Kōka Ninja Village

photo by z tanuki · CC BY 3.0

The house of the Fujibayashi, authors of the Bansenshūkai, has been part of Japan Heritage since 2017.

Opened in 1983 at the foot of the Suzuka mountains, the village brings together genuine historic buildings, not reconstructions: the house with karakuri mechanisms is the authentic home of the Fujibayashi family, descendants of ninja who really existed and authors of the Bansenshūkai, the seventeenth-century ninjutsu treatise; it was dismantled elsewhere and reassembled here, with hidden stairs, trapdoors and sliding panels. The museum next door displays weapons and tools of the trade. In 2017 the two structures – the former Okada house (now the museum) and the former Fujibayashi house (the karakuri house) – were recognised as component properties of the Japan Heritage story ‘The Land of Ninja: Iga and Kōka, in search of the real ninja’.

Theme park devoted to ninjutsu and the Sengoku period, opened in 1983 in Kōka on a large wooded estate. Unlike most ninja parks in Japan, it includes at least two authentic historic buildings moved from other sites in the area, not mere stage sets.

ℹ️ Open 10:00–17:00, last entry 16:00; closed on Mondays. Tickets: 2,000 yen for adults and 1,500 yen for children. Extra activities, such as shuriken throwing for 300 yen and costume hire, are charged separately. By car: 10 minutes from the Kōnan exit of the Shin-Meishin and 15 from the Kōka-Tsuchiyama exit. From JR Kōka there is a service available by booking. A national ninja championship is held every October: check the date.

🚉 打越 · 14 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · koka.ninpou.jp · koka.ninpou.jp

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