https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIwdRybVTtg
Since 2018, the city of Iga, Japan’s so-called mecca of ninja enthusiasts, collaborates with Mie University, the game studio GroupSNE and Japan’s Larp Association CLOSS to offer educational but fun events about the covert agents of the Warring State period (15th-17th century). Using people’s familiarity with the fictional ninja known from theatre to anime and their at times magical powers of the five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (gotonjutsu), the organizers still seek to instill some knowledge about the historical shinobi (as ninja were actually called in the past) through first person experiences. This talk will explore the context and development of Iga’s ninja larps and how participants engage the novelty that is larp in their assessment of this kind of curated experience.