Share this with
They are outside links and can start in a window that is new
They are external links and certainly will start in a brand new screen
Close share panel
A Japanese pupil of ninja history who handed in a paper that is blank offered top marks — after her teacher realised the essay had been printed in hidden ink.
Eimi Haga adopted the ninja technique of «aburidashi», spending countless hours soaking and soybeans that are crushing make the ink.
The language customs writing showed up whenever her teacher heated the paper over their fuel kitchen stove.
«It is one thing we discovered through a guide whenever I was small,» Ms Haga told the BBC. «we simply hoped that no-one would show up with similar concept.»
Ms Haga was thinking about ninjas — covert agents and assassins in medieval Japan — since watching an animated tv program as a kid.
The first-year student took a class in ninja history, and was asked to write about a visit to the Ninja Museum of Igaryu after enrolling at Mie University in Japan.
«As soon as the teacher stated in class that he would give a top mark for imagination, I made the decision that i might make my essay be noticeable from other people,» she stated.
«we provided an idea for some time, and hit upon the concept of aburidashi.»
Ms Haga, 19, soaked soybeans overnight, then smashed them before squeezing them in a fabric.
She then mixed the soybean extract with water — investing couple of hours to obtain the concentration right — before composing a fine brush to her essay on «washi» (slim Japanese paper).
As soon as her terms had dried out, they truly became hidden. But, to make sure her teacher did not put the essay within the container, a note was left by her in normal ink saying «heat the paper».
Ninjas explained
- An individual who uses ninjutsu — a type that is independent of — is a ninja
- The tradition that is ninja straight back more than 100 years to Japan’s feudal period
- Ninjas were professionals in strategy and espionage
- These people were popularised in US movies such as for instance Enter the Ninja, but Hollywood’s depiction of ninjas are misleading
- Source:Ninja Museum of Igaryu
The teacher, Yuji Yamada, told the BBC he was «surprised» whenever he saw the essay.
«I’d seen such reports written in rule, but never seen one done in aburidashi,» he said.
«to be honest, I experienced a small doubt that the text would turn out demonstrably. But once I really heated the paper on the gasoline stove within my home, the terms appeared really plainly and I also thought ‘Well done!’
«I did not wait to supply the report full markings — also though i did not see clearly into the very end because I was thinking i will keep some an element of the paper unheated, in the event the news would somehow find this and have a picture.»
Are you aware that essay itself, Ms Haga stated it had more style than substance.
«I happened to be confident that the teacher would at the very least recognise my efforts to produce a innovative essay,» she stated.
«itself had been absolutely nothing unique. and so I was not actually focused on getting a poor rating for my essay — although the content»
Additional reporting by the BBC’s Hideharu Tamura in Tokyo