及了

Thanks for watching this episode of The Japan Show, if you have any questions or suggestions

感謝您觀看這一集The Japan Show，如果您對於未來的節目有任何問題或建議

for future episodes, be sure to leave a comment below, and if you want to see more episodes

請在下方留下評論，如果你想看更多類似的內容

like this one, head over to youtube.com/watchthejapanshow and subscribe!

請前往youtube.com/watchthejapanshow 並訂閱！