Inkei (pop. 20,000) is the largest of the Seishokuki Islands, found off the eastern coast of Japan. It is known primarily for its large population of ninja.

Although exactly numbers are considered a state secret, and therefore only known to the local administrative offices, various estimates by the national government assume that between 15% and 20% of the people living on Inkei are ninja. More mysterious is Kougan, the twin islets that are each connected to the main island of Inkei (though not to each other) by a pair of rope-bridges. The Kougan islets are both marked on the local maps as they lay prominently and in plain sight to anyone approaching Inkei, however they are not counted separately by any known ordinances and therefore do not have distinct populations, likely accounting for the given figures on the ninja population. Though also considered a state secret, Kougan is generally believed to be not only inhabited exclusively by ninja, but also to be the location of their hidden training grounds and fortifications.



According to local’s who have been interviewed, male ninja are feared because they have a reputation for taking advantage of their invisibility, that being their stealth or some other form of “ninja magic”, in order to engage in undetected sexual intercourse with local women, especially if they are younger and/or unmarried. Typically, such an encounter is only truly known to have occurred if it results in pregnancy. Given the high frequency of births that are reputedly caused by male ninja, it is widely believed by the locals that these ninja employ any of several secret techniques to ensure conception. Beliefs about herbs, potions, sutras, and secret recipes involving any combination of those persist widely across Japan and elsewhere, though almost any vendor claiming to sell them can be easily dismissed as frauds since such “items” (if they exist at all) would be well-guarded secrets known only to the ninja themselves. Many government officials on the mainland of Japan are skeptical that the ninja of Inkei possess any special techniques beyond their stealth.

While the public opinion is difficult to fully determine, it is widely recognized that a politician (during an election season in particular) will often cater to anti-ninja sentiments among their constituents, and are therefore prone to upholding stories about “kagereipu” (lit. “Shadow Rapists”) and insist that the extremely high incidence of ninja-related pregnancy is due to the persistence of the ninja, who “disregard the good morals” of the people in order to “destroy the innocence” of young women.



Perhaps even more feared are the female ninja of Inkei, who are said to prey upon adolescent boys while they sleep at night! It is common for many parents upon hearing suspicious sounds at late hours to look into the rooms where their sons are sleeping to make sure that they are not being assaulted by a ninja – nether-the-less, many female ninja are apparently able to succeed (even if only partially) despite the best efforts to prevent their nocturnal predations. The evidence of a female ninja’s attack is usually obvious even if it is only discovered the following morning. In stark contrast to male ninja who typically adept at leaving little or no evidence, female ninja are hasty and are often quick to escape without collecting everything they came for.

