Who Was the First American Ninja? The history and activities of Japan's feudal age ninja have long been steeped in myth, mystery, and no small amount of misconception. Japanese films and novels have celebrated the stealthy deeds of these warrior wizards so it was only a matter of time until Americans, too, “got the bug” and began studying the ninja's art— ninjutsu . As a consequence, there are today thousands of men and women throughout the United States who train in ninjutsu in its various stylistic iterations. Who, however was the first American to begin training in the art to a level of note? Readers will be divided as to what ninjutsu is, and which are the legitimate lineages of the art; and while I concede that there may be several proposed “authentic” lineages in existence, for the purposes of this article I will only be looking at the better-known traditions, specifically those that are legacied from Takamatsu Toshitsugo (1889-1972) and Fujita ...