Despite insistence from many apparent Japanese military and martial arts historians, there is no evidence of the actual ninjatō existing prior to the 1964 Japanese film Shinobi no Mono: Kirigakure Saizō (忍びの者: 霧隠才蔵, released in English as Shinobi no Mono 4: Siege). It may have been based on multiple types of straight swords in Japanese history, however, such as the chokutō.
Although the historical evidence has been scarce to non-existent, actual, functional ninjatō exist in the modern day in addition to prop/display replicas.
The most prominent usage of ninjatō in western fiction is by Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, although his swords are referred to as katana, due to his creators being unfamiliar with Japanese and martial arts terms outside of the "bad TV" they watched.
Log in to comment