Ninja in Chinese / Japanese...

rěn zhě

ninja

In feudal Japan, ninja or shinobi (literally, "one who is concealed" or "one that endures") were sometimes assassins and agents of espionage. The ninja, like samurai, followed their own special code of conduct.

The role of the ninja has been romanticized in many American movies (and to a lesser extent in Japanese movies). Because the ninja-craze has taken off in the west, Japan has followed the trend and you'll see plenty of ninja-related imagery in Japan.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect that form. Our Chinese calligraphers can also write it in the Japanese form but only if you request it (in the special instructions about your order during checkout).

See Also:  Samurai | Warrior | Ninjitsu

rěn

nin

인

忍 is just the first character of "Ninja." It means to beat, to endure, or to tolerate. Some use this as the short form of "Ninja" but it would be more correct to use the two-character version in most cases (and for clarity). Other definitions of this Kanji include: to bear, put up with, conceal, spy or sneak. It is also a character in Korean Hanja and Chinese but not well-known with this meaning but rather a definition like "patience."

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write it in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

shino-bi

忍び (Shinobi) is a term often associated with ninjas of ancient Japan.

忍び really means stealing (into), a spy, a sneaking thief, stealth, or a surreptitious visit to a house of ill repute. However, 忍び is sometimes used to refer to an outcast ninja.

This term was somehow given a better report when various video games, TV series, and even a movie came out with this Shinobi title.

忍び are sometimes Romanized as two words: Shin obi, or Shin-obi.

Note: The first character can be written as or .

rěn fǎ

nin pou

忍法 is Ninpo which can be translated as "Ninja Arts" from Japanese.

If you want this to mean "Ninja Arts," you should consider this to be Japanese only. In Chinese, someone might read this as "patience law" or "the art of patience."

The first character can be associated with "Ninja" since it is the "Nin" of "Ninja." But the literal meaning is patience or perseverance. The second character means "law" or "method." Often this is extended to mean or be translated as "arts."

Within a Buddhist context (especially Chinese Buddhism), this is the method or stage of patience, the sixth of the seven stages of the Hīnayāna in the attainment of arhatship, or sainthood.

rěn shù

ninjutsu

忍術 is the "art of the ninja" in Japanese. Most Japanese people associate ninjas with some degree of romance and reverence to Japan's ancient past. But most will accept that the ninja is an idea or way of life whose time has passed. However, this has not stopped floods of movies about ninjas and dojos offering Ninjutsu training from keeping the idea of the ninja alive in modern times.

My modern Japanese dictionary defines this term as "assassination, stealth and combat techniques," or "fighting art of the ninja."

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. Because this is specifically a Japanese title, we only suggest our Japanese master calligrapher for this selection - and you will get the form shown to the right if you do that (please ignore the fact that some of the images you see during the following pages in the options process will be the Chinese/alternate form).