Odawara City in Kanagawa prefecture

to step into the world of Japanese ninja.

First, at Odawara Castle, we learned

that ninjas were not actually

violent assassins but clever spies

enlisted to spy on clans during the Sengoku period,

a time when Japan was broken up into small territories

at war with each other, and if that wasn't

surprising enough, I made a startling discovery

about the ninja's appearance as well.

Actual ninjas were actually more known

to blend into society by dressing really normally

so that they wouldn't stand out.

I wouldn't be a very good ninja

if everyone around me could look at me

and tell that I'm a ninja.

Okay, so if ninjas didn't dress in all black

running around, throwing stars

and assassinating their enemies, what did they do?

I headed to Nagano prefecture to find some answers.

So today, we're at the Ueda Castle remains,

in Nagano prefecture, and we're going to learn

about the history that this area has

with the mythical ninjas.

The Ueda Castle ruins are a monumental part

of Japanese history, especially during

the Sengoku period when it belonged

to the famous Sanada clan.

Despite its small size, it is considered

on of the strongest castles in Japan

during the Sengoku period, thanks to its clever

architecture and confusing layout.

It survived two major sieges,

first defeating an attack of 7,000 enemy soldiers

with only 2,000 soldiers of their own.

Both of these stories are inspiring tales

of the underdog beating the odds,

and it is said that this could not have been possible

without intense strategizing including

the use of Japanese spies, ninjas,

to gather information and foresee oncoming enemy attacks.

So it's possible that this is evidence

that they had an escape route here in the castle,

and they think that this is what the ninjas used

to get in and out without being noticed.

After visiting the castle, we decided to take a walk

down Yanagimachi Street, another remnant

of Japan's historical past.

These days, this picturesque area

has even been used as a set for movies.

The thing I love most about walking

down these streets is that it smells like wood.

Like it kind of has this wooden, old smell,

but it's like a nice smell, like a fragrant wood smell.

Sana, how nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, Sana, how old are you?

Wow, seven?

So by now I think you're familiar with

every prefecture in Japan having its own specialty food,

and one of the foods that is special

in Nagano prefecture is soba.

There's tons of soba shops around here,

we've seen a few already today

and we decided that it would be the perfect place

to drop in and have lunch at.

At this soba restaurant, Onishi,

they're famous for using several different types of soba,

including sprouted grains, adding more nutritional value

to their meals than regular soba.

So because ninjas were such a secret species,

it has been really really hard

for historians to separate fact from fiction,

a lot of the information they can gather

from ninjas are from fictional old stories

and they kind of piece together information

that lines up with other information

from other authors or historians

during that time to figure out what actually happened.

So there's a lot of hearsay and there's a lot of unsurety,

mystery surrounding what ninjas actually did.

Ah.

Ah!

At the Ikenami Shotaro Sanada Taiheiki Kan,

an exhibition hall dedicated to a series of books

based on the Sengoku period, they even have

an entire section of the exhibition

dedicated to findings about the ninja.

We're about to enter a ninja cave.

It's actually very cool in here, very dark and cool.

Oh.

There's like animal noises.

In order to collect data on their targets,

they would disguise themselves as pharmacists,

peddlers, entertainers, farmers, anything

to get them to blend into their target society undetected.

Their missions would often take days,

and they would sometimes stake out hiding spots

in the homes of their targets,

this required patience and tons of self control

as one false move or sound could blow their cover entirely.

A ninja's training would revolve around

being swift, quiet, inconspicuous,

and most importantly, not leaving a trace

of their presence behind.

Hai.

So now we're heading up the winding road

into the mountains to a place that has

been historically linked to a ninja training ground

for the Sanada clan, which was the clan

that founded the castle where we just visited.

It's all connected.

It's all connected, and it's all starting

to make sense, which is really exciting.

Kakuma Keikoku, or the Kakuma Valley is said to be

the training ground of Sarutobi Sasuke

and his fellow Sanada ninjas.

At the entrance of the valley lies a single ryokan,

built around a natural iron-based hot spring,

it is said that this too was once used

by the Sanada ninja clan.

Oh my goodness.

(laughs) I did not bring the right boots for this.

I didn't realize we would be climbing up

icy death stairs but it is what it is.

There better be some real ninjas up there.

If I go up there and there's not a single ninja,

I'm gonna feel ripped off.

I did it.

We did it.

Although I doubt they had stairs

back in the Sengoku period, if this is really the place

where ninjas would train,

I can kind of understand how running up and down

these hills would increase their endurance.

There are said to be many caves in the Kakuma area,

but the one that houses the cave goddess,

Iwaya Kannon, is the biggest in the valley.

In the past, these areas were used

as mini-residences for those living in the mountains

but now it is home to spirits instead.

So we've heard stories, we've seen the costumes,

we've learned about fact and fiction,

but to actually come all the way up

into the mountains and walk that steep flight of stairs

and see this giant rock with a giant shrine inside it,

and actually be here and experience this

with my own two eyes and ears and runny nose,

it does start to feel like maybe

ninjas did exist after all, that they were really

as cool as we make them out to be,

even if they didn't look exactly the way

that we make them out to be.

To be honest, when I started this project,

I didn't know much about ninjas at all,

and I feel like now I'm really starting to get

actually genuinely interested as I learn more.

I'm really excited, the more I learn,

the more interested I am, and I can't wait

to find out more in Saga.

Oh the things I do,

the things the cameraman makes me do,

dress up like a ninja,

fight children,

play in the snow.

Next time, we're ditching the snow

and heading back to Kyushu

to Saga's ninja village to try to figure out

why Japan still celebrates the media-portrayed

image of a ninja even if it isn't factually correct.

Sound interesting?

Then make sure you stick around for part three.

It took a very long time,

but I made it down.

I can't actually believe I went up there, seriously.

These are not snow boots.

These are heels, I'm wearing heel boots.

Not waterproof, and I went up the stairs.

I could be a ninja after all.