Kunoichi (Japanese: くノ一) is the term for a female (modernized simplified term) ninja (previously meaning male or female [kunoichi no jutsu]) or practitioner of ninjutsu (ninpo).
The term is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the three strokes in the kanji character for woman (女, onna); said in the order they are written: ku (く) - no (ノ) - ichi (一). Early literary quotes include Enshū Senkuzuke Narabi Nihyaku In (遠舟千句附并百韵) (1680) as well as Maekuzukeshū (前句付集) (1716), which specifically associates the word with the kanji 女 supporting the etymology. The "くノ一" writing requires the use of one character from each Japanese character set — first hiragana, then katakana, then kanji. While hiragana and kanji can exist in the same word, katakana generally cannot appear in conjunction with the others. There are exceptions to this, for example in "ゴミ箱" and "消しゴム".
Female ninja are mentioned in Bansenshukai, a 17th-century Japanese book compiling the knowledge of the clans in the Iga and Kōga regions devoted to the training of ninja. According to this document, the primary function of female ninja was espionage, finding legitimate service positions in the households of enemies, to accumulate knowledge by gaining trust or overhearing conversations. One historically accepted example of this is Mochizuki Chiyome, the 16th century noblewoman with ninja roots who was tasked by the warlord Takeda Shingen with recruiting women to create a secret network of a few hundred female spies.
This is a list of characters who appear in the "hack and slash" video game Samurai Warriors.
Kunoichi (stylized as KUNOICHI in Japan) was a women's obstacle course competition held in Japan and broadcast on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. It is a spin-off of Sasuke, another obstacle course series. Kunoichi is different from Sasuke in that the competitors are exclusively female. It is also broadcast as Women of Ninja Warrior on the American G4 channel.
Participants compete for a prize of 2 million Yen($25,497 U.S. dollars).
Each competition starts with 100 competitors from a range of backgrounds such as actors, comedians, housewives, and athletes, amateur and Olympians alike. The competitors are mainly Japanese, but many international competitors have participated.
Ayako Miyake (三宅 綾子, Miyake Ayako) - This three-time consecutive Kunoichi champion has earned her the nickname "Queen of Kunoichi". Weighing only 90 pounds (41 kg), Ayako is also an acrobatic dancer, who used to work for Muscle Musical. She achieved total victory in the 4th, 5th, and 6th competitions. In the 7th Competition however, she fell on the last obstacle of the Second Stage, the last part of the Swinging Beams, which was a metal beam without a rope support like the last two. Her failure left the other competitors in visible shock because, in the words of the narrator "She was the competitor everyone was counting on!" As of 2008, she has cleared the first stage four times in a row and the second, third and final stages three times in a row. Recently Ayako and a few other Muscle Musical members including the creator and Sayaka Asami broke away and created their own group, so it is now rumored that she will no longer compete. (This seems to be confirmed as she did not compete in Kunoichi 8.)
When you know, you know, I know
With you I'm going to go somewhere I've never been
But it's where I want to be, I breathe easy for the
first time
I never got much out of this life,
Never saw myself in someone's eyes until this day
Never had the things I really wanted,
Never had the things that people flaunted
Until this day with you
I can't explain just how changed how I see myself now,
it's amazing
I never want this feeling to leave me
Please don't ever leave me
I never got much out of this life,
Never saw myself in someone's eyes until this day
Never had the things I really wanted,
Never had the things that people flaunted
Until this day with you
I never saw this coming on
And now that it's here I won't let go
This could save me
I never got much out of this life,
Never saw myself in someone's eyes until this day
Never had the things I really wanted,
Never had the things that people flaunted
Until this day with you
I know this is the best thing for me