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The Misunderstood Legacy of Ninjas

Season 2 Episode 5 | 10m 06s

The Edo period marked the start of 250 years of peace for Japan, but it came as a death sentence for shinobi. These highly trained spies mastered the art of deception, infiltration, and some even worked as assassins. But when these talented figures started dying out, legend and mythology took their place, and eventually turned into the classic ninja characters we see in movies and tv today.

Aired: 11/08/23
Funding for ROGUE HISTORY is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Extras
A network of traveling merchant-spies were essential to the expansion of the Aztec Empire.
The largest enslaved insurrection in US history was planned for 1856– and then called off.
A group of women mathematicians uncovered Soviet spies– but received none of the credit.
Chevalier d’Eon was a spy, fencer, and gender identity trailblazer who blackmailed a King.
“I wanted to start a personal war with Hitler. And I wanted to fight with my imagination.”
This musician spied on Black socialists then criticized the government for being racist.
A year into the Civil War, the Union Army unveiled their secret weapon: spy balloons.
One pirate’s tale of buried treasure led to generations of treasure hunting.
Sea Lords were as vital to medieval Japan as samurai, so why were they called “pirates?”
Though often overlooked, the Barbary pirates played a huge role in U.S. and world history.
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A network of traveling merchant-spies were essential to the expansion of the Aztec Empire.
The largest enslaved insurrection in US history was planned for 1856– and then called off.
A group of women mathematicians uncovered Soviet spies– but received none of the credit.
Chevalier d’Eon was a spy, fencer, and gender identity trailblazer who blackmailed a King.
“I wanted to start a personal war with Hitler. And I wanted to fight with my imagination.”
This musician spied on Black socialists then criticized the government for being racist.
A year into the Civil War, the Union Army unveiled their secret weapon: spy balloons.
One pirate’s tale of buried treasure led to generations of treasure hunting.
Sea Lords were as vital to medieval Japan as samurai, so why were they called “pirates?”
Though often overlooked, the Barbary pirates played a huge role in U.S. and world history.