Jonin, Chunin, Genin

[Muawijhe]

I was going to post this under Bob Hubbard's post on What is Ninjutsu?, but I figured it was a bit off topic to do so.

So, in the wiki article on Ninjutsu Bob linked to(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunin#Development) it states that jonin, chunin, and genin were a ranking system for the ninja. This goes in line with what Stephen K. Hayes has to say on the matter in a few of his books (and I know to take those with a few grains of salt).

However, I've since heard that is not what they were (though that's the extant of this new information I've picked up). Anyone have information in more detail on the three terms?

 

[Chris Parker]

I'll have a go at this....

The thing to understand here is what you mean by "ranking system". From most evidence, this was more a classification of various social standings and positions within the group, rather than a series of levels you would go through (in other words, you would be a Genin if you were born into a Genin station, trained as a Genin, and stay a Genin, not start as a Genin, move through the ranks to Chunin, and eventually become a Jonin). So all those "ninjitsu" groups that rank you from Genin to Jonin, I'm afraid, miss the point entirely.

From there, you would need to look at who would actually use such a system. Only those groups who were in constant activity would have had any need, so it was most likely a rarity, rather than a constant or even commonly used system. To my mind, the idea of the Genin, Chunin, Jonin organisational structure plays more into the popular idea of a large network of spies and such, rather than smaller, less "active" groups. I'm not really convinced of it's use at all, though, frankly.

 

[ElfTengu]

I'm not really convinced of it's use at all, though, frankly.

Especially by 'modern ninja' let alone 600 years ago!