Are you thinking about a career change?

Haven’t you always wanted to be a ninja?

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, you should probably pack your bags and head to the Japanese city of Iga.

Ninjas practice before the start of the festival in Iga (Picture: Reuters)

It prides itself on being at the origin of the ninja – but is facing a shortage of them in the modern day.


Sally Herships, who visited the city for an episode of NPR’s Planet Money, said: ‘There’s a ninja shortage. Or, to be accurate, a ninja-performer shortage.’

Toothbrush removed from man's stomach after he swallowed it while brushing

Every year, tourists descend on Iga for the annual ninja festival.



But the city itself is struggling with an ageing, depleting population, with many younger people lured from rural Japan to the big cities.

As a result, there’s not enough ninjas in the area – making it a threat to Iga, which relies heavily on the tourism brought in by the festival.

Ninjas bring in vital tourism for areas such as Iga (Picture: Reuters)

A performer demonstrates his weapons during the Iga festival (Picture: Reuters)

Mayor Sakae Okamoto told Ms Herships: ‘We hold this ninja festival between late April to around the beginning of May. During this period visitors and also local people come here.

‘Everybody will be dressed like a ninja and walks around and enjoys themselves — but recently I feel that it’s not enough.’

While Iga is building a museum devoted to ninjas – the second in the city – it has not been easy to find ninjas, who must be highly skilled, especially considering Japan’s low unemployment rate.

Speaking on the podcast, host Ms Herships said ninjas have a wide pay scale, from £18,000 to as high as about £65,000.

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