Ninja are mysterious. There are things we know and things we don’t. But the notion that some have about these ninja water shoes is supposedly incorrect.
In Japanese, these floatation devices are called mizugumo (水蜘蛛), which literally means “water spider,” and are believed to be used while crossing castle moats.
水蜘蛛みたいなやつを装着してみるとか pic.twitter.com/IDBpGp4SGc
— ひな@Gungnir (@HinaKajiro_FF14) December 6, 2016
Sankei News reports that it’s generally thought that ninja would put their feet on each mizugumo’s center board and, literally, walk on water.
思い出の多い甲賀の里忍術村。春日も水蜘蛛の術で失敗。2年前の自分も失敗 pic.twitter.com/h5zmEGrtaa
— hirodqn (@naminori_banana) January 4, 2015
Which seems difficult.
免許皆伝・忍者修行を体験＜１＞水ぐもの術 難易度☆☆☆（最高レベル３）／三重 – 毎日新聞 https://t.co/cwEMpHk2OA#忍者 #ninja @akame_nabari #水蜘蛛の術 pic.twitter.com/PTmGr9DMlQ
— 毎日新聞＠みえ (@Mainichi_Mie) August 21, 2016
水蜘蛛の術会得しました。#水蜘蛛の術 pic.twitter.com/74QBqPL7Cs
— ゆきを🦈 (@yukky_SHANK) June 12, 2016
Or, uh, pull themselves across.
アクロバティック水蜘蛛之術。 pic.twitter.com/uFh6n24WX3
— みゃも (@mrrm0621) September 2, 2016
俺が忍者だった頃の水蜘蛛の術での出来事
師匠も「こいつ…出来るな！」と微笑んでくれてます pic.twitter.com/Ao9hTdu2QN— レッサー小林 (@29Qkobayashi) December 13, 2016
Which also seems difficult.
伊賀・忍者だまし絵、かたやき水蜘蛛の術。水の上に浮いているように見える！ ＮＩＮＪＡフェスタで登場。／三重 – 毎日新聞 https://t.co/A22GidLt6l#ninja #iga #NINJAフェスタ pic.twitter.com/82HTWQyLsM
— 毎日新聞＠みえ (@Mainichi_Mie) April 9, 2016
Or it’s thought mizugumo could be used with poles.
@Umaski3
次回は水蜘蛛を用意しましょ(^-^) pic.twitter.com/NisXOwpEMb— 𝓢𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓙𝓘.🎣🦈 (@eshieno0913) February 24, 2014
ソーンさんの足についてる奴が水蜘蛛の術に使う道具にしか見えない pic.twitter.com/yfLcZTRqWy
— 胡蝶菫 (@anaikcorttiw) June 6, 2016
忍法水蜘蛛ですね。 pic.twitter.com/bPwhxDHlba
— 好爺 (@yin00034) June 23, 2016
However, according to ninja scholar Atsumi Nakajima, this isn’t how mizugumo were actually used.
Nakajima has been collecting old ninja documents and has discovered that the word “sit” (座る or suwaru) written in mizugumo’s middle section, which is where people have been putting their feet. They should’ve been sitting!
“Ninja would get in one mizugumo, put flipper-type shoes on their feet, and move across the water’s surface,” Nakajima believes.
So, this is actually a floaty. For ninja. Heh.
Online in Japan, many people seemed surprised by this, adding that they thought the proper way to use a mizugumo seemed “dorky” and “uninspiring.”
Note that the floaty explanation isn’t exactly brand new.
〜忍具に憧れる✨の巻〜
忍者が水上歩行するのに使用していたとされる「水蜘蛛」。これがあれば浮けるんだ！と興味津々なコトミちゃん。…コトミちゃんは水蜘蛛なくても浮けるよね(^_^;)
@日本科学未来館#THE NINJA#コトミちゃん pic.twitter.com/FTCtB1qSxv— コトミちゃんトコトコさんぽ (@kotomitokotoko) July 2, 2016
Also, here’s an interesting mizugumo inner-tube build that’s based on The Book of Ninja, an English translation of Bansenshukai, from a while back
Even though the notion that mizugumo were worn like shoes does still appear to dominate in Japan, this latest Sankei article might help change that!
https://twitter.com/embed/status/710368368109420544
As Kotaku previously pointed out, the popular notion of ninja isn’t always exactly “correct,” so it’s not surprising to see how popular culture has created a different interpretation of mizugumo.
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