Japan Heritage story
Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
忍びの里 伊賀・甲賀
Forget the cartoons. Iga in Mie and Koka in Shiga are the birthplaces of the ninja, and the real ninja were local samurai who governed and defended their maze of hidden valleys together.
Key facts
- Theme
- Castles, Forests and timber
- Era
- Azuchi-Momoyama, Edo
- Region
- Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 忍びの里 伊賀・甲賀
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- リアル忍者を求めて
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 滋賀県（甲賀市）・三重県（伊賀市）
The story
A Japanese-Portuguese dictionary from the early 1600s already defined "Xinobi" as a spy who climbs into castles or camps at night to scout the enemy. The best known came from Iga and Koka, neighbouring areas close to Kyoto and Nara, ringed by mountains and crossed by major roads.
The land itself made them. Clay laid down by an ancient lake about 3 million years ago has eroded into a maze of small valleys, with hamlets hidden at the foot of the hills. At almost every valley mouth stood a castle: not stone, but earth banks over 5 m high around a plot about 50 m square. Iga and Koka have about 800 of them. No great lord ruled here, so local samurai, the Iga-shu and Koka-shu, governed themselves and worked together to defend the area.
What to see
- Earthwork castle sites: high earth banks on hill spurs and at valley entrances.
- The hidden-valley landscape: winding roads between low hills, with villages tucked out of sight.
Plan your trip with the Mie and Shiga guides, and see more castles.
Good to know
- The two areas sit side by side over a range of low hills, so you can visit both on one trip.
- Drive or cycle a few valley roads to see how easy it was to hide and defend here.
- Look for the castle sites on hill spurs: they rarely have stone walls, only tall earth banks.
Questions travellers ask
Who were the real ninja?
Local samurai of Iga and Koka who ran their own affairs, defended their land together and served lords as scouts and spies.
Why did ninja come from Iga and Koka?
The areas were close to Kyoto and Nara, on key roads, and full of hidden valleys that were easy to defend.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Kamenose: crossing the landslide heart of the Tatsuta Kodo
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Lake Biwa Canal: the waterway of hope from Otsu to Kyoto
- Lake Biwa: villages that live with the water
- Michinoku gold: where Japan's gold story began
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.